KYMCO Warranty

[Stig / Major Tom]

It is my understanding that Kymco and Honda scooters both advise that much of the maintenance on the scooter should be performed by a qualified dealer technician - but that they cannot forbid the owner from doing the servicing. They will, however, not honor the warranty if it is shown that the owner damaged the scooter by incorrect servicing. This must get to be a very muddy field - I would think.

Regarding the Kymco warranty I re-post this:
UPDATED AFTER RECEIVING THIS REPLY FROM KYMCO USA TODAY:
"Yes, warranty is transferable.
 The new Owner would need to supply KYMCO USA with:
Copy of a bill of sale
New Owner Name, Address & Phone #VIN
Once received, we would change the warranty registration information in our system.  Any KYMCO dealer (the only ones who can get reimbursed for warranty work) would pull up the warranty registration/owner information based on the VIN."
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 Seems a lot of folks have not read their warranty papers which came with the scooter packet in the USA.
I don't know about other countries, but the KYMCO factory warranty on scooters sold in the U.S.A. reads:
To the original owner:
All parts and labor for the first 365 days.
Engine and electrical parts and repair labor for the first 540 days.
Engine parts and repair labor are covered for 730 days.
There is also a warranty on emission control systems by old Kwang Yang Motor Co., LTD - which makes for good reading in the loo.

What is Not covered is:
A whole bunch of stuff that a smart owner would not do while their vehicle is otherwise under warranty.

This 2 year warranty is one of the factors that sold me on my Kymco purchase -
Please note the email reply from KYMCO USA re. the warranty being fully transferable to the next owner (s).


Here are some remarks from the SYM forum. This fellow  is a dealer/rider/owner of a SYM shop in Santa Barbara. Interesting. "I often get asked if the warranty will be valid if " I do the maintenance myself".
I encourage my customers to take care of their own bikes and yes I do honor the warranty if the owner does his/her own maintenance. I teach my customers how to do an oil change, gear oil change, where the air filter is and spark plug...
The quality of the SYM product is excellent - hard to do much damage - though some have managed.
I do not cover damage caused by the customer - for example stripped spark plug threads, broken body panels ("I didn't know you had to undo those screws..."), and forgetting to put in the oil...
As far as modifications go, for the most part I am fine warrantying with mods if done correctly. - I had one customer remove all the smog junk - which is ok with me, but he also removed all the vacuum lines and could not get the bike to run...I had to charge him a small fee to put it back together. Another customer wanted to lower the seat height - I told him that he could have someone remove the seat cover, trim the foam and re-recover for $75. - he decided to do it himself, butchered the seat and wanted to claim the seat was defective due to lack of foam...
Many have changed from rollers to sliders - I still warranty if the weights are within a few grams...not if the job is done incorrectly.
Overall I have found that those who take care of their bikes do so out of care for the bikes, not just to save a few bucks. - a well cared for bike has less warranty issues.
Alliance has been very good about supplying warranty parts - they seem to like these bikes as much as I do!"
...
I have had a good experience with KYMCO USA in getting my scooter fixed under warranty - when the dealer was not cooperating.

Many of us do not have a dealer nearby - or if we do,  do not have confidence in their ability to fix our scooters. Or, at $100 per shop/labor hour, we'd rather do our own servicing.

Fortunately, Kymco builds a solid product - and with just the basic servicing of oil, spark plug, & filter changes, valve checks, brake fluid renewal,  and fastener checks - we can go many miles between major (CVT, etc.) servicing.
 Read you manual - attend to the oils, tires & fasteners frequently and enjoy your scooters!

Stig

[Mscmkr]

The shop where I bought my first GT told me they do warranty work but will charge me $60 an hour because, and I quote, they don't work for free. Isn't that double dipping if Kymco covers labor costs? Sounds to me like they are ripping people off?

[2wheelfun]

There's some kind of federal act that says warranties must be covered even if dealer doesn't do the servicing. "According to the Report of the House of Representatives which accompanied the law (House Report No. 93-1197, 93d Cong 2d Sess.) the Magnuson–Moss act was enacted by Congress in response to the widespread misuse by merchants of express warranties and disclaimers. The legislative history indicates that the purpose of the Act is to make warranties on consumer products more readily understood and enforceable and to provide the Federal Trade Commission with means to better protect consumers.[1]

The statute is remedial in nature and is intended to protect consumers from deceptive warranty practices. Consumer products are not required to have warranties, but if one is given, it must comply with the Magnuson–Moss Act."
http://www.lemonlaw.com/wordpress/the-magnuson-moss-warranty-act-a-hidden-gem-most-consumers-do-not-know-about/

[BettinANDlosing]

The shop where I bought my first GT told me they do warranty work but will charge me $60 an hour because, and I quote, they don't work for free. Isn't that double dipping if Kymco covers labor costs? Sounds to me like they are ripping people off?

Indeed that is a rip off, Kymco warranty specifically states they cover parts AND labor!!!!! Sure, Kymco only pays out $60 / hr which is lower than most shop rates, but the dealer does get paid (I work for a Kymco dealer and know the workings of the Kymco warranty program). If you ever are in there, I would call them on that bull crap.

[manimal]

Thanks for posting, Stig!

When I had purchased my S8 150cc scooter last season, it had some freight damage. Kymco covered the parts and labor of the replaced parts. I was not charged a single penny. Kymco picked up the tab. FWIW

[0BARK4322]

I guess it all depends on where you go for service

[TroutBum]

if your dealer charges you labor under warranty then call Kymco. Dealers are by contract obligated to fulfill the warranty agreement as part of the distributor agreement. If need be call Consumer Affairs in your state.

[atxscooterguy]

We used to have 2 kymco dealers in Austin, now we only have one, and even he is thinking about stopping selling kymco bikes because the demand has dropped recently (maybe because of lower gas prices?). Hoping he doesn't close shop or stop dealing with Kymco.

[Chris0381]

Depends what the breakage is.

If your lights fail and they find out you haven't done scheduled oil changes, I doubt they can deny the repair.

[0BARK4322]

I guess that's why it's good togo to a kymco dealer while you are under warranty