Fed Up With Ducati

This sounds like the stuff nightmares are made of. When you say the engine ate itself what did it do if you don't mind my asking?

 

I think as with all bikes you do get bad ones....some people go on about s1000rr's being the epitome of reliable but on the RSV4 forum (I see quite a lot of defector's coming from BMW) saying that theyre on their 3rd engine, nothing but problems..etc etc. My particular model of RSV4 factory was so bad apparently that aprilia were sending whole engines out in anticipation of failiures, but, mines been absolutely fine....so ive been lucky...

The only thing I can say is, at least youll have a brand new engine. If it was me and, as you say, theyre picking lumps of metal out of it, id be pushing for a whole new engine.

 

Get your money back and buy something reliable. I had similar heartache with my 2011 Multi S Sport. Spent oodles on maintaining it, only to be shafted by Ducati Aftersales, who didn't give a stuff about the poor quality of their product. See here and here for details

 

If Ducati and the dealer are being helpful, stick with them.

 

Don't think you will be third time lucky get your money back.

 

Have to agree with the above. Money back and call it a day. At least with that model.
Third time lucky??? Maybe, but it will be there all the time, that nagging doubt as to when / if it'll go tits up again.

 

Ask if you can discuss having a new Multistrada (thats if you still want 1 of course). With Car dealers if you have big issues and the Manufacturer agrees some will sell you a new vehicle at a good discount. There is a name for this but I can't remember it. A friends Dad did it with a BMW 730D M Sport about 10 years ago and then had to pay about £1500 for the new replacement. If its all well documented through a dealer etc they should be looking into this as a good will gesture.

 

kawasaki z1000sx spend the change on rukka, daytona and euros

 

get something else, you will always be waiting & wondering when the next one will fail.

 

The few new bikes I've bought have all had problems requiring repair, modification or recall so I'd stick with it. And my bikes have been from Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki and Ducati. Never owned a Honda.

 

Sometimes you just get lucky or unlucky. I've had Honda (three off) yamaha (two off), kawasaki and Ducati, all of which have been totally reliable. My mate has a Suzuki RF600 which he bought with very low miles - it's been a total nightmare.

 

They only made that model from 93-97 so that bike is about 20 years old. All kind of perishables will be long worn out by now, especially with little use ... and as a cheap 600 you can bet it hasn't been cared for particularly well when it has been running. I'd half expect a bike like that to be trouble ... but a brand new Multistrada? Two in a row? I'd be switching to something else if I were the OP.

 

I suppose I'm quite lucky in that JHP are just 10 miles away and have always received great service, I've owned 15 Ducati's, some new and some second hand and apart from a few 'niggly' issues have always been 100% reliable.

Think Ducati could do more on their after sales service, BMW still offer a mobile BMW technician service which I used last year, just rang up and I guy was round in an hour, fixed the problem ( which was my fault ) and off he went, I didn't have to get the bike out of the garage, they work weekends which is when your bike will breakdown.

Going back to the OP if you've lost confidence in the bike and Ducati, demand your money back but I believe you've just been very unlucky. Try and get them to upgrade the replacement.

 

I don't think age is especially relevant if the bike has been properly maintained, his 1990 ZXR 750 runs like clockwork, as did my 1990 CBR which was a similar age at the time, and far from looked after. The RF is a very late one on an R plate.

 

I've just been told a true story by a guy at work, who's Father-in-Law had always bought Jaguars from the local dealer. His last was an XF, bought new, which then proceeded to spend more time in the workshop over the next three months than it did in his possession - trying to track down an engine fault.

He finally got a phone call saying that they had finally determined the problem and arranged with Jaguar to supply a new Turbo under warrantee and could they have the car for a little while longer? Of course he said 'yes, you'd just as well, you've had it longer than I have anyway . . .' and sat back to await the return of his 'new' car.

He next gets a call to say, 'Sorry, we've had a bit of a problem . . . We put the turbo in and were taking it out for a test drive when we found that a mechanic had failed to re-connect one of the oil lines and unfortunately we've had to order you a new, replacement engine from Jaguar at our expense, as your's is now scrap!

Deep breath and time goes on. Car duly has it's brand new engine with no further problems and is subsequently run by 'Father-in-Law' for a couple of years until he decides it's time to trade it in for a new model. He goes back to the dealer and having done the tyre kicking with the salesman, is told '. . .well, of course we can't offer you the full book price on your car as a trade-in, as it's had a replacement engine and people will think that something's happened to it in the past . . .'

'I know it's had a replacement engine' he replies, 'your place fitted it due to the old one blowing up because of your fault!'

Much back and forth goes on, but the bottom line is that the garage refused to budge on the trade-in value and would only offer him a letter on headed paper explaining that the replacement engine was fitted due to no fault of the owner, should he wish to sell the car privately. Needless to say he lost thousands and didn't buy another Jag!

A salutary thought when it comes to allowing a dealer to fit a whole new engine to a new vehicle. Maybe one should get an agreed trade-in value at the same time?

 

Perhaps proving that you can get be the one unlucky purchaser for almost anything - the RFs are generally regarded as bulletproof apart from a few minor details. That said - unless he bought the RF600 15 years ago, when I think they stopped being made, you can never be too sure of what you are getting into with an old 2nd hand machine, even if the mileage is low. But a 2013 Multi is new enough that the factory is likely to be the main contributor to any problems.

 

I'd knock it on the head. It's hard enough to trust any bike when it's let you down, but when it's brand new? What happens if it does manage to hobble through the warranty period unscathed, only to start playing up once you've got no comeback? If it was a cheap chinese commuter you could laugh it off, but it ain't, it's a hefty investment.