Took it in for Service

[G-Strad]

Just posted this on the SpyderTalk forum and thought I would post here also.

Just wanted to vent a little on my experience today. Took my 2008 GS, #265, in for an oil change. I typically do all of my own maintenance but haven't had time to get everything together. Made the appointment two weeks ago. Was given a quote at that time. They had some recall stuff to check anyway so I decided to just get the oil and filter done. Quote was $158. Way too much but will support the closest dealer on things like this, occasionally.

Rode up today and dropped it off at approximately 9am. Looked around and we left the dealer around 9:20am. The bike hadn't been taken in to the shop when we were leaving. Was told it would be after noon, anyway. So I get a call at 10:32am saying everything is done and ready to go. We had some lunch and did some shopping and went to pick it up. Went to pay and was hit with a much larger bill than quoted. I asked what was going on because I am not prepared to pay that much. The service writer went through the charges. Oil and filter parts, oil change labor, not charged warranty work, scanned system and reset old overheat code.

Now the interesting part. They had 2 1/2 hours of labor on the bill!!!!!!!! I asked how that could be when they only had it for 70 minutes and called to say it was ready. Service writer said the tech did all of the items and he had 1.3 hours for oil change only. I walked out, grabbed my cell phone and showed him his call time to me. I was getting irritated and said how can you charge 2 1/2 hours when you called me just over an hour after we left, and it wasn't in the shop when we drove out! I said I will not pay that amount and would not be coming back with shady crap like this going on. He immediately deleted all of the excess labor and my bill was not the quoted amount. I expressed my displeasure with this experience and he said he was just going by what the tech entered. I asked if it looked a little, actually a lot, suspect with the time frame. He did agree and apologized.

No more dealer service at this location. Will find another dealer. Will defintely do my own basic maintenance from now on. Did they change the oil and filter? I have not idea. I will be checking the oil tomorrow!

If anyone would like to know who the dealer is, send me a PM and I will reply. I hate to just throw their name out blatantly, even though they blatantly tried to screw me. Their mistake was calling too soon, dumb asses!

 

[ARtraveler]

$350 is pretty standard for an oil change/check over service. 2.5 hours is also typical. Sorry they quoted you lower and then upped the ante.

Hope you have better luck when you take it to other servicing dealer.

 

[G-Strad]

$350 is pretty standard for an oil change/check over service. 2.5 hours is also typical. Sorry they quoted you lower and then upped the ante.

Hope you have better luck when you take it to other servicing dealer.

I understand what costs can be for dealer service and their almost $100/hr labor rates. The problem with my experience yesterday was the fact the dealer actually worked on the bike around one hour total but tried to charge 2 1/2 hours of labor. The math doesn't add up. Only thing I can come up with is they were running diagnostics at the same time as doing oil change and basically double charged the time. Whatever the excuse, it wasn't on the up and up in my opinion.

 

[Chupaca]

Here's the thing..!!

Tech's work with the flat rate which is what brp allows for that kind of work. (generally warranty work). If they are good and work well many can do it in less time but still put down the flat rate. Not to say some may be lazy and cut corners to finish sooner. The service writer in many cases does not know and just calls and charges. Don't know what polocies are being used today but if they quoted you a price it should be as close as posibble. If I should happen to need something from them thats where I start (what is your shop rate and what is the flate rate). Then check it with the brp times on hand...sorry you had to go through that..:banghead:

 

[retirednick]

Maybe there should be some kind of SPYDERLOVERS Razzie award to those dealers that just love to stick it to ya. Shop Rate here in Edmonton is $115 an hour. No one gets out the door for less than $300 on an oil change.

 

[AY4B]

This type of stuff is what makes me regret my Spyder purchase. It is also why Can Am will Fail. I was not informed about how high the maintenance is until after my purchase. I have had my 600 mile service done and now my belt seems looser than before and the engine knocks when cold although that just may be the gas.
Last year I purchaced a new F150 Ford truck. Ford gives you a years worth of free oil chainges, and after that is up, The costs are not bad for an ecoboost engine. The time involved is not that much different, The Spyder uses less oil but a few more parts. The Labor charges per hour are the same as well but I can right now take my truck in for an oil change+ for about a third of what Can Am charges. pps:

 

[Gray Ghost]

... I can right now take my truck in for an oil change+ for about a third of what Can Am charges. pps:

Consider your truck for a moment. To put oil in you just lift the hood and unscrew a cap. Draining the oil, you just slide under, remove one drain bolt and unscrew the filter. Now, have you seen what needs to be done to drain the oil from your Spyder? Any bike that has a large amount of tupperware covering up the internals is going to be more costly to maintain that one that has easy access to all areas that need regular maintenance.

Some shops sell prepaid maintenance plans that cover a certain amount of services/months. Some sell plans that are unlimited services for a certain time frame. Or you can learn to do your own minor maintenance and only use the dealer for the major items. But I don't think Can-Am is going to fail because oil changes are expensive. Heck, I am still riding my 2013 RT even though the recall fix hasn't been applied yet.

 

[Bob Denman]

:agree:
And if you think that the Spyder is the only bike that has high maintenance costs... think again! :shocked:

Due diligence: before the purchase! :thumbup:

 

[Tango]

Try getting a BMW serviced! :yikes: Or a Gold Wing with a valve adjustment! A full service on my CSC Trike and Gold Wing was $330. Valves were another $600-$800. Spyder 4,000 mile service was $300. Same dealer for both. :thumbup: Tom :spyder:

 

[MouthPiece]

Sounds like how a lawyer charges his billable hours. <smiles>

Chris

 

[jcthorne]

The real problem with this situation is if the BRP flat rate is 2.5hrs for the service and it was done in 60 minutes, ALL the work prescribed for the service was NOT done.

A good mechanic that has done many can beat the flat rate hours by a bit, 15 MAYBE 25%. Simply not possible to do the work in 35% of the alloted time.

Therefore, we have a situation where the dealer fraudulently charged for work NOT DONE. Which to me is a safety concern much worse than simple over billing.

Until BRP gets thier dealer service network in order, they will never be all that successful.

 

[bronzeflex42]

I plan on taking mine to my dealer which is about 70 miles from me, so thanks for the heads up on what to expect for cost. :shocked:

 

[AY4B]

Consider your truck for a moment. To put oil in you just lift the hood and unscrew a cap. Draining the oil, you just slide under, remove one drain bolt and unscrew the filter. Now, have you seen what needs to be done to drain the oil from your Spyder? Any bike that has a large amount of tupperware covering up the internals is going to be more costly to maintain that one that has easy access to all areas that need regular maintenance.

Some shops sell prepaid maintenance plans that cover a certain amount of services/months. Some sell plans that are unlimited services for a certain time frame. Or you can learn to do your own minor maintenance and only use the dealer for the major items. But I don't think Can-Am is going to fail because oil changes are expensive. Heck, I am still riding my 2013 RT even though the recall fix hasn't been applied yet.

An Ecoboost has hard pans under both the motor and transmission. Its not like changing the oil on a '69 Chevy. You have to remove the transmission shield to get to the drain plug and part of the motor shield to get to the filter. It holds 6 quarts of oil.
I will start doing my own oil changes on the Spyder. Yes it will take me longer the first time but after that I will know how to do it just as fast as they can. The OP said less than an hour.

 

[AY4B]

My last bike was a Yamaha Royal star Tour Deluxe. Thats one step down from a Venture. It has a high revving 1300 with Quad Carbs that had to be synced. I had to buy the right gauges and learn but thats what the owners did. I belonged to a Forum that shared the knowledge and helped each other on how to make it run at top efficiency. I even had one guy come over to help a few times. It seems like Can Am tries to discourage people from working on their own stuff.

 

[wd8ajj]

150 was my charge. 79.00 for the RT kit an 1 hour labor @ 100.00 but dealer gave me a disc on that.

Books shows 1 hour max for an oil change per BRP and the dealer input.

 

[G-Strad]

To Top Off My Experience

As you can tell, I am not openly giving out the business name.



Now, here is my next issue. On Tuesday, I started the bike up and let it warm up to operating temp. Backed it into the garage and took the panels off to check the oil, just because I wasn't sure of what happened at the dealer. After getting the panels off, I started it up and let it run about a minute or so. Shut off and unscrewed dip stick, wiped off and screwed back in, removed and checked level. To my surprise, there was maybe an 1/8" on the end of the stick!!! Added oil in small amounts and went through the same prep before checking. Finally got it up to correct level. Probably needed a half quart at the most. This is the icing on that dealer's cake. Will never go back. Their math stinks and saving a little oil on each oil change saves bottom line. Maybe I am being negatively biased, but, I feel I have a right to be.



Anyone familiar with Twin Cities Can-Am in Roseville, CA??? May head down there next time.