Dealership said No

[Barlock]

I wanted to remove two useless gauges (fuel and temperature) by disconnecting them and having their equivalents to appear on my central display. Then have those disconnected gauges replaced by a dash power socket for my GPS and a digital voltmeter. I bought all spare parts and wire harness.
When I called my dealer and asked them for a quote, he absolutely categorically refused to do that, because my spare parts are after market, which means they are not BRP original ones.
I could also do it all myself, but I'm afraid that would affect my warranty.
Thoughts?

[Chupaca]

I would do it. I can not see those add ons affecting your warranty. Dealers can be fussy about aftermarket products on vehicles with factory warranties. We have seen a great many doing similar and more...

[Gray Ghost]

I could also do it all myself, but I'm afraid that would affect my warranty.
Thoughts?

Look up the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act online. Basically the federal law says that for something to affect your warranty, the dealer must be able to show that the non-OEM part was the cause of the failure.

[cptjam]

Find a new dealer.
Do it yourself. Takes just a few minutes.

[BikerDoc]

Find a new dealer.
Do it yourself. Takes just a few minutes.

You definitely need a new dealer no matter what you do on the gauges. This one is either a liar or incompetent or more likely both

[ARCTIC]

I can totally understand why they don't want to do the customization portion

[Bob Denman]

Well; it won't void your warranty as long as your wiring is done correctly, and poses no electrical issues...
Try another dealer: GOOD ADVICE!

[Barlock]

Thanks everyone for your advices. Most of them are about finding a new dealer, and that is exactly what I cannot do. There is only one BRP dealer in town with 2 locations in different parts of city.

[ARtraveler]

The disconnect is a 5 minute job or so. Even I, Mr. Non Mechanical, was able to accomplish the disconnect. Can't possibly see why it would affect the warranty. When the analog gauges are disconnected the digital gauges pop up automatic. They are also more accurate than the previous to 2014 analogs.

Adding other gauges is another question. My dealer would also not do that for me. No word was said about voiding the warranty though.

Sounds like you are on your own to install different gauges.

[SNOOPY]

Thanks everyone for your advices. Most of them are about finding a new dealer, and that is exactly what I cannot do. There is only one BRP dealer in town with 2 locations in different parts of city.

How about another cycle shop?

Dont think that such a thing is proprietary to a BRP product, any good tech can do an install.

And even perhaps the service writer at your other BRP dealer is more lenient toward such things...

[NetJunkie]

Since it's after market the warranty impact is the same no matter if you do it or the dealer does it. And the impact only matters if you cause a problem due to the wiring...it won't just void a warranty.

[rcturner]

I believe that most dealers would not even consider doing this. Taking the old gauges out should be no big deal. The issue would center around the pieces you brought into the dealership to have installed. If there is a problem with them, your dealer would have the original cost of their work plus any labor and/or materials that they needed to incur to correct the problems related to your parts. To them, it simply is not worth the potential hassle plus, if they charged you $75 plus per hour to work on these issues, you won't be very happy with them. It is simply a lose lose situation for them and a potential hassle they don't need.

[MouthPiece]

How about another cycle shop?

Dont think that such a thing is proprietary to a BRP product, any good tech can do an install.

And even perhaps the service writer at your other BRP dealer is more lenient toward such things...

Excellent suggestion. There are some "cycle shops" out there (and perhaps in your town) that will work on spyders. We had one here in Sanford, Flarda, "scooters" until he/John decided to move about 20 miles east of here. He owns a spyder, but works on motorcycles and does some work on spyders too.

Perhaps you might have someone like this too?

Chris

[Pennyrick]

Thanks everyone for your advices. Most of them are about finding a new dealer, and that is exactly what I cannot do. There is only one BRP dealer in town with 2 locations in different parts of city.

Given your situation perhaps a second approach to someone in more authority at the dealership may be in order. I would explain that there are hundreds (maybe thousands) of Spyder owners who have added auxiliary gauges to their machines and many of those have been done at Can Am dealerships.

I installed the voltmeter myself but the OP gauge seemed out of my league so I had the dealer install it when the first service was due. I supplied the gauge and the adapter required and it was installed with no problem.

Attached is a copy of the OP gauge work order from my files. Note how the dealer covers themselves in the print at the bottom of the order by saying 'parts carry a warranty through their respective manufacturer'. You might want to share this information with them.

As it turned out I could have done the install myself after watching it done but now that it is added, I have yet another way to monitor the performance of my Spyder and that would seem to be an important factor.

[bluestratos]

Since technically the gauges are optional they should at least able to remove them. He may have an issue with installing aftermarket but then will he install anything aftermarket? Lights? Muffler? They cannot deny warranty unless the actual problem is directly related to the aftermarket part so he is wrong but he can refuse to install anything they feel they are not competent to do.

Take the bike to the other dealer for the install, use the local dealer for the low brow stuff and warranty work.

[Barlock]

Given your situation perhaps a second approach to someone in more authority at the dealership may be in order. I would explain that there are hundreds (maybe thousands) of Spyder owners who have added auxiliary gauges to their machines and many of those have been done at Can Am dealerships.

Attached is a copy of the OP gauge work order from my files. Note how the dealer covers themselves in the print at the bottom of the order by saying 'parts carry a warranty through their respective manufacturer'. You might want to share this information with them.

Thank you. This sounds like a very good suggestion. I will try and see what happens.

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Look up the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act online. Basically the federal law says that for something to affect your warranty, the dealer must be able to show that the non-OEM part was the cause of the failure.

Oops. Doesn't apply north of the border!

[Gray Ghost]

Oops. Doesn't apply north of the border!

Missed that. Thanks for the catch

[Barlock]

Oops. Doesn't apply north of the border!

It may not apply directly as a law, I agree, but the logic should still apply. Shouldn't it?
In any case, what I've learned from this conversation is that at the end of the day I'm on my own in sorting this out and no dealer would step up to the plate to help me. Oh well ... not a big deal - not a first (and not a last) time in my life when I need to make those kinds of decisions.
Thanks everyone and cheers.

[Rick H.]

The dealership guys are just trying to avoid a potential problem with the customer supplied parts. They obviously must have enough customer service work waiting in the wings that they don't need anymore work i.e. income. I would check at a few more dealers. Most will install anything you want as long as you pay for their time and what you want to install is street legal in your area. The obvious "out" for them is to put a disclaimer on the work order that stipulates they are not responsible for the performance of any customer supplied parts. In my area the install/labor would likely be covered for 30 to days 90, but no dealership warranty would be given on the parts themselves. Strange situation and one that literally takes food off the plate of the dealership. Not very good business sense for the dealer.

Rick