Bad service experience at dealer.. now what to do?

[squintyjay]

Hi everyone, hope you're all enjoying the spring riding season so far! I've had a problem/question come up that I was hoping for some advice on from some of you more experienced Katriders....

I took my 06 Katana 600 back to the dealership in the fall for winter storage and service (first winter since I bought it from them in March 07).
When spring came, I anxiously awaited some sunny weather to go pick it up. They brought out the service bill and said "it's ready to go but your new battery won't be here until tomorrow, so just pop by tomorrow and we'll put in the new battery in". WHAT?! I said? This is a brand new bike, what could be possibly wrong with the battery? They went on to tell me that the post had been cross threaded and needed to be replaced (which I then went on to tell them that they must have done it as I've never touched the battery having only owned it for a few months (from new) before taking it back to them for storage!!). Anyway, they managed to get the old battery reconnected and all seems to be working OK so I left after paying the service and storage bill and decided to deal with a new battery another day.

I drove the bike home (5 kms from dealer) and went back to work. After work I went back home to take it out for the first real ride of the season... Before doing so I propped it up on the center stand and did a walk around and was surprised to see no oil showing in the oil window! I called the dealership (basically freaking out thinking I just drove it home with no oil in it and cursing myself for not checking before I left the dealership!) and they offered to send a Technician to my house the next day. The Technician came and was apologetic and explained that they likely hadn't had time to run the bike enough after changing the oil to make sure it was topped up properly. He brought oil and topped it up to the full-line which was about a litre.. which made me feel a bit better now having realized it wasn't completely empty.

The problem that I'm facing now is that when the bike is cold, the oil level in the window is sitting exactly at the full line (on center stand). However, if I take the bike out for a ride then come home and park on center stand to check again after waiting a few minutes, the oil level looks overfilled (the whole window is full).

So ultimately, my question is do you think it really IS overfilled now and should it be drained??

I'm not overly interested in returning to dealership again but having read all the stories about stripped oil pans am not sure I want to drain it myself (if in fact it needs to be drained). Maybe I'll try a different shop!

Sorry for the bitching, but I feel better already having shared this experience!! Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Jay

[steves]

Check the oil level with both wheels on the ground.

[BarMatt80]

your posts are stripped on your battery? don't they just use a bolt and nut?

it is really really hard to drain oil if it is overfull, without a futomo valve. YOu can, just be easy with it.

I used an adjustable wrench and never had a problem with a stripped drain pan bolt. But be safe and use a torque wrench.

[squintyjay]

hi BarMatt80 - It's the negative battery terminal that they said was stripped. Both terminals on mine have phillips bolts for the leads to attach too and I guess the negative one got damaged. It looks like they soldered on a new piece of metal to make a new bracket for terminal basically... not pretty but it seems to be working OK. I haven't removed it to examine more closely as it's working for now.... but strange isn't it - and not what I expected from a dealer?!! Thanks for the advice, yeah a torque wrench I guess could prevent me from damaging it... I guess I could just do a full oil change if not able to drain a little bit.

Steves - thanks for the suggestion about both wheels on the ground rather than using center stand - I'll give that a try later tonight and see what kind of reading I get then.

Jay

[woobie]

The oil level isn't suppose to be checked cold. You run the bike for a minute or so, shut it down then check the oil level after one minute.

Did the techie that came to your house just check the level cold then top it up?

[DumbLuck]

head for the cooking stuff aisle at the store, and pick up one of them "flavor injector" syringes. they're between 20 and 50cc in size. just suck any extra oil thru the fill cap opening. If the needle wont reach, most any soft flexable tubing should fit over the end of the syringe and down into the case.

[BarMatt80]

good idea dumbluck!

squinty -- that is real odd about your battery. The batteries i have seen on bikes is like a square box on each terminal with a bolt and nut, maybe it was the square part that broke. don't know.

My dad bought a new suzuki eiger and the battery in it was toast in 6 months. I have heard many people on here say that new batteries in their bikes go to toast in short times when they buy the bike new. So I am not surprised with that the battery is possibly toast even with proper care. But sounds maybe they didn't use a battery tender or anything.

But i am not also surprised by the shop denying they had anything to do with the battery. As the cost of the battery might have came out of someone's paycheck or worse their job.

Are you real sure they it was not broken when you dropped it off?

[Zepp]

Check it warm with the bike standing upright on the wheels. If the window is still filled up past the line, then it is overfilled and you need to drain some oil out.

[StevieB]

Just found a copy of the Canada (couldn't find the US) Warranty on-line (http://moto.suzuki.ca/Data/Media/Mot...let%20WebE.pdf) and batteries are not expressly excluded:

EXCLUSIONS - ITEMS NOT COVERED BY WARRANTY

The Distributor’s Warranty and the Emission Control System Warranty do

NOT cover:

(a) normal maintenance services, including, without limitation, oil changes and adjustments to
carburetor, oil pump, brakes, wheel spokes, clutch and/or valve clearance;
(b) the replacement of normal wear parts, including without limitation, all rubber parts (except front
fork seals and engine oil seals), spark plugs, gaskets, bulbs, lenses, wires, cables, fuses, tires,
tubes, brake linings, clutch plates, sprockets, wheel spokes, chains, filters, fluids, hardware,

hoses, thermostats and tappet shims...;

(OIL PUMP not covered???) I agree with the comment about the nut and bolt- should have been easy to repair. They SOLDERED the terminal? No way that is going to last very long, with all the vibration.

Don't let that stand. Complain, first to the Dealership General Manager or Principal (usually the owner,) and then get the regional sales Manager's contact info and complain to him if you still are not satisified.

[squintyjay]

Thanks to everyone for all the advice and help on this!

Dumbluck that's a great idea about the syringe to suck out some of the oil, I never would've thought of that and should be much easier than trying to drain some!

The battery issue is a weird one, I'm thinking I might just go get a new one to be safe. To be honest, it was such a drag getting the bike back from them I'm not really even interested in dealing with them again to try to get them to cover the battery. I can't be 100% sure it wasn't broken when I dropped it off...but I CAN be sure that I didn't touch the battery.. the only time it would've been touched is when the dealership installed the alarm system at time of purchase in Spring 07 and then again when they stored the bike.

Thanks again for all the help,

Jay

[The CyberPoet]

About the oil:

Easiest way to get rid of a bunch is drain the cooler.
But if it's below the window while running, it's very dubious that it's actually so full as to cause any issues.

The bike having been bought last March would put it under the warrantee while it was in their care; if that's the case, they should replace the terminal they soldered for free with an OEM replacement.
The battery itself is independent nuts for the terminals, so the nuts should never be the issue...

Oh, and complaints? Go through the route StevieB suggested; if that doesn't work in the first level or two, contact Suzuki USA as well.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[StevieB]

I would encourage you to compain thru channels even if you never intend to go back to that dealership:

1. You were wronged. It cost you money.

2. Cost you agrivation, too.

3. And worry.

4. Others no doubt have had similar problems, or will. Suzuki USA needs to know about that, and most manufacturers want to know about that sort of thing. (What they actually DO with the info is usually the big diff.)

5. One of the (usually) stated duties of the Regional Rep is to address such issues.

You have a pretty good claim, I think: you had the dealership install extra-cost options, AND had them service the bike at least twice, and thus have established that you have a habit of having the dealership service your bike, possibly exclusively. (Someone like me would have a much weaker case, as I tend to do as much of my own service myself. 'Course, that might change when the Sprint ST reaches 24,000 miles- not sure I want the hassle of adjusting the valves and I have no way of tweeking the FI map...)

[whitecl0ver]

i think all dealerships are scammers, dont care about customer service or doing the right thing at all.....

IMO you get the best work done for cheaper at mom n pop type shops...