I have run out of patience with BRP.

[Lone Spyder Ryder]

When I had my 2008 Spyder and I started having problems with my Spyder and complained about in on the SpyderLovers.com and SpyderTalk.com the majority of members of these 2 Spyder sites inferred that part of the problem was my impatience with the dealers and BRP.
After the loss of my 2008 Spyder to fire, I very foolishly bought a 2009. The power steering failed and turned me into the oncoming traffic lane. Thank goodness I was in a residential area and there was no oncoming traffic. I was trying to counter steer and when the steering released from whatever was going on I dam near flipped it.
I had also started smelling gas again. At a little over 5000 miles the front tires have uneven and excessive ware on the inside. It has stalled and died 2 times and has never had the passing power the 08 had. The gas mileage in 10 mpg lower than the 08.
You did not see any post from me about these problems because I didn’t want to be a “trouble maker or complainer”.
Four weeks ago I took it to Twin Cities Motor Sports in Roseville, CA. Although It is not the dealer I bought the Spyder from it is a lot closer to me than the Lodi dealer and they have to certified Spyder mechanics.
I contacted Carlo at BRP. I was unable to talk to him put he called me back and left me a message saying that although he was going on a 2 week vacation and that he had started a file and had a case number for Twin Cities Motor Sports to use and that the techs working on the Spyder would be able to get any authorization that they would need to work on the Spyder. Twin Cities Motor Sports has not been able to get any kind of response from BRP.
I waited 1 week after Carlo was back from vacation to see if Carlo would respond to Twin Cities Motor Sports request for authorization to work on the Spyder. There was no response from Carlos so I emailed him. I have never got any response to that email so on July 7 I sent this email to all the people at BRP that I have a email address for. As of now 10:30 am July 11 I have not heard from anyone.
The message below is a request for help with the problems I am having with the New 2009 Spyder. It has been in the shop 17 working days and Twin Cities Motorsports in Roseville, Ca. and they have not been able to get any response from your tech support as to what they can do about fixing these problems. So I am sending this request for to all BRP employees that I have a email address to and maybe someone can call and talk to Chris the Twin Cities Motorsports Shop manager.



Carlo,
It has been 3 weeks since I took my 2009 Spyder SM5 into Twin Cities Motorsports in Roseville, Ca.
my problems are as follows;
Potently life threaten safely issues:
1. DPS Steering unit turned me into the on-coming lane, and had there been a car coming I would have been seriously injured and or killed. When the steering "released" I almost flipped the Spyder do to the amount of pressure I was using to try and steer in back into my lane.
2. I can smelling fuel at different times. No particular time or situation. I can smell gas at highway speeds and at stops. I have stopped or pulled over to see if I could find any sign of gas leaks but have yet to find any. This has occurred 5 or 6 times in the last 2000 miles. I know for a fact this is serious.
Non threaten issues:
1. It seems to me that the 2009 have at least a 15 to 20 percent decrease in power from the 2009. The passing and climbing power are noticeably less.
2. I have what I consider is worse front inside tire ware than even my 2008 had and I have had the wheel and tires balanced and checked twice since putting the BRP 6 Spoke rims on. Since the day I picked it up it has not felt the same. I ride the same 100 to 800 mile trips on many of the same roads. I ride slower than I did before so things should be close to the same when it comes to gas mileage, tire ware, and performance. Since the 2009 is a year new I would think if nothing else it should have improved some and it certainly hasn’t.
3. I am getting anywhere from 10 to 15 MPG less on the 2009 (low as 21 mpg, high 25 mpg) then I got on my 2008. I got low as 30 mpg, high 35 mpg). I feel that there is something wrong.
So those are the problems that I have and would like to have fixed.
I took the Spyder into Twin Cities Motorsports in Roseville, Ca. I talked to the owner and I also let him listen to the voice mail that you left me before you left for your vacation. They have the reference number you gave me.
So far 3 weeks later they tell me they cannot get any authorization from BRP for anything test or work they wish to do.
I am trying very hard to handle my issues in a more tolerant manner but to be honest it don’t appear to get any better response from BRP than the way I handled it before. I guess it’s back to the same old song and dance.
Dealer blames BRP, BRP blames the dealer or rider.
Personally I am sick of the sos. This is my first response to the lack of customer service care.
Your Temporary Complaint Number (TCN) was: FBN30-10728
Your complaint identification number (ODI Number) is: 10411083
The ODI Number listed above can be used to view your complaint on our website. It is a direct link to your complaint and can also be entered in the Search Complaints section of our site. Your complaint should become available for viewing within three business days of this notice.
Thank you for helping in our quest to improve the safety of our Nation's roadways for all of the motoring public. NHTSA technical staff members review this information to identify potential safety problems. While you may or may not be contacted by a NHTSA investigator to clarify the information submitted, all reports are reviewed and analyzed for potential defect trends. The NHTSA complaint database provides valuable information to other consumers and to manufacturers.
Thank you,
Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)
In closing this post I would like to say this.
If I had not had the steering problem I would not have filed the above report, but like it or not the Spyder has some serious problems that can very well get someone killed.

 

[retiredsquid]

Yet, we are expected to advertise for BRP at every stop for fuel or to rest.:dontknow:

 

[angel]

Sorry to hear about you problems but not surprised.

We called Cam Am and emailed them and Carlo about a problem we had on the 09 where the Hard bag came unlocked ans opened all the way dragging the ground.

2 calls and 2 emails and we gave up and worked thought John at Givi he took care of us in a week. Then over a month later we get a call from Can Am on a Friday. they lady said she was following up on and email she got 30 days ago.

I asked why she waited so long to contact us. she says we wait to see if the problem had been resolved!!!!

They did not know it had been taken care of
and argued with us in the fact that they said your bag cant open and touch the ground on you 2011 PE and read off a SN . Told her we dont have a PE we have 2 GSs
Seems they had placed Nomads SN on us
any event once informed I took care of it she wanted to hear noting else I had to say about their CS ans hung up

Sure glad I was not stalled out somewhere if they wait 30 days to FU

 

[spyder3]

"I asked why she waited so long to contact us. she says we wait to see if the problem had been resolved!!!!"

:cus: It's no wonder how every issue turns into a disaster. They let things escalate until the owner has no choice but to kick and scream.....That has to be the STUPIDEST response i've ever heard.

They spend enough money on commercials, maybe hire some customer service people instead and watch how fast things grow without all the negativity that surrounds the spyder. It just makes me scratch my head.:lecturef_smilie:

 

[SpyderAnn01]

This won't make you feel any better but the owner's manual says that uneven front tire wear is normal.

 

[ARtraveler]

Sorry you are having issues again with your 2009.

I am happy that I have a good dealer who has taken care of any issues encountered--with minimal hassle to me. I have ranted a little about customer service and follow up from BRP based on the experiences I have read from others.

The continuing threads about lack of communication between dealer/BRP or BRP/customer is a situation that should be addressed and improved upon by BRP and the dealer network.

Ongoing problems and lack of cooperation/unwillingness to solve problems in a timely way, are the things that eventually can bring a company down.

I do think that it is time for BRP to have more than a couple people that can deal with problems and authorize fixes. There are now to many machines out there to wait for weeks and months at a time to solve an issue.

The anger level that is caused by this practice reverberates down and we get a lot of inquires from potential Spyder owners wondering about the reliability of Spyders and the competency of the dealer network in fixing issues and problems. opcorn:opcorn:

Keep us posted Leoejr.

 

[Raptor]

It truly saddens me to hear this. It's a shame to read what is going on out there now. The level of discontent is growing rapidly, and the openly arrogant attitude of BRP seems to have towards its customers is irresponsible at best. It's obvious to me that as the rider base grows BRP is not growing their support infrastructure to keep pace. Are you out there, BRP? Are you reading? Do you even care? I for one am starting to wonder.

I used to really chat the Spyder up to people when I would be approached at fuel stops and so on. I don't any more. I do not bash the product either, for I still have faith that the situation can be turned around, so I keep my comments nuetral. But I don't even ride 14 enough any more to even have to worry about that. It's now just riding the pine as a backup machine. Tragic and pathetic, considering how much I paid for that darned thing.

Others have mentioned it and I have to agree; the best thing that could happen is for another company to come along and build a better inverse trike machine which at this point, let's face, will not be hard to do. This will either make BRP step up it's game or just stay this course and be defeated.

 

[arntufun]

These kinds of postings seem to me are almost a everyday thread now. From now on we all should tell everybody that comes to this site or we meet on the street inquiring about the Spyder not to get one. To be honest guys and girls, if the Spyder population grows anymore than it already is were screwed with the current dealer service networks. We would be down the entire riding season for people that get snow.

But it's ok to advertise like crazy and give Spyders away in contests, but when it comes to service BRP falls flat on there face. And BRP only has one guy in the whole USA to call to get action (CARLO) ??? That my friends is total BS !!!

Thank god they did not change anything of importance on the 2012 line-up. I know the Techs would just go postal wondering how to fix it. The other posters are right, if another company makes a reverse trike bye bye Spyder not because I don't love it but because getting it fixed is a :cus:. I'm not going to wait a month or more for my spyder sitting in the shop for any kind of service. And it will come to that if BRP keeps this :cus: up. Please BRP sell the Spyder rights to Arctic Cat or the big four.

 

[spyder3]

:agree:nojoke

 

[boborgera]

:agree:nojoke

:agree:And double nojokenojoke

 

[kentompkins]

I am troubled by discussions like this. They seem to come in waves. I don't at all doubt that leoejr has had serious problems with his Spyder. Indeed, the previous one burned. His frustration is understandable and we ought to support him in getting action on his problem.

What troubles me is the litany of complaints about the Spyder and BRP. We don't have an accurate figure of how many Spyders have been sold though someone said they had heard 20K. How many out of that number have burned, had DPS problems, hesitation problems? Let's imagine that 1000 owners have had any one of these problems. That leaves 19,000 who haven't.

Owners like Nancy's Toy, Lamonster, BajaRon and others have consistently -- and I believe rightly -- pointed out that the vast number of owners seem happy with their bikes, that other brands have similar problems, that these sorts of problems can be expected with totally new designs like the Spyder has. The few do not speak for the many.

I am NOT ignoring nor defending the slowness and lack of response on BRP's part. But these are complex issues. I would guess that for every person who has had difficulty like leoejr has apparently had, there are three who have been helped quickly and efficiently by Carlo. We seldom hear about these folks.

Would it not be better for a few of the active posters here to help leoejr by calling his dealer and asking why the delay? Would we not be helping him more by contacting Carlo and asking him to expeditiously respond? Why do we wait for Lamont to make that contact.

We talk much here about the constant help SpyderLovers is to our efforts to modify, fix, design, repair our beloved Spyders. And it is right we do so. But if this is the community that we loudly proclaim, what are we doing AS A COMMUNITY to help one of our members? Perhaps it is time to show dealers and, if necessary, BRP that the community we talk about is also a community that acts in support of its members.

ken tompkins

 

[fastfraser]

:dontknow:

These kinds of postings seem to me are almost a everyday thread now. From now on we all should tell everybody that comes to this site or we meet on the street inquiring about the Spider not to get one. To be honest guys and girls, if the Spyder population grows anymore than it already is were screwed with the current dealer service networks. We would be down the entire riding season for people that get snow.



The only way to build the dealer network is to buy more Spyders. Negative post do little to help sell Spyders !

The Spyder is only 4 years young and has experienced huge growth and development since its inception. As in any new product growing pains are common . I'm sorry that a small percentage of people are having trouble, but to tell people to stop buying the Spyder ,a little extreme ! :dontknow:

 

[aka1004]

Welcome to my world...
2 years 8 month of ownership, 1 year in shop, 24 warranty repairs, 7 tows and currently in shop.
Yet I am considering another one... Most if not all spyders with big, multiple problems have been 08 and 09's, right? ray:
even my service writer thinks I am nuts to consider another spyder. pps:
But... It is best ryde with any number if wheels, I do admit when it's not in Shop. :gaah:

 

[ivanlee]

I am troubled by discussions like this. They seem to come in waves. I don't at all doubt that leoejr has had serious problems with his Spyder. Indeed, the previous one burned. His frustration is understandable and we ought to support him in getting action on his problem.

What troubles me is the litany of complaints about the Spyder and BRP. We don't have an accurate figure of how many Spyders have been sold though someone said they had heard 20K. How many out of that number have burned, had DPS problems, hesitation problems? Let's imagine that 1000 owners have had any one of these problems. That leaves 19,000 who haven't.

Owners like Nancy's Toy, Lamonster, BajaRon and others have consistently -- and I believe rightly -- pointed out that the vast number of owners seem happy with their bikes, that other brands have similar problems, that these sorts of problems can be expected with totally new designs like the Spyder has. The few do not speak for the many.

I am NOT ignoring nor defending the slowness and lack of response on BRP's part. But these are complex issues. I would guess that for every person who has had difficulty like leoejr has apparently had, there are three who have been helped quickly and efficiently by Carlo. We seldom hear about these folks.

Would it not be better for a few of the active posters here to help leoejr by calling his dealer and asking why the delay? Would we not be helping him more by contacting Carlo and asking him to expeditiously respond? Why do we wait for Lamont to make that contact.

We talk much here about the constant help SpyderLovers is to our efforts to modify, fix, design, repair our beloved Spyders. And it is right we do so. But if this is the community that we loudly proclaim, what are we doing AS A COMMUNITY to help one of our members? Perhaps it is time to show dealers and, if necessary, BRP that the community we talk about is also a community that acts in support of its members.

ken tompkins

I AGREE :agree:

 

[spyder3]

"The only way to build the dealer network is to buy more Spyders. Negative post do little to help sell Spyders !"

The current rate of sales certainly seems robust by most accounts. The problem is not enough qualified technicians or dealers to deal with all the different issues. Then you have BRP slow shipping parts, slow authorizing repairshun and what almost seems like....if they delay long enough the problem will go away by itself.

If your going to grow the product you have to grow the support system just as fast, if not faster.

If Lamont was in charge of just spyderlover.com owner issues, I bet you would not have nearly the amount of negative :cus: on here. The guy just gets :cus: done.

Why not start right here BRP.

 

[aka1004]

These are not just "negative" posts but problems stated.
I know most spyder owners are happy with their spyders but just because you don't have much of issue with your spyder, when someone posts their problems, these should not be just labeled as complainers that posts negative things about beloved spyder.

I loved my spyder and still have some love left even now and I tried not to post my problems here much but my frustration is just boiling over now and I am at the end of my rope.

 

[wyliec]

Would we not be helping him more by contacting Carlo and asking him to expeditiously respond? Why do we wait for Lamont to make that contact.

ken tompkins

Ken,

I contacted Carlo last year sometime around Sept. regarding a problem with my spyder that was similar to someone else's. This someone I'm speaking of posted here and was quite upset and everyone posting to his thread was upset for him. I mentioned this thread to Carlo and Carlo told me that neither he nor BRP could discuss another owner's problem.

On a side note, Carlo did get my problem resolved.

 

[ARtraveler]

I don't want to start a controversy here--but--I am not reading where anyone was posting not to buy spyders.

I am getting that there are complaints about communication between dealers/BRP/and customers concerning repair issues.

Dealers are keeping spyders hostage for long periods of time.

Customers can't get issues solved because the only one or two people in charge are away on vacations or personal things.

These are problems that should be fixed so that customers can drive the machine they spent their hard earned money on.

These machines cost as much or more than some cars.

I believe it is fair to expect better service than some are receiving. The issues of late have not been posted by perpetual complainers--but seem to be mostly legitimate complaints.

What a lot of us are saying is they need to fix a system that does not work well.

 

[Rando]

If Lamont was in charge of just spyderlover.com owner issues, I bet you would not have nearly the amount of negative :cus: on here. The guy just gets :cus: done. Why not start right here BRP.

BRP should hire another person to work with Carlo and that person should be Lamonster!

 

[retiredsquid]

I contained BRP about a problem affecting every trailer sold in Arkansas and every state with MC sized license plates and was told it was not BRP's problem. Very arrogant and technically illegal on their part.