After reading the posts on buying shims I started to wonder how many of us have had problems with the Suzuki Dealerships.
Like many of you the closest dealer is 25 plus miles from me. My latest was something as simple as the oil plug crush washer. Would have ordered online but had the time to do the job that day. Went to the dealer bought the washer (actually bought 4 at over $2.00 ea) since I was there. Got home drained the oil .....and .....of course they were the wrong size washer. Took the drain plug to Advance Auto and a very nice clerk found a crush washer that fit perfect. Bought a packet of 4 of those for about $3.50.
My previous bike was a Vstrom so I have been dealing with Suzuki dealerships for a few years now. With the V they just never had the parts I needed. Bike before that was a BMW. The BMW dealer always had whatever you needed, the guys would explain how to install the parts and often help. If they did the work in their shop you got a loaner bike for as long as it took.
At lease here in the states Suzuki needs to look at this situation if they want to increase overall sales.
The local Suzuki in pittsburgh was terrible, they dont stock any parts they can "order parts" they don't stock key blanks.....they don't cut keys.....their techs said they have the fuel line, to my surprise it was $3 a foot.....Really.
Home improvement stores are the way to go to get parts, crush washers a ace are cheap, and so are allen cap bolts.. Other than that order online sadly. Yamaha on the other had usually bends over backwards for you, I had a tx500 (parts are rare and only used or NOS) they always went through the trouble of attempting to match some thing up for me,.
Quote from: Alan_nc on January 25, 2014, 01:53:25 AM
After reading the posts on buying shims I started to wonder how many of us have had problems with the Suzuki Dealerships.
Like many of you the closest dealer is 25 plus miles from me. My latest was something as simple as the oil plug crush washer. Would have ordered online but had the time to do the job that day. Went to the dealer bought the washer (actually bought 4 at over $2.00 ea) since I was there. Got home drained the oil .....and .....of course they were the wrong size washer. Took the drain plug to Advance Auto and a very nice clerk found a crush washer that fit perfect. Bought a packet of 4 of those for about $3.50.
My previous bike was a Vstrom so I have been dealing with Suzuki dealerships for a few years now. With the V they just never had the parts I needed. Bike before that was a BMW. The BMW dealer always had whatever you needed, the guys would explain how to install the parts and often help. If they did the work in their shop you got a loaner bike for as long as it took.
At lease here in the states Suzuki needs to look at this situation if they want to increase overall sales.
it's not just Suzuki , but generally all dealers in the us
My local dealer is kind of a conglomerate of brands. They sell Honda, Suzuki...pretty much anything non-american. Not a big place but I tell ya, I have NEVER in my life met a more helpful service shop. They tend to have weird items like jets and shims just sitting around. Never had an issue either if they don't have something, the service people (one guy in particular) have always bent over backwards to get what I or my friends need...even if it means making something work. I love it, and they have saved me soooooooo much time and effort when I was fixing my bike up. I say all this because I think it's unfair to say ALL of them are rough...really depends on the people.
Closest bike shop to me is a Honda/ Yamaha dealer, tried to get a basic lead battery from them a year ago, didn't have it in stock but could order it at $85 and would take a couple days. Found same exact battery for $40 online and NEVER went back to that dealer. (Also gave up on lead shortly after as well)
Quote from: Soloratov on January 25, 2014, 07:26:12 AM
My local dealer is kind of a conglomerate of brands. They sell Honda, Suzuki...pretty much anything non-american. Not a big place but I tell ya, I have NEVER in my life met a more helpful service shop. They tend to have weird items like jets and shims just sitting around. Never had an issue either if they don't have something, the service people (one guy in particular) have always bent over backwards to get what I or my friends need...even if it means making something work. I love it, and they have saved me soooooooo much time and effort when I was fixing my bike up. I say all this because I think it's unfair to say ALL of them are rough...really depends on the people.
dealt with a few of these as well. the one in particular where I got my first gs, he had EVERYTHING id need on hand. mainly because an advance auto was across the street lol.
Dealers can make greater margins on bike sales and don't want to tie up their capital in spares stocks these days, particularly with bikes like the GS5 which is well past its `best before` date and they cant always compete with the high volume, low overheads internet venders and their cheaper non OEM parts.
Its not really fair to blame the dealers for taking this stance, any other way and they simply wouldn't survive, If you do want a scapegoat for the situation blame the internet, that's the reason why people don't buy spares from dealers anymore.
Agree with Sledge and I'm guilty as charged, at one point I had 7 bikes and when I couldn't get simple things like oil filters from the dealer, I would order 2 or 3 per bike from http://www.mrcycles.com/ (http://www.mrcycles.com/) it was either the dealer would order them and I made another trip to pick them up or I order them and have the parts delivered to my door.
Before RMC in Renton closed, you could order parts from their web page and have them sent to your house...I got my parts and the dealer made some profit, win, win.
the only real dealership within 100 miles is harley. i'm in the ny/nj metro area - you would think that there would be representation from everything, but nope- there is a mega cycle shop two blocks away from me that charges 200-300% more than what i can get the pieces for online so i just order online. it's a real pain in the ass.
Well, back in DE, L&D Suzuki in Dover:
Called about a tube for my old Nighthawk 250, asked if they had a particular size with a center stem. They said yes. Arrived, they had the size, but with a side stem. Tech told me it wouldn't be a problem if I installed it.
Maybe a year later, called and asked if they had a pair of GS500 exhaust valves. Guy asked if those would be in the muffler (assume he was looking at the fiche and had no idea what I was talking about). Called back later, talked to someone who said they had them in stock. Confirmed price for two, went to get them. When I arrived I told them I had called about them, they rung me up and apparently the price they told me was for one. Then as it turns out they didn't have them in stock and they had ordered them. I got my money back and ordered elsewhere.
After those two, not going back there again. Diamond Motorsports in Dover (Kawasaki and Honda) are 10x more professional and actually know what they're talking about.
When I was rebuilding a '83 GS650 (which I have since sold) I went to the dealer in town (Canada) to order a new head cover gasket. They quoted me over $300 and 4-6 weeks to get it in....
I then went online and found it for ~$40 shipped with in a week from the US. And it wasn't just the one part they did this with. Every item I had them look up a part it was ~10X the price I could find them for online.
To be fair, it was an old bike and they could be quicker/cheaper with newer bikes. But I've never been back to a dealer for parts since.
My local dealership sells Suzuki, Yamaha, Honda and Kawasaki. I just picked up an OE Suzuki filter for my GZ250 for $6.99. Suzuki part in original packaging. Price seemed decent to me compared to Advance and Wally World, both of which did not have that filter.
They have always treated me good and I got a new battery for $58 (YUASA brand). Filled with acid and charged. It was humerous when one of the young counter men did not know what "points" were. Heck they even did a recall on my CB350 that was issued in 1977!
Of course being and old Mechanic who can look at the microfilm and make sure they get the right part is helpful, and being considerate and polite as well as friendly never hurts.
regards
Mech
There's a combo dealer here on Staten island. They are, supposedly, trying to add Honda.
I went there for intake manifolds and ended up with O-rings. I was able to get them switched, but it took some pdf searching with the guy at the parts desk that actually knew what was going on. Had they a parts lookup system based in 21st century technology, I think I would have gotten what I needed the first time.
SoA may have some problematic dealers, but SoA needs to put some infrastructure in place so they can provide good service.
That said, the reason I was getting those parts myself is because the mechanic working on my bike orders his parts from North Carolina... despite being ACROSS THE STREET from the very same dealer I went to. While trying to find an air filter locally, I visited another shop on the island that avoids the same dealer. I asked why, he said because you'll never get your parts.
I was able to get parts, but it wasn't without some work. I know one guy at this dealership is definitely good, but I'm suspicious he's new blood and the rep was earned via old blood.
Does anybody know if there's anything like the Yamaha Pro Dealer program for Suzuki?
Perhaps there's one I don't know about, but it somewhat surprised me that SoA doesn't have a company/flagship store in the NYC area. It's only the most densely packed conglomeration of humanity this side of the Rio Grande.
I think it's the same old story no one makes the effort to do a job well anymore. With a lot of service industries I just expect to be disappointed / overcharged / mislead etc. I think in a lot cases it's not intentional at all it's just a lack of training of some of the people that work in these places.
I for one will pay a premium for a product or service if it's spot on all the time. It's worth it to me if I can walk into a shop get what I want not have to wait for it to be ordered and all that jazz I will support a local shop or dealer. And extra 10 or 20 percent to have someone that really knows what they are helping you with most times is worth it.
But this rarely happens now and it make me sad.
When you order a burger and get fish and chips you know the world is goin to hell..
M
My local dealer started out as strictly Honda. A few years later they added Yamaha and Suzuki. The a few more years down the road they added Kawasaki and KTM. They're pretty much the only metric dealer in town and I've had good experiences with them.
Their parts department will also match online prices (e.g. Suzukipartshouse or bikebandit); at the dealer I do have to pay sales tax, but no shipping if they have to order it so it comes out about the same or less than ordering online.
They gave me a good trade-in value on my Ninja 250 and when I found the battery was essentially dead after signing the paperwork they put in a brand new battery at no charge.
Quote from: radodrill on January 26, 2014, 10:23:48 PM
Their parts department will also match online prices (e.g. Suzukipartshouse or bikebandit); at the dealer I do have to pay sales tax, but no shipping if they have to order it so it comes out about the same or less than ordering online.
That's how I look at it. The prices online and at the dealer are basically the same for OEM. If I order a few things at once and make my sad puppy dog face, I might even be able to get the number rounded down.
Quote from: cWj on January 27, 2014, 04:16:43 AM
Quote from: radodrill on January 26, 2014, 10:23:48 PM
Their parts department will also match online prices (e.g. Suzukipartshouse or bikebandit); at the dealer I do have to pay sales tax, but no shipping if they have to order it so it comes out about the same or less than ordering online.
That's how I look at it. The prices online and at the dealer are basically the same for OEM. If I order a few things at once and make my sad puppy dog face, I might even be able to get the number rounded down.
And if you don't support your dealer, soon you won't have a dealer.
Aurora Suzuki did a super job on HUHSKY's wheels. Not a single scratch in the new paint. Antique white lead wheel weights even put on symmetrical for best appearance. Front rotor had some scratches so they sent it back for a perfect one. They really looked out for me and my bike. When I ask about add-ons or other things (even things they sell) they will tell me if it is not a good deal or a good thing to have on my bike. All the West Seattle GS500 Club people go there. We support our dealer and they return the favor with super good service and free advice from the service department.
I guess we are lucky to have such a good local shop.
There is another shop south of us, same distance away, which is crap. So we do have crappy dealers here and we don't support the crappy one.