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Are peoples expectations to high these days?

1K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  American 
#1 ·
This is an interesting question, seems the Honda Goldwing crowd thinks Honda should give customers a brand new Goldwing if you have a major failure.

Let me explain, there have been a couple of blown engines on the new Honda Goldwing, there are some videos about it on YouTube. Listening to one of the videos there was an owner of a Goldwing who had his engine blow up, Honda refunded his money on his motorcycle and made a deal at full retail price for a replacement Goldwing.

The Honda crowd all crow about how great Honda was for doing that but I think they have failed to understand what Honda is really doing in that case.

They did not just take his old 2018 Goldwing and give hime a brand new Goldwing, they bought his 2018 Goldwing back from him for the price he paid for it, then they sold him a brand new Goldwing to replace his old one, in the end the guy while getting a new motorcycle really did not see any financial benefit from the deal.

Having said that nice that Honda did what they did, but the reason Honda did it was because they wanted that motorcycle back so they could go over it with a fine tooth comb. That way they could do a complete tear down with their engineers to figure out why the engine expired.

On to the question I ask in the title, when we buy a new vehicle we enter into a contract with the manufacture, say they provide a 3 year 50,000 mile warranty, they agree to fix all but what are considered wear items like brake pads, clutches, ect., you purchasing the vehicle agree that if the vehicle has a problem you will take it to the dealer who then fixes the problem under said warranty and you get the vehicle back with no charge to you.

Reading the comments on the YouTube video they all overwhelmingly think Honda should just give you a new motorcycle no questions asked. If any manufacture had to do that every time there was a failure they would quickly go out of business. I also don't think those commenters understand that the one person who Honda bought his 2018 Goldwing back by paying him the same price he paid for it did not really get a new Goldwing from Honda, he had to turn around and purchase a new Goldwing at full retail price so if he got a deal on the first Goldwing he lost that on the second one because he was paying full price. Also there was a loan that likely had to be paid off on the first Goldwing bought back by Honda so again I am not seeing where that guy made out financially and likely ended up with a little bigger loan and having to start all over from payment number one. Now he probably was only into the first loan for no more than 3 to 6 months but still.

The reason I am asking about this is because there is a second Goldwing that dropped a valve into one of the cylinders and they are all posting Honda needs to step up and give this guy a new Goldwing off the showroom floor, even if Honda stepped up it would be the same type of deal as with the other Goldwing owner and Honda would buy the motorcycle back for what he paid for it and then he would have to pay off the loan with that money then he would have to pay full retail for his new replacement Goldwing and start off again with payment number one.

Honda would only be buying the bike to tear it down at the factory so their engineers could examine what happened, but they only need to do that once or twice before that becomes a non benefit for Honda.

This second Goldwing has a little over 2,000 miles on it but the owner heard a knocking noise then he goes and makes a video posting it on YouTube of him starting the engine and revving it up so everyone could hear his engine knock, not a very smart move on his part.

Both owners entered into a contract agreeing if something happened and that would include an engine failure that Honda would cover it under warranty and fix the motorcycle that was bought, nothing in the warranty says you get a new motorcycle off the showroom floor. I think people are just becoming more and more unreasonable on their expectations.

It is not like you buy a drill and it stops working after using it for 20 minutes and you package it back up and take it back to the store and they give you a new one, that drill likely cost you under $100 dollars so it is not a huge financial issue for it to be replaced in that manner.

Vehicles on the other hand are far more expensive in the case of a Goldwing you are looking at retail pricing in the $28,000 dollar range, they are not simply an item you take back to the dealer and drive off with a new one from their showroom. The dealer fixes what ever the problem was and the manufacture covers the cost at no charge to you a fair and agreed upon part of the deal.

I know everyone would like to just be given a brand new replacement vehicle but if you step back and look at what that really entails it is clear that is really unreasonable.

As pointed out above the first owner really was not given a new replacement Goldwing, Honda bought his Goldwing for what he paid for it, the man then has to settle the original loan and then Honda agreed to sell him a brand new Goldwing at full retail price, where is this great deal and what really did the first owner benefit from except he no longer has the first bike that had the engine failure and instead had to purchase a replacement Goldwing at full retail price.

Lets face it Honda is not going to do that deal except for a couple of early failures for their engineers to examine the entire motorcycle. After that it makes no financial since for any manufacture to continue to buy back motorcycles that had a failure when their only requirement is to fix the motorcycle under warranty at their cost.
 
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#2 ·
I agree in many respects.
As long as the Mfg. makes it right and does it in a timely fashion, I don't see a problem.
Expecting a new MC is a bit overboard unless there are multiple issues and it's a real lemon.

I've always thought that most big box stores have too liberal of a return policy. People abuse it all the time. Now they've come to expect too much.


On the other hand, I have purchased items that were pure junk and returned them. I used to try to put everything back in the box real neat just like it came. Now I don't waste time doing that. If I'm missing a small part I'll call the mfg. and ask for them to send it QUICKLY. If takes too long to get the part I'll give them lots of negative reviews. Business's are run by people. People make mistakes, we all do. The difference between a good business and a bad business is how they handle mistakes.

QC at many mfg's is lacking today. You can read online reviews and see that. One of the big problems is that little is made here in the states any more. It is all made across the big pond and put in packaging that has the US companies name on it. The US company has no idea about the QC until it's too late.
 
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#3 · (Edited)
some people think a vehicle is more than the sum of its parts

there was a vette owner several years back, nearly brand new car, at the dealership for something

an employee took it for a joy ride and hit something, taking a front wheel off the car

dealership fixed it perfectly, but the owner wanted the dealership to give him a brand new car

..... because... its not just a car, its a "VETTE" and once its been crashed it will never be the same again


replacing an entire engine just because it ate a valve is pretty generous

replacing the entire bike ?! some people dont understand how machines are made, assembled, and what makes them run

its not expectations, its ignorance

these are the same people screaming for a refund at the min-wage cashier lady at McDonalds because their $1 cheeseburger didnt have a pickle on it
 
#4 · (Edited)
Many people do expect to much IME. You see it on all the auto forums. It's all about the sense of entitlement that many people have these days.

For the guy who had to buy a new Gold Wing at full MSRP, yeah he took a hit. But that's the risk we all take when we buy anything. You have to ask yourself, would you rather spend a little of your own money and get a brand new bike, or would you rather some dealer worked on the old one and repaired it? I don't like anyone working on my vehicles any more than absolutely necessary, because no matter how good they are at their job, the vehicle is never in showroom condition when you get it back. The term of the warranty is that they have to repair it. If you get a new one, count yourself lucky, or at least I would.

Often the selling dealer will step in and at least give you the best deal they can on the replacement. So having to pay full MSRP is a bit unusual, but you have to lay that on the dealer, not Honda. Makes me wonder how much crap the guy gave his dealer at the beginning of his issue.
 
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#6 ·
I am not criticizing what Honda did, they did step up but we all know why they did it and that was to have the motorcycle to figure out why it failed, it is the owners in the comment sections/forums that I think are being unrealistic like many of you have pointed out.

To many people feel like their are entitled these days no matter what it is. My wife works as a manager in a restaurant and you would not believe the scams people pull to get a free meal. There was one woman who would come and order a steak dinner every time and always when she had one bite left she would have the server get a manager and low and behold there would be a hair on the plate and this happened every time with this woman.

Then you have the people who eat then get up and walk out without paying for their meal, that is a much bigger problem than people know.

People learned that if they complained at a restaurant they could get the restaurant to pick up the cost of their meal, if that did not happen they learned that they could complain to corporate and they would get a card sent to them good for a free meal or a dollar amount in the case of my wife's current employer it is a $50.00 gold card but they do record who they are sending these gold cards to because this has become such a huge scam so if someones name keeps appearing they won't send them any more gold cards.
 
#5 ·
I’ve owned Honda’s before and they do have great customer service. One of the programs that they have run for years regarding their Goldwings is this.
They randomly select an owner with wing that was bought new and have had it for 2 years. They then come in and offer the owner a BRAND NEW Goldwing and all they OWE is whatever was on the original loan! They then take the bike back to factory and tear it apart
To examine actual “field wear” on a bike and of course look for anything indicating a possible problem.
Pretty good on their part.
 
#7 ·
Thinking about your example a little more - and it kinda pisses me off that the guy had to pay MSRP for a replacement bike. I assume there was a dealership involved, as in my experience that is the only way a vehicle is delivered to a customer. So basically that dealership made big money off the customer's misfortune, more than would be made on a normally negotiated sale. Not sure if I should be pissed at Honda corp, but maybe. They could have done a little arm-twisting on the dealer too.

But then, I know better than to accept every internet story at face value, so it doesn't affect my opinion of Honda at all.
 
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