In article , Graham
Frankland wrote:

"Steve Lusardi" wrote in message
...
Skip,
There is a lot of market pressure on Honda and most of it is illegal
competition from China. (Copies) The Chinese machines may work perfectly,
but many do not, as thier QC is almost non-existant. The bigger problem is
that most of the resellers are not prepared to give either warranttee or
after sales service, because they do not order or stock spare parts. You
can save money, but before you buy you should make certain about parts and
service availability first.
Steve

Certainly here in the UK, Chinese 2 stroke 220v 700w gennys can be purchased
for under UKP50 (around $80?) with 12 months warranty and seem very
reliable. 2200w cost just under UKP 100. At those prices, a new genny is
often going to cost less than spare parts for a more expensive make so it
becomes just another throw away item. Not many people I know are willing to
spend money on Hondas.

Yeah, but how far from a dealer do they venture?

I had this sort of duscussion a few years ago with a supplier of
upmarket computer gear. A server had stopped because one out of 3
cooling fans had died, and the sensor in the fan had sent a shutdown
signal to the system. When I bitched to the service people, they
pointed out that they offered a max of 24 hours response time and
carried a full range of spares.

I asked tham how they proposed getting their service tech to my
icebreaker down in the Southern Ocean. Dead silence.

What I wanted was something built so well that it didn't *need* a
service call.

On point, I recently bought a Honda 2HP 4 stroke o/board. It was
probably the dearest o/b I coulda got in the power range but I figure
it's worth it. Ditto for gensets.

Oh yeah, I have a pile, maybe 12, Honda gensets at work. They *always*
work right down to -30C temperatures. My advice is, pay the money.

PDW