Sidekick XG850 Recall

[Mlarv]

I received a letter today from Kubota saying stop driving my Sidekick because the steering shaft my shear due to a misalignment of the electrical steering support bracket.

If you have one and run it hard give it a check. I was told by my dealer pretty much all XG850's have this issue.

Be safe
Mike

 

[whitetiger]

I was told by my dealer pretty much all XG850's have this issue.

It's not "pretty much all", the issue is every XG850 produced.

 

[Micahwork]

I received a letter today from Kubota saying stop driving my Sidekick because the steering shaft my shear due to a misalignment of the electrical steering support bracket.

If you have one and run it hard give it a check. I was told by my dealer pretty much all XG850's have this issue.

Be safe
Mike

IVE DONE ABOUT 5 OF THE NEW UPDATES FOR THE XG850 AND ONLY ONE SO FAR HAS NEEDED MORE THAN JUST THE INSPECTION.
KUBOTA SHOULD SEND AN UPDATE GUY OUT OR YOU CAN BRING IT TO A SHOP AND THE UPDATE SHOULD BE FREE.

 

[Mlarv]

IVE DONE ABOUT 5 OF THE NEW UPDATES FOR THE XG850 AND ONLY ONE SO FAR HAS NEEDED MORE THAN JUST THE INSPECTION.
KUBOTA SHOULD SEND AN UPDATE GUY OUT OR YOU CAN BRING IT TO A SHOP AND THE UPDATE SHOULD BE FREE.

I will bring to my dealer either today or Monday. It is parked in my garage right now with 10 bags of concrete in the bed. I have a contractor putting a new deck on my place and should use the bags up today.

Thanks

 

[FTG-05]

It's not "pretty much all", the issue is every XG850 produced.

The recall applies to all XG850's but the issue certainly does not. When the H&R guy came by I asked him how many he found with any type of issue. His response was only one out of dozens that he's inspected and that one he said was fairly minor. Recall that there were only 5 incidents (only 2 in the US) being reported before Kubota issued the recall.

I wasn't able to watch while he did his inspection but I did ask him what caused the problem and he emphatically stated that it was an assembly problem.

Mine of course, was one of the ones that had no issue. We spent more time talking about guns, blacksmithing and making knives than he spent making sure my 850 was GTG.

 

[mikester]

Can you post your recall letter info I haven't received anything yet in the mail.

 

[lugbolt]

that's how recalls work

manufacturer sees a potential issue, and several warranty claims dealing with the same issue and then the government gets involved particularly if it's a safety issue. Then they have a certain amount of time to issue a recall. Just because it has a recall does not mean that every single one of them is going to break. It's random. Yours might break the next time you use it or it may not--THAT is why the recall is initiated, so that a questionable part can be inspected and/or replaced. I always recommend taking recalls seriously as the word "recall" almost always means that there is a safety issue of some sort.

With that said here is why I recommend taking them seriously. I did motorcycles for 3 decades. Recalls were common, and we (techs) kind of got used to having recall work in the winter. They issued a recall on a particular bike's transmission, had to do with a gear failing and when it failed it would take out another gear, which in turn would lock the transmission solid--while you were riding. On a motorcycle it's a big deal if the rear wheel locks up while you're going 70mph. Anyway, I did about a dozen of them but there were probably 50 more that needed to be done, yet those customers figured it wasn't a big deal. For the record I never saw one of the ones I did previously, with any issue--it was simply a material change to a more robust/tougher alloy. Then, a wrecked bike shows up--wrecker driver said don't do anything with it until the attorneys show up. Great wonder what that was? I looked up the serial and sure enough it was eligible yet the owner had ignored the letters and phone calls. That's exactly what happened. Broke a dog off and gear slid over into the other, locked it solid and down it went. Rider got hurt. Well the owner didn't die, but after he was able to he came by the shop and we talked. I asked him if he'd gotten a letter about the transmission recall--yep he got it, and also got a phone call from our service manager (who was no longer there). He filed suit with the manufacturer of the bike and of course I (or we, my boss and I) got called into action. The case was thrown out because the owner ignored the recall letter, also mentioned that a bunch of people on FORUMS talked about how their bikes (same models) have been fine for them, had no issues, and that the forums also talked about how pulling the transmission can lead to other technician-induced "problems", so they all ignored it. Yet this one guy was insisting that the manufacturer was at fault, and because he KNEW there was a potential issue and chose to ignore it anyway, he lost his case and got to pay his many bills.

So ignoring it, and then having an issue, sets you up for potential problems should that situation arise. Hopefully it doesn't. For that I highly suggest having the recall done; it is inconvenient for sure but what's more inconvenient? Losing control of your sidekick and spending some time in the hospital, or having to trailer it 45 minutes to a dealer for them to inspect/repair?

 

[Mlarv]

Can you post your recall letter info I haven't received anything yet in the mail.

I dropped it off yesterday with my XG at the dealer. You can call your dealer and see what they want you to do. Mine said bring it in if you want or we can send someone in a few weeks, I opted to bring it in.

 

[DustyRusty]

By law, if the vehicle is presented to the dealer for any type of service, the dealership is required to check for safety recalls, and to do those safety recalls before the vehicle is returned to service with the customer. Depending on the type of recall, if it is severe the dealer will keep the car and give the owner a loaner at the expense of the manufacturer if the recall is lacking the necessary parts to complete the repair.

 

[whitetiger]

The recall applies to all XG850's but the issue certainly does not. When the H&R guy came by I asked him how many he found with any type of issue. His response was only one out of dozens that he's inspected and that one he said was fairly minor. Recall that there were only 5 incidents (only 2 in the US) being reported before Kubota issued the recall.

I wasn't able to watch while he did his inspection but I did ask him what caused the problem and he emphatically stated that it was an assembly problem.

Mine of course, was one of the ones that had no issue. We spent more time talking about guns, blacksmithing and making knives than he spent making sure my 850 was GTG.

I guess it depends on the use of the word ISSUE ( an important topic or problem for debate or discussion). To me anyway, that means the steering inspection is an issue.
Every RTV-XG850 unit produced is subject to the recall with only a few units likely to need any alteration or replacement of the steering.

Below is a pdf of the customer letter sample.

 

[lugbolt]

By law, if the vehicle is presented to the dealer for any type of service, the dealership is required to check for safety recalls, and to do those safety recalls before the vehicle is returned to service with the customer. Depending on the type of recall, if it is severe the dealer will keep the car and give the owner a loaner at the expense of the manufacturer if the recall is lacking the necessary parts to complete the repair.

they're required by law (and usually by the dealer agreement) to do the recall before it's sold. They often don't. The salesman wants to make his money, dealer wants to make their money and a recall isn't stopping them. Problem is, ignoring a presale safety recall sets the dealer up for liability AND big time fines. I spent 5 DAYS going through dealer admin stuff and one full day was on bulletins and recalls. At that time it was not required to do recalls while it was in for normal service, although as strictly a tech now, I check 99.99% of them. That other .01% doesn't have a serial number or for whatever reason can't get done. Sometimes a vehicle comes through my work load and the SM didn't check for bulletins/recalls. I do, and it's got one or two or whatever many. Then check to see if parts are available, nope--backordered forever. So in that case it's up to the customer. Let it sit for infinity on our lot (which no dealer really wants) or let them take it home knowing it's got a recall. Usually it's the latter and when that's the case, 80% of those don't get their recall done. Now then, why are parts not on hand for recalls? The federal government has laws that deal with recalls; and that process doesn't take very long, certainly not long enough for the manufacturer to make a few million parts to perform them, and two the dealers often don't have the shelf space to keep a few thousand recall parts on hand. The parts are sometimes auto-shipped to dealers as well, usually a predetermined percentage of the total affected units that the dealer sold. So when they exhaust that stock, and someone shows up from a different selling dealer, no parts available because the stock is depleted and the manufacturer can't make the parts fast enough and the customer gets bent out of shape because they are inconvenienced. Been through all of this.

what needs to stop is putting profit before safety--a lot of dealers do it.

 

[Mlarv]

they're required by law (and usually by the dealer agreement) to do the recall before it's sold. They often don't. The salesman wants to make his money, dealer wants to make their money and a recall isn't stopping them. Problem is, ignoring a presale safety recall sets the dealer up for liability AND big time fines. I spent 5 DAYS going through dealer admin stuff and one full day was on bulletins and recalls. At that time it was not required to do recalls while it was in for normal service, although as strictly a tech now, I check 99.99% of them. That other .01% doesn't have a serial number or for whatever reason can't get done. Sometimes a vehicle comes through my work load and the SM didn't check for bulletins/recalls. I do, and it's got one or two or whatever many. Then check to see if parts are available, nope--backordered forever. So in that case it's up to the customer. Let it sit for infinity on our lot (which no dealer really wants) or let them take it home knowing it's got a recall. Usually it's the latter and when that's the case, 80% of those don't get their recall done. Now then, why are parts not on hand for recalls? The federal government has laws that deal with recalls; and that process doesn't take very long, certainly not long enough for the manufacturer to make a few million parts to perform them, and two the dealers often don't have the shelf space to keep a few thousand recall parts on hand. The parts are sometimes auto-shipped to dealers as well, usually a predetermined percentage of the total affected units that the dealer sold. So when they exhaust that stock, and someone shows up from a different selling dealer, no parts available because the stock is depleted and the manufacturer can't make the parts fast enough and the customer gets bent out of shape because they are inconvenienced. Been through all of this.

what needs to stop is putting profit before safety--a lot of dealers do it.

When I dropped mine off I talked to the salesman I always use. He stated that they can't sell them until the recalls are done. This is a smaller town dealer that has been around awhile.