What would you do? Motorcycle troubles & dealer

T

Tcochrane92

Active member
 Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, UK
So I bought a 2nd hand Ducati Multistrada 1200s DVT (2015) about 5 months ago from a main Ducati dealer. It had roughly 13k miles on it and 6 months of dealer warranty.

In November with 800 odd miles under its belt, I had some clutch problems, so took it back to Ducati who fitted a new clutch slave cylinder under warranty. They also serviced the exhaust valve to help prevent it from sticking
I then rode the bike home, cleaned it (there was salt on the roads) and garaged it for the winter.
Last weekend I took the bike out of winter storage and the clutch died again - this time with different symptoms. The engine also felt extremely sluggish and underpowered and gave me an engine warning light.
So, I gave it back to Ducati. I'd done literally about 30 miles since it was last with them!

They have since replaced the clutch slave cylinder again and also the master cylinder.
They said the exhaust valve had stuck shut, so was restricting the engine and giving the EML. They've fixed this issue too, so in theory at least, the bike is all good

Problem is, I've owned the bike for 5 months, ridden it for about 3 and a bit months, only done 800 miles and it's already had to go back to the dealer twice! The warranty expires next month and I have simply lost confidence in the bike. The thought of not having warranty is not good, after all these problems.

My question is: is it feasible to ask for them to buy it back from me for the price I paid? i.e. a refund? It's either that, or sell it on privately

I'm pretty annoyed at the whole situation to be honest
 
well I'd get rid for sure, and buy a Honda
but as you have had the bike for less than six months and its been unfit for purpose I think you'll find you might have a good case to return it for a refund. google the trade descriptions act for vehicles.

I'd be right peed off, cant believe they actually serviced the exhaust valve to stop it sticking and it just stuck anyway. but then Ducati have never been renowned for reliability
 
Gaffa22 said:
well I'd get rid for sure, and buy a Honda
but as you have had the bike for less than six months and its been unfit for purpose I think you'll find you might have a good case to return it for a refund. google the trade descriptions act for vehicles
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Thanks. I'm going for a BMW S1000XR next though - they come with 24 month full manufacturer warranty including UK & Europe breakdown cover & 5 days free insurance on all their approved used bikes. Got a test ride on one tomorrow! :P
 
I looked at the S1000RR had one on loan for an afternoon, but again the build quality isn't great and reliability is shocking.
I'd have one so long as it was still under warranty, but not a long termer
I bought the new fireblade instead and am well happy with it
 
How did you pay for it? ANY part on a credit card? If so, a section 75 claim to the card Co should get you a refund of the full purchase price as it's neither "fit for purpose" nor of "merchantable quality bearing in mind the price paid"

Mike
 
Gaffa22 said:
I looked at the S1000RR had one on loan for an afternoon, but again the build quality isn't great and reliability is shocking.
I'd have one so long as it was still under warranty, but not a long termer
I bought the new fireblade instead and am well happy with it
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Can't really go wrong with a Honda/Yamaha...

Mike
 
Tcochrane92 said:
Bought outright on debit :|
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Still worth speaking to your bank, there are different rules for debit cards, but they still offer some protection, although not as much as a credit card. This is why I ALWAYS pay a small amount on a credit card for big purchases, worth bearing in mind when you buy the new bike...

Mike
 
Good old Ducati. I used to have 999, and talk about a love/hate relationship. when it went I loved it, but reliability issues made me get shot of it in the end, it spent so much time in the dealers that I swear they had it more than I did, seems they haven't sorted out their build quality issues still, I feel for you :cry:
 
Your within your 6 months so I'd take it back and reject it. Particularly as its already been back in a few times. ALot easier in practise than any other option, even if you had paid by credit card.
 
Take it back. I went to p/x my 2011 Blade last year for a ZZR1400 at a dealers in Cheshire. I’ve owned mine since new, and racked up 35,000 miles on it, all done by me. The ZZR had supposedly 2,500 miles on it on , was a year younger, and when I took it out, it felt tired on the suspension, the head felt loose and the front and side was peppered in stone chips. The notches on the wheels meant had way more than 5 tyre changes..., there’s no way it had done 2,500 miles...more like 30,000 at least. Never trust a dealer!


These days, Ducs are reliable compared to the older ones, but you do get a Friday bike sometimes. A Mate has a multi, and hasn’t had an ounce of trouble. Take it back to the dealer.
 
I'm going back to the ducati dealer tomorrow morning to discuss this.
I'll update tomorrow :thumbsup:
 
Went over to discuss this morning. They said they will discuss it and get back to me on Monday. So the ball is now in their court

In the meantime, the sun is shining and I have a test ride on the BMW s1000xr this afternoon :oops: :P
 
Tcochrane92 said:
Went over to discuss this morning. They said they will discuss it and get back to me on Monday. So the ball is now in their court

In the meantime, the sun is shining and I have a test ride on the BMW s1000xr this afternoon :oops: :P
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My mate has an s1000xr, which I have ridden. It's a great bike! There was quite a lot of negative feedback about the vibration through the bars, however there's an official mod that pretty much sorts it.

A few of us did a couple of thousand miles through France, Germany and Austria last year, the XR was faultless, as you'd expect.
 
I've had my test ride on the s1000xr and I have to say I wasn't massively impressed. Had a 2hour test ride and drove all sorts of roads from city crawling, fun country roads with no traffic, motorway cruising and blasting.
Really do prefer my multistrada!

The ducati dealer called me and were very apologetic over the situation and wanted to make it right. They offered to increase my warranty by a further 6 months. I figured I've got nothing to lose by continuing and seeing if it fails again. Never know, might never have an issue again.

So I've decided to give ducati another chance. If it does let me down again, that's it, it's going back and I'll get the BMW.
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There are some times in life you should only buy a quality Japanese built product...motorcycle purchases are at the top of that list..if you must have Italian at least make it an Aprilia :D :thumbsup:
 
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