0
Interesting read found on the AF1 forum....
I normally don't like badmouthing a dealer unless they've done something to me personally, but this is kinda fucked up...and i almost bought an SXV from them before I found the deal at Seacoast
Some of you that have been here for a while may remember me. I was one of the firsts to purchase an 07 SXV 550. Actually, according to the person at the DMV, mine was the first to get plated in New York State. You may also remember my rants regarding Aprilia costumer service and how I felt Aprilia was not standing by their product. I'll explain further.....
I purchased my bike and had some of the problems that most of the 07's had, such as blowing oil into the airbox, hard starting, blown starter, etc. These problems I was fine with and I chucked it up to the price I had to pay to have the funnest, most powerful supermoto on the market.
My problems started with about 2000 miles when my stator bolts came loose and blew the motor. Now, I knew that 07's did not come with a warranty, but my contention was that there was a service bulletin put out by Aprilia stating that the bolts had to be torqued and lock tight was to be used. The bike had been to three dealers for service and it was my argument that one of the dealers should have checked the bolts per the bulletin before they came loose and blew the motor.
So, with this argument I took the bike to Motofit Motorsports in Danbury Connecticut. Mike, the owner, seemed extremely helpful and assured me that he would contact Aprilia and see if he could resolve the problem. This was sometime at the end of the season and I told him that he could hold on to the bike over the Winter, since I had a couple of other bikes in the garage. After the Winter I was in constant contact with the dealer and he assured me that he was doing everything possible, but it would take some time for Aprilia to look at the bike and take the necessary action. Every conversation with the owner of the dealer would end with him reminding me that the bike did not come with a warranty, but he was doing everything possible to keep me happy.
Fast forward several months and countless phone calls and trips to the dealer, and the owners tells me that he thought he could get a brand new 08 motor for me. He then asked me if I would mind paying him for the labor, as Aprilia does not pay him enough hours to install the motor. I told him that it wasn't a problem, as I did not want him to lose any money on me, and that I would pay for whatever labor was involved in installing a motor.
The next phone call came only a couple of days later, when he informed me that Aprilia had declined to warranty the motor. He then told me that he did some checking and was able to get me a motor for half the cost, which has somewhere around $3,600. At the time my thought process was that I'd either pay half price for a motor or part the bike out. I loved the bike and thought that paying half cost for the motor was my best option. I reluctantly told him to do it and agreed to pay the $3,600.
I picked up the bike a week and $3,800 later with a brand new 08 motor. Bike ran fine and I was extrememly happy with the bike. I was not so happy with Aprilia, as I thought they should of stood behind their product, specially since it was the lose stator bolts that caused the motor to blow, which Aprilia was well aware of. I spent lots of time on the forum at that time voicing my displeasure with Aprilia.
A few months later I receive a call from Piaggio USA asking me about my blown motor. I started telling them that the new motor was fine, but voiced my displeasure with Aprilia for not covering the motor under warranty. That's when Holly from Piaggio stated, "But we did pay for the motor." It seems that Aprilia warrantied the motor, but Motofit still charged me $3800 + for a motor that they got from Aprilia at no cost. At the request of Piaggio I did not contact the dealer until they investigated why I was charged for a motor that Aprilia covered under warranty.
Several months later I again spoke with Holly at Piaggio USA, who assured me that the owner of Motofit had a check for me. His story to Aprilia was that he took the money as a deposit and when he realized that the motor was covered, forgot to refund me my deposit. Of course neither Piaggio or myself believed his story, as a deposit would of been taken when the motor was ordered and not when I picked up my bike, but I figured it was the dealer's way to "save face", sort of speak. Not to mention that Mike flat out told me that Aprilia declined the warranty and he was getting me a motor at half cost.
So, I walk into the dealer to collect my check and the first thing the owner says is, "I can't believe you did this to me. I thought we had a deal". He then proceeded to tell me how he bent over backwards for me and was able get me a motor at "half price", and how disappointed he was that I contacted Aprilia. At this point I'm speechless. I walk in and instead of an apology and a check, this idiot is still pretending that he did the right thing and I got some sort of deal. Then someone walks in and starts saying that Aprilia did warranty the motor, but not the labor, and that they had 10 hours invested on my bike. Then he starts talking about storage fees and the fact that my bike was at his place for over a year......now I'm thinking that by the end of the conversation, I'm going to owe this guy another $3000. Of course I lose it and go off on the guy. I told him that we had nothing to talk about and to call me if and when he had a check for me, and walked out of the place.
I did get a full refund from Motofit a couple of days ago, thanks to pressure put on them by Piaggio USA. It seems that I had been blaming Aprilia for not standing by their product, when in fact they had. It was Motofit that not only didn't stand by the product, but decided to charge me $3,800 + for a motor that they received for free. If it wasn't for a call from Holly at Piaggio, I would have never known that the motor was covered and not only been out the money, but worst, I would of thought that this idiot at Motofit Motorsports (that's MOTOFIT MOTORSPORTS IN DANBURY CONNECTICUT) did the right thing for me. Instead he tried to rip me off for almost 4 Grand.
So, Aprilia, I'm sorry for all the mean things I said in this forum. You guys stood by your product and covered my motor, eventhough my bike did not come with a warranty. I appreciate it and will continue to ride Aprilia....as soon as I find a good dealer. And thank you Holly for the countless phone calls. I appreciate all you did for me.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by DBConz
same here with an SM610, talked with him a few times an nearly put a deposit down, then found my 690SM in the classifieds here 
