The Unsexy side of the parts business as companies close....
or the answer to the question about getting warranty for distributors no longer on the market
Had another dealer call us today about warranties owed to them by a now closed company. If a distributor closes the shop is on the hook in most states if a consumer knows their lemon laws.
Sadly, we don't have your United Motors warranty credits on file, I've answered that question like 500 times this year and in a perfect world a bank or an insurnace company would have been bailed out by Obama and everyone would have been paid much like the bankers at Bank of America, Wachovia, Bank United, Washington Mutual, Taylor Bean and Whitaker, and all the other great people of the last decade who made millions while loosing other people's money then getting bailed out by Uncle Sam. If your in the Powersports Business it means you work for a living so this is a real answer there is no warranty and we don't have any credits. Most employees or the warranty managers at stores don't get this or don't even know sometimes a company went out of business, but I understand its their job to ask these questions. Still, you need to be informed in this industry to know how to handle the situation.
First thing bookmark this link:
http://www.martinracingdealer.com/WSWrapper.jsp?mypage=Manuals.htm
All those companies had manuals like Diamo, United Motors, etc... that are now down so the manuals you need to do your job are on our site. Bookmark it and use it. When you call asking for a Diamo part it helps if you have the two digits the Diamo number and the OEM number like the CF MOTO number for the Diamo bike. That covers 90% of the problems. So bookmark the link. http://www.martinracingdealer.com/WSWrapper.jsp?mypage=Manuals.htm
We purchased the assets in liquidation not the company itself. In many cases parts are among two or three companies so heres a summary of questions I get.
Mr Maven- So and so went out of business. Is there warranty? the simple answer is NO
Scooter Maven I know that United Motors closed and Hyosung manufactured private label for United Motors will they pay my warranty and labor? They have publicly answered that question and the answer is simply NO- go ahead call them.
Benelli was made by QJ and from what I read they own Keeway same company right? Will Keeway USA pay my warranty. Legally they are seperate entities. Call them and ask, but they have no obligation.
Diamo imported CF MOTO and my Torino is breaking down is my warranty and labored covered by CF MOTO USA since they are still in business. Diamo owed my dealership money on warranty will CF MOTO pay us? Will MRP pay us? The answer is No. You can call them, but thats private label much like the United Motors case above. You have to follow the chain of commerce.
What is the chain of commerce?
It means the person accountable to you is the person you originally did business with and the supplier of your supplier.
So if you sell the vehicle as new then you the dealer are legally responsible for the parts to the consumers in 9 out of 10 cases. It's not even worth getting upset over it just is a fact of what the industry has had to deal with in the last three years. So you have to buy the parts especially in a state like Arizona where the client can get a free scooter if its been returned to the shop three times for the same problem. So if you had a Vectrix during the time the company went bankrupt you know what I am talking about. Some states scooters and motorcycles have the same laws as full cars. So telling the end user they need to find the distributor or that the Chinese are out of the country doesn't absolve the company of liability.
Now some companies have come back. Like CPI has a new importer - www.Pitmotorsltd.com they handle the new CPI 2011 and onwards. If you find yourself with a 2008 unit under warranty they have no obligation to cover it. They have nothing to do with the Fly Scooters or CPI Texas units, they only have scooters not the ATVs, but they will pay for parts to help out an active dealer. So if you're buying new 2011 units from them they will accommodate active clients. Again, they have no legal obligation to do so, but the sales manager there is going above and beyond what he needs to do to keep clients happy. He's also dealing with people that have purchased the Peace Motorsports knockoff of the Heist and I see how many dealers have started to realize its better to buy the real thing from CCW than the cheapo imitation brand. So if you want service and someone to take care of your older CPI units contact them.
Regarding United Motors - Hyosung made units. http://blog.guidoebert.com/2010/02/09/united-motors-goes-out-of-business.aspx if you purchased the Unit from UM - United Motors, Alpha Sports, Kasea or whoever Hyosung North America has made it pretty clear they don't cover those warranties. Also there are only ha nhandful of models from 2007-2010 that were made by HMA, the rest were CPI, ADLY, Wangye, Zongshen, Loncin among other brands and we have all the parts for them including the Hyosung ones.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60S931WjtP8
I get about two calls a week for stores thinking we are UM. We're not, we purchased the assets from the bank when they closed so these parts are not warranty covered. The store has to buy them and if you purchased the unit at auction one of the 3,500 units sold by General Electric with NDA Auctions then you MUST sell them as used. Even if its in the box new with 0 miles. The reason being is if you SELL IT AS NEW THEN YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR BUYING THE WARRANTY AND PAYING THE WARRANTY PARTS. We still have three containers of parts to count this is no joke so be careful when selling these 2009 / 2010 units. If its an NDA auction bike make sure you let the consumer know that new Keeway or Benelli is an auction bike and has NO WARRANTY.
Fortunately if you have a sub-distributor that sold you some bikes like regional distributors you can still contact them for warranties etc...
Companies like Powersports Factory - its beating a dead horse. Even NHTSA can't complete their recall on the units because the company closed. So if you have them on your floor you have to cover the warranty in a state like Florida, Texas, or Arizona. In other states like North Carolina its not even a motor vehicle so check your local laws before telling a consumer they are out of luck because it might come back to you.
If a regional distributor for TNG sold you bikes and they agree to pay for the warranty we will send you the parts.
I hope this answers some of the questions regarding the parts, warranties etc.... we are a third party supplier and logistics company. In some cases we have great working relationships like with CF MOTO USA, KYMCO, PEIRSPEED, among others who we consult and work with. There are companies like PIT MOTORS who will go the extra step for their dealers and if they don't have the part will pay any price to keep a CCW, CPI, or QJ client happy and just flat out buy the part. Several times CF MOTO will be out of a part for a few weeks and CF MOTO will pay us to make a dealer happy and send them the part for free so if you are a CF MOTO USA dealer and CF is backordered for four weeks and we have it we will gladly send it out to you as long as we get an email from CF MOTO USA.
Then there's the bad side to all this like in many cases if you purchased a Keeway from Cubik or a Hyosung private branded United Motors you are likely to have to foot the warranty bill if you purchased the unit and sold it as new. The chain of commerce goes consumer to dealer, dealer to distributor, then distributor to OEM. If one closes the other in that chain is the next in line.
Hope that answers a common question I get everyday.
Had another dealer call us today about warranties owed to them by a now closed company. If a distributor closes the shop is on the hook in most states if a consumer knows their lemon laws.
Sadly, we don't have your United Motors warranty credits on file, I've answered that question like 500 times this year and in a perfect world a bank or an insurnace company would have been bailed out by Obama and everyone would have been paid much like the bankers at Bank of America, Wachovia, Bank United, Washington Mutual, Taylor Bean and Whitaker, and all the other great people of the last decade who made millions while loosing other people's money then getting bailed out by Uncle Sam. If your in the Powersports Business it means you work for a living so this is a real answer there is no warranty and we don't have any credits. Most employees or the warranty managers at stores don't get this or don't even know sometimes a company went out of business, but I understand its their job to ask these questions. Still, you need to be informed in this industry to know how to handle the situation.
First thing bookmark this link:
http://www.martinracingdealer.com/WSWrapper.jsp?mypage=Manuals.htm
All those companies had manuals like Diamo, United Motors, etc... that are now down so the manuals you need to do your job are on our site. Bookmark it and use it. When you call asking for a Diamo part it helps if you have the two digits the Diamo number and the OEM number like the CF MOTO number for the Diamo bike. That covers 90% of the problems. So bookmark the link. http://www.martinracingdealer.com/WSWrapper.jsp?mypage=Manuals.htm
We purchased the assets in liquidation not the company itself. In many cases parts are among two or three companies so heres a summary of questions I get.
Mr Maven- So and so went out of business. Is there warranty? the simple answer is NO
Scooter Maven I know that United Motors closed and Hyosung manufactured private label for United Motors will they pay my warranty and labor? They have publicly answered that question and the answer is simply NO- go ahead call them.
Benelli was made by QJ and from what I read they own Keeway same company right? Will Keeway USA pay my warranty. Legally they are seperate entities. Call them and ask, but they have no obligation.
Diamo imported CF MOTO and my Torino is breaking down is my warranty and labored covered by CF MOTO USA since they are still in business. Diamo owed my dealership money on warranty will CF MOTO pay us? Will MRP pay us? The answer is No. You can call them, but thats private label much like the United Motors case above. You have to follow the chain of commerce.
What is the chain of commerce?
It means the person accountable to you is the person you originally did business with and the supplier of your supplier.
So if you sell the vehicle as new then you the dealer are legally responsible for the parts to the consumers in 9 out of 10 cases. It's not even worth getting upset over it just is a fact of what the industry has had to deal with in the last three years. So you have to buy the parts especially in a state like Arizona where the client can get a free scooter if its been returned to the shop three times for the same problem. So if you had a Vectrix during the time the company went bankrupt you know what I am talking about. Some states scooters and motorcycles have the same laws as full cars. So telling the end user they need to find the distributor or that the Chinese are out of the country doesn't absolve the company of liability.
Now some companies have come back. Like CPI has a new importer - www.Pitmotorsltd.com they handle the new CPI 2011 and onwards. If you find yourself with a 2008 unit under warranty they have no obligation to cover it. They have nothing to do with the Fly Scooters or CPI Texas units, they only have scooters not the ATVs, but they will pay for parts to help out an active dealer. So if you're buying new 2011 units from them they will accommodate active clients. Again, they have no legal obligation to do so, but the sales manager there is going above and beyond what he needs to do to keep clients happy. He's also dealing with people that have purchased the Peace Motorsports knockoff of the Heist and I see how many dealers have started to realize its better to buy the real thing from CCW than the cheapo imitation brand. So if you want service and someone to take care of your older CPI units contact them.
Regarding United Motors - Hyosung made units. http://blog.guidoebert.com/2010/02/09/united-motors-goes-out-of-business.aspx if you purchased the Unit from UM - United Motors, Alpha Sports, Kasea or whoever Hyosung North America has made it pretty clear they don't cover those warranties. Also there are only ha nhandful of models from 2007-2010 that were made by HMA, the rest were CPI, ADLY, Wangye, Zongshen, Loncin among other brands and we have all the parts for them including the Hyosung ones.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60S931WjtP8
I get about two calls a week for stores thinking we are UM. We're not, we purchased the assets from the bank when they closed so these parts are not warranty covered. The store has to buy them and if you purchased the unit at auction one of the 3,500 units sold by General Electric with NDA Auctions then you MUST sell them as used. Even if its in the box new with 0 miles. The reason being is if you SELL IT AS NEW THEN YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR BUYING THE WARRANTY AND PAYING THE WARRANTY PARTS. We still have three containers of parts to count this is no joke so be careful when selling these 2009 / 2010 units. If its an NDA auction bike make sure you let the consumer know that new Keeway or Benelli is an auction bike and has NO WARRANTY.
Fortunately if you have a sub-distributor that sold you some bikes like regional distributors you can still contact them for warranties etc...
Companies like Powersports Factory - its beating a dead horse. Even NHTSA can't complete their recall on the units because the company closed. So if you have them on your floor you have to cover the warranty in a state like Florida, Texas, or Arizona. In other states like North Carolina its not even a motor vehicle so check your local laws before telling a consumer they are out of luck because it might come back to you.
If a regional distributor for TNG sold you bikes and they agree to pay for the warranty we will send you the parts.
TNG Regional Distributor
National Scooter Company formerly Southwest Scooters.
PO Box 170808
Austin, TX 78717
512-670-9580
I hope this answers some of the questions regarding the parts, warranties etc.... we are a third party supplier and logistics company. In some cases we have great working relationships like with CF MOTO USA, KYMCO, PEIRSPEED, among others who we consult and work with. There are companies like PIT MOTORS who will go the extra step for their dealers and if they don't have the part will pay any price to keep a CCW, CPI, or QJ client happy and just flat out buy the part. Several times CF MOTO will be out of a part for a few weeks and CF MOTO will pay us to make a dealer happy and send them the part for free so if you are a CF MOTO USA dealer and CF is backordered for four weeks and we have it we will gladly send it out to you as long as we get an email from CF MOTO USA.
Then there's the bad side to all this like in many cases if you purchased a Keeway from Cubik or a Hyosung private branded United Motors you are likely to have to foot the warranty bill if you purchased the unit and sold it as new. The chain of commerce goes consumer to dealer, dealer to distributor, then distributor to OEM. If one closes the other in that chain is the next in line.
Hope that answers a common question I get everyday.
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