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When I originally purchased my boat back in '97, I narrowed my choices down to Nautiques and Mastercrafts. At the time, my choice was swayed by my feelings about the dealerships themselves. I thought the boats were pretty comparable, but the Nautique dealer seemed to be more meticulous, where the Mastercraft dealer was a big outfit that sold many brands. This difference was particularly evident in their winter storage options.
So I went with the Nautique dealer and one of the first summers after I bought the boat, I was out for the summer recovering from surgery, so I left the boat in storage. The following winter I was transferred across the country and I didn't pick my boat up until the following year. Because I was driving it across country, I asked for a spare to be installed on the trailer, which they did. When I got the boat home and dropped it in the water, it fired up on the first crank. The river level was too high for wakes, but I wanted to get the boat out and make sure everything was OK before I started getting serious that summer. I started to cruise up the river slowly, but the engine cut out after about a minute. I tried to start it up again, but it wouldn't turn over. I called the dealership (who was now half-way across the country) and asked them what they thought could be the problem. They couldn't figure it out and even asked me to crank the boat in my driveway, while they listened on the phone.
Eventually, I had to take it to a local Correct Craft dealer and have them look at it. After going over the boat for several days, the dealership called me up and asked me if I had any enemies. I told them no and thought it was a weird question until they explained someone had reversed the fuel lines on my boat and they couldn't figure out why anyone would do that. After calling my original dealer up, I found out they accidentally reversed the fuel lines when they performed a recall on the boat while it was in storage. The new dealership (which is no longer a Correct Craft dealer) charged me about $500 to fix their mistake and said I should take it up with the place that did the warranty work. I called that dealership and the best they could offer was to give me the spare tire they installed for free, since they forgot to charge me for it when I picked up the boat.
When I brought it back to the second dealership for winterization, they told me the boat would be ready for the following season when I picked it up and all I would have to do would be to drop it in the water and fire it up. When I got the boat home, I noticed they had not disconnected the battery and called them and asked if that wasn't part of their procedure. They told me it was not. I did it anyway, so the battery wouldn't die and took it out of the boat and put it on a trickle charger for the winter. Spring rolled around and fearing I might screw something up in the boat, I called the dealer back again to make sure nothing needed to be done on the boat before putting it in the water. They assured me it was ready to go. Fortunately, I checked the boat over again and noticed they removed the drainplug. I guess that's not such a big deal, since everyone should check anyway, but it would be nice if they had mentioned that to me, in case I dropped it in the water like that.
When that marina stopped dealing with Nautiques, I was forced to drive almost two hours to get my boat serviced at a different certified Nautique dealership. That dealership did excellent work and I never had any problems with them, other than the distance from my home.
This year, I discovered another marina had recently begun carrying Nautiques and I took my boat in last week for some little maintenance stuff I wanted corrected before I took the boat on a week-long trip out west. The starter was going, so they replaced that and some of the weatherstripping was also replaced. They were very friendly and able to perform everything I needed done, including recarpeting my bunks and they were only 40 minutes from my house. Well, I picked the boat up today and drove it back home. I stopped in town and topped off the tank, because I'm going to take it out tomorrow. When I went to the dash to turn on the ignition, I noticed that it was left on, the key was in the on position, the battery was dead and the boat I dropped off last week with 118 hours now had 195!
Needless to say, I was more than a little irate, as I had two different people interested in buying the boat, in no small part, because of the low hours. To their credit, the dealership has offered to replace the battery and order a new clock, which they will put 118 hours, plus whatever I put on while it's being shipped, but now I'm spending most of the day carting it out to the dealership and back. Still, it leaves me wondering why I paid first-class dollars on a boat, only to see it get third-rate service at dealerships? Another thing I've noticed with these dealerships is that almost all of them had only been selling and servicing the boats for a fairly short period of time. Is that the case all over the country? If so, why can't Correct Craft keep dealers and why is there so much turnover in my area?
I was actually looking into getting a new Nautique and wasn't really considering a Malibu, but I've heard a lot of good things about my local Malibu dealer and I know they've been handling the boats for a long time. I'd have to say while I enjoy our boat, I'm pretty frustrated with the whole Nautique ownership experience at this point. Perhaps it's time for a change.
So I went with the Nautique dealer and one of the first summers after I bought the boat, I was out for the summer recovering from surgery, so I left the boat in storage. The following winter I was transferred across the country and I didn't pick my boat up until the following year. Because I was driving it across country, I asked for a spare to be installed on the trailer, which they did. When I got the boat home and dropped it in the water, it fired up on the first crank. The river level was too high for wakes, but I wanted to get the boat out and make sure everything was OK before I started getting serious that summer. I started to cruise up the river slowly, but the engine cut out after about a minute. I tried to start it up again, but it wouldn't turn over. I called the dealership (who was now half-way across the country) and asked them what they thought could be the problem. They couldn't figure it out and even asked me to crank the boat in my driveway, while they listened on the phone.
Eventually, I had to take it to a local Correct Craft dealer and have them look at it. After going over the boat for several days, the dealership called me up and asked me if I had any enemies. I told them no and thought it was a weird question until they explained someone had reversed the fuel lines on my boat and they couldn't figure out why anyone would do that. After calling my original dealer up, I found out they accidentally reversed the fuel lines when they performed a recall on the boat while it was in storage. The new dealership (which is no longer a Correct Craft dealer) charged me about $500 to fix their mistake and said I should take it up with the place that did the warranty work. I called that dealership and the best they could offer was to give me the spare tire they installed for free, since they forgot to charge me for it when I picked up the boat.
When I brought it back to the second dealership for winterization, they told me the boat would be ready for the following season when I picked it up and all I would have to do would be to drop it in the water and fire it up. When I got the boat home, I noticed they had not disconnected the battery and called them and asked if that wasn't part of their procedure. They told me it was not. I did it anyway, so the battery wouldn't die and took it out of the boat and put it on a trickle charger for the winter. Spring rolled around and fearing I might screw something up in the boat, I called the dealer back again to make sure nothing needed to be done on the boat before putting it in the water. They assured me it was ready to go. Fortunately, I checked the boat over again and noticed they removed the drainplug. I guess that's not such a big deal, since everyone should check anyway, but it would be nice if they had mentioned that to me, in case I dropped it in the water like that.
When that marina stopped dealing with Nautiques, I was forced to drive almost two hours to get my boat serviced at a different certified Nautique dealership. That dealership did excellent work and I never had any problems with them, other than the distance from my home.
This year, I discovered another marina had recently begun carrying Nautiques and I took my boat in last week for some little maintenance stuff I wanted corrected before I took the boat on a week-long trip out west. The starter was going, so they replaced that and some of the weatherstripping was also replaced. They were very friendly and able to perform everything I needed done, including recarpeting my bunks and they were only 40 minutes from my house. Well, I picked the boat up today and drove it back home. I stopped in town and topped off the tank, because I'm going to take it out tomorrow. When I went to the dash to turn on the ignition, I noticed that it was left on, the key was in the on position, the battery was dead and the boat I dropped off last week with 118 hours now had 195!
Needless to say, I was more than a little irate, as I had two different people interested in buying the boat, in no small part, because of the low hours. To their credit, the dealership has offered to replace the battery and order a new clock, which they will put 118 hours, plus whatever I put on while it's being shipped, but now I'm spending most of the day carting it out to the dealership and back. Still, it leaves me wondering why I paid first-class dollars on a boat, only to see it get third-rate service at dealerships? Another thing I've noticed with these dealerships is that almost all of them had only been selling and servicing the boats for a fairly short period of time. Is that the case all over the country? If so, why can't Correct Craft keep dealers and why is there so much turnover in my area?
I was actually looking into getting a new Nautique and wasn't really considering a Malibu, but I've heard a lot of good things about my local Malibu dealer and I know they've been handling the boats for a long time. I'd have to say while I enjoy our boat, I'm pretty frustrated with the whole Nautique ownership experience at this point. Perhaps it's time for a change.
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