Your experience with Yamaha warranty? <Marine Max dealer?>

[El Comandante]

Its between a Yamaha 195 or 210 and a Sea Ray with an OB. SR has two strikes against it already because their main distributor is MarineMax who's had many many complaints and lawsuits for deceptive trade practices and failure to perform warranty. In fact Ive read their invoice T's and C's and it says right there your purchase of the boat is "as-is" so in effect giving them the power to refuse to honor the manufacturer warranty!!!! I was considering SR because they have a huge dealer network but now that its MM....Im very leery.

Dealer network, quality service department, and manufacturer warranty are hugely important to me. What has been your experience with Yamaha warranty covering any problems?

Thank you,

 

[Julian]

Never had any issues. As long as you know what it covers you shouldn't be disappointed. But it is indeed very dealer dependent. If your dealer doesn't know how to deal with mother Yamaha...could be a challenge. Anyone have experience with MarineMax?

The only thing I wish was covered better is the stereo.....my Polk PA4A Command controller on the swim deck is about to lose its knob, and of course that isn't covered (only has 1 year warranty)....and its not cheap to replace....but I knew it wasn't covered, so no surprise to me.

 

[adrianp89]

I have a lemon boat that Yamaha refuses to replace and they cannot find the issue (Starboard motor intermittently will not start, has happened from second week I owned the boat). I will say they have replaced the motor twice under warranty, but they have no idea what the issue is. I had no choice but to sue them.

 

[El Comandante]

I have a lemon boat that Yamaha refuses to replace and they cannot find the issue (Starboard motor intermittently will not start, has happened from second week I owned the boat). I will say they have replaced the motor twice under warranty, but they have no idea what the issue is. I had no choice but to sue them.

Whoa!! Did you ask for a replacement boat under Lemon Laws?

 

[adrianp89]

Whoa!! Did you ask for a replacement boat under Lemon Laws?

The state of FL does not include boats in their lemon law. I have asked for a replacement under Magnusson Moss (basically federal Lemon Law), but they rejected, thus leading to the lawsuit. I am not sure why, because they are going to end up paying out for my lawyer and court fees, as well as theirs but it seemed they wanted to see if I was bluffing. I am the early stages of that now, but my case is very strong.

 

[El Comandante]

The state of FL does not include boats in their lemon law. I have asked for a replacement under Magnusson Moss (basically federal Lemon Law), but they rejected, thus leading to the lawsuit. I am not sure why, because they are going to end up paying out for my lawyer and court fees, as well as theirs but it seemed they wanted to see if I was bluffing. I am the early stages of that now, but my case is very strong.

I'm in Vero Beach. Is there a dealer you would recommend? Thanks

 

[Elliott]

I purchased my FSH 190 from my local MarineMax dealer almost 3 years ago, and I have only had one warranty claim (and no other repairs of any type). My compass died within the first 15 hours, and it was replaced under warranty at the 10 hr (mine was at 17 hrs) service.

As I am under warranty, I have had my annual services performed by the dealer, and they have done a good and quick job for a reasonable price (~$260 for everything including all taxes and fees). I will probably continue to have them service the boat; they do a very thorough job - including: lubing all of the steering/throttle cables, full diagnostic download of the engine and they leave the engine bay clean (I keep it very clean myself).

You really ought to: talk to your prospective dealers, visit and talk with the service departments and talk to their customers. Just reading stuff on the internet will cause you to never buy a boat, RV or car.

 

[adrianp89]

I'm in Vero Beach. Is there a dealer you would recommend? Thanks

I can't recommend any one. I purchased from Cycle Springs, as they had the best price. Their service center leaves a lot to be desired, and that is echoed by several members here. I would just call every Yamaha dealer in Florida/Georgia and get the best price (if you don't mind driving).

 

[Matts18]

Its between a Yamaha 195 or 210 and a Sea Ray with an OB. SR has two strikes against it already because their main distributor is MarineMax who's had many many complaints and lawsuits for deceptive trade practices and failure to perform warranty. In fact Ive read their invoice T's and C's and it says right there your purchase of the boat is "as-is" so in effect giving them the power to refuse to honor the manufacturer warranty!!!! I was considering SR because they have a huge dealer network but now that its MM....Im very leery.

Dealer network, quality service department, and manufacturer warranty are hugely important to me. What has been your experience with Yamaha warranty covering any problems?

Thank you,

This doesn't really answer your question, but my advice is to never buy a boat from a dealer that is not local to you (unless you don't have a choice) or that you don't trust. Sometimes this is tough with the Yamahas because of the lack of competition, but if you want an outboard or sterndrive runabout to consider why not look at other brands that have a better local dealer? Do you have a Regal, Four Winns, or Monterey dealer near you?

 

[El Comandante]

This doesn't really answer your question, but my advice is to never buy a boat from a dealer that is not local to you (unless you don't have a choice) or that you don't trust. Sometimes this is tough with the Yamahas because of the lack of competition, but if you want an outboard or sterndrive runabout to consider why not look at other brands that have a better local dealer? Do you have a Regal, Four Winns, or Monterey dealer near you?

Well I have not considered those brands. I hope there’s a boat show this year!
I know SR because I’ve owned two and were great plus resale values are unbeatable for conventional boats.

IMO these Yamaha boats also have strong resale value and I love the layout.

I just posted a new thread Treasure Coast Florida in General Discussion section. I really need to check these jets out. I’m old fashioned so a bit skeptical on the jet propulsion system but willing to learn and experience.

I remain open minded. Thank you!

 

[Matts18]

My two cents are that if you like the Yamaha.....get it and do so from the closest dealer. If you decide on a sterndrive or outboard runabout, choose based upon local dealers and not brand. They are all gonna be pretty similar. That being said, I would personally avoid the SR because, in addition the the MarineMax concern, the SPX line of boats are shoddy and you are stuck with a Mercury outboard. The comparable Chaparrals are somewhat “cheap” feeling as well. Go get a Regal 21 OBX with the Yamaha outboard if you decide to get this style of boat and have a decent dealer.

 

[El Comandante]

My two cents are that if you like the Yamaha.....get it and do so from the closest dealer. If you decide on a sterndrive or outboard runabout, choose based upon local dealers and not brand. They are all gonna be pretty similar. That being said, I would personally avoid the SR because, in addition the the MarineMax concern, the SPX line of boats are shoddy and you are stuck with a Mercury outboard. The comparable Chaparrals are somewhat “cheap” feeling as well. Go get a Regal 21 OBX with the Yamaha outboard if you decide to get this style of boat and have a decent dealer.

Regals are nice but the OBX 21 has no walkthrough to the transom. It’s a solid seat bench all across the back. You’d have to climb over the sun pad to get to the transom. That kills it for me.

 

[Inthrustwetrust]

So far so good with my 2020. My hydrologic assist arm (idk what the actual term for it is) on my ski locker door ripped out after a couple uses, factory installed it so the door didn’t open all the way. I told the dealer at my 10 hour service as it ripped out the day before (otherwise I would have just screwed back in myself) I was expecting the dealer to just screw it in a little higher on the door so it opened all the way, and the old holes were stripped. Instead they said it’s under warranty, we will just get you a whole new door. I was shocked but whatever, it won’t have some ugly holes under it when I eventually sell the boat. I ended up just screwing new holes in the old door as the new door was back ordered for 2 months (COVID) worked great. But the door came in yesterday and got installed today. Invoice said that damn door was $560.

I think warranty work is really dealer dependent, some better than others. Talking with mine they said “hey, we like it, you get your stuff fixed for free, which makes you happy, we get paid by Yamaha, so we are happy”

 

[Matts18]

Regals are nice but the OBX 21 has no walkthrough to the transom. It’s a solid seat bench all across the back. You’d have to climb over the sun pad to get to the transom. That kills it for me.

Not true....the starboard side of the sunpad flips up to reveal a walk through.

 

[WetWillie]

Mixed here, they are replacing the plastic door trim helm side storage (back-ordered). But I had a seared bolt head on my fuel compartment flooring so I took it in and mentioned the few small things to check under warranty they pulled the bolts to the floor and attempted to get the other half of the bolt that’s stuck out; couldn’t and promptly charged me nearly $250 in unbeknownst labor to me saying it wasn’t covered and they couldn’t remove it without drilling it out at another $500. They also didn’t touch my sagging cheaply factory glued “sound proofing” under the engine lid...

I have a terrible creak anytime weight transfers over the seared bolt section of flooring drives me nuts.

 

[adrianp89]

Mixed here, they are replacing the plastic door trim helm side storage (back-ordered). But I had a seared bolt head on my fuel compartment flooring so I took it in and mentioned the few small things to check under warranty they pulled the bolts to the floor and attempted to get the other half of the bolt that’s stuck out; couldn’t and promptly charged me nearly $250 in unbeknownst labor to me saying it wasn’t covered and they couldn’t remove it without drilling it out at another $500. They also didn’t touch my sagging cheaply factory glued “sound proofing” under the engine lid...

I have a terrible creak anytime weight transfers over the seared bolt section of flooring drives me nuts.

That is BS, I would have argued it was stripped from the factory. And further more it only takes a few minutes to drill out a bolt. They re-glued the foam for me.

 

[WetWillie]

The shop is “Trying to get it covered” but asked I pay upfront until it gets approved by mother Yamaha. He said their response was why did it take almost 3 years to bring to their attention. My honest reply was I had just recently went to pull the fuel door flooring to check the area and found it stripped and was chasing the creak in the flooring and found the bolt head loose in the recessed area. Don’t hold much hope and told the guy sitting there would you accept a creak in your boat flooring nagging at you. Which he promptly replied no. They did try to extract it and said it was unsuccessful and would have to be completely wallowed out and they would have to fabricate a new attachment for replacement bolt hence the high price tag quoted. I told ‘em no way am I out of pocket a dollar more. Now granted I dropped it off under guise of all items warranty they never called me to say hey it’s nearly $300 to look at this closer...

As for the foam it was laying over the engines completely and they went in to grease the main shafts and just left it exactly like it was. I was pretty shocked tbh. I know in the automotive factory warranty area it wouldn’t have flown to get this kind of poor return of product to the owner...

 

[Inthrustwetrust]

I

The shop is “Trying to get it covered” but asked I pay upfront until it gets approved by mother Yamaha. He said their response was why did it take almost 3 years to bring to their attention. My honest reply was I had just recently went to pull the fuel door flooring to check the area and found it stripped and was chasing the creak in the flooring and found the bolt head loose in the recessed area. Don’t hold much hope and told the guy sitting there would you accept a creak in your boat flooring nagging at you. Which he promptly replied no. They did try to extract it and said it was unsuccessful and would have to be completely wallowed out and they would have to fabricate a new attachment for replacement bolt hence the high price tag quoted. I told ‘em no way am I out of pocket a dollar more. Now granted I dropped it off under guise of all items warranty they never called me to say hey it’s nearly $300 to look at this closer...

As for the foam it was laying over the engines completely and they went in to grease the main shafts and just left it exactly like it was. I was pretty shocked tbh. I know in the automotive factory warranty area it wouldn’t have flown to get this kind of poor return of product to the owner...

I was pretty disappointed when I got my boat back from getting a new ski locker door replaced under warranty. They must have drilled and cut the holes for the brackets and latch on the door in the boat because there shavings in the locker, in the cockpit, and on the swim deck, and it wasn’t just a little. I was pretty pissed as I had wash the boat out for a good 30 minutes.

I was tempted to call them and make them do it, but 30 minute drive each way, connecting the trailer several times, parking/backing in their tiny lot and my small driveway, probably 2 days waiting for them to do it, a heated conversation, I just took the opportunity to listen to some jams and enjoy a few beers with the hose in the driveway, got to pick my battles.

 

[WetWillie]

Yea I’ll bite the re-glueing of the sound proofing foam here in the next few weeks got some “Industrial strength spray adhesive; this is strong stuff” to quote one of my all time favorite movies! I’ll keep on them about the boat and door trim I’m still waiting for...

Points if you can name the movie reference?

 

[El Comandante]

Geez you’d think this thread was about the old Bayliners.