What do you guys think of dealerships and parts departments? I work in a part department of a Yamaha and Suzuki shop and just curious what you guys think, any bad experiences, questions? All sorts of things i'll try to answer from the stealership side

Haven't really dealt with the service dept other than getting the bike inspected, but the parts people are 'tarded.  Order a bulb for the high beam indicator, they lose it order a new one, finally gets in and they give me two of the wrong bulb.  And apparently the washers for the brake line are discontinued (uhhh what?!) and they didn't bother telling me that it was unlikely they would get any until 3 mo after I paid. 

So basically, every time I need a dinky part I have to debate whether to pay more for the shipping than the part or deal with the hassle.

So yeah I'm not a fan of dealership parts departments.

I really liked my dealership and parts department can't complain. we go out on rides and such so yeah! Apparently, I'm one of the few that like my dealership.

Mary

Quote from: Triumph203 on March 30, 2009, 08:30:35 PM
What do you guys think of dealerships and parts departments? I work in a part department of a Yamaha and Suzuki shop and just curious what you guys think, any bad experiences, questions? All sorts of things i'll try to answer from the stealership side

i generally call them 'stealerships' because of the markup. it almost seems like the people working there were regular folks, until brainwashed into doing things the dealer way. more money, more profit, less service.

the only thing stealerships (that have a clue) will pull me in for is tars. a stealership that knows they can get customers with cheap tar prices, and then make it up on mount/balance/otherstuff is a good stealership. i mount my own, but appreciate the decent prices

if/when i find a good dealer in b'ham, i'll stick with them. i order most stuff for the GS online, since there are so many things the dealers won't stock anyway.

please, parts counter person, get to know the bikes, and humor the customer a little. we're just dummies trying to get a little on motorcycles just like you

Quoteplease, parts counter person, get to know the bikes, and humor the customer a little. we're just dummies trying to get a little on motorcycles just like you

Believe me, I know the bikes and i'm a people person so it helps. I have been doing it almost 5 years and I'm not one you have to worry about... I have witnessed other stores and even others in my store make mistakes. All I can say is be patient with them and take it easy. Alot of times the bikes aren't the problem, Its getting familiar with the system to look the parts up and learning all the aftermarket stuff

I am so glad a dealership employee would ask this question!  I'll list some generalizations with the understanding that some dealerships are better in certain respects than others.

I don't like dealerships for the following reasons, and that goes for car dealerships as well:

1.  They have to order simple things like a damn clutch cable.  I can do that myself!  I called all over town and NO ONE had one.  I understand they can't stock everything because it's cost prohibitive, but common parts like a clutch cable for one of the most common bikes in existence?  C'mon!  Every dealer should have common parts for every bike currently made, and that includes the GS.  My preferred garage is not a dealership and he had quite a few clutch cables, but not for my bike.  That's understandable.

2.  They're friendly as hell when you're shopping for a bike, then they treat you like a leper if you have a problem with it.

3.  Warranty service often takes weeks because you're waiting for parts.  Sometimes if it's a new model the factory is not yet shipping that part to the dealerships.  Meanwhile you're making payments on a bike you can't ride.

4.  If you want to trade-up you can't trade your bike in even if it's in great shape because they won't give you anything for it.

5.  Accessories and gear is outrageously priced.

6.  If you have them take a wrench to your bike after the warranty is over it'll cost you your first born child.

7.  They encourage customers to buy more bike than they can ride.  This is where the 500-650 cc "beginner bike" concept comes from.  Sorry, Mr. Dealer, a 250 is a beginner bike, and no bike is easy to ride if you're a clod with no mechanical sense.  And we've all seen the frail old man buying the new Gold Wing, right?  Like he could ever pick it up if his life depended on it!  The salesman tells him it's low to the ground so it's easy to handle.  Yeah, right.  Not when it starts tipping!  We've also seen the 18-year-old kid who's looking at 600's, been riding for a year, and gets talked into the R-1.  Funeral, anyone?

I think that about covers it.  I would like to end with a compliment.  There is a Yamaha dealer in my town who is pretty expensive but he gives his customers an honest interpretation of maintenance schedules, so his customers don't shell-out every 4,000 miles for valve adjustments they don't really need.

I hate 90% of those peckerheads. I actually have a lot of arguments with the 1 place I do frequent, but generally I am fine with their parts guys and service guys. I hate their sales clowns. If the dept has a lot of turn over, I generally think there is a reason. Parts guys have to be knowledgeable, as do service guys and the good ones rise to the top, set their terms and get retained more often than not.
However Triumph203 I can tell you're one of the good ones. After all you're a GSTwinner. Most of those clowns never buy or recomend or have parts for anything that does not have atleast 8 letters in front of the number, like CBRGSXRYZF19000456RRRR ... minimum.
Cool.
Buddha.

I gotta agree with most of what bill said.

not that this matters to us, but hopefully it catches on with all manufacturers - HD is offering to give you what you paid for their sportster series in trade in value if you upgrade.  keep your fingers crossed

TripleB, I heard about that too.  Not a bad deal if you like harleys, but keep in mind a sporty costs half what the others cost, so if you "move up" they're really only cutting their usual profit by about half by giving you full price for the year-old sporty.  Make no mistake about it, they're still making a killing, especially when you start adding gee-gaws to the new bike, which is something almost all harley owners do.  Harley accessories are like shopping at Sach's Fifth Avenue.  Ree-diculous!

My local dealership is OK. I wish they had parts in stock more often, but they are nice people. They always help me select the right thing and get it in as fast as they can. As for the markup, I think it isn't nearly as bad as everyone always complains about. With shipping and minimum order requirements from some places, the dealership is pretty much the same. For tiny parts, they are often cheaper because they don't charge flat rate shipping like other places do. For instance, try to go to bikebandit and buy a crush washer for the oil drain plug. It costs $.90, but the minimum shipping cost is $5.95. The dealer will sell me the same crush washer for something like $1.20. Sure, that's a $.30 markup over the bikebandit price, but that price includes the cost of getting it all the way into my hands. Another thing I've noticed is that bikebandit and the dealer seem to sell parts a bit differently. I can get things at the dealer that are only available online as parts of assemblies, which is another reason to pay their slightly higher prices. Another gripe about many of the online retailers: most of them are in California anyways, so I have to pay 10% sales tax no matter where I go. With no break on sales tax and high shipping cost for small stuff like gaskets and bolts, the dealer is the clear winner every time. Plus, they have people I can go talk to who will do things like tell me how many of a particular part my bike is supposed to have and all kinds of other important information like that.

Yeah, I guess my only gripe is about not having thing on hand. They do try to get it too me quickly. When I got my bar ends we looked through the catalogue together and they charged me what bike bandit would have charged without the shipping cost.

they only thing that has ever really pissed me off is when I had to get fairing bolts and I had to pay $6 for three bolts! WTF the motorcycle clinic was going to give them to me but they didn't have the size! I really don't do OEM from them or anyone cause goodness they are expensive like $70 for a mirror!

One of the service guys at my dealer rides an '04 black gs! But, it is oh my goodness ugly! But, overall it is a good place. When I bought my bike my friend who bought his bike there too got a $50 gift card for "referring" me! We got chain lube and polish and I got a pair of rear brake pads. They told me if I referred anyone I'd get $50 gift card too. I like that!

Mary

well here is my experience with stealership...  i have a service contract with them and they really do a good job me thinks...  however... i ask them while they were changing a part on the left side of the engine that required them taking off the sprocket cover..  if they can change the sprocket for me if i buy it from them..  they said they would need to charge me 30 minute of labor.. as it takes that long to change a sprocket....   

well i did it on my own.. with never messing with motorcycle.. took... 30 minutes..    so right then and there.. i know the service side..they do what they can to get money off of you.

the parts side.. always ordered what i wanted an not much more than buying from internet.

Quoteso right then and there.. i know the service side..they do what they can to get money off of you.

Depends on the dealership too... we would not charge for that since we're in there

I will probably never purchase another bike from the dealer I got my Boulevard at.  This dealership moves a LOT of bikes, I mean if you don't buy whatever you're looking at, it is almost guaranteed to be sold within the next 36hrs.  Because of that, they won't budge a penny on the price of their bikes.  I can take a 2 hr trip to West Virginia and save quite a bit of money (wish I knew this before buying my M50). 

However, I do like their parts and accessories departments.  Most of the guys in accessories are tools.  Young punks who think they know everything, and don't give a damn about customer service.  They just want to sell you an item.  One guy however, is uber-knowledgeable, and I try to always speak with him when looking for new gear.

The parts guys are pretty cool.  They've always been able to help me find parts and order them.  I do agree with the others, in that it's stupid that they don't stock some of the things you would expect them to stock.  However, I still go to them because sometimes I don't know what part I'm looking for, but can describe it, and they can find it.

Never used a service department.  I refuse to pay that kind of money.  The cheapest I've seen an oil change is $80.  I'm not paying that.  They now want about $40 to change the rear end oil in my Boulevard (it's a shaft drive).  That, and the 600 mile service?  My dealer wants $480 plus parts, so total around $600.  Wait a minute.  I just dropped thousands upon thousands of dollars for a new bike.  I don't have another $600 to shell out for the service.  Besides, if you put it together properly, then you won't really need to inspect most of that stuff anyway.

Merritt:

Hang on a second!  They're making you PAY for your break-in service?  I only bought a new bike once and it was included in the deal, but that was 1983!  My bike was marked-down from $3199 to $2399, as it was a year-old model, but I paid the marked price.

I can't tell if you're being facetious or not.

On one hand, I think the break in service should be part of the price.

On the other hand, I do understand they are a business and have to charge something.

However, I think what they want me to pay for the service is quite high.

Merritt:

Not facetious, I was serious.  If you pay full price that should be included as far as I'm concerned.  Now, if a customer chews them down every last nickel, I can understand that stuff going away, but even so, $600 is absolutely outrageous!  How can a brand-new bike need $480 in parts anyway?  4-valves/cylinder and the shims are made of solid platinum?  I feel your pain, man! I can understand why they sell so many bikes where you are.  Tons of government and military.  Next time save some dough and shop in working class neighborhoods!

Was a little miffed today. Had to wait 45 mins to order the knob for the trip meter! Then it came up to $9.46 for it. I had to pay $1.86 for the screw! I'm sure I could have waited a few weeks here and probably hunted up a knob but I need my trip meter to be functional. I've ran out plenty of times with it can't imagine life without it!

So, a little bummed today but the guy was really nice an apologized profusely because the manager had just left when all hell broke loose.

BTW some spanish guy came in and bought $600 of off road gear and paid in Cash. I think he was also buying dirt bike and paying it all in cash he had this massive Roll of hundreds. Who on earth besides thugs and drug dealers carry that much cash on them in this day and age. I'm not even a theif and muttured how easy it would have been to grab the money he was flaunting and run out the door jump in the vert and be long gone. Would ditch the car cause the wad he had I could just buy another LOL!

Ahh this recession is tough on everyone but him apparently!

Mary

I think a lot of these comments are unfair. If you want a real answer you need to ask people with recent experience of the buying/trading-in experience and who use a dealer for regular servicing or have had a recent warranty repair. Not many people in this forum fit that criteria. I ceratinly dont, I only ever bought from a dealer once and that was in 1984! The exception to this is OEM parts, you will need them from time to time, the GS5 is an old bike and not as popular as it once was, expecting dealers to tie up their cash and stock every spare part for it is unreasonable and you can source just about everything you need via the net. If cash isnt a big issue, when you buy a part double up and keep it yourself as a spare.............. As for the price of accessories and gear, yeah they are expensive but  no-one forces you to buy from them.

i buy everything off the net its faster and easier for me to look online and find what i need and for me to drive to the. dealor is over an hr away so for me the gas i would waste driving there its about same as shipping costs for me.