Have to have warranty service done by the dealer you purchased the boat from?

A

Almost Heaven

New Member
Jan 29, 2008
8
Chesapeake Bay,
Boat Info
2007 sedan bridge
Engines
Merc 8.1 Horizons
Is it true that warranty service must be done by the dealer that you bought the boat from? I can't believe this! Any dealer that sells the make of boat you purchase, MUST perform warranty work. Right? I was told this yesterday by a Sea Ray salesperson . We were looking at 2 different SeaRay dealers, and one of the sales people told me this.
 
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Call SeaRay Customer service and ask. It sure doesn't sound right to me.
THIS IS AMERICA!
 
Heck with SR customer service: They will tell you what you want to hear.

Walk to the service manager and ask for an appointment to bring in a boat. Note that it wasn't bought there. Note taht it is for warrenty work. See what happens.

They might say no.
They might say no problem. . .and give you an early November appointment.
Or they may say "Bring it tomorrow".

- - - -

And start looking for "non-dealer" service options before you buy. You will be happy you did.
 
As long as you get your work done by an authorized merccruiser shop, you can go anywhere you want. Normally, most boaters will try to build a relationship with the dealer they bought from but it is not mandatory. This is not to say that the two dealers in your area have an agreement between themselves that they will service only the boats they sell... But I doubt that.

Think of it like a new car. Warranty work or just maintenace can be done by any authorized dealer.
 
What rocks do u guys live under ? If u have SEARAY warrty work and u want to go to a dealer other then the one u purchased it from GOOD LUCK. U get put on the bottom of any list. BEEN there done that .... I also tried to buy a boat from a dealer out of my HOME area.... Once they found out i lived in NY .... suddenly i had the plague and no one would touch me .... Then on top they called the NY dealer to tell them i was astray in NJ .

ITs a joke ... and its on us ...


Rob
 
If you're a little handy, you can get most work done. For the engines, just ask a certified mercruiser shop. For the other items, I just ring up the manufacturer, so far I've had no issues with getting them replaced. Most of the small items aren't worth the gas to drive the boat to the dealer. I just hire a local guy and he comes and fixes it for a fraction of the cost of the fuel. For big items, it's probably worth it to hire a hauler to deliver the boat.
 
From the 2007 Cruiser Warrantu on their website:
.....
OWNER’S OBLIGATION: The original owner or any subsequent owner who has been approved for a warranty transfer should contact the selling Sea Ray dealer to set up an appointment for warranty repairs....
 
Sea Ray closely controls dealer territories. A dealer is not allowed to sell outside his territory and dealers are expected to service their own customers first. I fact, their franchise agreement prohibits the dealer from selling outside his territory. Service departments are profit centers and most will take any boat in for service as long as they have taken care of the folks they have sold boats to first. Like Rob says, you will be in the line behind their regular boat sales customers.

Keep in mind that this isn't like getting your car serviced where there are quite often 4-5 dealers of a given brand in a city. There is no point in getting excited about it because you aren't going to change the way Sea Ray works with their dealers......just learn to work within the system and develop a relationship with your local dealer.
 
Franks 100 % correct. The downside to this is when ur dealer is terrible . UR stuck. Searay can only go so far. The turn over rate of personnel at some of these dealerships is incredible . Its sad.


Rob
 
Robski97 said:
What rocks do u guys live under ? If u have SEARAY warrty work and u want to go to a dealer other then the one u purchased it from GOOD LUCK. U get put on the bottom of any list. BEEN there done that .... I also tried to buy a boat from a dealer out of my HOME area.... Once they found out i lived in NY .... suddenly i had the plague and no one would touch me .... Then on top they called the NY dealer to tell them i was astray in NJ .

ITs a joke ... and its on us ...


Rob
Click to expand...

Yeah, and this is NOT just a SeaRay thing. When I was shopping for new boats, I saw the same behaviour with Crownline, Maxxum, and Chapperel (pardon spelling) dealers. It became real obvious when you go to boat shows 100 miles apart and see the *same* dealers.

I can't even speak for SeaRay in this regard, because honestly the dealer teaser pricing seemed out of line (for the low end boats) and I didn't pursue the brand at that phase.

Honestly, it was this simple "territory" philosophy that pushed me completely out of the new market. I really got the sense I was at a serious negotiating disadvantage and I simply could not get myself to play under those rules.

- - - -

So I went used. And I bought a brokered boat from a dealer. Ok. . .it appears that I am considered a customer of the dealer, so I did not fall to the bottom of the service que. But man. . . . I definately got the sense of the "we have more than enough customers" philosophy. Having an older boat, I definately needed some service. By the time it came to "winterization" at the end of my first season. . .I was definately hunting for alternative service options.
 
If it's warranty work, why would you not go to the dealer that sold you. My selling dealer is fine except for the rediculous gouging that goes on. So I tell him to do only warranty work and then drive over to my real mechanic for non-warranty.

Actually I try to do it myself first and when I screw it up then I take it in. :smt100 I am trying to service the water pump for the 100 hour service. Boy, I am not having much fun. Does anyone have any advice?
 
Thanks to everyone for the info! I kind of knew what everyone was going to say. I also, believe that developing a relationship with the selling dealer. But, previous times of trying to get warranty work done correctly and expediantly has been hard.
Hopefully, this time will be different.
 
Almost Heaven said:
Hopefully, this time will be different.
Click to expand...

Hopefully, it isn't the same dealer!!

Don't get me wrong. .. there are probably LOTS of great dealers out there. I have a good one now that does work on my car. Don't have one for the boat at the moment.

And yes. . .warrenty work naturally would go to the dealer. Of course, it does seem that some posters have issues even with warrenty work.
 
all I have to say is that I'm so glad I have a great shop/dealer to work with.

Franks comments are true, except they can sell parts anywhere they can. There are no territories on parts.
 
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