Thread: urgent help needed! getting borked by a dealership

Hi guys,

I recently bought a "nearly new" triumph speedmaster motorbike from a dealership and after a short period of time the engine has completely blown and they are refusing to take responsibility.

Here is a copy of the letter I sent them (rather than rewriting!)
Hope someone can help as I feel like I'm getting screwed over :-|
Thanks for any help in advance!

--->

Hi there,

Further to our conversation earlier today I have attatched a photo of the side of the Speedmasters engine.
As you can see, something has clearly blown a hole in the side of it.

Since riding home from G.P. motorcycles there have been intermittent problems with backfiring generally and power loss after the engine was getting warm. I had called G.P. on a number of occasions but was told that there would be a cost of over 100 pounds to have the vehicle collected and taken down to Grantham for inspection, so It was agreed that I'd take it to a local Triumph dealership (M&S motorcycles).

They examined the bike and informed me that there was a gaping hole in the air box under the seat. This could have been the cause of the backfiring due to an incorrect fuel/air mix. This was repaired and the problem was still occurring. A strange noise was also coming from the engine occasionally prior to the fix.

It was taken in again and the ignition coil was diagnosed as faulty and replaced, which seemed to improve the overheating issue but a day later the engine 'ticking' was getting worse and as I was travelling down the A19 with my partner on the back of the motorcycle, a very loud rattling sound could be heard and the bike was behaving irratically. I pulled over, and off the road and that is when this picture was taken - oil was leaking from a hole in the engine. Anything could have happened at this point - we were lucky not to have been thrown off the bike and injured or killed.

I believe that there have always been problems with this motorcycle, and do not believe that a full service has been done on the bike. Initially,on the phone today, you told me that every major component would have been checked and replaced if needed, including the air filter. I then explained about the air box being damaged which would have been noticeable during an inspection and then you stated that the air filter and components under the seat would only have been looked at if there was a need to - if the bike was running fine you wouldn't have checked this.

There were several other problems:
* After inspecting the spark plugs they were also black with carbon and did not look to have been replaced in a long time.
* The clutch cable was worn almost to the point of breaking
* The front disc was warped.
* There was also a dirty rag stuffed into the hole in the air box, presumably as a temporary fix.

I have got photographs of these issues, and receipts from the Triumph dealership that inspected the bikeand these are not things that could have occurred due to fair usage in the time frame in which I have had it.

I do not believe that this motorcycle was fit for purpose or in fully working (serviced) condition. I tried to rectify this with you and called you for advice several times during the course of the 3 month warranty period that you talked of over the phone but due to the price you quoted it was more economical do do this locally - even though repair costs within warranty should be covered in law by the dealership. You also informed me that you do not believe that I have ever called GP since - but I can produce mobile phone records to prove this. Now the entire motorcycle (which I paid over £3,500 for) has an engine that is damaged beyond repair. I have incurred over £250 of labour charges at the dealership already, and this has also made a trip to the continent (planned to start last weekend) impossible.

I am seeking either:
* A replacement like-for-like engine
* A complete restrip and rebuild of the existing engine to a working condition or
* A full refund on the price of the bike.

Please let me know how you plan on handling this situation.

Best Regards

29th March 2009 now about 4.5 months ago, although the problems were reported early on within their warranty period and a lot of time (and expense) has been taken to get the bike fixed.

Something else slightly dodgey - there was no written warranty or even a mention of one when I bought it, and they didn't offer to do any repairs under warranty. It was only mentioned once I was outside of the period and apparently only a 'verbal' warranty that they give with all bikes from their dealership.