Wrote the President of Sea Ray today

gcunning1968

New Member
Apr 30, 2011
25
Pensacola, Fl
Boat Info
2007 230 Select 350 mag bravo 3 wakeboard tower polk sound system
Engines
350 mag wBravo III drive
I sent the President of Sea Ray a letter today concerning the following issues. A friend of mine has a 2007 230 select that he has had a multitude of issues with the worst of which is a overheating issue that will cause the boat to shut down. The boat still has part of the extended warranty left and the local Marine Max can't seam to figure the issues out. Last Saturday we headed to the Aquapalooza event and he overheated, at idle he is only running 1.5 to 3 lbs of water pressure. Marine Max says this is normal yet my boat runs around 15lbs at idle and our set-ups are exactly the same. He has had all the gauges quit on him as well as trim issues. I hope Sea Ray will at least acknowledge the letter. This boat has less than 100 hours on it and has been maintained by the local Marine Max
 
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Does your friend have two broken hands or not know how to write? Just curious about why you wrote the letter instead of your friend? And why would you expect the president of Sea Ray to contact you instead of the registered owner of the boat?
 
Not sure what kind of resolution you are expecting writing a letter on behalf of your friend???
 
As a fellow sea ray owner with the same set-up, maybe he is just trying to give a outside opinion on the issue?
 
A letter to Mercury Marine may yield better results as it sounds like his problems are with the engine. I may be wrong but I would think that Merc handles Merc warranty issues, not Sea Ray. Just a thought.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9650 using Tapatalk
 
As a fellow sea ray owner with the same set-up, maybe he is just trying to give a outside opinion on the issue?

I see your point, but, I'm with the others. It would be HIGHLY unusual for a company to respond to a complaint letter from a "friend/fellow customer". MM
 
At least the real owner of the boat still has plausable deniability... I didn't know...
 
On the overheating issue, the problem is with the motor not the boat so the dealer has to co-ordinate the issues with Mercury not Sea Ray.

Next, the PSI readings you mention 1.5 - 3) are typically correct for low RPM readings. That is what I see on my 350MAG engine in my boat. What you did not mention is what these readings are at higher RPMS. Mine typically runs around 10 PSI. What are the readings on your friend's boat at higher RPM?

Dave
 
I sent the President of Sea Ray a letter today concerning the following issues. A friend of mine has a 2007 230 select that he has had a multitude of issues with the worst of which is a overheating issue that will cause the boat to shut down. The boat still has part of the extended warranty left and the local Marine Max can't seam to figure the issues out. Last Saturday we headed to the Aquapalooza event and he overheated, at idle he is only running 1.5 to 3 lbs of water pressure. Marine Max says this is normal yet my boat runs around 15lbs at idle and our set-ups are exactly the same. He has had all the gauges quit on him as well as trim issues. I hope Sea Ray will at least acknowledge the letter. This boat has less than 100 hours on it and has been maintained by the local Marine Max

I run 1.2-2 psi at idle and 12 at speed
 
I run at 1.5-2 PSI at idle and about 7 PSI at speed. This is normal per my local Searay Dealer. No overheating issues here.
 
Guys, I am just trying to help a friend that is very frustrated with a situation in which he cannot get any resolution to. I appreciate all your support!
 
I agree with many of the posts above. Why are you sending a letter instead of the owner? Or are you really the owner, just trying to be a friend. Doesn't make sense.
 
On the overheating issue, the problem is with the motor not the boat so the dealer has to co-ordinate the issues with Mercury not Sea Ray.

Next, the PSI readings you mention 1.5 - 3) are typically correct for low RPM readings. That is what I see on my 350MAG engine in my boat.

Dave
Same numbers here!
 
Guys, I assure you I am not the owner as if I had been through what my buddy had been through I would have driven the boat through the wall at the dealership and parked her in the middle of the showroom. My buddy does not know that I have written on his behalf, right or wrong I did what I did for his benefit, if I do not get an answer I am out $4.95 for a priority mail envelope. I am not looking for a pat on the back nor do I understand everyone's shock that I wrote this letter, my friend is not a very outspoken person and I personally felt as if he has been given a bum deal so I stepped out on faith that the President of one of the largest sport boat manufacturers in the world would care about his customers.
 
I don't see the big deal here, either. There is nothing wrong with any member of the public sending a letter to a company expressing their opinion of how a company acts and how it treats its customers.

His letter points out an interesting fact... that is a situation like this can have impact and create perceptions beyond the owner of the specific product. Members of the public who are exposed to products that are perceived not to work correctly, or are perceived as not properly supported by the manufacturer may be less likely to purchase from that manufacturer. Sea Ray may see a need to have greater involvement here... or they may believe they have appropriately handled the issue. Either way, it is of benefit to Sea Ray to hear from the public whenever they have concerns with the company.
 
Sending the letter for your friend is quite commendable. It certainly can not hurt. The reality is that it most likely will not get any traction unless you have given ample reason for you writing SR on the owners behalf. If the owner is not concerned enough to contact SR then may be no issue as far as SR goes.
Time will tell as SR either does or doesn’t reply back. Please keep us posted and your friend is luck to be able to call you friend.
 
I hope you included the Dealer's name that is not fixing your friends problem. Good Dealers are the backbone to any manufacturer of any product. Bad service work means less sales for the Dealer and Manufacturer, Mike.
 
I have to agree, while it's noble, it's not effective to step in and try to handle your friend issue for him, especially without him knowing or asking you to.

And as has been said, it's a Mercruiser problem that MM or your friend should be addressing with Mercruiser if MM can't figure it out. It's an obvious critical problem that Searay can't do anything about.

BTW, from my personal experience, Mercruiser is very receptive and responsive. However, if the dealer hasn't been been given the opportunity, or been pushed to escalate the issue by getting Mercruiser involved, the dealer isn't likely to be very happy with your friend for going around or over their head.

In my case the dealer (MM also) caused the problem that cost me a coupler letting go as we left the ramp at lake we'd just driven 3 hours to. I knew they weren't ever going to see my boat again so once the motor was pulled and we saw what the cause was, I contact Merc., they contacted MM and in the end, Merc wrote me checks for that problem as well as another minor issue we discovered once the motor was out, but they ran it through MM. MM wasn't happy but they were humbled and knew they screwed up. Merc. was great! From 1st email to call from them was < 2hours and 3 more days and they were waiting on me for a parts list so they could cut a check. And mine was out of warranty.

The moral of the story, your friend could better benefit in you helping him work it out with MM and or getting Merc. to intervene. With you jumping in without his knowledge, you risk making it a harder issue to deal with for him as well as making him feel uncomfortable that you took over. Let him fight his own battles, and encourage and/or help guide him through the process if he needs help.

Another option is letting another Merc authorized service center look at it.
 
Seems the problem is with Marine Max service, but there's a lot of info we don't have here, which I hope you included in your letter. Obviously, there's been a lot of "contact" with Marine Max - were the receptive? are they rude? does it seem that they are trying to drag things out beyond the warranty period? I think it's good that this problem has been put "in writing" but I hope you were specific in your chronicling of the issues when you wrote to SR b/c it seems pretty vague.
 

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