Words seem to come so easily out of the mouths of folks at dealerships, and even sometimes when you call Customer Service at Corporate.
Many times they are spoken out of ignorance or deceptiveness.
Below are some facts related to aftermarket parts on Harley's:
The
Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act (P.L. 93-637) is a United States federal law, (15 U.S.C. § 2301 et seq.). Enacted in 1975, it is the federal statute that governs warranties on consumer products.
The Magnuson–Moss act was enacted by Congress in response to
the widespread misuse by merchants of express warranties and disclaimers.
Warrantors
cannot require that only branded parts be used with the product in order to retain the warranty.
Under the Magnuson-Moss Act, a
dealer must prove, not just vocalize, that aftermarket equipment
caused the need for repairs before it can deny warranty coverage. If the dealer cannot prove such a claim — or it proffers a questionable explanation — it is your legal right to demand compliance with the warranty.
Even written, as a part of the HD Warranty, which you can see
HERE, is the following, which is in keeping with the Magnuson-Moss Act is how they address a limitation of the HD Warranty in regards to non HD parts:
Damage caused by installation or use of non-Harley-Davidson components, even those installed by an authorized Harley-Davidson dealership, that cause a Harley-Davidson part to fail.
Most HD dealerships are honest, but if you run into an unscrupulous Dealership, or maybe they are just ignorant, have them read the above line to you out of their printed warranty...OR, find another dealership.
How it plays out in reality:
One side of the coin- Our experience has been that dozens upon dozens of dealerships will say that you have to buy HD parts to keep your warranty intact. This is a bold-face lie, flying directly in the face of Consumer Protection provided by the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, and their own written Warranty. It is most of the time told out of ignorance or deception to get you to buy HD parts.
The flip side of the coin is that these same dealerships, do warranty work everyday on bikes that have non-HD parts on them with no hassle to the consumer.
We have sold thousands and thousands of Stage I components, many hundreds of those bikes have had warranty work done. We have Never had a report of a dealership denying the warranty work because of our parts being on the bike.
Why is there a difference between what they say and what they do?
Most of the time they say what they do to try and get more sales of their parts.
When it comes time to do the warranty work, there is nothing in our Stage I components that can cause the need for repairs. As such, there is no basis for them to deny the warranty work.
When does warranty work get denied?
There are certainly parts that can be added to a Harley that have a likelihood of causing a failure. If that part is added, and it does cause the failure, the the dealership (and Harley Corporate) are within their rights to deny warranty repairs be made.
For that reason, we do not sell parts that have a likelihood of resulting in a warranty claim being denied.
A few of those parts are listed below:
Cams
Headwork
Pistons
Throttle bodies
Injectors
Trailer Hitches
Instead, we specifically work at making parts that will increase Safety, Comfort and Performance WITHOUT putting the Factory Warranty or Extended Service Plan at risk.
Kevin