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Dealer tricked me - how did they do it?

They drained the oil into a dirty pan, jb welded the old plug in then poured the oil back in. No problem noted lol
 
The dealership gave him back his money, no need to out them.

Glad they made good on their mistake, I think they were smart enough to know that if push came to shove, they could be proven to be at fault. You can't fix something like that without leaving traces of what you did.
 
What I want to know is why did anyone change the oil or touch the drain plugs at 300 miles? When I used to sell bikes, my manager was super anal about everything in service costing us money in turn costing me my paychecks as the service department piled on services to stock inventory. I find it hard to believe the dealer would change the oil and agree to changing it again at 600 miles, personally
 
I’m not sure I understand how you get a bolt that spins freely like that OP is describing on the bottom side of a engine and it doesn’t fall out? I mean the only thing holding it in is the threads...
 
so it's sitting on the sales floor with a stripped out / repaired oil drain plug for the next unsuspecting buyer?
 
We don't know that as the OP never found out what the real problem was. Could be as simple as a missing crush washer or O ring and the bolt didn't have a full length threads to accommodate said washer or O ring.
I think there is another side to the story.
Who has a 600 mile service done at 300 miles?
 
Maybe you don't out the dealership, and maybe you do post the VIN of the bike so when they try to sell it as 'pristine' in a couple weeks (providing they have not already) the new owner might have half a chance of figuring out WTF is wrong with their new bike.
 
Maybe you don't out the dealership, and maybe you do post the VIN of the bike so when they try to sell it as 'pristine' in a couple weeks (providing they have not already) the new owner might have half a chance of figuring out WTF is wrong with their new bike.
This!

If they screwed the OP, chances are good they'd do it again. Most dealers aren't that willing to give someone their money back unless they know they're guilty. Seems suspicious to me.
 
The OP may not have been the first person to return the bike, or even the second...
 
They threw in a drain that’s bigger. Not uncommon. Maybe remove and check thread pitch and size.

They thew in a drain. Do you mean they put in an insert or something?
I'm trying to imagine it.
 
They thew in a drain. Do you mean they put in an insert or something?
I'm trying to imagine it.

Oversized self-tapping plug, heli-coil, whatever.
Makes no difference to me. I'd want a new pan and nothing less. A self tapper is just straight-up unacceptable to me and while Heli-coil is okay to band-aid an exhaust stud or some other similar fixed, non-fluid related fastener it has no business being in a situation where the bolt will continuously be removed and then re-torqued....like an oil pan drain plug for instance. That's just a "tag, your it" fix. It just fucks over the next guy to deal with it somewhere down the road.
Just my :2cents
 
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Ask them for a picture of the drain bolt. :rofl

In all seriousness I hope it is not, because I hand picked them to do routine services on my bike, beating out Fremont Honda and GP Sports since The Motor Cafe can't do Honda services anymore.

However, looking at the OP, they live in Palo Alto and used a trailer, so could be likely. I'll try to give the benefit of the doubt though.
 
Oversized self-tapping plug, heli-coil, whatever.
Makes no difference to me. I'd want a new pan and nothing less. A self tapper is just straight-up unacceptable to me and while Heli-coil is okay to band-aid an exhaust stud or some other similar fixed, non-fluid related fastener it has no business being in a situation where the bolt will continuously be removed and then re-torqued....like an oil pan drain plug for instance. That's just a "tag, your it" fix. It just fucks over the next guy to deal with it somewhere down the road.
Just my :2cents

I had a helicoiled plug seat on a '69 Porsche 911, and I used to change the plugs once a year or so. No problems with it.
The P.O. had someone install it, at least I think so. I was the 3rd owner. Like you say, helicoiling a drain plug seems like a bad idea. (drip, drip, drip)
 
Oversized self-tapping plug, heli-coil, whatever.
Makes no difference to me. I'd want a new pan and nothing less. A self tapper is just straight-up unacceptable to me and while Heli-coil is okay to band-aid an exhaust stud or some other similar fixed, non-fluid related fastener it has no business being in a situation where the bolt will continuously be removed and then re-torqued....like an oil pan drain plug for instance. That's just a "tag, your it" fix. It just fucks over the next guy to deal with it somewhere down the road.
Just my :2cents


FWIW, All the threads were heli-coiled from the getgo on all the aluminum parts at the company I worked for.... They went on the aircraft, and that was a customer requirement.... Just taping a hole in aluminum was unacceptable
 
Something backyard wrenches need to remember, the cases and pans are aluminum (mostly) and the drain plugs are steel. The plugs don't strip very often, it's the receiver threads that do. Either way, the OP got looked after the right way.
 
The OP may not have been the first person to return the bike, or even the second...

This!

OP should really name the dealer.

You're a bigger man than I...

If I have to take time out of my day to return something that was defective and then you "trick" me into thinking I'm crazy... Fukinkiksome1sazz!!!!

Not only do they disrespect your intelligence, but then they hush you up with a full refund... like they are doing you a solid :rofl
 
Not only do they disrespect your intelligence, but then they hush you up with a full refund... like they are doing you a solid :rofl

- Not mentioning the dealership name here. I'm not out for "internet revenge", just wanted to learn how they could fix it so quickly. Also the sales team was professional about it saying "You're not happy, here is your check".

The dealer did do him a solid with the refund. The cooling off period mostly applies to people literally cooling off after they were hot about some product. When there is a legitimate issue with a product, either the dealer corrects the problem and maintains the customer relationship, but if that is not good enough for a customer, a simple refund is issued.

No reason to put a dealer on blast, instead everyone needs to do their own due diligence to thoroughly look over a bike before completing their purchase, no matter the mileage as this case shows.

/thread
 
The dealer did do him a solid with the refund. The cooling off period mostly applies to people literally cooling off after they were hot about some product. When there is a legitimate issue with a product, either the dealer corrects the problem and maintains the customer relationship, but if that is not good enough for a customer, a simple refund is issued.

No reason to put a dealer on blast, instead everyone needs to do their own due diligence to thoroughly look over a bike before completing their purchase, no matter the mileage as this case shows.

/thread

I respectfully disagree.

First of all, why is it ok to fool the customer? Why didn't they just own up to the plug being stripped and helped them customer understand that the repair is common practice?

Secondly, how are you so certain your comment is the BEST and the thread should be closed?

Third, do you work for the dealership in question here and do you lie to your customers as casually as the OP explained he was lied to?
 
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