New Boat Frustration
Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 9:26 am
The Manitou discussion below got me thinking about my own situation. I wasn't going to share this, but maybe someone else will get some benefit of it. Sorry for the long post, but it helps give it context.
We bought a brand new SunTracker tritoon from a dealer back on July 13th and took it down to Tablerock lake for our family vacation the same day. After 2 days, we noticed the boat was listing to the left side, so we pulled it out of the water and back on the trailer. The left outer tube was full of water. This was 2 days into a week long vacation, so not to ruin it for the kids, we just went without a boat for the remainder of the week. We live about 2.5 hours away from the dealer and because the boat is a Tracker, we were told we could take it to any Tracker dealer for service, so we just dropped it at the Bass Pro on the way home. After a week, Bass Pro hadn't had a chance to even look at it, so we contacted the dealer who came and picked up the boat at our house on the 26th and took it to the Tracker factory at his expense on the 31st. He said it would be expedited for repair. I called the next week and was told no news, could be a week or two and they were doing everything they could. Called again this morning to express our disappointment and asked if there was a loaner boat or something we could use while ours was out. He washed his hands of it, that they would no longer be involved in this and that if I had questions deal with Tracker. That he didn’t even have to assist in this if I looked in the terms of my warranty and that they had gone above and beyond what other dealers would do by getting the boat to Tracker, and he hung up on me.
Maybe so maybe not, but be careful to read the terms of your warranty. We paid $45k for a brand new boat back on July 13th and have gotten 2 days on a lake with it, it ruined our vacation, its ruining our summer, not to mention we are making payments on the boat and a slip we cant use. The dealer has washed his hands, not a good business practice, but I don’t really have any legal recourse. Lemon laws don’t apply to boats in Missouri, and the warranty terms require me to deal with the manufacturer at my own transportation expense. I don’t have any information from the manufacturer, they are looking into this.
Very frustrating, bottom line is to make sure you perform due diligence in who your dealer is and their reputation as well as understanding the specifics on a warranty.
We bought a brand new SunTracker tritoon from a dealer back on July 13th and took it down to Tablerock lake for our family vacation the same day. After 2 days, we noticed the boat was listing to the left side, so we pulled it out of the water and back on the trailer. The left outer tube was full of water. This was 2 days into a week long vacation, so not to ruin it for the kids, we just went without a boat for the remainder of the week. We live about 2.5 hours away from the dealer and because the boat is a Tracker, we were told we could take it to any Tracker dealer for service, so we just dropped it at the Bass Pro on the way home. After a week, Bass Pro hadn't had a chance to even look at it, so we contacted the dealer who came and picked up the boat at our house on the 26th and took it to the Tracker factory at his expense on the 31st. He said it would be expedited for repair. I called the next week and was told no news, could be a week or two and they were doing everything they could. Called again this morning to express our disappointment and asked if there was a loaner boat or something we could use while ours was out. He washed his hands of it, that they would no longer be involved in this and that if I had questions deal with Tracker. That he didn’t even have to assist in this if I looked in the terms of my warranty and that they had gone above and beyond what other dealers would do by getting the boat to Tracker, and he hung up on me.
Maybe so maybe not, but be careful to read the terms of your warranty. We paid $45k for a brand new boat back on July 13th and have gotten 2 days on a lake with it, it ruined our vacation, its ruining our summer, not to mention we are making payments on the boat and a slip we cant use. The dealer has washed his hands, not a good business practice, but I don’t really have any legal recourse. Lemon laws don’t apply to boats in Missouri, and the warranty terms require me to deal with the manufacturer at my own transportation expense. I don’t have any information from the manufacturer, they are looking into this.
Very frustrating, bottom line is to make sure you perform due diligence in who your dealer is and their reputation as well as understanding the specifics on a warranty.
