Harley-Davidson wins class-action lawsuit over ‘right to repair’
According to reports, a judge has dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit against Harley-Davidson. The lawsuit claims the company imposed unlawful restrictions on customers that boosted the cost of repairs.
U.S. District Judge William Griesbach in Green Bay, Wisconsin, recently ruled against 15 individual consumers who bought Harley-Davidson motorcycles between 2016 and 2022.
The consumers claimed Harley-Davidson illegally tied the sale of its motorcycles and factory warranties to the requirement that buyers use only the company’s branded parts through authorized dealers. The lawsuit alleged violations of antitrust and warranty laws.
The judge says the plaintiffs can file an amended lawsuit within 30 days.
In their lawsuit, the Harley owners challenged the company’s limited warranty provision, which stated that using unauthorized parts “may void” the warranty.
Harley-Davidson claims the provision does not say the company will void a warranty for using aftermarket parts but says it may enforce it if necessary.
The plaintiffs said Harley-Davidson acted “impermissibly,” putting Harley owners in the position of guessing whether they would lose valuable warranty coverage by using the “wrong” parts.
Griesbach sided with Harley-Davidson on the warranty provision and concluded that Harley-Davidson had not tied the sale of its motorcycles to the use of branded parts.
The judge wrote that the consumers had not alleged they were “precluded” from buying a motorcycle without agreeing to purchase Harley-Davidson parts.
In 2022, Harley-Davidson agreed to resolve an FTC case accusing the company of illegally curtailing buyers’ repair rights.
In the FTC settlement, Harley said it would not void warranties for customers who had used authorized service centers or third-party parts.
Harley did not admit liability in agreeing to settle. The company claims its resolution of that case has no bearing on the private civil lawsuit.
Source: Reuters
Loyalty to a brand is one thing…
But Harley Davidson is all for freedom of choice….
.. as long as the Harley owner doesn’t choose to use their freedom of choice.
Freedom of choice hurts their bottom line.
Quick thought. If you are concerned about the warranty issue. Don’t buy a Harley. Problem solved!
The problem is guys hot ridding the motorcycle with different cams,headers, turbos, nitrous, after market tuners like Thundermax, Vance and Hines FP3/FP4, which removes the Factory Speed limiter, so on and forth. There are 860lb motorcycles pushing 150hp and 150 lbs of torque
Exactly this. Once you open the motor and start replacing Harley parts with other company’s parts, it’s not really a Harley motor anymore. Why would Harley cover that?
I put on a bigger air breather, slip-ons, and did the Screamin’ Eagle Stage 1 tune through Harley. There’s ways to tweak your bike through Harley and still keep it within its designed parameters.
All the other stuff you can use aftermarket parts – bars, seat, slip-ons, suspension, etc. Every Harley rider knows this.
Just kinda makes us wanna smoke a fattie on flattie and rotate your wheels every three weeks to balance tread wear like the factory manual recommended.
All manufacturers (car, truck, and motorcycle) warranties include verbiage that states the use of aftermarket parts may void the warranty. A lot of aftermarket parts are of inferior quality. Some aftermarket parts (programmers, intake, and exhaust parts) can alter the air/fuel mixture and create conditions that will damage other (factory) parts; this is where the statement, “may void the warranty” comes into play.
I should be Able to install aftermarket mufflers and eagle performance kits on the bike I purchased with my hard money without worrying about HD voiding my warranty. In Defense of all gearheads.
⁶That’s why you by parts that are OEM or better.
Automotive industry been dealing with this for decades. Nothing new under the sun.
Why would any company back a warranty if you modified a bike with aftermarket parts unless it’s done by a authorized dealer unless the mod parts are authorized parts, doesn’t make any sense
Don’t they make parts in China now? Why not buy a higher quality Japanese bike and not worry about repairs. Harley is an anti American joke of a company.
They all break down or wear out and need adjustments and servicing. There isn’t any “magic” bike out there.
Yes there is its called a Goldwing
BMW… problem solved!
As long as you don’t buy one of those BMW s1000rr’s that keep blowing up
I stopped buying Harley due to the ceramic bearings they are using as they send powdered ceramic through out engine thus destroying it. All cost you have to pay with a warranty and are extremely high for what they sell. If you get one you have to bullet proof it via buying a grand or more worth of parts and then pay to have them installed.
There are no ceramic bearings in any Harley-Davidson that I know of. I have been a H-D Certified Master Technician since they came out with the rating. Only ceramic I know of in the bakes is the spark plugs.
BMW… problem solved!
Blame government regulations for all the bull crap. Let Harley go back to building bikes with the original carbureted EVO engines. These new watercooled, one cylinder stoplight shutdown motorcycles ARE NOT Harley Davidsons in my old school opinion. If you want to put after market parts on, buy a good used pre 2008 HD and enjoy a real motorcycle that can be wrenched on by even a (shadetree) mechanic. Whose opinion is this, mine!!!!
In my opinion, either don’t buy the warranty; because some people may only want to replace Harley’s expensive parts with cheaper parts that work, or if that’s a problem with Harley; don’t buy from Harley at all, period. This industry is not monopolized when other manufacturers produces the same equivalent products. The Nissan dealership have this very same attitude that needs some adjusting; too. A judge can’t render a verdict on what you can, or can’t purchase.
I thought that after you make a purchase; that it becomes your property, and your property shouldn’t be respected as if you are renting, or leasing; which in-turn gives you the right to do as you are pleased with your property; yet having a warranty would give Harley some entitlement; which there is no obligation to buy.
Just to say the least their are Harley clones coming from China that has the Japan quality performance and the Harley engine sound.
To say the day CF Moto makes a Harley clone then Harley-Davidson will go out of business; only to what the US government do is sanctions on CF Moto to be treated as Huawei.
The truth is a Harley-Davidson clone made in a communist country has the same quality of a motorcycle made in a country with democracy that America dropped 2 atomic bombs.
That is the truth and is reality!
Quit your bellyaching come on now if you go to a car dealership and you do something that screws up the inside of your Camaro or your Corvette do you think that they’re going to fix it without saying hey wait a minute you’ve been screwing around with our Corvette now you’ve got to pay the price that’s how it works in America you follow the rules everything works I just bought a beautiful 103 and the dealership treated me like a king it was completely perfect when I picked it up runs like a champ and the general manager even called me up to see how I was doing on it so I went back over there and said why don’t you check a ride out of yourself and he took it for a little ride he was very happy have a wonderful relationship with the factory and I would only put a factory Harley part in my Harley why would you put anything else
Get a shovel and bolt on whatever you want plus than you can turn a wrench on your bike like a biker from my day.. we’re still riding and still laughing at you younguns..