BMW Roadside assistance causes chaos & $$$$$$

Evidently in Canada such things are tracked.

akbeemer said:

Evidently in Canada such things are tracked.

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Yes, well, like Carfax and others in the US.

Tracked, yes. Compensated for? As is said "down that road lies madness"

I got the impression that the tracking was done by a government entity rather than a commercial enterprise like Carfax. Perhaps a well informed Canadian will enlighten us.

akbeemer said:

I got the impression that the tracking was done by a government entity rather than a commercial enterprise like Carfax. Perhaps a well informed Canadian will enlighten us.

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From what I have seen the Government is big into consumer protection. Mandatory snow tire laws, mandated trucks governed at 100kph, Government healthcare etc. Better to regulate than litigate?

It is called diminished value. Your property has value diminished and yes, in a case like this in the USA you eventually would get something.

Rod

sedanman said:

Threads on these forums often turn into school yard shoving matches. So glad to see that this one is no exception. In some states BMW's disclaimer of liability is worthless.

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it is worthless, on the basis of incompetence & gross negligance!

Gross negligance; wanton disregard for the foreseeable consequences. A tough standard to meet legally.

Get over it, it is getting taken care of and the responsible party will be on the hook for the $$. As others said, learn from the lesson. BMW does this as a courtesy, and I am sure they try to make sure a reputable company provides the service, but I am also sure that the local towing services have employee turn over, equipment changes, etc that can in the matter of a day change their competence. THAT is impossible to monitor.


Crap happens, live and learn.

ragtoplvr said:

It is called diminished value. Your property has value diminished and yes, in a case like this in the USA you eventually would get something.

Rod

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No such thing... yet. Its like if you bought one share of stock on a Monday for $100 and on Wednesday it goes down to $80. What did you lose? Nothing, because you didn't sell it.

Say the OP feels his bike is worth $25,000 and he puts it for sale. Someone buys it for $24,000. He sues the tow service owner for $1000. They go to court. The tow service owner supplies past sale info for same bikes selling for $20,000 to $26,000. So, did the OP get less than the bike was worth, or did he get more than it was worth? There is no way the OP can prove he suffered a loss.

ClassicVW said:

No such thing... yet. Its like if you bought one share of stock on a Monday for $100 and on Wednesday it goes down to $80. What did you lose? Nothing, because you didn't sell it.

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Google 'Automobile Diminished Value' or similar keywords. You'll be surprised.

akbeemer said:

I got the impression that the tracking was done by a government entity rather than a commercial enterprise like Carfax. Perhaps a well informed Canadian will enlighten us.

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Maybe. But a seller and buyer can end up the same place whether the record is public and kept by a governmental agency or is publically available from a for-fee commercial operator.

As for a diminished value claim I think such a claim is valid. See for example: http://www.ican2000.com/dvfaqs.html

But I think such a claim would be against the tow company or its insurer and not against either BMW or Cross Country - but I am not and never have been a lawyer. Most tort claim lawyers in the United States would be likely to assert a claim against BMW, Cross Country, the tow company, the tow company's boss (if not the owner), and the tow truck driver and let them try to sort it out by pointing fingers at each other.

Ok, and what's all that going to cost? A lot more than any possible loss.

ClassicVW said:

Ok, and what's all that going to cost? A lot more than any possible loss.

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I absolutely agree. But if I were asserting a claim against the tow company insurance I would toss it in for good measure.

Lets face it, there is NOT exclusive Moto towing companies, the guy that shows up is likely to have a couple trucks. Their bread and butter isn't motos. THIS is a typical tow! If your lucky(??) they might show up with a flat bed, that when tipped up has about a 30* incline. Ever try to push a bike up a 30* incline?? Guess what it is going to be winched, and if the driver is alone, he cant support the bike and run the winch at the same time. Wrecks are typically just dragged up on their side, causing additional damage.

Is it right, we can debate that forever, but it IS reality.

Lesson learned should be to avoid towing your bike (or anything for that matter) unless you have to. Since you are bold enough to ride motorcycles, maybe be bold enough to learn to take your rear wheel off (which is incredibly easy on a shaft drive bike with a center stand).

This is kind of like teaching accident avoidance on motorcycles. If a car is flying down a street toward an intersection you are stopped at and appears like it's going to blow through a light that just turned red, do you still go through the intersection? If he did go through the red light and hit you he would be completely at fault, no doubt. However getting creamed on your bike by a red light runner only leaves one loser...you.

I learned to not trust tow truck drivers after watching them clear Broadway Street in San Francisco of any cars left over past the street cleaning hour. Something like 10 tow trucks showed up to remove all the cars. Bumpers were ripped off, cars were banged into other cars and absolutely zero care was given. People were coming out and getting mad and the police were there to keep them from chasing after the tow drivers.

Just because BMW makes a statement that they are not responsible for any towing damage to a motorcycle doesn't mean they automatically exempt from any legal action. Anyone can say almost anything as anyone can sue anyone for almost any cause. Because this is a program administered by BMW for their customers they have a certain amount of responsibility to make sure the independent tow firms have a clear understanding of how the various BMW motorcycles are to be towed or hauled. Clearly the ultimate responsibility lies with the tow firm for placing tie downs where they do not belong and causing substantial damage, but this doesn't preclude BMW from having some input in proper towing procedures to towing firms employed by BMW in their own program.

To another point, certainly it would be advantageous if we were all mechanically inclined and were capable of removing the wheels from our motorcycles. Unfortunately, not everyone has that ability nor does everyone have the necessary tools, jacks or lifts to accomplish this type of task. I think it grossly unfair to find fault with someone for not removing their wheels when they may not have the knowledge or tools to accomplish such a task. Would those critical of the OP for not being able to remove his own wheels have been happy if he in fact performed such an operation and then had a wheel fall off because it wasn't mounted properly or torqued to correct specs? Did those of you that do your own such work just wake up one morning and say " I'm going to change my own tires today" or did you watch and perhaps help someone more knowledgeable than yourself perform this type of work first? If you are like most of us you had some help from someone experienced in this work who showed you the correct procedures. I think it is arrogant and ignorant to find fault with someone for not doing something like removing their own wheels, when they may not have the knowledge and ability to perform such work. That has to be one of the dumbest criticisms I have ever heard.

Rick H.

To sum up... You pay your money and take your chances.

Don't see BMW writing a tow procedure. See no way to ever enforce that with so many variables. Heck, we argue about it here

It is one thing you learn or trust others to have a clue as far as where to strap a bike down.
Typically we learn by reading or hearing of others misfortunes or by reading somewhere along the way...or trying to see what works in practice thru years of trailering / loading things...including bikes.
I just can not see a spec book in the cab of a wrecker with tie down points of every vehicle that may need a hook. Not a practical theory IMHO.

I had a buds wrecked K12S picked up for salvage this week...on a rollback that planned on one more car retrieval for the insurance carrier... I have some pics still on the camera to verify a pick up...let's just say , good thing it was a total
Was it my place to tell him how to load it? He and I have chatted before...he didn't remember the suggestion...or give a hoot.
Had it been a bike he was picking up for me undamaged, I would have nicely asked him to listen to my suggestions...or not load it and call his boss...which on occasion is the guy with the truck.

I don't think a slam was the point in the wheel change scenario...just an option for folks to ponder...does everyone but me call AAA to come change a vehicle tire?

motorcop@wi.rr.com said:

I think it is arrogant and ignorant to find fault with someone for not doing something like removing their own wheels, when they may not have the knowledge and ability to perform such work.
Rick H.

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I personally would never find fault with someone who didn't remove their own wheel, even if it meant the towing company wrecked their bike. But I would find fault with somebody who failed to learn how to do it. It is in every Owners manual I have ever owned for either a bike or a car. And it is put there for a reason.

There are lots of good reasons why not to remove your own wheels - don't have time, can't get dirty right now, have to get to work, I'd rather go bowling, or whatever.

But "I don't know how" isn't one of them.