Lipstick on a Pig?

[Kmayotte]

Nando23 I have had very similar boats, an 04' SANTE and now a 16' G23 and while I have had some common issues, none of them made me think Nautique was no longer a reputable brand.

I haven't heard anything about v-drive issues in the 16's and I would think it would be all over this forum like the 16' Pebble watch issue or the '13 shaft issue. Do you have any info on a recall?

My '04 had the Faria Gateway issue and the ballast knob issue. Both are well documented on this site as I think any ongoing issue with certain models and years is.

I read your thread on the heater core failure. Did you winterize yourself or did the dealer do it? If so they're at fault.
(This is a reason I went for a boat without a heater because winterizing them sucks! It failed on my 04 due to my negligence. I didn't blame Nautique.)

Yes, the users of this site are usually very brand loyal but at the same time we're also some of the most discerning Nautique users in the marketplace and probably your best resource even before your local dealer.

Welcome to the forum. It helps everyone here if you shed more light on your other issues including the battery and the v-drive perhaps we could help you solve the problems or let you know if other users have had them too (e.g. see my thread about the Surf Select Remote failure).

[swc5150]

If there was a V drive recall for some 16's, wouldn't that make the chances of a buyback even less? I hope everything works out for the OP. Next time, just buy a MasterCraft...

[vacooley]

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.

Boat engines are primarily a constant speed application. Cars are not. It is highly unlikely that an engine in a car would run at a 2700 - 3000 RPM (or higher) for a sustained period of time. Hence the 'vary RPM during break in' recommendation. The short oil change interval is also a result of running the engine at consistently higher RPM than in a car.

Incidentally, I just bought 2 new cars and both recommended a shorter oil change interval for the first oil change.

I do agree with OP regarding manuals and documentation. But the reason we have more stuff go wrong (statistically) is because these boats are produced in volumes too low to invest in automation and they are basically assembled from tech borrowed from other things.

I definitely feel for the OP's situation though.


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[lucky7t]

Read this post and was very hesitant to post because frankly I'm a die hard Nautique guy. Owned 8 of them so far. But I will say that I do agree with a few of the OP's comments that these boats are very expensive.

I have leaned this way ever since the inception of the G boats. I have noticed production went way up once it was introduced and wondered if the quality was still the same. Over the last few years I have noticed a drop in personal customer service from nautique directly, not my dealer (dealer has always went out of there way for me).

In the past I could call nautique and larry would walk me through the question or someone else would call me back and was always very helpful. A month ago or so I called 19 times in two weeks and not one call back. So after a threatening email I had a lengthly conversation with larry and decided to fix it myself due to there lack of caring about it. It really bothered me but never said anything here because I didn't want to rock the boat for Nautique.

Heres my thoughts...... I think Nautiques marketing plan is this.... Build a nice boat and sell it for a higher price than normal. In other words set your market place to a higher priced boat hence more profits. Not a bad business model and not saying it is bad but thats my thoughts. Im not going anywhere but wanted to share my latest experience and thoughts.

[scottb7]

I agree with op. the manual is junk very unprofessional. and these things are built like they came from someones garage. Come on you can buy a cheap car and get a more consistent product, with a much higher initial quality with everything working. You pay $75k to $125k and get a boat with extra parts and crap sitting in the bottom of the bilge. Yeah, they can't invest in automation, but come on that is not a reasonable excuse for the kind of stuff they crank out. They charge for moving warranty from one person to another, and then limit it to only 2^nd owner. Or they only tighten 3 of 4 of the engine to boat mounts. Or the back hatch is crooked on a lot of them and they tell the owner that the owner let the engine get too hot and it warped it. Or the propeller falls off. Or the vinyl turns pink. Or no glue under the rub rail. Battery switches that the handles fall off. Or just put in a few screws rather than all of them securing windshield to hull. And then they bitch and complain about covering it quite often. And even on a known issue like the propellers falling off they only cover parts, not service. And many of the faria system they bought cap out so you the hour meters only go to 999. People put 100s of thousands of hours on cars and don't deal with break in oil. so quit saying it because boats are different.

Thank goodness people have so much disposable income that they - and me - over pay for a piece of fiberglass floating around on the water with a large gasoline engine for purely recreational purposes. Definitely 1^st world problems. But I agree that all of these boat manufactures need to be held to a much higher standard.

[NMNautique]

I am sorry you are having troubles. This is my second G and I have been very pleased. Hopefully, they will make it right for you and figure out a way to compensate you for your grief and lost time on the water! I probably would feel the same way if I had those same problems. Best of Luck and Hope you are able to get things resolved and back to enjoying your expensive toy.

[willyt]

Man, this place has become trollplanet.

You realize the marine (especially performance towboat) industry isn't compariable with the auto industry, right? Ford sells more or just about the same number of F150's a day as nautique makes boats in a year.

learn how to use a wrench (and properly care for a battery) and quit whining

[swc5150]

Yikes, has CC's quality really dropped like that? Maybe my MC joke shouldn't really be a joke?? My new boat is rock solid, zero issues, and the pro-printed glossy manuals came in a really nice embroidered binder It even came with a supply of Babe's cleaning products. Take that CC, LOL. But seriously, I'm sure the OP's dealer and factory will get this situation taken care of.

FWIW, my wife's Honda states right in the manual to having a "break-in" oil, and switching to full-synth at 10k. Regardless of one's thoughts on break-in, or what a tag on the engine says, the oil needs to be changed between by 25 hours.

[st68]

I am a real person! Thanks all for your comments. Don't think I am a statistically insignificant case. Maybe among visitors to this board. The v-drive was a recall btw affecting many boats. I have heard many complaints about the G's 2016 release. My point is not to accept crap just because is widely delivered in the industry. Not to lower our expectations. Again, I will try to communicate directly to N's CEO - for what is worth...

Not doubting you are a real person but you are coming in hot being new and all. Doesn't mean you couldn't be a poser from Malibu or MasterCraft trying to compete by trying to tarnish an image... a little more transparency on who are would be appropriate. Saying you are going to write the CEO but not know his name is suspect plus some of the other stuff you are saying is more poser like in my opinion! Not saying you are not legit just causing some waves but with question marks on if you are genuine.

[lucky7t]

Man, this place has become trollplanet.

You realize the marine (especially performance towboat) industry isn't compariable with the auto industry, right? Ford sells more or just about the same number of F150's a day as nautique makes boats in a year.

learn how to use a wrench (and properly care for a battery) and quit whining

man you made me laugh.. two posts and troll planet

But st68 is correct. OP can you please post a pic of your boat?

[whitecaps]

But st68 is correct. OP can you please post a pic of your boat?[/QUOTE]
^^ What he said- post a picture of your boat and/or give more details. We've asked for more details on battery issue and how speakers became involved but no response.....

[scottb7]

I forgot. What about the tower legs that fill with water, and crack? Any other mfgr have that problem? And what is with this argument that industries are not comparable. In my view the smaller company with the expensive boutique project should have less initial problems. Does it matter if the guy is real or not? Have you not read about the number of people who had weird stereo problems? In what world would that be reasonable? And paying parts only on a known problem like the propeller breaking off? (This represents what kind of moral value set? I have a copy of the bill that former owned paid for the service.) In what world would that be reasonable? Auto mfgr would send you a letter telling you that that the warranty is extended for a known problem.

I would agree with op, "Guess what, it is not how the industry should be. You are simply used to being abused."

It is not an indictment of Nautique in particular.

[McCannLand]

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....

Well I don't drive a Camry, but yes I did get a supplementary manual for the 6.7L Diesel in my F-350. Like most boats on the market they have different power packages optioned each requiring a different manual. In the boat world there are "systems" throughout the craft, most systems have their own manuals. On my Coastal Cruiser I had more then 10 manuals (engine, fuel system, drive unit, generator, air conditioning, navigation, communication, electrical system with sub-systems i.e. solar, inverter, battery banks and the water system to include desalination, filtration, hot water) and that didn't include little things like refrigerator, stereo, tv, microwave and the like. If you liken one of these boats to a Camry then maybe a personal water craft may have been more to your liking.

[swc5150]

"Guess what, it is not how the industry should be. You are simply used to being abused."

9 MC's and 6 Nautiques between my parents, brother and I over the years and the only issue we ever experienced was a blown clutch plate in our '88 powerslot tranny. I'll take that abuse Sorry to hear all the bad luck out there though...

[scottb7]

Did someone pay you to say that? Maybe you're a troll. Maybe you should post a picture of your boat. To prove you're not a troll.

Just kidding.

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