I've bought a lemon, what are my rights?

[yachtie10]

Dude...they've got 24/7 road side assist anyway! You should've been told that when you purchased it?

If this had been used each time i bet the fault would have been fixed by now as picking it up 30 times would be getting expensive.

Best of luck I hope HD/dealership comes to the party as it sounds it should

[BMWST?]

Dude...they've got 24/7 road side assist anyway! You should've been told that when you purchased it?

even tho crash not very satisfactory to ring them every other ride is it?.
MArtyBabe
You explained it well,i reckon you tell them now you dont want it back...but want either a new bike or your money back.You dont need a lawyer yet,just say you have had enough and under your rights per the CGA you want your money back or new bike

[martybabe]

You must have liked the bike when you bought it ... so ...

Have you tried Googling the problem to see if others have had it ...

Take it to another service place? If it's electrical, possibly an auto-electriocian ? Maybe the dealers your working witgh are lost .. but someone else might be able to help ...

If someone else can fix it maybe your dealer will front up the cost ?

(PS. If it's the BMW, get it fixed - if it's the Harley, get a refund ... )

I loved the bike, it's a great ride when it's running. As for the rest of your comments, all being looked into. Infact there is a specific forum for these bikes where I have relayed the problem and some dude got really upset that I dared suggest that my bike was unreliable, man we all get so precious about our choice of bike eh. Anyway thanks for your suggestions

#11 great martybabe - it's nice to hear of shop owners who "appear to be a reasonable chap" and seem to want to do the right thing by you. Hope it all works out well. And yes, I can understand that there might still be a nostalgic attraction to something even if it turns out to be a lemon!
All the best for the outcome.

Thanks Princess, just sent him a history of the bikes problems by e-mail, as requested. Reading it back it's astonishing that I haven't set fire to the bloomin thing...but I still likes iittt! I must be some kind of mental eh.

Want to do a deal on a Triumph Scrambler? (after yours is fixed.....)

are they lending you a bike to use in the meantime?

No thanks but I like the optimism and no, no loaner but I couldn't be arsed to do the 700k round trip to pick up a loaner

Dude...they've got 24/7 road side assist anyway! You should've been told that when you purchased it?

Yes Pete and I've used them but frankly sometimes it's just easier and quicker to call home for a jumpstart, I don't travel very far on it any more, I daren't. Shout out for Harley Assist though, they're pretty good.

[Sensei]

I see things pretty clearly when this stuff happens ..... Either they reufund your money or replace it with another new one . I mean to say who wants a brand new bike repaired repeatedly ??? . Thats why you buy new isn't it , albe it that some may have the odd glich but very rarely .. The bike must have aleast 1-2ys Warranty so there should not be any trouble with getting this matter resloved quickly . All the best dude

[Crasherfromwayback]

even tho crash not very satisfactory to ring them every other ride is it?.

Far from it mate. But I was simply worried he mightn't have known about it! It's still good to be able to have them come and collect you foc though. But obviously far better if you never need to!

Yes Pete and I've used them but frankly sometimes it's just easier and quicker to call home for a jumpstart, I don't travel very far on it any more, I daren't. Shout out for Harley Assist though, they're pretty good.

I hear ya! Best of luck getting it sorted mate!

[Owl]

Infact there is a specific forum for these bikes where I have relayed the problem and some dude got really upset that I dared suggest that my bike was unreliable, man we all get so precious about our choice of bike eh.

American site?

Did they call you a hater?

[Big Dave]

Happens with machines sometime hey. Don't get emotional is right - fix it or ferk it off.

We had a pretty expensive mercedes that the insurance company wrote off after it fried its third ECM.

I reckon it be something simple. Coils. Every time I've had a bike with a mystery electrical faulty it's been the ferkin' coils.
Some Buells had bad connections near the muffler that drained the battery too.

[Shadows]

Sounds very unusual. Never had any electrical issues with any HDs - two of those have been XRs.

People I have spoken with who have washed them with waterblasters, on the other hand!

Not suggesting that you have, of course.

Must have been a Friday bike.

[rustic101]

I'm not from NZ so the consumer protection laws (if there are any) are a mystery to me. :

www.consumer.org.nz

Another good site for most things and or links to others..

[pete376403]

Another KBer (digitdion) had his bikes purchase price refunded after repeated breakdowns. IIRC the small claims court was involved. PM him and get the story.

[warewolf]

Ah pete beat me to it. This has been discussed before. One thing I did remember was that in some areas there's separate motor vehicles legislation that overrides/complements the Consumer Guarantees Act or some such, simply because it is such a large area many things for vehicles were specifically spelled out in how they are handled.

Possibly I may be thinking of the motor vehicle disputes tribunal?? Used instead of the small claims court?? dunno. It was all explained in digitdion's threads anyway.

[Paul in NZ]

I'd start with the dealer, gather all the records and doccumentation of the fault as best you can, make an appointment and go explain it to them firmly and straight up. Take someone reputable with you. Dont get angry or abusive just state the facts as you see them and then email them the minutes of the meeting and get them to agree that this was an accurate record of the meeting.

99% of the time the HD dealer would be very helpful.

If you get no joy, go up the food chain and only pull out the lawyer / rights thing as a last resort.

[martybabe]

I'd start with the dealer, gather all the records and doccumentation of the fault as best you can, make an appointment and go explain it to them firmly and straight up. Take someone reputable with you. Dont get angry or abusive just state the facts as you see them and then email them the minutes of the meeting and get them to agree that this was an accurate record of the meeting.

99% of the time the HD dealer would be very helpful.

If you get no joy, go up the food chain and only pull out the lawyer / rights thing as a last resort.

Thank you all for your input and advice, I'm a bit pushed for time to answer you all individually but I have read and digested it all, cheers guys.

Paul in NZ

Pretty much done what you've suggested there by e-mail and phone and the response has been very positive from the dealer, I can't give out many details because I think that would be unfair at this point but thus far the owner of the franchise appears to be trying his very best to resolve the matter and he is aware that I will have no choice but to bring in the legals but only after he has been given every opportunity to sort it.

I'm all about 'fair go' and to be fair, he seems as horrified as me by the bikes sad history, so there you go, in his hands for the moment, we shall see what the next week brings. Having said that though, one more break down and I shall use everything at my disposal to get my money back, you've got to draw a line somewhere.

Cheers guys, I shall update as and when I hear anything.

[Gremlin]

What a nice change... Owner gives dealer a chance to rectify... Dealer wants to sort for Owner...

Makes me want to hug someone

[Movistar]

I'm all about 'fair go' and to be fair, he seems as horrified as me by the bikes sad history, so there you go, in his hands for the moment, we shall see what the next week brings. Having said that though, one more break down and I shall use everything at my disposal to get my money back, you've got to draw a line somewhere.

Cheers guys, I shall update as and when I hear anything.

So far Mart, I reckon you've done the right thing.

Trust me, electrical problems can be a real nightmare to sort, I have had my share of these issues to sort out with brand new cars for many years, unfortunately, once you know what the solution is, it all seems so blindingly obvious...

Find out if the dealer is an MTA member, if so, they have an excellent, free mediation service.

I'm sure your patience is appreciated by the dealer, but keep the pressure on.
You are the customer after all, and it is your right to have a product that is reliable.

That's what you paid for.

It would not hurt for you to make HD aware also, the will have a customer assistance line and this will make sure the details are logged and followed up by them.
The dealer is probably dealing with the HD technical advisers, and I don't have first hand experience of their customer relationship policy, but some manufacturers technical departments are pathetic at dealing directly with the customers.
If you go through their customer assistance team, they generally will hound the technical guys to make sure things are progressing.

You can always hound the dealer for a loan bike of similar or equivalent type, no doubt there will be no requirement under the warranty from HD to provide this, but out of goodwill the dealer may come to the party.

Keep me in the loop Mart, as I said, I have been through this many times over recent years, and while it is frustrating, it all depends on how the dealer and manufacturer handle it...