Passport Premiere extended service?

[Sea Gull]

My general take on extended service agreements is that they are a rip off. We once had a Passport warranty on a boat and they never paid a penny (fortunately I was the second owner and only paid $50 to transfer the policy. On our 410 we had a CAT extended warranty and that actually almost paid for itself.

Brunswick apparently now owns the Passport name and is selling their own version called Passport Premiere. I wonder if anyone here has had experience with this product and any comments.

I am sort of inclined to repeat what we did on the last boat, and just go for the engine (MAN) extended plan.

Apparently I have 60 days to decide if I want the coverage. I imagine there is also some room to negotiate the price down from outer space to somewhere near the ozone layer, but again any experience from the group would help.

 

[Bridog]

Sea Gull, I would ask for a copy of the plan if you don't already have one. The section " What's NOT covered is much larger than the section on what IS covered. Also I'm sure you could buy a small car for what they must want for a policy on a yacht your size. There were quite a few complaints against Marine Innovations when they owned the plan. Maybe it's better now that Brunswick owns it. When I bought my 260DA I asked the mechanics what they thought of the extended warranty and they told me it wasn't worth the cost since most failures weren't covered anyway. I did purchase the extended warranty through Mercury for the engines since it was much cheaper and any problems would most likely be engine related. I have faith in Sea Ray that if I have a boat related problem they will take care of it. I hope I'm right. Anyway good luck with your new boat it sure is a beauty.

 

[STIHLBOLTS]

Not knowing any better I purchased the Passport Premier warranty for $1200.00 on the 176BR I owned. Got paid back by the next owner for it after I traded it in. At the signing table when I bought the 220SD I decided against it. It really pissed the finance manager off. That warranty is their Christmas money. Having said that I did buy the extended warranty from Mercruiser for the drive and motor from Mercruiser direct.

I was once told by a knowledgeable boater to look at your exposure. For myself a 220SD has few electrical issues that I could not pay for myself for the roughly $1800.00 that was being asked for on the warranty.

 

[fwebster]

Hummm..."look at your exposure" sounds familiar..........

On a 58DB you do have a ton of exposure for all the various systems on the boat. The service manager (not the F&I guy) at our dealer recommends that owners buy it on larger boats and it usually pays off. But, this dealer has figured out how to dance with the warranty company and they get about everything covered that is not an obvious exclusion.

Engines don't get much better than Mans, but they are a new design. So you have to look at your risk and cost the dealer is trying to tag you for warranty and make an informed decision.

Be sure you read the policy exclusions and get a good grip on how well your dealer works with the warranty company before deciding.

 

[chuck1]

I was once told by a knowledgeable boater to look at your exposure. For myself a 220SD has few electrical issues that I could not pay for myself for the roughly $1800.00 that was being asked for on the warranty.

Yes it was a hard one, but after giving a lot of thought and some dealing on the price went with it on the 240. Chalked it up to one less thing I have to worry about. :smt001

 

[boatrboy]

I will share my history with the passport warrenty. I bought my 1999 in 2004 and passport was good for 6 years so I paid the transfer fee.

1) Water heater leaked and I called marine innovation but I needed a certified Merc dealer to send quote and wait for response - This one I did on my own because my marina has no certified merc guys - (cheaper than the gas to the dealer) But, they said it was covered.

I learned that the dealer needs to contact them and get approval for all repairs and they really responded quickly (within 1-2 days).

2) I next had alarm problems - turned out to be knock sensors - took the dealer 2 tries to find it- knock sensors were corroded and marine innivations only paid for half the repair.

3) engine water pump leaked - they paid for it to be replaced with a rebuilt unit. (I paid the dealer the extra $50 to put new in)

4) wiper motor went and Marine innovations paid dealer to replace it one month prior to the warrenty expiring.

I believe there were some deductables ($50 or so) but for me, it was a good deal for my tranfer fee. I would seroiusly consider the warrenty but as other mentioned. I had a book that outlined everything that was covered (and not covered). The fine print talks about corrosion and neglect, but they were good to me.

Is the new passport really expensive?

Mark

 

[Sea Gull]

Mark, your experience with Passport was better than mine. The cost is more than I paid for the last car I bought.

 

[osd9]

I bought my '02 380DA used from Surfside3 before the MM takeover....It also came with a passport premier extended warranty that I paid the $50 transfer fee. I took delivery of the boat at their Peekskill, NY location on the Hudson River (delivery day picture in my sig below)....on delivery day, the sync guage was a little out of wack and the Surfeside3 mechanic suggested that the sync gauge be replaced....and I was told it would be covered by the warranty...because I didn't want to wait another few days to pick up the boat,I took delivery and went on my merry way........a week or so later, when I was home and sure that the $50 check was cashed and that my name was on the contract, I called Marine Innovations.....they told me it had to go to a Sea Ray Certified dealer for the repair....so...I called my local NJ MM Sea Ray Certified dealer (I live in NJ and Surside3 is/was in NY) to ask when they could fix the gauge....they told me that since I did not buy the boat there, that they weren't taking any new customers...they were just too busy...I called back to Marine Innovations and they were ABSOLUTELY NON ACCOMODATING...I suggested that I take it to a local certified Mercury mechanic for the repair...they said that it wasn't a mercury issue that it was a boat manufacturer issue and it MUST go to certified sea ray dealer.... :smt021 ...keep in mind that MM is the ONLY certified Sea Ray dealer in the entire state of NJ.....Surfside3 was more than happy to take me in, but it would have cost 10x the amount to replace the gauge as it was for the fuel to get there and back.....long story shortened....MM bought Surside3 and I am now considered a "customer"....OH...and the gauge.....just needed adjustment......

 

[NCBoater]

SeaGull

From my experience, SAVE YOUR MONEY. Most Passport claims can be restrictive on who works on your boat and they are slow to pay service companies.

NCBoater

 

[Sea Gull]

The quesiton is if there is an improvement with Passport Premiere owned by Brunswick over the old Passport owned by Marine Innovations.

 

[fwebster]

The service manager at our marina, who is a Sea Ray dealer, says there is no change in the plan, the way it works or the administration as far as he is concerned. They are a Master Dealer, have both Sea Ray and Mercruiser certified technicians so I expect them to have a good understanding since they are "shoveled" the work by the wording in the contract. And, that also explains why they have such good results with the warranty....they make the margin on the sale of the policy and they get to bill the repairs at full retail labor rates.

I'm also told that Brunswick acquired the warranty company because it is a terrific revenue generator, helps calm fears of inexperienced buyers who are jittery with future repair risk, and fits nicely in the sales process at closing where most buyers do not try to negotiate.

 

[jrirvine]

Thanks for starting this discussion thread.

I am trying to decide on the Passport Premiere warranty, having recently purchased, but not taken delivery of, a new 300 DA. At settlement, they presented this “Extended Marine Protection†policy without any prior notice or detailed explanation and of course wanted it purchased at that time. Because the boat is on the hard and shrink wrapped until spring, I was able to buy some time and convince them I had until the actual delivery date to decide. To push the sale, they offered a few hundred dollars off if I purchased at settlement rather than at a later date – which seemed, well rather pushy.

Having read the policy several times, it seems that to get the most possible coverage, one needs to purchase the “Engine Categoryâ€, “Optional Accessory Package – Captain’s Class†and the “Generator†warranties from the ala carte list in the booklet. The total combined cost is around $4,300. Sounds like a good deal when you first assume that for this amount it is possible to cover virtually every system on the boat, until you start comparing what is and is not covered for each.

A good example is the engine. At first glance it looks like they have excellent coverage, until you compare the not covered section and find that little things like the engine block, cylinder heads, transmission case and a host of other items are not. If you take the time to compare each section, then suddenly, it will make you pause.

Probably the biggest factor helping the decision process is realizing that boat repairs are expensive and this initial cost is not much when compared to what several bills from service can be. So, in this light the policy tends to look a little brighter. One clause that I need to clarify before making a final decision is under the “Limit of Liabilityâ€. It states that the cumulative total of claims is limited to 10k, 20, or 30k per engine as indicated on the registration page. The registration page is defined as a document completed by the dealer at sale – which I do not have. Apparently, this could make a huge difference in the coverage.

Sorry for the long post, hopefully some may find it helpful.

 

[chuck1]

Would be interesting to do a poll and see who has purchased and who has not purchased the extended warranties. :smt017

 

[Sea Gull]

Frank, it fit nicely in the sales presentation. I was just waiting for the pitch for rust proofing, undercoating and mortgage life insurance. :smt021

 

[fwebster]

I know I've said to consider your exposure as a part of deciding, but I thought of something else that may limit your exposure.......what are the actual warranties on the engines and generator? Some engine makers have OEM warranties that are quite long which means you may not be buying as much real coverage as you think in an extended warranty.

To give you an example, I was offered a Passport warranty for used boats when I bought the 450DA. It was a 3 year plan and covered everything on the boat, less exclusions. But in my case the Caterpillar engines and a Westerbeke generator had a declining coverage 5 year OEM warranty. True, in the 5th year, coverage was just major components, but it did mean that the $13,250 the dealer asked me for on the extended plan just covered a bunch of pumps and a few compressors. Hardly a good cost to benefit ratio, so I decided to self insure.........I replaced one fresh water pump for $198 in the next 3 years, so it was a good gamble.

 

[Dave S]

I find this discusson very interesting because I was never offered the Passport Premiere policy to begin with for my newly purchased 260DA. :smt017 I was offered the extended Mercury Product Protection which I purchased for four years but that only covers the engine and the outdrive. Is Passport Premiere only for certain classes of boats?

 

[boatrboy]

My boat came with it in 1999 and the original owner bought the "Captains Class" which covered alot. Since I am the second owner, I don't know how it was presented at the time of sale.

 

[Sea Gull]

At this point I am leaning toward buying the MAN extended warranty and passing on the Passport plan. The engine plan is expensive, but it covers the most expensive component of the boat and is quite comprehensive. The Passport plan is major money for a boat my size and as stated earlier the limit of their liability is disproportionately low compared to the premium.

 

[WFYB]

We transfered the passport warranty for $50 when we purchased our boat. To date results are mixed. Innovations refused a water pump but covered a rebuild on a AC compressor. The warranty cost to the original owner was some where around $8000, not a good deal. Cost me $50 = a good deal. Would I purchase an extended insurance, (warranty) policy on a new boat. No. Look at your engine and major system warranties carefully. I bet you find they overlap almost 1/2 of the ten year passport coverage. Passport defaults to the original warranty before they step up to the plate. Now how long are you going to keep the boat?

 

[CmpCAW]

On my previous boat (a Larson bowrider), I purchased the extended warranty (don't remember the brand) due to first boat jitters, inexperience, lack of knowledge, and peace of mind. Sure enough, I needed a repair that was covered completely by the warranty (minus deductible), and it paid for the cost of the policy. So with my Sundeck, I hemmed and hawed, got the price down a little, and ended up getting it. I already had a repair (not expensive) that was covered. Financially, the extended warranties are not a good deal (for the buyer). Just as in autos, there is a huge mark-up. However, remember, the price is heavily negotiable. Also, although the dealer will never tell you, some of the warranties can be purchased up to one year after the purchase date. So if it's nearing winter and the boat will be stored, tell the dealer you'll think it over and may purchase months later when the boat is splashed in the spring. This will undoubtedly get you a better price on the spot. For those who value the peace of mind factor of the warranty, if you bargain hard, you'll get a worthwhile price. Just as in buying a car, don't accept the dealers statement that this price is good for today only.