Dealer Service - NOT HAPPY !

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windsor · #1 Post by **windsor** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 7:41 pm

Just put my 02 falco in for its big service - 9500 miles - at a local approved dealer and was quoted £240 plus parts oil etc on the basis of 6 hrs at £40. - bit pricey I thought but needed doing and the next nearest Aprilia Dealer is 35 miles away and they came recommended. - The bike is kept garaged, is in really good nick. never hammered and has only done 500 odd miles in the last two years. never in the wet

Got a phone call from the mechanic after a couple of hours saying that one of the rocker cover bolts had snapped off when it was being removed - said that it must have been done up too tight or crossed threaded when previously removed. - Its the one at the front near the top of the frame.

Now I've never removed it and I bought the bike with 2000 miles on the clock and as far as I'm aware it wouldn't have been removed at the 4500 mile service - am I right in thinking this?

Anyway he then said that he may have to drop the engine to get at it and re-tap it. - I popped in there the same afternoon and he showed me the problem .

Anyway bike is now ready to collect but the price I'm now being asked is now just under £500 !! Incidentally the engine was perfect no shimming etc required - To say I ain't happy is an understatement,

I'd appreciate anybody's thoughts or what action I could or should take before I pick the Bike up tomorrow.

I also appreciate their problems and maybe would be prepared to contribute something but they're the professionals and £500 I thinks over the top for something I had nothing to do with

HELP and ADVICE

D-Rider · #2 Post by **D-Rider** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 8:25 pm

Well the service price is about right for an independent dealer. I had my 9500 service done a few months back and that's about what it cost me. Official dealers were quoting £100 more or so.
Would have done it myself but was short of time and the fact it was a valve check tipped the balance.

As for the bolt snapping - well that's hard to comment on. Overtightened - unlikely. cross threaded - maybe - but if it went in all the way then it may have come out. More likely seized in there as it had corroded as someone had forgotten to put nutlock stuff on to protect it/fix it.

Where did it shear? If flush with the surface that it screws into (probable) well that's a case of drilling it out and re-tapping. If you were very lucky and some of it was showing, there might have been enough to get something on it to unscrew it.

You'd have hoped that a decent mechanic might have felt it was tight and might fail and tried to free it rather than wrench it 'till it broke - though they can sometimes go without too much warning.
TBH, without being there it's hard to say what's reasonable.

These things do happen but I'm not sure it's entirely reasonable that the poor punter should pick up 100% of the tab of something that may have been due to either a poorly maintained bike (I'm talking generally - not suggesting yours was) or a ham-fisted mechanic (again I'm not suggesting that the chap that worked on yours was).

FlyingKiwi · #3 Post by **FlyingKiwi** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 8:28 pm

Hi Windsor.
You probably don't want to hear this but the valves are supposed to be checked after the run in period, 625 miles.
I would have thought you've been quoted for a job. If they muck it up it's their problem.
I had a recent problem that my bike wouldn't run after a simple tank exchange. the shop sorted it at no cost to me.
If no one offers any help I'd recommend a call to citizens advice or consumer affairs.
FK

fastasfcuk · #4 Post by **fastasfcuk** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 9:04 pm

any mechanic worth is salt would have felt that the bolt was going to shear and stopped and worked it in and out with heat or freeing oil,if still no go then leave it and inform the customer what sort of bill he might face.

#5 Post by **Kwackerz** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 9:12 pm

Fully agree with DR's comments about the bolt, something like that going, I'd personally apportion blame as 50/50 (as a mechanic by trade) Bolts and studs do shear quite easily around engines, Exhaust studs being the most common to go, probably followed next by rocker cover bolts. Heat plus the differing metals dont help at all.

If it's not far off the price as said by DR, I'd pay it and learn from it, but ask the mechanic to assure you he applied copper slip or similar to the threads when he replaced them to prevent it occuring again (best practise n all that) if he didnt.. I'd ask him why not in light of the problem he suffered and get him to annotate and sign the receipt to state as that it wasnt done and why.

If it shears next time? go hunting for him...

#6 Post by **Kwackerz** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 9:14 pm

fastasfcuk wrote:any mechanic worth is salt would have felt that the bolt was going to shear and stopped and worked it in and out with heat or freeing oil,if still no go then leave it and inform the customer what sort of bill he might face.

If it had been overstressed when putting it in on the previous service, it could have easily gone straight away with no feel or warning.

Nooj · #7 Post by **Nooj** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:40 pm

The shop snapped it though, so it should be down to them to repair/replace the bit they broke free of charge. Trading Standards are the people to talk to, CAB are pretty rubbish from my experience.

windsor · #8 Post by **windsor** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 7:09 pm

Thanks for the advice folks - Calmed down a bit by the time I went to pick it up and reached an amicable agreement - Didn't really want to fall out with them as they are my local Aprilia Dealer and at the end of the day life's too short .

Anyway bikes running lovely and thanks again for your views.

Firestarter · #9 Post by **Firestarter** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:26 pm

So what was the agreement reached? 50/50?

windsor · #10 Post by **windsor** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 6:12 pm

They just charged me for a couple of hours extra labour instad of the four plus they said it took.
Apparently it was a real bitch to drill out and re-tap and having seen the problems he was having first hand, I thought was it was ok.

Thumper · #11 Post by **Thumper** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 2:07 pm

Its not fair is it Windsor ripe off all around 6 hours for a service on a falco is robbery any mechanic worth his spanners could do it in half the time

Don't wont to worry you but did you ask as to what happened to the sheered off bolt and could they have dropped it inside the engine ?

windsor · #12 Post by **windsor** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 6:11 pm

Cheers Thumper !! - The thought did cross my mind. It was the lower bolt at the front

Pretty positive it broke when taking the rocker cover off so it should'nt have ......should it?.

And they gave me an excellent trade in price when I asked them what they would give me against a new Tourno, so figure it must be ok. It's running lovely but then it was before.