imported post
imported post
joker650 wrote:
I don't know how this "extra" cost works but.........
I would think that if a bike or car is bought from a certified dealer either in the USA or Canada the warranty should still be covered in the other country. Is it not the FACTORY that that covers the warranty costs?
On the other hand...if a dealer wishes to charge $3000 more for a product than other dealers are and can stay in business, all the more power to them.
Having done several recall letters, I'll try and throw some light on why this came about.
BMW Canada were experiencing a 'revolt' from their dealers, over the fact that, by supporting the Warranty on US bikes imported into Canada, they were effectively destroying their own dealership network. It is known that US dealers who sell bikes to Canadians, don't bother to check for recalls and wrote a letter anyway, just to get the sale.
This now meant that BMW Canada were inadvertantly honouring warranty claims on bikes that did not have recalls. To try to appeas the dealers, BMW decided to handle the recall investigation themselves and produce a letter of confirmation, when they received notification from BMW US (and yes, the recalls are different in the US) and then they were happy to honour the outstanding warranties.
In order to help their whining dealers, BMW decided that part of the cost would be rebated to the dealer doing the VIN check. So, they dreamt up $250 for the dealer and $250 for BMW Canada.
Now it's important to remember that most dealers in BC (and Canada) told BMW Canada to stick the $250 up their arses and refused to do the VIN check anyway.
So, the whole thing didn't work as it should have done and we (Pac Yam/BMW) were handling recall letters from as far as the Okanagan and Kamloops. Why did we not refuse as well ? Because a revolt from the dealer network won't stop the imports anyway and just pisses off new BMW customers who probably want their Recalls/Warranty and service done in Canada. We gained a fair number of new Customers to our service dept and better still, they were all spitting blood about dealing anywhere else ! Everyone knows that there is no money in 'Selling' bikes anymore, only servicing them and we didn'tgive s..twhere it came from!
Every single recall letter done between July 07 and December 07 was for a used bike (except one) and therefore hardly represented the loss of a 'New' sale.
Why isn't this an issue with the other manufacturers ? Because the warranty on other manufacturers bikes isn't worth the paper it's printed on in the first place,so the ongoing Warranty coverage isn't so much of an issue on a used bike. And believe me, when your shaft seals blow on a BMW, you really do need that Warranty !!:hr:
Happy days !!
Ian
