warranty questions on new bike

[Aleksandrm]

So I just today purchased a new 650R ninja and it was just delivered an hour ago. Looks beautiful, can't wait to ride it (raining and dark right now). I went ahead and forked out $500 on a 3 year warranty, and I've got some questions on that. I know that its generally not considered worth it, but with my terrible luck with vehicle reliability I thought it best to take the plunge.

I did see this thread online though, and it's got me concerned:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...6105154AAi35mU

The guy here bought an extended warranty and read that it can be voided if the bike isn't maintained at the dealership. I don't want to be bound to this dealership for repairs. I'm sure theyre very expensive, and it's quite a drive away from me. Am I really bound to this dealership for all service and maintenance, or can I take it to a highly reputable and much closer place next to my house? The place next to my house is a shop, but they also sell Kawasaki so they are probably considered a dealer as well. Will they suffice, or must it be the dealer that sold the warranty?

If so, then I really can't justify keeping this extended warranty...

[Dodsfall]

The dealership does not have to do the maintenance for the warranty to remain intact. The person was mis-informed. Some dealers will imply they have to do it, but it won't say that in the warranty contract.

The maintenance has to be done properly and a record has to be kept. If you do it yourself, be sure to get the service manual and keep a checklist with the date and mileage of each service interval and the work performed.

Keep your receipts and a log of the service completed if you take it to another shop, with the mileage and date of service.

[rexmitchell]

IIRC it is illegal for a dealership to void a warranty if they don't perform the work. Save reciepts and keep good documentation and you should be covered.

[markk53]

Ever consider reading the extended warranty agreement? Really, what if you moved to another state. Unless the dealer is actually the one who owns and sells the warranty service themselves it is highly unlikely you have to do the work there.

The ones we sold would warranty as long as proper maintenance was documented, whether done by shop or self. Of course if you show an oil change but the inside of the engine shows that isn't quite true (we had one with clean oil in the engine, but dirty oil in the filter) you may lose out.

Still, we did some warranty work that was possibly borderline just because of the number of warranties we sold versus the number of claims. The claims could have been disputed, but we didn't. We figured it was fair trade off. Besides we get paid to do the work.

[Aleksandrm]

Originally Posted by markk53

Ever consider reading the extended warranty agreement? Really, what if you moved to another state. Unless the dealer is actually the one who owns and sells the warranty service themselves it is highly unlikely you have to do the work there.

The ones we sold would warranty as long as proper maintenance was documented, whether done by shop or self. Of course if you show an oil change but the inside of the engine shows that isn't quite true (we had one with clean oil in the engine, but dirty oil in the filter) you may lose out.

Still, we did some warranty work that was possibly borderline just because of the number of warranties we sold versus the number of claims. The claims could have been disputed, but we didn't. We figured it was fair trade off. Besides we get paid to do the work.

The warranty agreement hasn't arrived yet, and the dealership did not have more than a vague brochure for me to look at.

And cool, that sounds good. Guess I'll stick with it then.