Is there a Warranty Transfer Fee?

[gkamer]

A question came up in a discussion the other day about whether or not BRP charges a fee to transfer a warranty from one owner to the next. Some said only if it's an extended warranty, others said it makes no difference. What's the consensus here?

[Wmoater]

In both skidoo and can -am (SXS and wheelers) both are directly transferable ( factory and BEST) most factory are 2 years and BEST can be done up to 5 years total ( 2+3). BEST can only be purchased 1 time. It travels with the vin number so if new owner goes to a different dealer all that dealer does is pull up the vin number and the computer will say when it ends. The owner is not registered with the vin the actual machine is registered with the vin. I have not tried with spyder but know sleds and SXS are done this way for sure. Have done it and sold it several times. There is no fee for transfer. The machine is the transfer not the person.

[Wmoater]

Here are 2 specific examples. I sold a 2019 skidoo freeride. The skidoo had 2 years factory warranty and also had the 3 year BEST. I sold the sled in 2021 before the factory warranty ended. The new owner needed warranty work done last season and he lives in Wisconsin. He simply took the skidoo freeride to his dealer and the dealer said he had warranty till December of 2024 under the BEST that i had purchased originally. Here is another example. I purchased a SXS demo version maverick from a guy in NY that couldn’t make payments in 2019 when covid hit. I needed work done on it. I took it to the dealer and he pulled up the warranty. I still had 3 months of factory warranty on it. I purchased BEST for and extended 3 years for it. I was not the original owner but since BEST was never purchased on that machine and vin I was able to. I sold a 2015 mountain sled skidoo that also had BEST left on it and the next owner was able to use it.

[gkamer]

That's what I thought. I was pretty sure the warranty was connected to the vehicle and not the person. The question came up when someone in my group mentioned they had seen a For Sale item on a Spyder and the seller was asking for a forty dollar warranty transfer fee. I took the position the seller was just trying to recoup some money spent on the extended warranty but they would have been better served to just roll that extra cost into the over all sale price rather then make it a separate fee.

[Wmoater]

In the skidoo realm it is not uncommon for a person to raise the price or sell the sled at a higher price because of the 3 extra years to recoop the cost and or use it as a selling point. Our price for the spyder 3 year BEST is half the cost of sleds and SXS BEST if bought at Imotorsports. I’ll be honest, most guys will add $500 more to the expected cost and let the buyer knock them back down a bit and still get what they originally wanted if the BEST is active especially on mountain sleds and Freerides. These sled types get beat up quite a bit. Thats what they are made for! I agree with you gkamer. They should have just included in overall selling price not making it sound like a dishonest fee. I find that all the times on facebook marketplace and laugh. There’s all kinds of tactics they try to get a buck. Shop wisely and research before buying anything. Now this only deal with factory and BEST. If the previous owner bought a different extended warranty, dealer warranty or something different than BEST, that might be different. There might be a fee but that company would have to deal with that. BEST and factory go with the vin numbers.

[ARtraveler]

I have not heard of anyone having to pay a warranty "transfer fee" from BRP on the BEST warranty.

They did something right on this one.

[gkamer]

OK, I got some clarification on this. Seems this extended warrant is from a third party outfit so I guess it makes sense they would charge a transfer fee.