Lipstick on a Pig?

[Nando23]

This is my summary of my 2016 G21 so far and I will explain myself on a series of posts. Here's my hypothesis: These boats are build with "eye candy" in mind, essentially stunning looks and superficial gadgets on top of outdated, unreliable technology and complete disregard for quality. This causes an extreme dependency of boat owners to dealers ultimately creating a very frustrating experience given how dealers are "overbooked" and charging stratospheric fees. A warning for Correct Craft and the industry in general; this is what happened to the US car industry prior to the Japanese and other foreign takeovers. Complete disregard for quality, reliability and customer experience. Most of you would read this and say, here's the newby. Guess what, it is not how the industry should be. You are simply used to being abused.

Now onto my "stunning" G21. I will go in lost of detail. Since I bought it:
- Defective v-drive: 4 weeks parked (the whole season here is 12-16 weeks)
- Damaged heater: 2 weeks parked. Having two manuals (one for the boat, one for the engine) I didn't realize I needed to bleed it. In any case, impossible to release those hoses
- Damaged battery: Led to non-operational sound system. So long for those 8-inch speakers!
- Cover literally "glued" to engine block. They care about putting an LED and then GLUE it to the block! Literally lipstick on a pig
- Outdated engine manual. BTW seems a clerk photocopied it. I need to be careful not to spread all pages when I read it. Funny that for a $120k boat they couldn't care to print a decent (and combined) manual. Not to mention update it (latest is from 2014). Did you get two manuals when you bought your Camry?

We'll see what new adventures this boat will bring next. Amazing sensation when you're in the water knowing literally anything can break. Very reassuring having my family on it.

Again, will provide more details....

[Nando23]

BTW, are there lemon laws for boats?

[SkiTower]

Your summary extends beyond these boats, there's nothing made well these days. Too many people looking for the lipstick. This is true for ANYTHING you buy, from cars to toasters to weed eaters to pens to shovels. There are a few reasons for this: Engineers are no longer allowed to engineer because they are too busy filling out soreadsheets and forms for the quality flavor of the month (ie six sigma, iso, etc), things are designed for a shorter life because generally this has become a "use, discard, repeat" generation, everybody wants to get to market faster so there is no time for real life testing, and common sense has gone out the door because who would use self tapping screws to hold anything with a load and/or high cycle count (ie disconnects, hinged cushions, access doors)? The flip side of all this lipstick is it runs the cost up. They could easily build a G for significantly less money if you get the electronics and bling off the boat. But the general population likes lipstick and convenience, so here we are with everything costing 50% more than 10 years ago and working half as reliably. George Orwell (1984) didn't get the date right, but pretty much nailed everything else on the head.

And don't get me started on efficiency: I can buy a LOT of gas for the upgrade price of a hybrid or introduction of a turbo or two.

[scttp]

This has not been my experience with Nautiques at all. Sorry for your troubles for sure.


Sent from my iPhone using PLT Nautique

[Neverenough]

This has not been my experience with Nautiques at all. Sorry for your troubles for sure.


Sent from my iPhone using PLT Nautique

im with you... number 4 here and none have let me down. Only back to dealer for service.

[xxrb2010]

You should contact nautique and ask them to buy back your boat, your boat looks like a lemon.

[functionoverfashion]

Full disclosure, I worked at a marina (a small one, and not a Nautique dealer) for eight years from 2005-2013. So I have a different perspective from many here, and I'll share my thoughts. Feel free to ignore me, I'm just hoping you can reach a resolution and this is what I think:

This sucks, especially with a very expensive, brand new boat. However, lemon laws typically apply to cases where a vehicle has been back to the dealer for the same issue (or multiple) with several repeated failed attempts to fix said issue(s). Clearly having a failed v-drive in the early life of a boat is unusual, and tragic for your experience. Part of the reason it took a long time to fix, I suspect, is that a dealer simply wouldn't have the parts around for such an expensive, labor-intensive, and unusual failure. But it is extremely unlikely to happen twice. On the heater, I'm not sure exactly what you had happen from your description. Same for the battery, I'm not sure what happened there - can you elaborate?

I do think you're absolutely right about the added complexity of these new boats and some of the things that are done purely for appearance take (factory) attention away from the important details. But then, my new-to-me 2003 Super Air has 25 more things to go wrong than my old '89, so it's a progression for sure. And if you can get a dealer to work with you, get things warrantied that have failed, I sincerely hope the boat will reach a point that everything is operational and you can enjoy it for years to come. Unfortunately, in an industry where everyone wants everything yesterday because of the short season, there's just no way to keep everyone happy all the time. Dealers can't afford to have loaner boats like a car dealer might have. They can't have 100 capable staff in Jun-Aug and then go back to 10 people for the off season. And all that adds up to a bad experience for you!

I hope you can work with your dealer to resolve these problems and get the boat to a point where you'll really enjoy it. If not, go buy a well-sorted older one and modify it to your heart's content. I searched for my '03 for literally years, while I also kept money aside so that when the right one came around, I jumped on it. I spent two hours going over the boat with the owner before making an offer.

Keep us in the loop and I hope you're able to reach a resolution.

Cheers

[Nando23]

When was the last time you saw these on a car? 25 year ago maybe? Here they are telling us: We are so sloppy manufacturing this thing that there might be debris inside your engine. Just to be safe, change the oil as soon as possible - no, even better, get the dealer do it for you for $300

[Nando23]

We are making an $70k profit on your boat but cant afford Kinkos (not to mention updating the thing). What a disgrace...

[Nando23]

Anyone has Nautique's CEO email?

[xxrb2010]

From Nautique web site:
Contact Nautique Boats

Nautique Boat Company, Inc.
14700 Aerospace Parkway
Orlando, FL 32832 USA

Toll Free: 1-800-346-2092
Phone: 407-855-4141
Fax: 407-851-7844
E-mail: info@nautique.com



I suggest you send them a formal letter with receipt explaining your issue with proof of purchase and repair and ask them to come up a quick resolution and warn them that without a response you will have no choice but to get legal support to have your case move forward.

[Quinner]

Now onto my "stunning" G21. I will go in lost of detail. Since I bought it:
- Defective v-drive: 4 weeks parked (the whole season here is 12-16 weeks)
- Damaged heater: 2 weeks parked. Having two manuals (one for the boat, one for the engine) I didn't realize I needed to bleed it. In any case, impossible to release those hoses
- Damaged battery: Led to non-operational sound system. So long for those 8-inch speakers!
- Cover literally "glued" to engine block. They care about putting an LED and then GLUE it to the block! Literally lipstick on a pig
- Outdated engine manual. BTW seems a clerk photocopied it. I need to be careful not to spread all pages when I read it. Funny that for a $120k boat they couldn't care to print a decent (and combined) manual. Not to mention update it (latest is from 2014). Did you get two manuals when you bought your Camry?

We'll see what new adventures this boat will bring next. Amazing sensation when you're in the water knowing literally anything can break. Very reassuring having my family on it.

Again, will provide more details....

I certainly agree the prices are bananaland high, especially on the G boats, crazy money.

The problems you have listed however, other then the VDrive issue, are really quite petty.

The break in oil has nothing to do with debris as you describe, it is special oil used while rings seat and so forth while motor breaks in, there are several things that need to be checked and serviced at the 25hr mark as noted in your manual.

[charlesml3]

The break in oil has nothing to do with debris as you describe, it is special oil used while rings seat and so forth while motor breaks in, there are several things that need to be checked and serviced at the 25hr mark as noted in your manual.

Agreed. This is inherent to combustion engines. They all have a "break in" period.

-Charles

[whitecaps]

When was the last time you saw these on a car? 25 year ago maybe? Here they are telling us: We are so sloppy manufacturing this thing that there might be debris inside your engine. Just to be safe, change the oil as soon as possible - no, even better, get the dealer do it for you for $300

You might want to study up on break in period and the reasoning behind that first oil change. Its not because of sloppy manufacturing. There is an inordinate amount of wear that occurs during break-in that results in suspended particles in the oil. Even in perfect assembly in sterile setting. It may be that auto engines should put a similar notice on their engines. Sorry for your displeasure. Photocopied manuals are not a problem for me. Cool graphics on slick paper aren't going to change anything in your case. I'm curious if you bought this boat new or used? In my years I've owned quite a few of these boats and at the end of the day its a boat not a car. The number of boats made comes no where close to the auto industry and for that you can't compare the two. I suggest you sell or trade in and go a different route. Personally I enjoy the mechanical aspect to boating and the way these things work(or don't work at times). I enjoy doing my own maintenance and service and consider it part of boating. Is Nautique perfect? Certainly not but I can tell you that they probably do the best job of all the ones I've seen. I am very curious about the "damaged battery" and the speakers??? Your v-drive issue is a bummer for sure. Those are typically bullet proof. Sorry for the troubles and hope you get it all worked out. Its a great opportunity for your dealer to show exceptional service and concern for your troubles.

[Nando23]

In general, people no longer break in the engines of their own vehicles after purchasing a car or motorcycle, because the process is done in production. It is still common, even today, to find that an owner's manual recommends gentle use at first (often specified as the first 500 or 1000 kilometers or miles). Break-in (mechanical run-in) - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Break-...hanical_run-in)