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Driveshaft SeaDoo Spark Quality – Driveshaft Problems

133K views 101 replies 40 participants last post by  Craigo 
#1 · (Edited)
I would like to start this post to share with other owners and prospective buyers the major problem I and others have had with brand new SeaDoo Sparks and the actions of BRP to address it. I welcome any comments, especially from BRP addressing it. I am not alone, search forums and google it for yourself.


So here is what happened:


We purchased a 2-up 90 HP in May 2014 from a dealership on a huge lake in NH. We got it on the water on 10 June 2014. On 28 June 2014, with 13 hours on the Spark, it lost thrust while going 30 mph and the engine just revved. It idled fine, but with any throttle it just emitted a high pitched whining noise (shaft spinning noise), and no propulsion. So I brought it to the dealer the next monday, 30 July 2014.


The Dealer calls later that day and says: The spline where the driveshaft and imeller shaft meet is shredded. To replace it they must disassemble the engine and half of the Spark, order a bunch of new parts and tons of labor for $8,000! - Holy Crap!!! - But it's under warranty, it's just that BRP hasn't hasn't authorized us (the dealer) to start repair and when they do we will have to wait for parts.


The dealer recommended I contact BRP Customer service to complain and speed up process.


So we called BRP Customer Service that day – Reply: We are sorry for the inconvenience, but oh well. - Requested to speak to Supervisor – Ok, someone will call you back tomorrow – No one called back from BRP.


1 July, 2014:


Dealer called – Sorry BRP still hasn't authorized a repair.


Called BRP again - We are sorry for the inconvenience, we will attempt to get you back on water soon and here is a claim # for you. - Requested to speak to Supervisor again – Ok, someone will call you back tomorrow.


2 July -7 July 2014


Called BRP daily after no returned calls. Same story.


7 July, 2014:


Dealer calls – BRP has verbally authorized repair, but they need at least 5-10 business days to engineer a new part and determine a cheaper method to repair. The Dealer told me his dealership had sold 30 sparks so far, 2 have come back already for this problem (a few weeks into NH's short riding season).


Called BRP – We are sorry for the inconvenience, your claim has been elevated to the Senior Customer Service Rep and they will contact you by tomorrow.


Emailed Steve the “After-Sales Social Media & Tech Support Team Lead at BRP” on the GreenHulk forum, explaining my situation and asking for assisstance. He replied: We are sorry for the inconvenience, I will investigate your claim and see if I can help resolve it.


8 Jul7, 2014:


Called BRP – Wife spoke to customer service, asked again to speak with someone who could answer questions. BRP stated your claim has been elevated to the “Third Tier” Senior Customer Service Rep and they will contact you by tomorrow.


9 July, 2014


Steve from BRP called, I looked into your claim and it has been elevated to the Senior Customer Service Rep and they will contact you soon. - Thanks Steve, I heard that a few times already:)


Dealer Called – We are still waiting on BRP!


Now Waiting....




So here I am, sharing my story. I will update as it unfolds. (Of course it unfolds in the middle of riding season)


I have researched online and this is happening to others, some I have chatted with and they are going through the exact same things with BRP. I am not trying to bad mouth SeaDoo, I understand problems can happen but I do believe a company should stand behind what they build and sell to us.


And think about this, the Spark driveshaft appears to be cheap and prone to fail, so BRP will redesign and replace those that fail under warranty - BUT if your driveshaft lasts more than a year and then goes out you are screwed after warranty :( - Maybe a recall or extended warranty should be called for here.
 
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#6 · (Edited)
#8 ·
Update:

So SeaDoo Senior Customer Service Rep calls my wife today and states that the part to repair it will not be ready to ship until the 18 or 21st of July, because it is still being remanufactured!!!

When asked if SeaDoo plans to make a recall he said condescendingly: "I cannot comment on that... but you can read between the lines" ????
 
#9 ·
I heard about a drive shaft issue from someone else too. Geeze $8,000 repair if it wasn't under warranty? thats more than a new Spark. If this happens to me after warranty is up I'll do what I have to do fix it myself LOL!

This has to be so frustrating for you. I'm sorry. Good luck. Keep us posted.
 
#12 ·
NHspark when you say re-manufactured do you mean they are refurbishing the broken part or remaking the whole part again ( it will be brand new ) Maybe they don't have any new ones in stock because due to these issues with it breaking on people they are remaking the design. Lets hope so and lets hope they do a recall. It would be nice to have a recall on things that are giving people issues at the same exact time my Spark is at the dealership for its first servicing :)

I had a new 2005 hyundai accent and the transmission died at about 200 miles and they replaced it under warranty with a refurbished part. I was heated. They said if it broke again it would not be covered again. I'll never buy another Hyundai.
 
#13 ·
Bought Spark April 2014; August 2014 Drive shaft slips out of mounts and ruins splines (12 hours on Spark). Spark returns from dealer Oct 2014 (I told them it took so long to just winterize it). Take Spark out June 2015 and at 24 hours, drive shaft slips and fails again. Take to dealer, they repair, I take it out again and it fails again within one hour (now at 25 hours). So, 3 drive shaft failures in less than 25 hours on the Spark. Back at dealer, he can't figure it out. Must be one of those the factory mounted the engine incorrectly? I have the 3 year BRP extra warranty, but I wonder if a replacement Spark is in order?
 
#16 ·
Gee, I'd love to know the end of the story for NHspark! A driveshaft!

And layers and layers of customer service and management means $$$ that could possibly have been diverted to engineering, testing and quality control.

Well, lets think positively, I hope they fixed it and that NHspark is enjoying the Spark. It would be interesting to see just how reliable the Sparks really are. Consumer Reports doesn't test or track personal water craft.

I hope things work out for NHspark and anyone else who was effected.
 
#18 ·
BRP said they have sent a 'new alignment jig' to my dealer. They must be having a lot of other aggravated customers with malaligned drive shafts besides me. I asked for a new Spark, but BRP balked. Still without my Spark (in shop 1/3 of first summer and now 1/3 of second summer). Below is the history.

11 April 2014 unit purchase

14 August 2014 (12 hours) unit fails requiring drive shaft.
8 October 2014 unit returned to me by dealer

18 June 2015 unit fails again (24 hours). Drive shaft replaced again.
1 July 2015 unit returned to me by dealer

1 July 2015 drive shaft fails again (still at 24-25 hours). Service manager at dealership drives to my home and picks up unit 2 July 2015. Says drive shaft has failed again.

7 July I called BRP to request a new unit due to faulty construction/installation when purchased. Spark still in shop with malaligned drive shaft. BRP won't replace the Spark.
 
#27 ·
drive shaft failed again at 29 hours (2014 model). BRP wants dealer to replace drive shaft. Including the original drive shaft, this makes the 5th drive shaft!!
I would avoid purchasing a Spark.
so when they are replacing the driveshaft were is it broken? is it broken in half? or are the splines on the engine side stripped? are they checking the splines in the crankshaft? from what I have heard initially they (BRP) thought it was an alignment issue but with research they have done they found when the drive system was assembled they put too much grease in the Pto coupler and the drive shaft didn't get pushed all the way into the splines of the pto coupler causing the splines to prematurely wear and break or strip, there is apparently a new procedure for assembling the drive shaft on the sparks and also when the dealer is doing a repair typically a new crankshaft is required, so if your dealer is only replacing the drive shaft and not the worn or damaged crank or if they are putting too much grease in the coupler then it will be a matter of time before it happens again!

If the dealer did the repair incorrectly or didn't replace all the damaged components then your dealer is at fault, not Brp, if I had the same issue repaired 5 times then I would bet my pay check that it is not getting repaired correctly!
 
#22 ·
I just got off phone with dealer, trying to trade my 2014 Spark (which needs its 5th drive shaft and only has 29 hours) in on a 2015. The dealer said he can't give me anything on trade because BRP hasn't told dealer what to do with my problematic 2014 Spark. You can't make up a story as bad as this one.........
 
#25 ·
It's a crying shame that BRP isn't taking care of you.
My Spark has been great so far but I'm really hoping nothing major goes wrong with it because everything I read indicates that their customer service makes people regret buying BRP.
Even the best products have occasional flaws - it's what the company does about it that counts.

How does one rebuild a driveshaft anyhow? Once the splines are worn it has to be replaced. 5 times is ridiculous. If a car had that kind of trouble you could have it bought back under the lemon law by now.
 
#28 ·
BRP is terrible on a customer service level, and that's what counts.... I've had 7 repairs on my spark in under a year and under 50 hours. I've had steering fail while riding causing me to wreck, and two handlebar issues after the fact. BRP will only try and repair, they won't look into your situation any further. Due to mine having a bunch of issues, and one issue keeps hapening they were going to offer me some sort of compensation because it lives at the dealer and keeps breaking. I even offered to purchase another model sea doo if BRP would work a fair trade amount. They backed out and said tough luck, and my warranty is over in a few days and it needs to go back to the dealer for the 3-4 time this season, after just getting it back after 2+ weeks at the dealer! They handle situations terribly, and this will be the last sea doo I ever own. Whenever someone asks me about a pwc now I make sure to steer them away from BRP.
 
#26 ·
By now I would have said Fu*k it, I'd get the replacement driveshaft and align the engine myself and never deal with them again. Kinda defeats the purpose of warranty but if you want something done right... do it yourself
 
#30 ·
2014 Spark

I have a 2014 Spark I bought for my young son, he had 17 hours on it when his drive shaft failed. I was told by the dealership on Wednesday the 6th. Sorry your warranty is up. I was called back and the dealer wants to make it right. They get one chance, then I file a law suit. No one has a right to sell you a defective product. If BRP will not fix it take it to court. That why is on record and there will be a recall for all of us to enjoy rather than this crap.
 
#31 ·
I have a 2014 Spark I bought for my young son, he had 17 hours on it when his drive shaft failed. I was told by the dealership on Wednesday the 6th. Sorry your warranty is up. I was called back and the dealer wants to make it right. They get one chance, then I file a law suit. No one has a right to sell you a defective product. If BRP will not fix it take it to court. That why is on record and there will be a recall for all of us to enjoy rather than this crap.

Good luck to you but BRP isn't going to issue a recall for an issue only a handful of people are having.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#34 ·
When dealer placed the 4th drive shaft in my Spark (25 hours), BRP overnighted a 'new' alignment jig for dealer to use. The 4th drive shaft failed again at 29hours. The splines were chewed up; I don't know about the grease issue mentioned previously on the forum. I was told by BRP that the 2015 Sparks have an 'upgraded' drive shaft (I would think they upgraded the drive shaft because the 2014's kept failing). Ultimately, BRP offered to help me purchase a 2015 Spark, but the dealer wouldn't take my 2014 in on trade because he said 'I can't sell this thing to anyone else'. Ultimately, I ended up with a replacement 2015 Spark. I'm happier, but I still ended up with my Spark in the shop the majority of the first 2 summers I owned it. Fingers crossed on the 2015 model........
 
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