Obsolete Parts

[OHLNautique]

The other day I had a person in the boat business tell me to never keep a new wakeboat for more than 3 years, including Nautique. His reasoning was that the parts become unavailable after a few years and certain things can't be repaired. Like the brain box in an Axis/Malibu for instance. As technology laden as the new boats are, is it true that parts won't be available 8-10 years down the road when something fails? Anyone experience not being able to get parts?

Thanks

[Adrenaline1]

Interesting. I certainly hope they have a reasonable long term plan for us. If not, I know which brand I will NOT buy again, no matter how nice it is. I am not paying these prices for a disposable boat.

[hal2814]

Take a look at this community and ccfan some time and look for the posts on obsolete parts. There are a lot. ProTec ignition, right-handed rotation engines, Chrysler engine blocks, the electronic dashes from the early 2000’s that fail. We find a way. Just fairly recently someone found a way to hack a Ford automotive ECU to replace the ProBoss GT40 ECU that’s no longer available. That’s part of why I have a Nautique. People out there keep their boats running for longer than I’ve been alive and they’re sharing their experience with others. That’s not exclusive to Correct Craft but it is special. I’m confident that any age of Correct Craft I buy from an old wooden skier to a new G23 will get the support it needs to stay on the water even if the original parts aren’t around anymore.

[gary s]

It's been on going in the automotive industry for years already. As technology increases it will be come more pronounced especially in such limited production manufacturing. Good examples are GT 40 ECM's and Gateway box's. Even decals and windshield parts for some models are NLA. Link systems seems like a likely trouble candidate as well. Like the ecm's though, if enough do go bad some enterprising soul will step in and fill the need hopefully.

[shag]

Out of all the manufacturers, I believe a Nautique owner will have a much easier time getting needed parts later in life. That said, I wish there was a way you could get all gauges in a new boat.... I hear of a lot of problems and trouble codes (some may be minor) with the LINC.

[functionoverfashion]

I do agree with those who say Nautiques have (among) the best aftermarket support systems on the web and elsewhere. The GT-40 ECU fix is a good example of people working together to solve a common problem with an electronic part that's NLA. But read through the threads on that, and you'll see what it took just to make that happen. I have to believe it would be MUCH harder to retrofit something in place of a LINC display.

I guess as long as Correct Craft can work with the electronics suppliers and keep older electronics in stock - or at least be able to order them - then it's only money. You just have to expect the occasional expensive repair, which isn't really new, the numbers are just higher.

Sooner or later I'll be in for a ~$900 analog gauge retrofit kit for my '03 with the NLA gateway box. But my boat's worth ~25k? If you have a used $100k boat, then a ~$4k replacement LINC screen might just be par for the course. So long as the parts are available...

[scottb7]

See below, "NO longer avaiable"... Is this company part of your "best aftermarket support system"? I think it is going to be very hard to get gateway boxes, linc screens, and a few other things.

P.S. Linc screens already upwards of $4k...

[Nautiquehunter]

I have a 08 210 very full gauges no screens yet at 999.9 the hour meter stopped. Nautique blames it on Faria and Faria blames it on Nautique bottom line there is no fix that I am aware of . I would be very afraid to buy any of the cloned space ships they are selling now . I currently own 5 boats the newest one is the 08 . We have just as much fun on the older boats . If you added them all together you wouldnt have enough to buy the cheapest new Nautique .

[OHLNautique]

So I guess if you buy a new wake boat you sell it before the warranty runs out or take your chances? Seems insane to me to spend six figures on a **** boat and not be able to buy parts for it 10 years later.

[Nautiquehunter]

So I guess if you buy a new wake boat you sell it before the warranty runs out or take your chances? Seems insane to me to spend six figures on a **** boat and not be able to buy parts for it 10 years later.

Yes its always been that way the difference is now they are so complicated with electronics the cost to repair will be much higher. The new boats are like a Ferrari limited production and high price.

[2019 G21]

Are the touch screens/brain/relay box nowadays shared between boat manufacturers? It sure seems to me that most of the touchscreens are the same except for the specific software build for each manufacturer. I would think that would help to keep parts available for longer periods.

[hal2814]

So I guess if you buy a new wake boat you sell it before the warranty runs out or take your chances? Seems insane to me to spend six figures on a **** boat and not be able to buy parts for it 10 years later.

Warranty doesn’t even really keep you safe for parts availability. I read in a Malibu forum a while back of a guy who couldn’t get a wiring harness for his boat for months despite it being under warranty because they switched suppliers and didn’t have any more of that harness so they had to customer make one for him. Parts availability is always a risk. It’s just a risk that gets larger as the boat gets older. I’ve never seen an inoperable Correct Craft due to parts availability. I can’t say that about other boats. Most L-drives for example are totally inoperable today. It sucks that there aren’t any more gateway boxes for that era Nautique but there is a workaround and that workaround is sold as a single kit, which is nice. A LINC workaround seems daunting now but so did a hobbyist remapping an ECU back in 1995. I firmly believe someone will figure out a LINC workaround when doing so means they get to keep a Nautique on the water. Our community’s success rate at similar availability issues so far is 100% or very near it.

[functionoverfashion]

It sucks that there aren’t any more gateway boxes for that era Nautique but there is a workaround and that workaround is sold as a single kit, which is nice. A LINC workaround seems daunting now but so did a hobbyist remapping an ECU back in 1995. I firmly believe someone will figure out a LINC workaround when doing so means they get to keep a Nautique on the water. Our community’s success rate at similar availability issues so far is 100% or very near it.

If you look at the automotive community, you don't have to look far to find people who have broken into various cars' systems and allowed (brave) owners to make all kinds of changes with a laptop or mobile device. Just a few years ago, Volvo's VIDA system was completely closed to the public and totally locked down. Now you can go on their website, download it, and even use a fully-functioning version with a license and everything - they'll charge for it, but that price should only go down over time. And if you so choose, you can find other ways if you dig around on the internet a little. The point is more that you CAN do it.

It seems like this owner community is as likely as any to come up with solutions for these issues in the future. That doesn't mean there won't be some pain and suffering by out-of-warranty owners along the way.

I, for one, will be hanging on to my '03 for a long time and I doubt the value will go down much.

[Larry H]

I am having the same problem. I need a commander 950 Throttle Body Injector Pod - 4BBl part # 534-163. I have tried many places and it has been discontinued. Does anyone know where I can get one? I have a 1994 Sport Nautique.

[bturner]

I struggled with this as I was looking for "my new to me" boat. I loved the idea of LINC but I haven't met anyone with any manufacture's system that hasn't had some kind of issue. Whether it's parts, functions or some other issue there always seems to be something that doesn't work right. There have been work arounds for many issues but the systems they put in now are so tuned to a single manufacture that there's little you can do other than find that very specific part to resolve an issue. I've also heard of dealers taking out entire systems and converting them back to gauge and switch systems. This is rather hard core but at the end of the day if you have no other choice what are you going to do?

As far as the backyard industry for repairing these systems goes...... don't hold your breath. The limited run of systems makes establishing a common replacement all but impossible. Then add to that the investment of time developing a solution, then getting it to market without somehow getting sued for something and you'll find few who will want to be in that business. And all this of course doesn't count for the proprietary nature of the of these systems which follow no or few standards of implementation. Heck even the companies that make them don't want to service them.

The early 2000s were crap years for most manufactures as everyone tried to hit the tech end of the market. MasterCrafts, which I'm more failure with had just a horrible time with the Medallion systems being installed that were absolute junk. Medallion would later followed this up with their touch screen system in 2012 that was even worse and ended up breaking the relationship between the two companies. Fast forward to today and there are dedicated threads to replacing all the gauges in those early 2000s boats and many dealers advising customers to tear out the touch screen on the 2012s as there is no fix and no replacement systems for these boats. Unfortunately I don't see much changing as we move forward. These systems will fail sooner or later and as of right now the only fix I see on the horizon will be to rip and replace with a manual system.