Dear friends and fellow owners of the 1199:
As documented in this forum and others, many of you have experienced repeated failure of the 1199's Dash/slave ECU. While most of us have had the dash replaced under warranty, the repeated nature of the failure (some are on the third or fourth 1199 Dash/slave ECU) is such that we have no confidence that the issue will be resolved before the two-year warranty expires. For some, the solution is to sell the motorcycle prior to the expiration of the warranty, taking a financial hit in the process, while others maintain a strategy of hope - assuming that the issue will be addressed prior to the passing of the two year warranty period.
While Ducati has replaced our dash under warranty, many of us are still being fed the line that "Ducati is unaware" of any issue with the 1199 Dash/slave ECU; this does not give me confidence in their commitment to address this issue; they appear to be more concerned with managing the brand and THEIR exposure to financial risk. Thus, my proposed action is to facilitate a global email letter-writing campaign to the customer service of Ducati in our respective countries.
My objective is to transfer the economic burden that will be ours once the OEM warranty does expire (or if we choose to sell our bikes before that period, taking a loss) to Ducati, by having Ducati either buy the motorcycle back, as per some state "lemon laws," or by extending the warranty for the Dash/slave ECU. Unfortunately, I believe that until such time as we put Ducati's customer base, reputation and brand at risk, the current approach of dealing with us individually, denying that a systemic failure exists, and hoping the costs do not become too great for them before the warranty expires and we, the customers, then have to deal with it out of our own pockets.
To start this off, I have pasted my letter to Ducati USA below. I ask that you write similar letters to the respective Ducati customer service departments in your respective countries and paste your letter here. I also ask that if you are part of other 1199 forums, that you paste a link to this thread so that we can develop a body of evidence as to the magnitude of the issue and a repository of the responses from Ducati.
My letter is pasted below; please feel free to use this as a rough template for your own purpose.
Subject: 1199 Dash/slave ECU - Serious safety issue
To:
[email protected]
To whom it may concern.
I write to you to inform you of a repeated failure and a serious safety issue with the 1199 Panigale that limits the motorcycle's utility, erodes the value of the product and your brand, and may result in a collision, placing the operator at risk of injury or death.
The Dash/slave ECU is likely to fail during normal operating conditions, resulting in the loss of function for the right turn signal, horn and other functions, including the shift indicator lights, partial function of the tachometer (orange highlight before approaching redline) and access and use of the trip meter. While loss of the shift indicator lights, partial function of the tachometer and access and use of the trip meter are individually and collectively significant faults and erode the satisfaction I obtain from my motorcycle, its resale value and your brand equity, it is the failure of the right turn signal and horn that are of greatest concern with respect to operator safety.
I purchased my motorcycle in May 2012; I have approximately 5,500 miles on the bike, and I am currently scheduled to receive my third Dash/slave ECU under warranty.* I thank you for addressing the repeated failure Dash/slave ECU by replacing it under warranty; however, I am not willing to own this motorcycle if the Dash/slave ECU continues to fail since, in addition to disrupting my use of the motorcycle and being a major aggravation, the cost of ownership will prohibitive once the OEM warranty expires. To put the significance of this failure in perspective, I note that I am also on my third set of tires and thus the replacement rate for tires (a consumable and thus an expected) is roughly similar to that of the Dash/slave ECU. In short, the repeated failure of the Dash/slave ECU is an unacceptable burden to me, your customer.
As a result of internet forums where the failure of the Dash/slave ECU is widely discussed, I am aware that this is a common issue with the 1199 Panigale world-wide, and so I also ask that you consider how you will deal with this issue collectively among your customers. Despite our affection for Ducati and its brand, many of us are considering how to rectify this issue, including selling our bikes before the factory warranty expires and incurring a significant financial penalty, accessing state "lemon laws," and legal action. Perhaps Ducati would consider extending the warranty period for the Dash/slave ECU in perpetuity or until the issue is rectified; doing so would provide me and the rest of your valued customer base with the confidence that you intend to support us until function of the Dash/slave ECU is no longer an issue.
In closing, I thank you in advance for your consideration. I look forward to your response.
Best regards, your customer,
Name: ###########
Telephone: #########
Email: ##########
*Please note that my estimate of the total milage on my motorcycle is an approximation because each time my Dash/slave ECU is replaced, I lose the total distance travelled on the motorcycle.
P.S.: I want to note that I could not be more satisfied with the excellent customer service of my dealer "”Donelson Cycles Inc, of St. Ann MO "” in assisting me throughout my purchase and ownership experience.
