Parts for Italian Hondas.

[Andym]

Another thing - what if a part fails under warranty? Will I have to source a replacement from somewhere and pay for it myself? Otherwise I am off the road for 6 months. And my scooter is my only transport.

Warranty is a commercial contract between the buyer and the dealer. Like any commercial contract there are three ways to end it.

1. Deliver
2. Declare Force Majure and wait
3. Breach it and fight the outcome.

Assuming 1 isn't commercially viable, 2 comes next. If suppliers factory had it's electrical supply destroyed by an ice storm (as the 2021-23 chip shortage) a court will agree. They'll take the manufacturers word for it that a Bosch spark plug is not a technically appropriate replacement for an NGK etc. (EU rules are great for this), so the consumer is told $#1£ happens, wait. The contracts are very well written, the manufacturer is only responsible for getting the part eventually, bus fair isn't their problem. If you don't agree to this they don't sell you the vehicle.

You can move to option 3. Honda have a legal department on salaries. The consumer has a wills and conveyancing bloke. The case will go on until someone runs out of money and it won't be Honda.

Margins on most Automotive production is so low that when you multiply it by the volumes made, this is the only behaviour that works. It's a total house of cards, borrowed money used to meet pension commitments etc. If a major manufacturer failed to keep it's plates spinning we'd all feel it.

Andy

[Orcadian]

Very interesting breakdown of the reality Andy,
For me, living in Orkney, warranty (6 years in the case of my ADV 350) is a total waste of time and money. For me to keep up this ethereal contract, I would have to take the bike back to Aberdeen (ferries, overnight accommodation, fuel) for each time it needs a service. Yes, my fault for living in such a fantastic place, so I do all my own servicing and repairs, thus voiding the warranty. If I buy premium bonds with the money saved, I can buy a new bike unless very unlucky. I am in the very fortunate position to just buy another anyway, if it goes bang seriously and it's not my only means of transport. I think safety recalls would have to be done, legally but I'm sure they would even find a way out of that too!
The only vehicle I could buy here in Orkney is a Ford - the only franchised dealer left and I'd rather have a push bike than any of their offerings.

MOSW - what does this gasket look like, can one of us not make one for you?

Ian

[Andym]

I live 6 miles/ 30 minutes from Padgetts. Give me 400 miles/3 weeks and I'll "invalidate" the warranty on my 750.

I'll use genuine filters, take photos and have paperwork I can waive regarding my competence, so might stand a chance in a warranty fight unrelated to oil etc. Honestly, I think the lower risk is me using grease, measuring fluids etc. than Padgetts YTS lad setting the chain up for Agincourt/Crecy while listening to that Bryan Adams song.

A tip or two from someone who's had the fun of rejecting warranty claims at household name vehicle builders:

1. Claim at the start of the month. Everyone has targets. It's easy to cough 5% of your budget on the 1st than 999% of what's left on the 29th.

2. It's a negotiation, so offer something. Mr. Shouty lawyer, you ruined my kiddies birthday, compo now, gets told to do one. Mr. OK, I get it, I'll cover some labour, gets paid to go away. We are employees. We have to nice to you but other decisions can be based on how we feel about working with you.

I wouldn't wait for Honda on a gasket. Prototype shop, hand cut or even liquid sealants would get you mobile. Another reason not to use a dealership, independents think independently.

Andy

[knight2]

It seems car parts can be a risky business, on September 25th 2025 First Brands Group a very large North American car parts supplier filed for bankrupcy with debts between 9 to 10 billion dollars having assets of 1 billion and cash of 12 million. In 2024 thier turnover was 5 billion dollars, even then you'd think somebody might have noticed a slight discrepency.

[Ministerofsillywalks]

My dealer (an independent not a dealership) has a pattern gasket ready to fit. Before that they used a liquid sealant as a temporary fix. All is waiting on the belt and rollers. If they haven't arrived by Tuesday (2 weeks after ordering them) I will get them on Ebay (I have found them already) and take them in to have them fitted.

On warranties, there seem to be so many ways round them they are worth F-all. So if I buy a new scooter and a part fails under warranty I will have to pay for a replacement myself. I have thought of sueing the importers/manufacturers through a solicitor on the basis that they (say) I have a period of warranty during which if there is a fault they will cough up to rectify it. It is a legally binding contract. Just like there is on a washing machine for example. But from what I have read in the posts so far they will just wriggle their way out of it. The only option left is to take it back to the dealer and claim 'unfit for purpose'. But all that will happen then is again they will wriggle their way out of it.

Fortunately, with the quality of scooters these days, especially with the big players like Honda, the chances of anything failing is pretty remote. I hope. Certainly, with the 6 scooters I have bought new (a Peugeot, a Malaguti, 2 Suzukis and 2 SYMs) I haven't had anything go wrong under warranty. So it is unlikely to be an issue anyway.

i would love to know what experiences people have had with new cars that went wrong under warranty.

[knight2]

MOSW wrote
Fortunately, with the quality of scooters these days, especially with the big players like Honda, the chances of anything failing is pretty remote. I hope. Certainly, with the 6 scooters I have bought new (a Peugeot, a Malaguti, 2 Suzukis and 2 SYMs) I haven't had anything go wrong under warranty. So it is unlikely to be an issue anyway.

This is something I have been meaning to ask,. Surely with modern bikes and scooters it's not likely to be a problem, the last time I bought a new bike was in 1966, the 12th of August actually so I don't have any personal experience.

[Orcadian]

Knight2, I agree that modern bikes, scooters (and cars) are 'generally' trouble free in the warranty period but like all forms of insurance, the companies play on your fear - the 'what if' scenario. So most folk are taken in by the thought that everything will be fine for the 6 years or whatever, warranty period, when in reality, you have to pay dearly for that peace of mind and might end up out of pocket. I've done about 1300 trouble free miles on my ADV 350 since March and it hasn't gone bang yet!
The reason I traded the Forza in was the notchy steering head bearings - by no means an isolated case and couldn't be bothered 'engineering out' the sub-standard setup for something better. Honda know full well there is a problem but choose to ignore it and tell customers it's wear and tear.
Like Andy, I do regular oil and filter changes and keep on top of my own servicing and would also, as a time served aero engineer, fight them if something major went wrong - probably with no satisfactory result.

Ian

[Andym]

No major manufacturer has a component failure rate above 5 ppm for any significant period. Even if you multiply 5ppm by the 10-100k components you get failure rates at well under one in a thousand. That's 999 people who bought new vehicles and just used them.

The current trend for long warranty offers is IMHO a marketing ploy. There are many buyers who are fearful because their skill sets are not as suitable as they used to be. You can't fix a computer with even Snap-On spanners. There is the possibility to get these owners onto a subscription model, the accountants dream, with the security blanket (at only £7.99 per month subject to T's & C's). If this had even the slightest risk to Honda, they didn't think they could control the claims either by production control or rejection of claims, they would not be offering it.

I had a new bike survey after the 750 arrived. Very tellingly they asked where if would be serviced and expressed disappointment that if would not be a franchised workshop.

In the last 30+ years I've made three warranty claims. BMW failed because I was too young, self-rightous, unskilled to play their system. Two successful against Moto-Guzzi, a gearbox I suspect the dealer didn't put oil in given the haste at which they offered a new bike and a display where I joined forces with tge dealer (Teasdales) to convince Piaggio UK we were not the sort of people you should hack off. These shed-built hobby bikes are a bigger risk, with such low volumes they have a lot less power over their supply chain.

Glad things are coming together on the repair

Andy