Dealer advice needed: stay or go?

[LooHoo]

@captras This is what I want to do. My husband says he's cool with that option as well. The only thing that we also have going on is, this will be the closest dealer to us for service. They aren't located on our lake but do come up for dockside service several times a week. Next dealer is 3 hours away. So I think we may have to work with them potentially no matter what for service. Yes, I am so scared. But we really want to own one of these boats!

 

[Neutron]

The service department most likely wont know about the cancelled sale and will serive your boat anyway.
I wouldne let that influence your decision.
I would get a manager on the phone and let him or her know the situation that you are in and you dont want to lose your % rate and you really want a boat soon.

 

[Matt Phillips]

I agree. The service folks we won't know about the poor salesmen. I bought my current boat in LA... Horrible experience from a horrible dealer. The two times I've had it in for service have been up here in the bay area... Great service dept and they always went out of there way to do it right.

My experience it service locally....

 

[Noko]

[QUOTE="LooHoo, I can understand your concern. But these boats are LOW maintenance. You will have to change the oil and maybe if you want, add some mods to the boat. But the main part of the boat, the engines, are tried and true. Not much to worry about that part. You may have issues with some other things but these boats are solid.

 

[LooHoo]

@Noko @Matt Phillips good to hear. We're coming from stern drive so it's a new world. And I am not going to worry about the service end, I want a good sales experience and of course a boat as soon as possible. That's not too much to ask. Today could be an interesting day on the quest.

 

[Matt Phillips]

Thanks!

As @Noko Said, these boats are low maintenance and maintenance can be done by most anyone. Dealer service will be nice if you have a warranty issue. During the first year I had my boat, I had the dealer do winterization while they were going through my warranty punch list. I always figure on a new vehicle that these are complex machines and a few minor things aren't out of the ordinary.

Keep us posted on the purchase as we want to know how it turns out.

 

[Ilmmct]

Before you punt on the local shop, I would find out the owner/president of the place and drop an email and give him the courtesy of a call. The sales individual you are speaking with may not reflect the behavior of the dealership or the skills of the service center that you will want to have a future relationship with.

As other members have said these boats don't require a lot of maintenance and there is so much information on this site that most of the routine maintenance you can do yourself. But I would escalate upchain before moving to the dealer 2 hours away.

 

[Zarrella]

I agree with @llmmct. Chances are the owner has no idea of your frustration and will be smart enough to smooth out the rough edges. But that only happens if you bring him into the conversation.

 

[LeeFlan7]

I'd just like to throw in my 2 cents as a dealer (cars not boats), I personally would ensure, number one, that all my customers were kept up to date on all the specifics of the build, everything from scheduled day/time for the order to hit the plant, shipping times (and delays) and up date small details like when full VIN is available and also best practices for delivery of the vehicle. If any of my salespeople did not provide that information and keep the customer up to date they certainly wouldn't be with our company much longer. It comes down to this, its the right thing to do!

Sometimes it becomes too easy to write it off as we talk about large sums of money with every transaction, as a dealer we need to have the perspective to be on the other side of the desk if you will, and although we go to work to make money, we need to understand what a purchase means to a customer....

So that was a long way of saying go elsewhere...if poor service is allowed to continue it will, and there are many of us who don't deserve the bad rep we get from the few.

 

[jameskeller76]

First, even if you have put down a deposit, their failure to deliver dictates you can get that back. Here is a big thing to consider....If they are that inconsiderate, and unapproachable before the sale is even complete, how do you think they will treat you once the sale is done, they HAVE your money, and now you need some warranty work. A 2 hour drive may be a hassle, but a shitty dealer is alot worse. I would call them, get my deposit back, and tell them to stick their boat where the sun dont shine!!!

Do you have to take your boat to the same dealer you bought it from for warranty work? I assume not. I'm pretty much done with my dealer (no longer trust them with my boat) so I'll have to take it elsewhere for service.

 

[Neutron]

Do you have to take your boat to the same dealer you bought it from for warranty work? I assume not. I'm pretty much done with my dealer (no longer trust them with my boat) so I'll have to take it elsewhere for service.

No you do not. Any certified Yamaha repair shop or factory dealer

 

[Ilmmct]

Warranty service for our boats must be done by a boat certified center:

https://www.yamahaboats.com/find-a-dealer

In my town, there is a yamaha certified jet ski sales and service firm, but they aren't certified to do warranty service on the jet boat products. I need to drive 100 miles to have YES Warranty covered items taken care of.

 

[buckbuck]

Is Raymond the owner/president?

 

[LooHoo]

Is Raymond the owner/president?

Oops, that was meant for a message not this thread, but, I'm working with a gentleman named Raymond right now at Yamaha who is checking into the status of our ordered X, thanks to an awesome member of this forum who hooked me up with him (take credit if you like, awesomely helpful forum friend!). I think that by Monday this will be resolved one way or the other (second dealer still has its X as of today and knows our situation and that we may be doing business). I badly want to update this thread with some happy news, and I really appreciate all the helpful perspective and feedback here on this forum. It's so different from most forums, in the best way.

 

[LooHoo]

I've been trying to hold back on an update until I had some proper pics, but I just can't!

Went on spring break last week, and on the way back from Myrtle Beach yesterday, swung by our dealer to behold this baby (and drop off a Stoltz bow roller to be installed, of course).

She arrived while we were gone and is being prepped for delivery right to our boathouse on Tuesday, 4/18, if the weather holds. Things with the buying process improved dramatically for us after my last post, above, and we ended up staying with the original dealer. Feeling confident that the delivery process will go well, too.

Here's a sneak-peek! I was NOT prepared for how gorgeous this boat is in-person. And on the trailer, of course, it looked HUGE to me, and I've even been on a 242 LSE!

In-water pics once she's home on SML! Excited to become real jetboaters in about 50 hours!!

 

[Ilmmct]

Looks great enjoy! Can you post a pix of Bow Roller after it is installed? I have been thinking this would be a good addition to my 242 LS.

 

[LooHoo]

Looks great enjoy! Can you post a pix of Bow Roller after it is installed? I have been thinking this would be a good addition to my 242 LS.

Thank you! Sure will. If I forget in my next post, just remind me and don't be shy about it.

 

[Neutron]

Congrats. Have fun and be safe!