Customers File Lawsuits Against Harley-Davidson Over Repair Restrictions In The US

Harley-Davidson USA has been hit by two federal lawsuits in California and Wisconsin. The lawsuits alleged that the US motorcycle manufacturer forced owners to pay inflated prices to repair their motorcycles by limiting where and how the vehicles could be serviced.

The new lawsuits come after the motorcycle brand settled a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complaint over the ‘right to repair’ issues and agreed to lift some restrictions requiring owners to purchase the company’s own parts for repairs. The two lawsuits were filed in August alleging that the restrictions violated the state competition law and other statutes in California and ran afoul of antitrust provisions in Wisconsin.

The lawyer for the plaintiff from Wisconsin said that the company kept a larger share of the parts market for itself. He also added that the company asked higher prices for the parts while using the motorcycle’s warranty policy to force owners to use these branded parts.

The FTC complaint had confronted the company over its warranty policy that said that parts and service procedures other than company approved ones would void the limited warranty on the motorcycles. Harley-Davidson in a consent agreement said that it would not block warranty coverages for bike owners using third-party parts and services but added that it would still deny warranty claims for defects or damages caused by the unauthorized parts and services.