Warranty claim on faulty part rejected due to late service of my FZ

I was late for my vehicle service by 3 months, is this sufficient to void my warranty?

BHPian 5haS_0209 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I have been a vivid reader of all the threads related to motorcycles as well as cars in T-BHP and now I need the help of fellow BHPians to sort out an issue which has begun to arise in my FZ V3 BS4 which has logged 14,000 km in three years.

I dropped my bike off at a Yamaha authorized service centre nearby my house for general service in the morning and got a call in the afternoon from SA stating that there is a fault in the ABS Motor also known as the Hydraulic unit Assy. on Yamaha India's official website. I was shocked to hear the news and I enquired how much it costs for a replacement. He quoted that it would be around 12.5k inclusive of labour. Oh my god. I was speechless for a second.

And later I remembered that I had purchased an extended warranty for additional 3years at the time of purchase of my motorcycle. Then I enquired the supervisor at the service centre to replace the ABS motor with the warranty but he insisted that only engine parts are covered by warranty and not the electrical components. I was saddened once again and was about to pay the bill for my general servicing and return home.

But then I saw a board behind the billing desk.

Once I questioned the supervisor what this was all about he said that it covers only the ECU and not other electrical components. I was laughing at him and then he said that he will enquire about this to the top management and get back to me. After that, I got back home to know more about the extended warranty scheme. Upon browsing through the website, got to know that Yamaha covers Hydraulic unit assy. ie ABS motor in warranty.

The bike is not drivable as of now as the brake lever is very hard and gets stuck while applying pressure. Whilst asking the SA, he informed me that it is because of the new brake oil being filled and will get better upon driving. I got home slowly and parked the vehicle. Will visit the service centre tomorrow to sort this out.

Now comes my questions:

1. Does anyone have experience with this sort of failure in just 14k km of running? I know it's an electrical fault. But isn't Yamaha supposed to do a quality check of all the parts before assembly, especially regarding braking since it is the most important aspect of a two-wheeler?
2. I have never replaced any part under warranty before in my vehicle. I have a Roots security system installed. Will this lead to any rejection of warranty claims?
3. Should I escalate this issue to Yamaha India?

Please throw some insights.

Update: I visited the service centre today and the supervisor told me that I was not regular in my service but I was always regular in my service. But I always keep my target for service as 3000 km once as recommended by Yamaha but what he said was I was supposed to come at 6 months / 3000 km whichever is earlier. Now I'm late by 3 months and he insists that he cannot carry out a warranty claim and that he has also asked his top management. Later he said that leave the bike to me and I will check if there is any airlock in the system. Now, he is trying to dodge the warranty claim.

Assume, I had gone for service in 6 months' time. All they do is check Engine Oil, Air Filter, Oil Filter etc... Neither I nor the service centre is going to lay hands on the ABS motor without a reason. Just because I came late by 3 months, can they reject my warranty claim? I am in a helpless situation right now. Can someone please help throw light on this issue? Thanking you in advance.

Here's what BHPian skviknaraj had to say on the matter:

Dear 5has,

Sorry to say this is a common loophole used by all service centres to escape warranty claims. Time is also an important factor to be considered to get the vehicle serviced. Warranty claims can and will be rejected based on this.

Right now it is up to the manufacturer to decide and honour the replacement. Try escalating this to the Manufacturer.

For argument's sake, have a look in the vehicle manual if there is an Inspection/Repair against the hydraulic unit for the 6-month / 3000 km service. if there is nothing to be done to the hydraulic assembly in that service, maybe you can use it to convince them.

You need to also check with him how did they come to know of an issue with the ABS motor? did you report any issues when you had given the bike for general service?

As for the issue with the brake being hard, the first suspect is an air lock in the brake line. Get it done asap.

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