Originally Posted by A12
Also nothing new with "paying" to have a dealer install an "option" or feature on motorcycles now. Motorcycle manufactures are charging, on some lower than top of the line models, where some features are baked into the original selling (MSRP) price for things like self canceling turn signals, addition of heated grips and heated seats, remapping for aftermarket or manufacture accessory (legal) exhaust system. Would you really expect to get your car tuned or re-jetted by a dealer or even a performance shop for free? As for the "Right to Repair" that's an issue that I'm behind as far as protecting the mechanics and dealers that pay to be a franchised dealer and have to pay their bills and their mechanics and their manufacture's spent lots and lots of time to develope certain aspects of their product so why should they give it away free? Harley Davidson has had to deal with this for decades with local non-Harley repair shops hanging a Harley-Davidson sign out front of some old gas station bike shop. Then when they screw up someone's bike on a repair or tune up they don't get the bad reputation for the botched repair and $#!t running Harley Davidson does. You can still do 99.9% of the repairs and adjustments without the factory data or special electronic equipment and JD, Harley, Honda, Chrysler, etc., are NOT going to hand over data and the programs they spent millions of dollars to develop for free so their dealers could make an income and protect their franchised business. Funny how my best friend had to pay Snap-On a fee of around $600 to update his Snap-On OBD scan tool.......I said you could go to Autozone and pick up a scan tool for less than a hundred bucks...........he looked at me sideways and I said "just joking" lol. No one is stopping anyone from working on anything if they want to work on something......the worst that happens is not warrantable, no free repair parts and no diagnostic tools or data for free to make the repair quick, easy, cheap and correct. The local franchised dealer gets to pay their overhead and pay their employees and the employees get to feed their familes and pay their mortgage and pay their go to work vehicle bills too. If you were a John Deere dealer you would hope that John Deere would go to bat for you to protect your franchised business that you have, in some case millions of dollars invested and in most cases for decades. Want to work on your combine you're more than welcome to do so..........just don't head over to the JD dealer and ask them to borrow their diagnostic equipment for a day or two........better to go to NAPA or Tractor Supply Company and see if they have a $100 JD combine scan tool you can borrow for free wink


As hard as that was to read, I think I got your point. The real problem with your scenario is that the 'stealerships' around here charge $150 an hour. Are barely competent. And are not very efficient. Without real competition, this will only get worse.

For an example, just look at service parts. Who here goes to the auto manufacturer for most wear items? When was the last time you bought wiper blades or bulbs or filters or brake pads from the dealer. You don't do that. And that's because they are not competitive and offer nothing for the additional cost. That is the same problem they have with service. But now they have figured out a way to FORCE some of us to deal with them. Some of us, but not me. No new vehicles. Not now, not ever. Just wait a few years, let the aftermarket catch up, and buy used.

Master, again and still