The Perfect Warranty?

[Anton]

What would be your ideal warranty for an e-bike or e-scooter. The biggest problem from what I can tell is finding a reliable dealer, with quality post-sale support.

As quoted from the home page:

where dealer support is not available/practical after the sale. In addition, many warranties provided with these bikes are typically parts-only. Most owners are then 'on their own' with respect to maintenance and tuning.

If you were shopping around, would you say a solid warranty is one of the most important factors? What can a dealership do, to make you feel comfortable? 30 Day money back guarantee with one year full-part warranty?

If you were wondering, I am living in China and have been seriously considering bringing Chinese bikes into the US. Customer support needs to be a top priority, so I'd love your opinions.

If you were buying a bike or scooter, what is an ideal and realistic guarantee that you would want?

Thanks 8) [/quote]

[Jim]

I usually see these kind of bikes with 3 to 6 month warranties, and I haven't had any issue with them within those time frames that would be a warranty situation, so I am not typically concerned with warranty, more concerned with price, and non warranty parts availability afterward.


There's so many cool bikes in Chhina that would be great to see here.

[Anton]

Originally Posted by Jim

I usually see these kind of bikes with 3 to 6 month warranties, and I haven't had any issue with them within those time frames that would be a warranty situation, so I am not typically concerned with warranty, more concerned with price, and non warranty parts availability afterward.


There's so many cool bikes in Chhina that would be great to see here.

Good news! - price and parts won't be an issue. I want to offer a quality warranty because I think 'getting ripped off' is a big problem - people are scared of and deterred from buying Chinese bikes. What is the most common reason people give you for avoiding Chinese bikes?

I am traveling to a factory tomorrow afternoon. Are there any bikes in particular that you want to see in the US? I'm fairly sure I can find most models.

[TeamCheap]

Hmm china bikes for me and the wife have got a long way to go in our opinion.

Things that would sinch another china bike sale:

Reasonable quality (IE proper bolts and a bit closer alignment of critical items such as the ENGINE / BRAKES :roll: )

PARTS PARTS PARTS these MUST be readily available or everyone will get frustrated very VERY quickly

A REAL one year warranty on entire bike then another year just for engine, trans, frame, electrical-<major mostly non-wear items.
(not warranteed the second year >clutch or chain/sprockets or brakes or battery or tires or light bulbs not even the rims-in my opinion some things are wear items and people need to be responible for them as much as the company has to be responsible for a decent product IMO)

The price for me has to be kept to around 1/3 to a max of 1/2 of a comparable big name brand offering.
(EXAMPLE=400cc dual-sport china bike priced between $1900 to max of $2800 compared to a suzuki dr-z400s $5700)

NON of those mentioned above can be excluded if someone wants to sell me another china bike at this time.

Our china bike PRO's.......and........ CON's :

the low price............................the poor quality-materials/workmanship (to be BRUTALLY honest I think the current offerings are down right dangerous for use on the roads IMO)
the low price............................the lack of parts (this alone would help eliminate most headaches new comers have with china bikes IMO)
the low price............................the lack of accessories (accessories that fit the bike would just make them more fun IMO)
the low price............................non-existent VAPOR warranty (not as importrant to me but 1 solid year would have been nice)
the low price............................the styling/ergonomics/suspension/overall engineering (if any)

as you can see the chinese, in OUR opinion has leaned very VERY heavy on the LOW PRICE.
I realize compromizes have to be made but I wonder if the chinese and the ones importing these products REALLY know whats important to the people that would buy these products.

These are just MY thoughts/opinions and others can and most likely will differ.

[IronFist]

A lot of stores open then close. There goes the warranty. The warranty is only as good as the store stays open. It's crazy to open a chinese parts store because of all the different makes and models.

"An OK bike at a great price will sell." That's your ticket.

The longer you can source parts for your bikes the more customer base you will build. As soon as you stop supplying parts, your client base will go somewhere else. It will only take days, because people want their bikes on the road. Hope this helps.

[kmoore]

the perfect warrany would be one that is actually supported and honored. unlike the jerkoffs at american lifan who says their bikes have a 6 month warranty but when it comes time to pony up and fix the issue they do nothing about it.. here it is 4 months waiting and still no part to fix my issue.

[TeamCheap]

A warranty that is honored in a timely manor would go a long way to show people that the producer and importer of said product is serious about selling them.

The problem I see with a warranty and a chinese product is that they know what they are making :roll: and wouldnt dare get stuck in having to actually warranty their products.

And now a lot of people have had a bad experience with them so it will be more difficult to sell a bike with a warranty or not as too many have gotten burned by a so-called warranty on them.
Because a REAL warranty will raise the bikes cost.The bike will need to be made a bit better so as to lesson the claims........ the costs will go up......the sales will suffer...... it all starts to grow out of control - to funny.

I am curious to see the next wave of bikes to come in (if they ever do) but I will be keeping my distance from them until they have actually proved themselves up to a point.

[phil]

sounds like sombodys calling my # first it depends on what you want to do make money quick or establish a bike in the u.s. if you want to make a quick buck use almost any chinese company here now and model after them (read my other posts it will help you understand)
BUT
if you want to make us all proud set yourself with a good person who will not lie,and show up for work (its hard to do) make him your distributor, make sure he sets the dealers up all with service on site and replacment parts for everything then with any reasonable warranty and a reasonable price you will be a sucess in short warranty is only as good as its dealers and then distributor if you need to know more my phone # here somewhere

[DDG1976]

Originally Posted by phil

sounds like sombodys calling my # first it depends on what you want to do make money quick or establish a bike in the u.s. if you want to make a quick buck use almost any chinese company here now and model after them (read my other posts it will help you understand)
BUT
if you want to make us all proud set yourself with a good person who will not lie,and show up for work (its hard to do) make him your distributor, make sure he sets the dealers up all with service on site and replacment parts for everything then with any reasonable warranty and a reasonable price you will be a sucess in short warranty is only as good as its dealers and then distributor if you need to know more my phone # here somewhere

Sounds like you know the drill A to L.......,um I mean Z.

[IronFist]

[Dragon]

Originally Posted by TeamCheap

...to be BRUTALLY honest I think the current offerings are down right dangerous for use on the roads IMO...

Really? I ride my 'Bird on the highway almost everyday. Am I like playing russian roulet?

[DDG1976]

Originally Posted by Dragon

Really? I ride my 'Bird on the highway almost everyday. Am I like playing russian roulet?

I don't think so, if you know your bike like most every chinarider the way the bike functions won't be your downfall. It's highly more likely for an idiot to pull in front of you than any bike failure getting you hurt.

[TeamCheap]

Originally Posted by Dragon

Really? I ride my 'Bird on the highway almost everyday. Am I like playing russian roulet?

russian roulette.....well we're all free to do pretty much as we please as long as it doesnt hurt anyone else so have at it.
After seeing what I've seen on these bikes and knowing what little I DO know I feel that way but of course thats all "IN MY OPINION" , but then maybe its more because of my age than anything because when I was younger I'd have ridden most any type machine or maybe its because I'm not going to blindly trust anyone to care about my safety.

Now granted some of these bikes are built better than others and they are getting a little better all the time so hopefully they will all get to a certain level of acceptability soon.

[Cal25]

The perfect warranty? One thats never needed.

[phil]

if the rest of the bike was as good as the engine i dont think it would be a question of quality. anybody whos been around the china bikes i think will agree the engines while underpowered are dependable the real question is how they (all of the chinese) hold the quality of the engine but not use the same quality on the things that go around the engine
the problem now is cheap gas, if gas was $4 a gallon more people would be intrested and demand the quality improve before a purchase i think that may be a catch 22
but the best warranty is one thats never used and if is one that makes everyone happy