My first post and my first purchase of a pontoon boat

[steveiam]

If you haven't pulled the trigger yet I would HIGHLY recommend that you hire a mobile mechanic to look the boat over, even though you are buying at a dealership.

He will cost you around $100.00 or so but he will be YOUR advocate and could save you an enormous amount of frustration.
He should have a very detailed list of things to check out, more than just the engine.

Even if you do get a warranty if you have the mechanic check it over you will gain at the very least peace of mind.
The folks at the dealership may be good folks but they are not your friend and they want to sell that boat.

I bought mine from an individual but I did have a mobile mechanic check it out and there is no way I would have thought of checking all the things he did.

Just my two cents.

[Douglas4315]

Here is what the dealer told me about the warranty:
The engine has 2 years left on the warranty and good until 5/16/2015.
The boat it would be a 10 year pro-rated on the deck and below and on the carpet and up it would also be pro rated for 5 years . Starting this year it would be 90/10 , then 80/20 and so on

Does all this sound right?

[BobL]

Here is what the dealer told me about the warranty:
The engine has 2 years left on the warranty and good until 5/16/2015.
The boat it would be a 10 year pro-rated on the deck and below and on the carpet and up it would also be pro rated for 5 years . Starting this year it would be 90/10 , then 80/20 and so on

Does all this sound right?

"Pro-rating" the below deck items (tubes/construction) either has me a little confused or concerned. I am not aware of any boats that pro-rate the hull (below deck/tubes) as the ones I am familiar with say we will fix that stuff for NO charge for some period of time (i.e. 10 years).

I looked at the Sylvan site and curious what they mean by "limited" lifetime warranty. All companies have the term "limited" to cover their ass for user stupidity but when you said the dealer was "pro-rating" the below deck stuff then I am scratching my head a little. Here is a quote from their website:

"Smoker Craft, Inc. offers a variety of warranties on all their family of boats. All pontoons and boats come with unbeatable lifetime limited warranties on decks, tubes and transoms."

And here is another quote on the carpet/furniture:

"There is also a six-year limited warranty on marine grade carpet, and a six-year limited warranty on upholstery and vinyl on most models. For complete warranty information on a specific marine or pontoon boat..."

Long story short, I am a bit concerned/confused about them expecting you to pay anything for any problem below the deck for some reasonable period of time.

[Douglas4315]

I received confirmation from the manufacturer itself. Here is how it works:

The original owner has the lifetime on the structure however the 2nd owner gets a pro-rated 10 year warranty on everything below the deck.

Year 1 - I pay 10% of the repair
Year 2 - I pay 20% of the repair
so on..

However in the event the tubes were to crack they would be replaced at no charge

[Capt Sully]

I received confirmation from the manufacturer itself. Here is how it works:

The original owner has the lifetime on the structure however the 2nd owner gets a pro-rated 10 year warranty on everything below the deck.

Year 1 - I pay 10% of the repair
Year 2 - I pay 20% of the repair
so on..

However in the event the tubes were to crack they would be replaced at no charge

You are correct. Lifetime is Only for the Original owner. Limited or pro-rated is for the second owner. Reading the fine print on almost all boats will tell you this.

[Bamaman]

I was thinking about the RPT tubes, and some postings I've read about on various marine websites.

You're right that there's been some problems with them. The RPT tubes look like a U shaped log upside down, except that they have a V bottom instead of being flat across the top. They've had some seam problems.

And I think they perform very well if there are no leaks. RPT toons do not have lifting strakes as they make the nosecones lift automatically. See SylvanMarine.com

If your selling dealer is a Sylvan dealer, you'd probably be okay. You don't want to have warranty work if there's no authorized dealer to deal with close by.

I would just tell you to keep a watch closely for any water intrusion, and keep the comp/collision portion of your insurance policy up to date.

[BobL]

......However in the event the tubes were to crack they would be replaced at no charge

That was what I thought/hoped. Most of the hull warrantys I have experienced are transferable without a pro-rate penalty.