So, a local Ducati outfit insists that I come in for my annual check despite my Rally not being due a service for another year....or....it MAY invalidate your warranty. I call this the 'Gun to the head' form of customer relations and I have to say it fucking boils my piss. This tactic seems too prevalent in today's World where corporate entities advertise and promote one thing whilst not really telling you the truth. Up here we call that 'sleekit'. Sort of pumping you in the arse and not obliging with a cheeky wee reach-around. So essentially Ducati, on insisting I buy this 'check service' will relieve me of, I'm guessing, about 200 notes for SFA. I plan to go over the bike and have them check all the wee niggles that I can find and spend as much hours as it takes to tell me how to get Ducati Connect/Sygic to do anything at all...Bonkers the Dog shall get his pound of flesh even if it chokes him!
ditto for my last v4PP couple years back when supposed to be 24 month between services. but they don't change oil or owt and it was 30 mins labour so not too bad
Get the "warranty" terms in writing and read them through properly. They must be available from Ducati, don't bother with the dealer.
Diamond coated oil? I'm expecting the fucker to be buffed and polished with the quim of an Essex virgin! Nothing but the best and rarest products for ma baby.
Personally ive never bothered with warranties....i like my bikes set up the way i like them and that would sure as shit invalidate the warranty (which it did with my zed) - i think i had 2 years at the time it was new-ish but that disappeared when i got the ecu flashed
Your Rally is not due an “oil service” until 9000 miles or 24 months, whichever comes first. However, your Rally is due an “annual service” as per the servicing schedule. Oil and annual services are 2 discreet requirements. Andy
That my friend is exactly the kind of corporate hair splitting I'm objecting to. Since when did the two become separate issues FFS? I mean lets face it, an annual service on any m/v I have ever owned is primarily oil and filters and a once over and a nod to the mechanic to inform you of any issues. I object to being sold a two year or 9000 mile service interval, which was much lauded in the press at the the time, to then have the small print waved in my coupon with a loud, resounding, not to say smug, " Ahhhh but!". I think it is just sharp practice, not only in the auto world but everywhere in modern corporate/commercial UK plc. What you are promised with smiles and fanfare and what you receive or experience can be two different kettles of fish; it is in essence, hard to swallow. The question we must all ask ourselves as a body of riders, or drivers or users is how to push back against it. I have to admit to feeling rather powerless in the face of these corporate behemoths. A lone voice in the storm. A quixotic Scottish madman tilting at immovable windmills. I also grow tired of fighting, it never seems to stop and seems only to be getting worse. Wow - Apologies. Momentary lapse into sensible there! Usual brain dead nonsense BTD transmissions will resume later...
It's a couple of hundred mullah to form a good relationship *if* the SHTF with your dealer. You do you
You don't have to have your service done at a main dealer, it just has to be done to manufacturers specification. One of the better laws.
I thought in the UK that the ‘block exemption’ as it’s called only applied to vehicles with 3 or more wheels. Thus, thanks to a balls up in thought and drafting, motorcycles were not included in the legislation and as a consequence an independent cannot perform the services and register them with the manufacturer. I may be wrong, and await further info. Certainly within the EU independents who are registered as such with the manufacturer can service and register services on all vehicle types. @Bonkers the Dog its a 30 min multipoint inspection, surely it’s worth the half hour of what hourly rate your local dealer charges in order to ensure there are no quibbles over your 4 year warranty in the (unlikely) event your dealer needs to make a claim on your behalf.
Mmm, just checked and you are absolutely correct, the block exemption doesn’t apply to motorcycles in the UK. Every day is a school day. Andy
I assume using @nelly is the exception here although I accept, in this case, location is not going to help much?
The Multi V4 and a few more of the newer models are on the 2 year/9000 mile oil service, but there is still an annual inspection in there. It’s in print and the calendar on the bike will inform you to. It’s not hidden away. Whether you are told about it, is a different story….. Yes, it’s pretty basic but it does serve well to get the control units updated. There are quite a few nowadays. It’ll also pick up any workshop updates and recalls that may be applicable. The standard time for all the annual inspections is 30 minutes, so if you’re getting a 200 quid sting, then that’s something to discuss with the shop. I charge 54 quid inc. vat On the block exemption thing…… yes, to maintain the warranty the bike has to stay in the network. That’s been a thing for ever, despite what some shops seem to be telling customers.
Ducati in Glasgow said it couldn't be done in under an hour a cost of £130, even though the Ducati service chart on the wall says its a 30 minute job. I took it to J@L in carlisle £57. And had a nice run home through Moffat.
A lot of the times on the service chart are tight tbh. Personally I use it and stick to it. Some don’t though…
