800R Etec JUNK. Ski-doo knows it and doesn't care.

[harveyr1]

WARNING: To any potential purchasers of Ski-doo 800R Etec snowmobiles...Bombardier has NOT fixed their bad bearing issue in their high horsepower sleds. It started in early 2000s and continues to be a problem that they WILL NOT STAND BEHIND.

My story: I have a 2012 (that's right, a 2 year old snowmobile) Skidoo freeride 154, the second most expensive sled they built that year. I have 2,700 miles on the sled. I do not beat my machines and I maintain them well. I have had nothing but problems with this sled. It's spent more time in the dealership's garage than on the trail. I'll start off by saying this sled would be impossible to ride without the 2 year warranty. It has never run right. In the first season, they thought they fixed it by replacing one fuel injector and reflashing the computer. Still didn't run right. The second season saw them replacing the other fuel injector at first, then the exhaust temperature sensor. While they were doing that, they noticed that the computer was not working correctly, so they replaced that. AND...it still has some issues. NOW... Feb 1, 2014, exactly 2 months after the warranty expired, I get an engine failure due to Ski-doo's dreaded crankshaft bearings.

My dealer has been pretty good trying to get Ski-doo to cover the cost of PARTS since it's THEIR PARTS that failed, but they were unsuccessful.
SKI-DOO HAS ESSENTIALLY SAID THAT THEIR SLEDS SHOULD NOT BE EXPECTED TO LAST 3 FULL SEASONS. UNLESS YOU WANT TO PAY $2,000 TO HAVE A MECHANIC REBUILD YOUR ENGINE EVERY 2 YEARS, STAY AWAY FROM THESE SNOWMOBILES.

A former Ski-doo fan.

 

[LUCKY 7]

wow this thread should be good to watch.

 

[maxwell]

LOL so who at skidoo said publicly that there snowmobiles should not last 3 full seasons? LMFAO. do they work there still?

it sounds like you got a bad deal going on right now, sorry to hear hope they get you straightened out. but the 800R etec is getting some SERIOUS miles logged without major issue. sure some will fail its just statistics with that many of them out there and everyone caring for them a little differently. being that its just out of warranty they should help you out.

now offering a 4 year warranty i think that says BRP trusts there snowmobiles and the etec engine.

you got 4300 km thats a reasonable amount of KM for a top end and inspection. sure sucks that it failed the bottom end should last far longer than that. but at least it didnt grenade at 1500 or 2000km

 

[slededjr]

5000 k on my 2011, 6200 k on my buddy's 2011 absolutely no issues at all. You either got a lemon, or your dealer is not all there. Not trying to sound mean but there are way too many dealers that don't have a single clue and should never have been a dealer as far as i'm concerned. sounds like they were just replacing one part at a time until they hopefully fixed your issue. BUDS will do testing on almost every component on this sled. I know dealers that don't even really know how to use BUDS. I had to show a local dealership how to change timing with it(very simple to do). As far as BRP covering parts under warranty, dealer submits claim, if BRP questions it, a histogram (ecu report of how sled was operated) will be asked for and sent to BRP. Then BRP will determine if operator error. If BRP doesn't ask for that report, any dealer can basically say/claim what ever they want for warranty with no issues. It's no different then the car dealers, if your service guy doesn't want to actually work for you to get you the coverage you deserve and need, you are basically screwed. Sorry about your luck and hope what ever you do works out for you.

 

[harveyr1]

This is not the dealer deciding to not cover it. It is Ski-Doo directly. My dealer has been great about contacting them and providing all the pictures and information that they wanted. Ski-doo was "unable to find evidence that the bearing failure was due to a bad bearing." They have also been unable to explain what else could have caused it. The dealer provided them with a BUDS readout/history/etc. Further, Ski-doo was considering NOT providing me new pistons (which are covered under a separate recall) because they were damaged due to....wait for it.... a crankshaft bearing failure and not a piston failure.

Maxwell, Ski-Doo HAS TO provide 4 year warranties so that their sleds will last 4 years. If I had a 4 year warranty, I wouldn't be complaining, I'd be riding. Plus, all the other manufacturers are offering warranties that long.

 

[dogsmack]

This is not the dealer deciding to not cover it. It is Ski-Doo directly. My dealer has been great about contacting them and providing all the pictures and information that they wanted. Ski-doo was "unable to find evidence that the bearing failure was due to a bad bearing." They have also been unable to explain what else could have caused it. The dealer provided them with a BUDS readout/history/etc. Further, Ski-doo was considering NOT providing me new pistons (which are covered under a separate recall) because they were damaged due to....wait for it.... a crankshaft bearing failure and not a piston failure.

Maxwell, Ski-Doo HAS TO provide 4 year warranties so that their sleds will last 4 years. If I had a 4 year warranty, I wouldn't be complaining, I'd be riding. Plus, all the other manufacturers are offering warranties that long.

Easy Harvey, proof is in the pudding and you hit any sled area in Alberta or BC and its a sea of BRP with boat loads of miles to their credit. And being in Maine I can't see you having the extreme mountian situations the sleds here see. Maybe I am wrong. We all feel your pain, we really do and its a crappy deal but calling out the product we all enjoy and put our faith in on this forum is going to get you some static and retort. One vs 1000's basically and you are the one sorry.

 

[Lund]

WARNING: To any potential purchasers of Ski-doo 800R Etec snowmobiles...Bombardier has NOT fixed their bad bearing issue in their high horsepower sleds. It started in early 2000s and continues to be a problem that they WILL NOT STAND BEHIND.

My story: I have a 2012 (that's right, a 2 year old snowmobile) Skidoo freeride 154, the second most expensive sled they built that year. I have 2,700 miles on the sled. I do not beat my machines and I maintain them well. I have had nothing but problems with this sled. It's spent more time in the dealership's garage than on the trail. I'll start off by saying this sled would be impossible to ride without the 2 year warranty. It has never run right. In the first season, they thought they fixed it by replacing one fuel injector and reflashing the computer. Still didn't run right. The second season saw them replacing the other fuel injector at first, then the exhaust temperature sensor. While they were doing that, they noticed that the computer was not working correctly, so they replaced that. AND...it still has some issues. NOW... Feb 1, 2014, exactly 2 months after the warranty expired, I get an engine failure due to Ski-doo's dreaded crankshaft bearings.

My dealer has been pretty good trying to get Ski-doo to cover the cost of PARTS since it's THEIR PARTS that failed, but they were unsuccessful.
SKI-DOO HAS ESSENTIALLY SAID THAT THEIR SLEDS SHOULD NOT BE EXPECTED TO LAST 3 FULL SEASONS. UNLESS YOU WANT TO PAY $2,000 TO HAVE A MECHANIC REBUILD YOUR ENGINE EVERY 2 YEARS, STAY AWAY FROM THESE SNOWMOBILES.

A former Ski-doo fan.

Can't disagree my self, seen it happen many many times over with Doo's.
I tried using Doo's as a guide sled and it cost me more then any other sled i've used in the past, there was always something wrong with it, engine wise.
Yes the problems goes back in 1999/2000 with the intro of the new lightweight series 3 motors, before that the Rotax was bullit prove with an awsome reputation.
2700miles is pretty average with 2stroke top ends, the bottom will go twice as long but seen lots of bottoms go with less then a 1000miles. 2strokes imo are ticking time bombs and sometimes its the luck of the draw. Some guys will get lots of miles out of them but not on average.
Between Doo and Poo their engines are questionable imo, Cat 2strokes are far more durable and proof is in the pudding, Cat 800 don't commonly blowup and will handle boost much better then the other two.

 

[dogsmack]

Last I checked adding a turbo voided warranty and does not apply to this post. So the score now stands 2 vs 1000's as Lucky7 sits back and watches the thread play out.

 

[snopro]

I can honestly say I have not seen many ETEC engine failures go through our shop since they were introduced in 2011. They seem pretty bulletproof even in big bore trim. The regular 800 and 800r not so much. The non ETEC's definately have a time limit on them of 5000 km for the top end however the bottoms have improved through the process. I think you have definately had a lemon since day 1 by the sounds of it. Hopefully BRP will come to there senses. I would tell you to get your dealer to contact Rich Klein or Gordy Radke in service. Rich is a straight up guy and Gordy is probably the most respected BRP service guy in the company. Maybe they can help your dealer out. Good luck!

 

[Lund]

This is not the dealer deciding to not cover it. It is Ski-Doo directly. My dealer has been great about contacting them and providing all the pictures and information that they wanted. Ski-doo was "unable to find evidence that the bearing failure was due to a bad bearing." They have also been unable to explain what else could have caused it. The dealer provided them with a BUDS readout/history/etc. Further, Ski-doo was considering NOT providing me new pistons (which are covered under a separate recall) because they were damaged due to....wait for it.... a crankshaft bearing failure and not a piston failure.

Maxwell, Ski-Doo HAS TO provide 4 year warranties so that their sleds will last 4 years. If I had a 4 year warranty, I wouldn't be complaining, I'd be riding. Plus, all the other manufacturers are offering warranties that long.

A well built product does not need more warranty, actually the opposit is true. A builder relies on it reputation of its product not on its warranty for sell's.
IMO buyer's should always be aware of builder's offering big warranties. You pay for that, they don't and its proof they themselves had little trust in their product.
Hard to complain that you got 2700miles out of her.

 

[snopro]

A well built product does not need more warranty, actually the opposit is true. A builder relies on it reputation of its product not on its warranty for sell's.
IMO buyer's should always be aware of builder's offering big warranties. You pay for that, they don't and its proof they themselves had little trust in their product.
Hard to complain that you got 2700miles out of her.

I'm struggling with your comment? The last thing a manufacturer wants to do is fix stuff for free? Why would 4 years warranty make the product bad? Doesn't make any sense to me.

 

[Lund]

I can honestly say I have not seen many ETEC engine failures go through our shop since they were introduced in 2011. They seem pretty bulletproof even in big bore trim. The regular 800 and 800r not so much. The non ETEC's definately have a time limit on them of 5000 km for the top end however the bottoms have improved through the process. I think you have definately had a lemon since day 1 by the sounds of it. Hopefully BRP will come to there senses. I would tell you to get your dealer to contact Rich Klein or Gordy Radke in service. Rich is a straight up guy and Gordy is probably the most respected BRP service guy in the company. Maybe they can help your dealer out. Good luck!

He quotes 2700miles and not kilometers, so that translate to approx. 4300km. He's alittle short but 5000km is average on them.
I don't see why the complaint, it is what it is......a 2stroke

 

[Bnorth]

I'm struggling with your comment? The last thing a manufacturer wants to do is fix stuff for free? Why would 4 years warranty make the product bad? Doesn't make any sense to me.

Exactly, if your product is junk you don't offer a very good warranty or pretty soon you're bankrupt. You will only offer a good warranty if you're confident in your products reliability. As snopro said you don't keep shareholders happy when you're fixing all your units for free.

 

[sick1]

My experience with my etecs go as follows. Now all these km are pure mountain riding. 2011, In dec 2012 at 4000 km locator pin failure total loss of engine at that time it was booked for recall just wanted one more ride before it went in.. brp warrantied two weeks back up with virgin 2012 full long block, raves, plugs, primary oil all for free! love the warranty.. My other 2011 pretty much at 4200 km rod bearing failure completly destroyed the cases. Again full warranty but with a rebuild this time.. Still super happy.. so for me at 4000km time to go bye bye.. My 2013 xm has 4900 km on it still going strong but on borrowed time forsure.. Id way rather deal with brp warranty than having to wait three months for the polaris adjuster to deem if your problem will be covered after the one year factory sanctioned is gone by ..

 

[Lund]

I'm struggling with your comment? The last thing a manufacturer wants to do is fix stuff for free? Why would 4 years warranty make the product bad? Doesn't make any sense to me.

They don't fix it for free, even though people think that. You buy the warranty when you first buy the sled. Most warranty will run you $2000 on top of the purchase, its then put in a trust. And its basically a game of average, if they sell 10 warranties at $2000 each and out of the 10, 3 blow up, they are still ahead with $14,000 in profit.
Yes the warranty comes in handy when you blowup, but IF you blow up. It will cost you $2000 dollars eitherway. Maybe alittle more but atleast if you don't the 2,000 is better in your account then theirs.
Basically what they do is take your money that you pay in advance incase you have an issue. Its nonrefundable if you end up not using it and has a time line for use. If that makes anysense

 

[snopro]

They don't fix it for free, even though people think that. You buy the warranty when you first buy the sled. Most warranty will run you $2000 on top of the purchase, its then put in a trust. And its basically a game of average, if they sell 10 warranties at $2000 each and out of the 10, 3 blow up, they are still ahead with $14,000 in profit.
Yes the warranty comes in handy when you blowup, but IF you blow up. It will cost you $2000 dollars eitherway. Maybe alittle more but atleast if you don't the 2,000 is better in your account then theirs.
Basically what they do is take your money that you pay in advance incase you have an issue. Its nonrefundable if you end up not using it and has a time line for use. If that makes anysense

So to sum up. What you are saying is that if we opted to take no extended warranty on our new sled we would be buying it $2000 cheaper? Last year you could have taken a free wrap ($400 value) or free elec start ($650 value) instead of the warranty. Why would anyone take those items if they can get a $2000 warranty instead?

 

[Bnorth]

They don't fix it for free, even though people think that. You buy the warranty when you first buy the sled. Most warranty will run you $2000 on top of the purchase, its then put in a trust. And its basically a game of average, if they sell 10 warranties at $2000 each and out of the 10, 3 blow up, they are still ahead with $14,000 in profit.
Yes the warranty comes in handy when you blowup, but IF you blow up. It will cost you $2000 dollars eitherway. Maybe alittle more but atleast if you don't the 2,000 is better in your account then theirs.
Basically what they do is take your money that you pay in advance incase you have an issue. Its nonrefundable if you end up not using it and has a time line for use. If that makes anysense

I agree that the warranty is built into the price... to some degree. In the last 2 years Ski-doo has gone from 2 years of warranty to 4 years with very little price change on the sleds. Even though you are paying for it, the snowcheck price of all the machines is very close so why not get the one with the most warranty?

 

[Lund]

Depending on one's situation you are buying a service, if your the type of person that needs to rely on a dealer to keep the sled going then warranty is something you will need, thus will use and pay for in one way or another till it runs out. A very attractive service offered by the manufactures, its a way of keeping you coming back.
But if your the type that does all their own work and doesn't rely on a dealer service the warranty i think....atleast for me....not a selling point or even a reflection on the product quality.
I think we are straying from the OP's thoughts, that imo has ran out his warranty and basically takin out his motor at 2700miles....average and not a suprise imo.

 

[maxwell]

To the OP. Your 2012 pistons do not have a recall. 2011 only


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[sick1]

Brp warranty is the best in the business.. Be a real dumb idea to opt out unless you ride in your back yard one hour a month. As for me I 100% know i will take an engine down in two and a half seasons guaranteed!