Question on how warranty work is done (or not)

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6 months after buying a new Ducati it wouldn't crank one morning. Dealer gave me a new battery no questions asked. Then the throttle position sensor plug came loose one day and they fixed it immediately.
Also the thermostat was leaking from the day I bought it and that was fixed as soon as I got around to dropping it off.
There are three Ducati dealers in my area, two large with same owner. I bought mine from the smaller 3rd location. I'm not sure if I'd get the same service from the larger two but I wouldn't hesitate to buy another at the dealer where I bought my first one.
If I was riding more I would have done it already.

 

[Rob750]

I've owned a variety of new and used bikes and do a lot of the work myself, but I'm not a motorcycle mechanic. I was a car mechanic for 30 years. I have had some good and some really disappointing experiences at local motorcycle shops. My advice would be to communicate clearly, expect clear communication in return, and go over the head of anyone giving you B.S.. A service writer should know the warranty policy on batteries, or offer to find out.

 

[nakedape]

There are three Ducati dealers in my area, two large with same owner. I bought mine from the smaller 3rd location. I'm not sure if I'd get the same service from the larger two but I wouldn't hesitate to buy another at the dealer where I bought my first one.
.

We also have 3 dealers in our area. All are hungry for business because as it has been discussed many times here, brick and mortar costs are no joke. All of them were happy to answer questions over the phone, all were looking for a repeat customer. I did not choose the nearest one, at all.

Buying a lightly used Ducati from a nerd enthusiast was a good choice in retrospect. Extended transferable warranty, tasteful mods, no abuse. Now the dealer options for new '16-17 bikes are insane. A new 1260 is my near future.

There is really no better time to buy a Ducati new or used. The market is dead on the demand side. Bikes will not get better, or more advanced for the street rider/commuter than they are now. Although I find the MTS really wide for lane sharing its other characteristics are beyond great. Time warp on demand.

It's like the XL600 and 1200 Suzuki Bandit had a one night stand and shat out a baby with space age tech that ran on pump gas. The adjectives in English are insufficient to convey the experience, though "magic carpet" has been floated and I agree.

Many great examples are to be had for sub-$10K nicely modded. Why anyone seeking a safe do-it-all around town bruiser doesn't get on the multi train is beyond me. The only practical and economical bike that competes was a gen 1 SV650, but the required mod list was endless and it ran out of steam on the freeway vs fast cars up my ass.

Well that's my paean to the late model liquid cooled MTS. Pay up Ducati...

 

[Kornholio]

I dont believe a dealer makes as much money on warranty work vs just a normal customer so don't expect them to bump you ahead of anyone.

I'm in a different industry than motorcycles, but this is definitely true in mine. The OEM's don't pay shit for warranty. We make far more money for non-warranty work, however, having the OEM's name on the building is what keeps customers coming in the door and buying so you have to learn how to balance warranty vs. non-warranty and even emergency work.

 

[artyom666]

I once got 6 months old BMW. I was sort of new to motorcycles, only second bike.
It spent weeks at a time at dealerships for various reasons. Acid battery spitting all over wiring harness. Stalling randomly. ABS module failure. Rear brake line cut by a chain after crappy warranty repair work. 3 times water pump seals. It was a lemon.
Have a friend , his 1200 gs was at a dealership for a year, it didnt want to start. And nobody could figure out why.

Ever since I buy low miles good running sorted out bikes.

 

[dmfdmf]

...but a new [$20K] bike, that isn't known to have charging system issues, doubt that's the problem.

It doesn't matter what you paid or how well-designed the charging system is, even a $250K Lamborgini can have a manufacturing defect or random failure especially early in its life. That is what the warranty covers. I assume Lamborgini's come with gold-plated service/support but motorcycles are not typically high-margin products so the money is just not there.

My bigger concern is dropping like $20K on a new bike, and then being treated poorly if an issue pops up. (The Ducati or KTM 1290 thinking)

For my battery example, that was the same dealer where I had bought the bike. I believe the idea was ... they would do an electrical check of everything, if any of it was bad, then warranty work would cover that at no charge to me ... but if that all checked out OK, then I would have to pay for that and we would do some pro-rated thing with the bad OEM battery.

I didn't get any pricing, but figure $250 for the check then they probably want $150 for a battery, so likely case is I'd be out $325 or so. (1/2 for the battery warranty, maybe) Then I'd have another crappy OEM battery.

Some dealers are better than others, some dealers (i.e. sales department) literally do not care about you once they have your money and the service department is run as an independent and separate profit center. Warranty work doesn't really pay. Sad but true. In all likelihood it is just a bad battery so test the charging system for peace of mind and go ride. Be happy that you (most likely) won't have to make a warranty claim.