What do you do?

L

lebels

New Member
Nov 23, 2009
4
canada
Boat Info
sport 185
Engines
4.3 merc
I purchased a brand new searay sport 185 june 18th, i noticed some spider cracking on the gel coat and was told that it would be repaired under warranty. I waited until summer was over to take it in for repairs so we could use it all summer. I have taken it back to the dealer and they did an estimate and sent it to searay. Long story short is that searay told them how many hours they would get for the repair, but the dealer will not do the repair, because they want more money. The boat is 5 months old and has 30 hours on it, but the spider cracking has been there from day 1. I called searay and they said they have to fix it, however the dealer says they will not for the time allotted. Now what do i do??????????????????:smt021
 
lebels said:
I purchased a brand new searay sport 185 june 18th, i noticed some spider cracking on the gel coat and was told that it would be repaired under warranty. I waited until summer was over to take it in for repairs so we could use it all summer. I have taken it back to the dealer and they did an estimate and sent it to searay. Long story short is that searay told them how many hours they would get for the repair, but the dealer will not do the repair, because they want more money. The boat is 5 months old and has 30 hours on it, but the spider cracking has been there from day 1. I called searay and they said they have to fix it, however the dealer says they will not for the time allotted. Now what do i do??????????????????:smt021
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Call SeaRay back and let them know your dealer will not do it. SeaRay will lean on your dealer. Get names and document who, when and what is said on all sides. E-mails are even better including your contact at your dealer and the contact at SeaRay.

Good luck.
 
Probably forget about it. Odds are after you have it "fixed" it will do it again.
 
I have talked to Searay 3 times now, they continue to say they have to fix it, the dealer continues to say no thanks. As for no repair, the cracking is on the top and the side, looks very bad as the boat is black. Looking to buy a larger boat for the lake lot but probably not a Searay now.
 
Have you asked your salesperson to get involved? If you have a good one, they can be helpful with these circumstances.
 
Honestly, you shouldn't even be in the "middle" of this, and it sounds like you are.
This is Sea Ray's issue. Let them know that you don't care who fixes it, you want it fixed.
Are Sea Ray dealers contractually obligated to do warranty repairs at agreed-upon rates? I would certainly think so, or they wouldn't be dealers...

Something doesn't sound right here.
 
I've been new boat shopping for the past six months and have been loyal to Sea Ray for 21 years. This is yet another example why I haven't taken the plunge and I continue to look at Cobalt and Formula in addition to Sea Ray.
 
This sounds to me like Sea Ray will pay your Dealer a Flat Rated $ amount to make repairs on your boat. Your Dealer is sensing you will not be satisfied with this type repair and has proposed a repair that Sea Ray will not 100% reimburse. Your Dealer doesn’t want to repair your boat for free for the entire time you own this thing. So your Dealer is proposing to you a Manufacturer/Customer participation. I myself think it should be a 3 way participation.

Now you ask "What do you do". I say if you can't return the boat then you take ownership for it. Take the boat for a second opinion. Talk to a professional who does this for a living. If this professional is a friend then maybe it'll be free to you. If not then pay for these services rendered to you. Take what you've learned back to your Dealer and negotiate the repair of your boat. You decide how your boat will be repaired and take responsibility for the decision you make. Most important is try to learn the root cause for this Gel coat cracking issue. best of luck with it ...Ron
 
offduty said:
I've been new boat shopping for the past six months and have been loyal to Sea Ray for 21 years. This is yet another example why I haven't taken the plunge and I continue to look at Cobalt and Formula in addition to Sea Ray.
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Met a proud purchaser of a new 40' Formula SS with all the bells and whistles including diesel power (his 2nd Formula) summer 08. Beautiful boat!!:smt038

Saw him again summer 09. He was no longer proud - just ticked at Formula. He has problems with gelcoat cracking near the transom door and the shower floor among other problems. He even had to have one engine removed and a main seal replaced. Formula took it to the factory for repairs, but within a month into the season the cracks were back. This Formula cost over $500,000! He's demanding a replacement boat. Nope.

Be careful. The grass always looks greener... Just sayin'.:huh:
 
This is a case where the dealer has tried to gouge Sea Ray for the repair and they caught him.

Call your contact at SR back and tell him your dealer has refused to fix the boat so when is the factory team coming to repair it? My bet is they will get straight with the dealer as soon asthey know he has refused to make the repairs.

SR is not in the business of leaving customers hanging out to dry, but sometimes the dealer is the weak link in keeping us satisfied.
 
Jimmy Buoy said:
Met a proud purchaser of a new 40' Formula SS with all the bells and whistles including diesel power (his 2nd Formula) summer 08. Beautiful boat!!:smt038

Saw him again summer 09. He was no longer proud - just ticked at Formula. He has problems with gelcoat cracking near the transom door and the shower floor among other problems. He even had to have one engine removed and a main seal replaced. Formula took it to the factory for repairs, but within a month into the season the cracks were back. This Formula cost over $500,000! He's demanding a replacement boat. Nope.

Be careful. The grass always looks greener... Just sayin'.:huh:[/q


Point well taken, and thier owner forums stink too!
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fwebster said:
This is a case where the dealer has tried to gouge Sea Ray for the repair and they caught him.

Call your contact at SR back and tell him your dealer has refused to fix the boat so when is the factory team coming to repair it? My bet is they will get straight with the dealer as soon asthey know he has refused to make the repairs.

SR is not in the business of leaving customers hanging out to dry, but sometimes the dealer is the weak link in keeping us satisfied.
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Could not agree more. We had numerous cracks on our '05 Sundeck that were repaired many times by the dealer before Searay ended up replacing the entire deck of our boat.
While the process was at times some what frustrating, at no time did I feel Searay would not take care of their obligation.
The cracks are cosmetic and Searay will take care of them.
 
fwebster said:
This is a case where the dealer has tried to gouge Sea Ray for the repair and they caught him.

Call your contact at SR back and tell him your dealer has refused to fix the boat so when is the factory team coming to repair it? My bet is they will get straight with the dealer as soon asthey know he has refused to make the repairs.

SR is not in the business of leaving customers hanging out to dry, but sometimes the dealer is the weak link in keeping us satisfied.
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Sounds like you need to have Sea Ray contact the dealer directly to get this squared away. It floors me that a dealer will not make this repair -- regardless of whether they lose money or not.

Frank is correct, Sea Ray does not leave their customers like this. I had a dealer issue and I was amazed at the phone calls that I got from Sea Ray -- very high on the org chart. They take their dealer relationships seriously.
,
 
Tonka Boater said:
Sounds like you need to have Sea Ray contact the dealer directly to get this squared away. It floors me that a dealer will not make this repair -- regardless of whether they lose money or not.

Frank is correct, Sea Ray does not leave their customers like this. I had a dealer issue and I was amazed at the phone calls that I got from Sea Ray -- very high on the org chart. They take their dealer relationships seriously.
,
Click to expand...

Double Ditto to that.

Too bad you do not reside down here we have an excellent Sea Ray MM dealer here in Joppa MD. They would have taken care of that problem for you right away, and their fiberglass guy is top notch!
 
thanks guys, i have given a time frame of friday Dec. 4ht for Sea Ray to take care of what needs to be done. I love my boat and feel they will take care of it, although i do worry about the quality of work if the dealer wants more money for the repair. I will update the forum once i have answers.
Thanks for all the info.
 
Do you have another Sea Ray dealership within driving distance? If so, you may want to take your boat there for resolving this issue.

It appears that your dealership is the problem. What is your dealership's name?

The last boat I owned was a Four Winns. The dealer never involved me in any of their warranty disputes. Four Winns was a great company when it cam to standing behind their boats (and they gave a full two year warranty, twice what Sea Ray does).
 
Jimmy Buoy said:
Met a proud purchaser of a new 40' Formula SS with all the bells and whistles including diesel power (his 2nd Formula) summer 08. Beautiful boat!!:smt038

Saw him again summer 09. He was no longer proud - just ticked at Formula. He has problems with gelcoat cracking near the transom door and the shower floor among other problems. He even had to have one engine removed and a main seal replaced. Formula took it to the factory for repairs, but within a month into the season the cracks were back. This Formula cost over $500,000! He's demanding a replacement boat. Nope.

Be careful. The grass always looks greener... Just sayin'.:huh:
Click to expand...

I had heard that a few months ago that Mercruiser had stopped sending engines to Formula, due to Formula's inability to pay for the engines that had already been delivered. I don't know how they are doing financially today, but I have heard that they are definately struggling.

However, I couldn't image any manufacturer taking back a $500,000 boat. Sorry.
 
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