shellbydave question

[wyliec]

Is BRP perfect? No. They do have a lot of growing to do as far as support for this machine. I too would like to see a better reins on the dealers, weed out the bad ones, train more techs, etc..., but that doesn't take away the enjoyment we are having with Spyder ownership.

From what I've read since I started on here, I've heard over and over that the dealer doesn't make much money on warranty work. I have also read on here that many spyderlovers do their own service/maintenance and those that do say others should learn how to do it also. I have absolutely no idea the percent of owners that do their own work.

If a dealer determines that most of the spyder work is warranty, do you think the dealer will pay top dollar for a good tech? My opinion is they'll get a tech who will work for less many and the dealer will continue on their merry way.

Isn't this a 'catch 22' situation? Now, this is where this may go sideways. If you (not you in particular) want excellent techs at your disposal, but only want warranty work done by the dealer, are you not part of the problem?

I am by no means saying that you or anyone else here shouldn't do their own service work. I am justing asking a question.

Sorry I misspelled your screen name. There's no way to change the thread title.

 

[shelbydave]

Ok. You had to do it huh?

This is perfect case of "perception is reality", or "Let's see if we can spin his comments against him"... Not knowing you personally, I'll go with the first case above, and HOPE it isn't the latter...

You highlighted "Train more Techs"... I'll start there. There's a difference between proficient, and excellent. You used excellent, I intended proficient - to the extent that they have been through the BRP training, or at the very least, the technician that HAS been through the training oversees / inspects the work of the other techs working on the machine. I also meant that if another cycle shop (Harley, Honda, whatever...) wanted to be certified to work on Spyders, BRP should allow them to attend training, and get BUDS. I can practically spit in any direction and hit a Harley dealer - not the case with Spyders. It would also be nice to see them monitoring the dealers. If too many people complain about the service, put them on notice, and yank the cert if no improvement is seen.

As far as people doing their own maintenance, and ONLY going to the dealer for warranty work, I can agree with you that it hurts the network, but it also isn't good for the owner. Things are constantly changing, and updating, and to NEVER have a certified tech look at the machine is only asking for trouble. I do my own oil changes when the schedule doesn't call for anything else, but when other things are required - the 14,000 mile valve check, that goes to the dealer. I also keep an eye out for any programming updates, and if needed, to the dealer I go. To NEVER use a dealer is just asking for a problematic Spyder. BTW... I do the same with my vehicles. Oil changes, simple servicing is done by me... Transmission flush, and etc... to the dealer. it just makes my life easier, and I like it when a trained tech gets to see the car on a somewhat regular basis...

I hope that clears up my position...

 

[Ga Blue Knight]

I have to agree here. I would be very satisfied if my local dealer had a single tech who attended any certification training with BRP. Even a computer driven course would be ok. I completely amazes me that a Dealer can operate with no certified techs whose only work experience is on ATV's, HD or Victory MC's. I was also amazed at the Owners Event where BRP had new vehicle demos, which was a great idea and highly appreciated, where the guy giving the orientation talk told all of the participants to shift at 3,000 RPMs. This is just not right.

 

[WackyDan]

Gut feel is that most Spyder owners rely on their dealers for full service of their Spyders. Maybe I am wrong. I am one of those that thinks nothing about changing my own oil, replacing my broken trunk release cable, plugs, etc.

I change my own oil because the amount of $$ the dealer charges is a bit high. Furthermore, I should not have to drop my Spyder off at a dealer and let them sit on it a week for a simple oil change. Otherwise they get to do all the more major maintenance/scheduled items. I see no conflict there as I do the same on our other vehicles.

These dealers are private mom and pop businesses with peak and off peak seasons. I understand that completely. They are balancing how much manpower to employ and how much dedicated training a tech should get versus working on a few bikes at $80+ per hour. With many of these dealers representing multiple brands, the demands on training time versus revenue by each brand sometimes takes a back seat to actual billable work. BRP like many vendors probably goes as this with a carrot and stick approach... "We'll give you some co-marketing dollars this quarter if you have one tech pass the Spyder tech 101 or 102 course". We did that all the time in the IT industry to get dealers to tow the line.

We also would pull a business partner's "charter" to represent our brand if they deviated being ethically run, did not work towards our best interest, etc.

I would suggest that BRP leverage the carrot and stick approach with a bit more "stick" on some of these dealers. Problem is, there are not a lot of Spyder dealers so BRP would be hurting themselves in that market at the same time.

 

[wyliec]

Thanks Dave. I wasn't trying to spin it against you. I've asked the question before and never got a response. You just happened to make mention of what I bolded; so, I thought I ask my question again.

 

[shelbydave]

Thanks Dave. I wasn't trying to spin it against you. I've asked the question before and never got a response. You just happened to make mention of what I bolded; so, I thought I ask my question again.

No prob! I hope I clarified it for you! People can hope for a perfect experience, but always expect less. If anybody's benchmark for satisfactory lies at perfect, they will always be disappointed.

When we had our house build, I had to fill out a survey on my experience - simple grading from 0 to 9 - lowest to highest. I NEVER give perfect scores, as there is always room for improvement, so I gave our sales rep 7's and 8's, but mostly 8's. I got a call a couple weeks later from him, and he was apologizing, and wondering what he did wrong. I had to explain that I had no "complaints" about the process, however, we did have a couple hiccups. I guess he got reamed a good one from the company because he got less than perfect scores.... It just goes to the perception thing... My perception of satisfactory on that scale was 6 to 7, and his boss expected 9 across the board. I had to tell them that he would have had to walk across a swimming pool without getting his ankles wet for me to give him a 9.