AR240 vinyl seats coming apart

[motorboater]

Does anyone else have this trouble?

My boat is a 2011 that we bought new. Around 200 hours. Last winter I noticed the seats coming apart along the seams in many places, on 7 cushions in total.

Started a warranty claim with the dealer who eventually told me Yamaha will not cover it under YES, claim it is "cosmetic" in nature and not covered, and would not extend any goodwill to replace the 7 cushions.

I have yet to call or write to Yamaha directly. Honestly I may have more patience right now for seats coming apart than I do for being forced into the game they want to play.

Seats are not specifically exluded from YES. YES does exlude appearance related damage such as nicks, scratches, dents, fading, tears, etc. In my opinion these are not tears, these are failures in defective materials and/or workmanship.

Yamaha claims that I have this problem because water will deteriorate the thread used on the vinyl seams. Yes they actually said that. So.. its a boat. Seats get wet. Sounds defective to me. Also, our boat is always stored completely dry. Covered at all times when not in use, and stored heated indoors all offseason.

You can see in the pics that the thread is not compromised and is fully intact. Instead it appears the vinyl has deteriorated or was never properly sewn together.

Any opinions? Others have similar problems?

 

[Boat Crazy]

Had same problem on two different cushions. I took mine to a local upholstery shop. They removed the fabric, stretched the old fabric to the seam and double stitched it. Looks like new. Cost me $35 for one and $50 for another. That was better for me than to drive a 1 & 1/2 hour round trip to see if Yamaha would warrant it.

 

[txav8r]

Really sorry to see the issue @motorboater , Mike. I know how you feel. Once your outside of the dealers grace period at purchase, these kind of issues are hard to get Yamaha to cover. That doesn't mean that they won't. And a cursory call or dealer may not get any action. It may take several calls to the Yamaha customer service line. I don't want to second guess Yamaha or question anyone as to wear and tear and what is and what isn't. But so much is subjective to how a boat is used, and yes, it is a boat. But it is subjective. I think I would use their wording verbatim back to them, and that you don't have any thread deterioration, you have vinyl pulling loose from the thread due to weakness in the vinyl. Now what they come up with to keep from repairing it may be some other story. Back to the wear and tear. It is only a 3 year old boat with 200 hours. That is a reasonable amount of use for the age IMO. But it also will come down to how it is stored, cleaned, and exposure. Not that any of that is a reason for Yamaha to deny a claim, but those things are where damage comes from too, not just use. If it is allowed to heat up tremendously under a cover outside, the vinyl will dry as will other areas of the boat. If direct sun exposure is excessive, that too will dry and fade. Cleaners are harsh, especially bleach near the seams. If you happened to store your boat indoors and have never used bleach, and you have these issues, it is definitely a defect IMO...unless the whole family makes a habit of walking and jumping around on the seats. I would press them directly, go around the dealer, but make reference to what the dealer told you. The issue at hand is that they may be able to be repaired by a good vinyl shop by restitching, but I don't think Yamaha will get into any of that outside a dealer. If you consider that route, maybe you can get a good will allowance check to cover the heartburn and get it fixed outside. I hear you on not worth the headache. These things are really subjective, and no grade of vinyl will stand up to some exposure and use, and the cheapest will stand up to TLC...but not if you have a defect. That is what you need to determine, if this is a defect. Good luck with it, and hang in there...and keep us posted on further action or rejection.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

My opinion...... Yamaha is using a lower grade vinyl that tears when stitched with that type of close stitching and its NOT a result of water or high use. What you show in your pictures has been shown here by dozens of people over the years, some covered by their dealer and some not. If you want to play their game, I would suggest taking a sample of bad seam to a well known (in your area) boat upholstery shop and get their opinion on what is happening. Try to get them to write you a report and use trade specific terminology. Present that to mother Yamaha and see what they throw back to you.

 

[motorboater]

I would say our boat receives normal, acceptable use. No abuse. Anyone that knows us would agree, including staff at the dealer. And it receives better than average maintenance and care. The only seat that gets stood on is the seat behind the helm chair, to reach wakeboards on the rack. Interesting this cushion shows no more flaws than any others. Nothing more than wet towel and periodic application of vinyl protectant is ever used on the surface.

We never filed a claim on the YES warranty, so it expired without any use. I will likely call Yamaha tomorrow and let them know I believe this is a defect, not a worn out, abused or simple cosmetic issue.

 

[SCSTWG]

Hey Mike - I know we have talked about your seat issue but I had never seen the pics. As you know, I have the same model and year and have not had the issue, but I only have around 75-80 hours on mine. Absolutely no way this is a result of poor maintenance or abuse as it is well documented that you take exceptional care of your boat (and other belongings). Good luck with it.

 

[Captbob]

I had the same problem and the dealer took pictures and they were replaced under the yes warranty.

 

[jawsf16]

I have the same interior and 3 or 4 cushions with that same issue. I am just over 100 hours, bought used at 20 hours. Well maintained too. I will be interested to hear your results with Yamaha.

 

[Johmas50]

@motorboater I have the same issue with my 2012 SX210. I don't have the YES warranty though, so that's not an option for me. I meant to try the trick @Boat Crazy mentioned but I forgot to grab one of the cushions from the boat before I stored it for the winter. I am going to see if I can get a local upholstery place to attempt a repair in the spring.

 

[motorboater]

Call #1 to Yamaha: After explaining my situation, oops sorry sir, please call back later our systems are down.

 

[RightStuff]

Sorry to bring up an old topic...

@motorboater , did anything come out of this from Yamaha? If not did you get it repaired anyway? I have the same issue in a couple spots too and wondered what options worked for others...

 

[Captbob]

I had the exact same tears as @motorboater on several cushions. The dealer had me take several pictures for him and got me new cushions under the yes warranty that I had at that time.

 

[motorboater]

Life kind of moved on for me and I never did get resolution, and I stopped pursuing it. In my opinion the dealer should have resolved this, but they did not. I'll remember this when I buy a new boat. It will likely not be a Yamaha, and regardless will likely not be anything from River Valley. This one does really piss me off when I stop to think about it.

Meanwhile my seats look the same today as in the pictures. Sorry to hear others are having issues and hopefully yours get resolved. Its clearly a result of poor materials.

 

[RightStuff]

Thanks for the response. I completely agree, just disappointing from Yamaha and River Valley (my dealer too). It shouldn't be that hard, there are so many boats out there that are much older and their seats are holding up just fine at seams like these. I just wonder how much longer they are going to last before ripping thru, just not what I expected with a 2-3 year old boat in my case.

Unfortunately mine started happening out of warranty, so I'm on my own. I was actually thinking about keeping them out of the boat during this winter's storage and taking them to a shop to see what can be done during the off season. Was really hoping someone had experience getting it fixed like that to chime in with some ideas/thoughts...