Crazy service cost KTM

bdalameda

bdalameda

PaleoCyclist
Joined
Jan 13, 2009
Messages
1,955
Age
68
Location
Salinas, California
Bike
Africa Twin
My oldest son Josh bought a new KTM 890 Duke a few weeks ago. Yesterday he took it into the dealer he bought it from for the first 600 mile service. He waited just an hour for the bike and was shocked when he was presented with a bill for $535.00. This was basically just an oil and filter change and they had the bike for an hour. When the service manager tried to tell him that the first service was very complex, he told him they had the bike for an hour, that's it. The shop rate was 100.00 an hour and the bike takes about 3 qts of oil plus the filter. The manager tried to then tell him that this was a flat rate for the service. He refused to pay that much for it and said he was calling KTM customer service. The manage then reduced the price to 250.00 which is still high but he paid it and left. He won't return to that dealer ever and will be doing his own servicing. I am sure this had nothing to do with the bike brand, just a bad dealer policy.
 
I rarely take any of my vehicles in to the dealer, but IF I do, I always get an estimate BEFORE signing anything, or handing over the keys.
I DO agree that the cost for the 600 mile service was exorbitant, but shouldn’t he have asked about price before committing to the service?
 
You’d be paying three times what they tried to charge your kid for the cost of a BMW 1600!
And….i question if they really even changed the oil, or checked the critical fasteners, or even looked at the engine.
I used to make a habit out of marking fasteners with model paint before I dropped ANY bike off at ANY dealer etc.
It would scare you at how many shops I caught lying about stuff they claimed to have done, yet the paint was not disturbed.
 
bdalameda said:
My oldest son Josh bought a new KTM 890 Duke a few weeks ago. Yesterday he took it into the dealer he bought it from for the first 600 mile service. He waited just an hour for the bike and was shocked when he was presented with a bill for $535.00. This was basically just an oil and filter change and they had the bike for an hour. When the service manager tried to tell him that the first service was very complex, he told him they had the bike for an hour, that's it. The shop rate was 100.00 an hour and the bike takes about 3 qts of oil plus the filter. The manager tried to then tell him that this was a flat rate for the service. He refused to pay that much for it and said he was calling KTM customer service. The manage then reduced the price to 250.00 which is still high but he paid it and left. He won't return to that dealer ever and will be doing his own servicing. I am sure this had nothing to do with the bike brand, just a bad dealer policy.
Click to expand...
Sounds like something the moto cafe often does.
 
klaproth said:
I rarely take any of my vehicles in to the dealer, but IF I do, I always get an estimate BEFORE signing anything, or handing over the keys.
I DO agree that the cost for the 600 mile service was exorbitant, but shouldn’t he have asked about price before committing to the service?
Click to expand...
They should have given him an estimate by law. I'm not sure why that didn't happen and yes he should have asked.

I've seen him replace turbine engines in Bell Jet rangers and rebuild engines in old Bell 47 helicopters so I think he will be able to do his own services in the future but maybe his old man might give him some tips if he needs some help:).
 
it's called... ransom. When the kidnapper drops the demand by more than half the hostage is usually dead, tell them well, you might as well just keep it, see what happens then.
 
This is NOT an isolated incident, as over on the Royal Enfield forum, stories of triple digit first, second and continuing charges are rife in that brand too. All that is required at first service on their models is an oil/filter change and valve inspection, for prices up to $600. Some owners who double checked after the service have found the valves had not been adjusted at all.

Dealer ripoff seems to be more the norm nowadays.
 
when I bought my 92 Accord in 93, the quarterly service costs were $700.00 and you had to fufill the requirement of the waranty to maintain the warranty; in other words, for the 24, 48, 72, 96 k duration, you had to pay $2,800 bucks. Then, you were haranged for an extended waranty, i think it was I dunno $2,400 ? can't remember, anyway...
Why do you buy a new car? I mean why? When I told Honda Canada that if anything whatsoever happened to my new car that I'm racing [literally] off the lot before your very eyes happens within the first year, that is gonna be your problem, when they told me that I needed an extended warranty, I told them that "are you telling me that my Honda Canada new warranty is going to be somehow defunct if I do not buy your dealership warranty?" they shoved the papers at me and I drove off. They were choked, couldn't get any extra money off of me. We destroyed that car [385 km] I did all the routine maintenance and_
__ that everyone else broke over twenty five years, it was a great car,
It's extortion, I still remember they brought the giggling girls into the room when I was signing the final documents; these were the girls that were there to embarass you into paying 700 dollars to have someone spray scotchguard [ does anyone remember scotchguard? ] on the seat of your new car.
I gotta be honest, i said [it was a bit like a quenten terentino movie, which I hadn't even seen yet] I said _____ you ain't gonna sell me a ______ thing, giggling girls, left, aftersales lady flicks [only time I ever use this word] the final order over to me, I sign it, not very pleasant, thank you Honda Canada.
 
I'm so over trusting any dealers, im glad he got it reduced, even though it seems like he was overcharged horribly.
I have a similar story, I recently bought a used jeep because I hit a deer with my car. After I'm done with the sales guy, I get sent to the finance guy to wrap things up. New to me was the whole transaction in digital format. The finance cheat had an iPad, his first thing was to upsell four things, Gap insurance, service plan, LoJack tracker and ceramic coating for the paint.
I took the stylus and declined each. The finance cheat took the stylus and turned the LoJack back on. I told him that I just refused that and I didn't want it. He said "well, it's already on there, and we cant take it off, but it won't change the purchase price"
But checking this will bring up the contract just to activate it if you want to use it. Anywho I sign, and because of the digital format you really can't see the numbers change as we are adding/subtracting items.
When I get home, I load the paperwork from the flash drive they gave me, and sure enough, they charged me $995 for the stupid LoJack, next day I went in and lit that guy up, he told me nothing he could do and I was stuck with it, a couple days later I called his boss, and explained that "His employee" turned on the LoJack after I declined it, without much fanfare, he asked me what I wanted, I told him ALL the money from the LoJack. He said DONE! And I got the check a few days later. But had I not been persistent, they would have just ripped me off and still somehow look at themselves in the mirror and be OK with it.
And to boot, after I signed everything, he tried to ping the LoJack, and didn't get a response, service guy came in and said that there wasn't one on it, so apparently they installed one in just 5 minutes. Grrrr...
I will never darken their doors again!!!
 
"Marketplace" a Canadian consumer affairs program that has been on CBC for about 45 seasons did a show about a franchise lube shop that upsold brake fluid changes, coolant flushes, transmission fluid changes and power steering fluid changes very aggressively. Mechanics had checked test vehicles before and after they went in the shop and aside from the fact the work was not required often the work was not even done, total rip off.

.

 
I always ask the price first before even considering bringing my car/motorcycle in for service. The high prices I get usually change my mind about doing it myself. :)
I agree with Red One, this is an age old game of "lets try the high price and see what happens" Most people will just pay the outrageous fee and move on.
Hard to find an honest dealership/garage.
Good on your son to speak up and question that foolish price tag.
 
I worked at a "Jiffy Lube" place one summer right out of high school. I lasted 3 days. I could not believe the "shortcuts" and down right fraud they committed. If your car came in and had the same brand oil filter on it from a previous visit, they would wipe the outside of the oil filter "clean" with a rag and not change it.

To this day, it is why I change my own oil in everything I own. I generally do all of my own maintenance.
 
Just one more reason I don't buy new vehicles, as a rule. We've had good experiences with CarMax here in Alabama, but they couldn't find me a used Element in my price range, so I went out of town for that one.
Nearly all my bikes were bought from private sellers, after my first new one when I was 16 and didn't know better. The 1250 GSA at RawHyde is technically a demo, but comes with the 36mo new bike warranty, and classes and an overland ride that literally would have cost several thousand dollars.
Dealerships also never work on my vehicles, although independent auto shops can be as costly if you don't watch out.
I'm not that great a mechanic, so I look for great support groups like st-owners.com.
So thanks to you all!
 
And, on the other side of the coin, my trusted auto mechanic just replaced the valve cover gasket on my 89 Accord and refused payment from me. He said his records showed that he had replaced it 4 years ago and used an aftermarket gasket - and it should not have failed. This year he replaced the front disks on our Highlander - the brakes were pulsing - a year and a half after he put the new ones on. He said he was able to get his supplier to warranty them - but he would not accept any money from me for labor.

I'd bet @Igofar would like this guy. There ARE good honest mechanics out there. You just have to find them.
 
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