If you could redo your new boat delivery...

[2kwik4u]

I have to give my dealer (Yamaha of Louisville) some BIG kudos here. They spent the better part of 2hrs with us during delivery. We went over every control, hatch, trailer, and other piece of information I could ask for. They deployed and stowed the bimini with use, went over shipping cover removal and installation, talked a little bit about everything on the boat, and generally walked us through everything we needed to get moving.

Easily the best new vehicle delivery I've ever had. FAR more information than the best car delivery I've gotten in the past.

I think I had ~75% fuel when delivered. Wasn't a full tank, but wasn't on fumes either.

 

[anmut]

Just talked to our salesman to make sure they got the Cobra's installed and that the cover was in, looks like we're good to go. He said timing is about an hour or so for delivery, depending on our familiarity with boating.

Bonus though, he said that they were able to get us the extended YES warranty at no extra cost, randomly. I'm guessing Yamaha's doing that to keep their booked sales on track.

 

[drewkaree]

Winnebagoland? I was REALLY impressed with them when we first stopped in. However they don't budge on price and were kinda jackasses about me even asking. Then, just recently, they decided to voluntarily close their locations due to covid. No judgement there, but they kept advertising by email and on Facebook. People were replying to their FB posts about how they couldn't get their boats out of storage with Winneabagoland because of their decision. When I politely question that and "why are you still advertising if you're closed" I was direct messaged by salesman Troy and told to "stop being negative." At the moment, I wouldn't recommend that dealership at all. You'd think being in a luxury business during a downturn in the economy, they'd be a little more easier to work with.

RE: the full tank, at these gas prices, I'm not worried about it at all.

Troy was the one who sat with us for an hour and a half selling us on a boat he knew up front he wasn't gonna sell that day. I have no other experience with them OTHER than that, but a few others around here who have bought from them were satisfied and happy with the experience. I agree with your take on your experience that you'd think they'd be a little easier to work with, but I dunno what's all going on with them. Something that I learned just this past weekend, one of my new neighbors is friends with Troy, not sure it's gonna do any good for you, but would you mind me sharing this 3rd or 4th hand info with them? Might help others when dealing with them, or he may completely blow the info off, given that it wouldn't be coming directly from the person they dealt with.

I have other options for service on my boat, but nobody who deals specifically with Yamaha's other than Winnebagoland, and the convenience for me and experience I've had with them has been nothing less than excellent. My secondary service location is the place my neighbor's son used to work at, and good feedback from him about Winnebagoland when I told him what I was looking for. He was hoping to sell me a boat himself, but they weren't/aren't a dealer for Yamaha, and he couldn't swing a trade with Winnebagoland for a new boat and their used boats were non-existent at the time. @PJ73 's brother bought the one 21' they had in their used inventory at the time

I hear you on the gas prices, but I'd say that's even one more reason for them to fill your tank up for you, now that it's gonna cost them half of what it would have last year!

 

[anmut]

Troy was the one who sat with us for an hour and a half selling us on a boat he knew up front he wasn't gonna sell that day. I have no other experience with them OTHER than that, but a few others around here who have bought from them were satisfied and happy with the experience. I agree with your take on your experience that you'd think they'd be a little easier to work with, but I dunno what's all going on with them. Something that I learned just this past weekend, one of my new neighbors is friends with Troy, not sure it's gonna do any good for you, but would you mind me sharing this 3rd or 4th hand info with them? Might help others when dealing with them, or he may completely blow the info off, given that it wouldn't be coming directly from the person they dealt with.

I have other options for service on my boat, but nobody who deals specifically with Yamaha's other than Winnebagoland, and the convenience for me and experience I've had with them has been nothing less than excellent. My secondary service location is the place my neighbor's son used to work at, and good feedback from him about Winnebagoland when I told him what I was looking for. He was hoping to sell me a boat himself, but they weren't/aren't a dealer for Yamaha, and he couldn't swing a trade with Winnebagoland for a new boat and their used boats were non-existent at the time. @PJ73 's brother bought the one 21' they had in their used inventory at the time

I hear you on the gas prices, but I'd say that's even one more reason for them to fill your tank up for you, now that it's gonna cost them half of what it would have last year!

Go ahead, however, the guy that DM'd me was Troy. He's also the salesman who worked with my family for at least an hour or two when we started looking at the Yamaha's. It was really surprising - I was ready to buy from them hands-down because of their salesmanship, but when it came to talk money, they did not want to work a deal. I mean, they were thousands of dollars off from SB & M&J. Knowing that they probably move more Yamaha's than anyone in the state, that was surprising to me. Salesmanship is one thing, but so is price.

I work in Marketing and I'll tell you that, when we had to shut down our sales, we went dark on the advertising, and that was the point I was trying to make. They shouldn't be trying to acquire customers they can't service, especially when current customers can't even get their boats out of storage. That's insane.

I have no hard feelings towards them, but like I told Troy the other night, those that sell luxury goods in a down market should do anything/everything they can exceed the expectations of their current customers.

 

[robert843]

For brand new cars, you get a full tank of gas. For brand new boats, not sure but my boat (delivered from out of state to me) came with 90% full tank of gas and to be honest, I wasn’t expecting it so I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe others will chime on this so that you know. 50 gallon tank can run you $150 or more ...

LOL the reminds me of my first day with the new boat. My dealer did fill the tank but no one told me they did. I stopped at the gas station on the way to the ramp and the boat would not take any gas and @veedubtek and I spent about an hour opening up the fuel compartment looking for kinked lines trying to find out why it would not take any fuel. I called my wife to explain the issues and to tell her and the kids to delay coming down to the launch till I figured it out she then told me that the dealer said they filled the boat up and thats why it would not take any more fuel

 

[haknslash]

You may want to rinse the bilge out as well. Guarantee there will be all sorts of junk in there that could potentially build up around the drain plug area and prevent the o-ring from sealing. Fiberglass and metal shavings, loose or extra washers and fasteners etc will be in the bilge.

 

[Dixie Highway]

I’ll put my $.02 about it. I actually bought from Winnebagoland. Troy was not my salesman, but he was involved after the sale with customer satisfaction type intersections. I had a great experience, bought late in the season and got a great deal. They really bent over backwards to put me over the top. Stored it all winter for me as I didn’t officially “close” until spring. They did everything I asked and more, delivered the boat clean, indoors, full of fuel, and ready to go. I had an issue with the changing room curtain and one tachometer, I called my salesman (Corey) and he went as far as shipping me the parts as I’m 3 hours away. I sent him the old ones back, no problem. Not doubting your own experience there, but I have to say I’m shocked. I should add, the reason I didn’t get an on-water demo is because it was April 12th last year, 30 degrees with fresh snow on the ground.

 

[anmut]

I’ll put my $.02 about it. I actually bought from Winnebagoland. Troy was not my salesman, but he was involved after the sale with customer satisfaction type intersections. I had a great experience, bought late in the season and got a great deal. They really bent over backwards to put me over the top. Stored it all winter for me as I didn’t officially “close” until spring. They did everything I asked and more, delivered the boat clean, indoors, full of fuel, and ready to go. I had an issue with the changing room curtain and one tachometer, I called my salesman (Corey) and he went as far as shipping me the parts as I’m 3 hours away. I sent him the old ones back, no problem. Not doubting your own experience there, but I have to say I’m shocked. I should add, the reason I didn’t get an on-water demo is because it was April 12th last year, 30 degrees with fresh snow on the ground.

Your experience seems to be the norm with TWL. I'll have to give them a pass. Maybe my next boat in five years I'll shop them again.

 

[drewkaree]

You may want to rinse the bilge out as well. Guarantee there will be all sorts of junk in there that could potentially build up around the drain plug area and prevent the o-ring from sealing. Fiberglass and metal shavings, loose or extra washers and fasteners etc will be in the bilge.

To go along with this, Home Depot has a Shop-Vac attachment that goes right on top of a 5 gallon bucket. I had metal shavings coming out of my clean out all throughout the entire season last year. Maybe grab one of those vacuums, and keep a 5 gallon bucket on the boat, use that to clean out the hole when draining every time you pull it out out

I know I was shocked at some of the sizes of pieces that were left in there from tapping and drilling during manufacture

 

[captras]

I had no real problems. I did get an orientation, including bimini
Setup, which was funny because the salesman really had no idea. This was the first year for the E series. I did find a few things but nothing major. I did not go on am acceptance run... which was not a problem, luckily. It has a great deal to do with the dealership!