Getting to be an un-happy nautique owner!

[das]

How many of you fellow nautique owners have had problems with their new boats? I mean the problems that you shouldn't have owning a new boat built by the "premier" boat builder of wakeboard boats.
The latest problem found was water gushing in the storage compartments, both sides! I removed the rub rail and found that who ever caulked the joints where the two halves meet didn't bother to even look where they where caulking and missed the joint completely (see pic). My question is how many of these mistakes are out there and how can this be missed by Q.C. ?? This boat has 17 hours on it. I'm loosing faith in the nautique brand.

[NautiqueJeff]

I agree that that shouldn't have happened. I have heard of a few others that had that same problem. I assume you found the issue when you were surfing with the boat heavily weighted to one side, right? I am not sure if final fit and finish checks this particular thing, but maybe they should.

At least it is an easy fix.

[das]

Actually the water was pouring in at any speed under 20 mph. Had I been loaded down I believe there would have a lot more water. Nautique has offered to fix all problems, it's just a huge inconvenience to take it in and have the work done. I just expected more from this caliber of company.

[knoxnautique]

I have similar complaints. I picked up a new 2012 with a slew of little issues. First the factory forgot to add the dock lights I ordered but didn't forget to charge my dealer. Then the ballest filled when clicking empty, emptied when clicking fill. LINK shows everything backwards on ballest levels. Fuel level always shows full. Plus I've had my LINK system enter into an endless loop of rebooting till I cycled power. A front speaker out. The majority of this could be resolved with a little better QC from the factory. Sure the dealer can fix all this but what a hassle for a boat I had 2.5 hours on! I've stuck with Nautique cause I've believed them to be a brand of the highest quality but I'm definitely disappointed.

[gride]

if i bought a boat from moomba or nautique new, i'd expect no issues from build quality. little hiccups with the electrical or engine can happen, but alot of boats are build on a friday, as in the builders are ready to get off work and rush through it. perhaps they should take a lesson from the car industry and have high speed cameras reviewing the build process.

[DaveP]

I bought a 2011 210 and so far, knock on wood, haven't had a single problem. I have almost 60 hours on the boat. The only thing that bugs me is the fuel gauge seems to be inaccurate.

[aarond0083]

There is no excuse for what happened with the original posters boat. We have a 2012 on order and if this happened with my boat I'd be taking it back to FL for another one. For what these boats cost they need to be delivered perfectly and there is no room for error IMO.

[Texan1554]

Inexcusable.

I would skip the dealer and go straight up the ladder with the complaints. Write a letter, send an email, call, etc... In my opinion all Nautique dealers should have loaner boats for issues like this, just like high end car companies do. To lose water time in a NEW boat because of petty issues like that is ridiculous.

As Aaron mentioned I would be barking up the tree for a completely new boat.

[NautiqueJeff]

Yes, this shouldn't have happened. That being said, you seriously think he should get a new boat? Really? This is a very simple fix.

[kinger]

I bought my boat in Nov 2007 (new) and I can remember hating it the 1st years I lost water time because of Perfect Pass Issues, Ballast, Prop, and rubrail issues. The dealer was great taking care of them all. The next season once I had about 50hrs on it I have never had another problem (over 200hrs on it now). I think w/new boats their is sometimes a break in period that QC can't even fully address, i think its part of what you take on as a boat owner. Maybe you get lucky and nothing goes wrong or the norm (IMHO) there are somethings that need to be addressed. I have heard these stories w/about every person i know that has bought a new boat in my circle (2 Malibu's, 1 Tige, 1 Sanger, and 1 other Nautique).

[aarond0083]

Yes, this shouldn't have happened. That being said, you seriously think he should get a new boat? Really? This is a very simple fix.

If water poured into my brand new boat because it wasn't put together properly? Absolutely on principal alone. I understand it's a simple fix but these type of things should never happen with a new boat, especially one that cost $80,000.

[scottb7]

Jeez, I have been lurking as I think about what year to get 210 so maybe I should keep my month shut. Problem I have is nearest nautique dealer is going to be at least an hour each way and I don't keep it on the trailer. I live on small lake and I put boat in at beginning of season and take it off end of season. My first boat cost $8k and the dealer sold it to me with fuel pump nearly dead, probably not intentionally. So when it died a few days later, I checked for spark and then made them come to me to replace the pump. They are willing to come to boats and charge you so maybe in some circumstances they should come to you for free.

My opinion for what is worth and I know this would be huge commitment is that dealers should maybe start offering more warranty house calls. Maybe within certain radius. I mean if you pay huge dollars for new boat and are willing to absorb first few years big depreciation then you are supposed to trailer boat and drive back and forth to the dealer to work on the kinks seems unreasonable to me. We built a house 5 or 6 years ago and bought pretty low end windows - we ran out of money due to price of land on the lake - from Windsor. They have a guy that does service work and covers 4 state area that just tweaks locks, tracks, fixes things etc. Has everything he needs in a van.

Like in this circumstance, if you email them a picture they could drive to your place with a tube of caulk, couldn't they?

Warranties these days seem to be instead of actually making a good product. Long warranty does not seem to imply you won't have problems. Just means they will fix it for you when you bring it in.

[gride]

this is a factory issue, so they should pay the dealer to come to your house to fix it no question. and IMO, they should give you a credit at your dealer for winterization or something like that. i mean the boat could have been totally under water and killed someone.

[SkiTower]

My opinion for what is worth and I know this would be huge commitment is that dealers should maybe start offering more warranty house calls. Maybe within certain radius.

Good point but I believe this is the problem...It's the guys that live a long distance from the dealer that are put out. I know Whitelake had started making housecalls (not sure if they still do in this economy) but I'd be surprised if they'd come all the way up here.

This goes back to good communication. The first time this happens, the dealer let's the factory know about it and the factory should be recognizing this as inexcusable and making sure it never happens again.

Got this in an email yesterday: http://www.youtube.com/embed/nd5WGLWNllA?rel=0
I have two comments: incredible overhead...and am very interested to see the quality of the cars in a few years. I think we can compare Nautiques to these cars (we definitely pay the price...)

[DaveP]

Yes, this shouldn't have happened. That being said, you seriously think he should get a new boat? Really? This is a very simple fix.

I do think he is entitled to a new boat. This is a defective product. When you get down to it, the very first thing a boat should do is float without taking on water. When you spend the kind of money we do on a boat, a simple patch doesn't fly with me. How in the **** does that boat leave the factory???? How does it make it past the dealer inspection?? Sorry, but I would be livid.