As some of you may know I bought a new gs500f 22 days ago, it has now been in the shop for 15 and counting. The dealer now said I have a blown head gasket and tried to blame me for it. They then said they called suzuki and suzuki said "we will fix it THIS time"". They "overnighted" the gasket to the shop on friday and it is now wednesday and I still have not heard from them and quite frankly I am tired of dealing with them so I called Suzuki USA Tonight. Suzukis rep said that there is no way I should have blown a head gasket in 200 miles no matter how I rode the bike, he was also suprised that they dealership actually thought it wouldn't be covered under warranty. He apologized for the dealership stating "we called suzuki and they said they would fix it THIS time". He also said according to his records, the dealer has never even contacted Suzuki about my bike at all for the head gasket warranty or any other reason so he apologized for that. Suzuki is now calling the dealership to see what is taking so long to fix my bike and to see why they have been so rude and to tell them that it is unacceptable that I bought a brand new bike and can't even ride it. He is supposed to tell them to make sure the bike is in absolute brand new condition before they even think about giving it back to me and tell them they need to get things sorted out before it turns into a legal issue. I only need another 14 days in the shop after tomorrow within the first year of ownership to file under the lemon law in my state. Sorry for the long post but just thought I would share my exciting experience with my new bike so far,aside from riding it once every 2 weeks. Dealers are evil people.

Sorry for the bad luck dude. Good thing is that once you finally get it back you should never have to take it back to the sorry dealer. The GS is a solid workhorse and with routine maintenance and no major wreckage it should never need to go back to the dealer. Do tell how the dealer reacted to the call once you see them again

The suzuki rep is supposed to give me a call back tonight so if he does I will let you all know what he says.

man thats shaZam!, the gs is generly bullet proof, i doubt that even in the hardest riding you could have blown a head gasket in that short a time, well i hope it all works out

Have a friend that is good at the whole 'legalese' type presentation to call your dealer. Coupled with the grief that Suzuki USA already gave them, they will probably shape up FAST.

You have done the right thing by going to Suzuki direct. The gasket must  have been defective or it was an assembly error. Make sure they check the head and block faces for any distortion. I think you have a very good case to demand some compensation for the inconvenience as it obvious the dealer has lied to you.

Yeah Sledge said it all.  You deffinately did the right thing by calling Suzuki.  It must have been an assembly error of some sort.

The only worry I have is that the shop may not do a thorough job replacing the gasket and checking for other damage (as Sledge said, a warped deck).

Good luck, I hope all turns out well.  I couldn't imagine the frustration you must be going through!  Sounds like you got the ball rolling by calling Suzuki.

-Turd.

Well Suzuki has not called back and their customer service line is closed for the night so I guess I will be giving them a call again tomorrow which will be day 16 in the shop.Bad part is I have to work all day tomorrow so I won't be able to get the bike back anyways. Guess that gives them an extra day with it.

I posted yesterday about this exact same situation. My experience was quite a bit different from yours. My dealer knew it could not have been my fault and he made sure that Suzuki even sent me a new exhaust because there was some slight discoloration on the old one from the oil. He told me when he talked to them that they are aware of this problem, so you and I aren't the only ones this has happened to. I hope they get it sorted out soon, because the tech at my dealer told me it could have been a potentially deadly problem. It was pushing so much oil out that the back tire could have been coated and a wreck would have been imminent.

Keep on that dealer. My dealer said Suzuki had no problem fixing it under warranty since they knew I could not have caused it in 260 miles and it's not an isolated incident.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out! 

Well it is good to hear that I'm not alone. I love the bike but it would be a lot better if I could ride it. I don't think I will be going back to the dealer after this one unless the same thing happens. I'm tired of dealing with them. But hopefully my bike will be good as new.   How is your bike running nowadays shark?

Quote from: 06GSowner on July 12, 2006, 05:04:04 PM
Well it is good to hear that I'm not alone. I love the bike but it would be a lot better if I could ride it. I don't think I will be going back to the dealer after this one unless the same thing happens. I'm tired of dealing with them. But hopefully my bike will be good as new.   How is your bike running nowadays shark?

It's not, yet. I just took it in yesterday. And one of the techs at the shop quit yesterday, so they're a bit backed up. I'm guessing I won't get it back for a week or two, but the tech I dealt with told me it will be like new. And I trust him after my dealings with him yesterday.

I'll let you know when I get it back.

Out of curiosity, what dealership is this that's giving you the BS?
I live in the SF bay area and had some issues with dealers too.

I live in Ohio. The dealership is ASK Powersports. They have 3 locations in my area and are supposedly one of the best dealers around and family owned. What a bunch of BS. The techs are a bunch of kids who look younger than me(20) and a few older guys. Maybe i'm the only one who has had a bad experience with them or maybe i'm the only one who feels the need to complain.

i am glad corp is taking care of the problem, but like you said, a few more days in the shop and what they have to give you a new one right?

30 days in the shop within the 1st year of ownership and under 18,000 miles gets me a new bike. Thursday will be day 16 in the shop. Might as well warm up the phone for the attorney here in a few months at the rate i'm going.

well, its not so bad. think of the new biger bike you will get at a great price.

Bad thing is. I haven't learned to ride this bike, let alone a bigger bike haha. Oh well who needs to take it safe right

its seems they dont care does it? o well hopefully when you get it back you can ride it your sick of it.

And bhere I thought that our crappy dealer was bad, but I've never heard of them pulling that kind of BS.  Just your typical ineptness....

couple qoutes from my dealers webpage askpowersports.com   

1. We pride ourselves on customer service
2. We have factory trained technicians at all locations