Build and Delivery Timelines

[DS2022G23]

Called dealer and was told that all boats with tungsten grey paint color are on hold as they can't get the paint....changed color to haze grey and now hoping for year-end (although that doesn't do me much good!)

[Surf Keowee]

Ordered my S23 in September, Delivery set for November. Didn't actually want it till March.

[HAWKS2842]

Called dealer and was told that all boats with tungsten grey paint color are on hold as they can't get the paint....changed color to haze grey and now hoping for year-end (although that doesn't do me much good!)

I got this email today on my boat. - I just received this email from Nautique. Let me know your thoughts.

“Tungsten Grey
We are still having challenges with Tungsten Grey and we are not scheduling any orders with Tungsten Grey selected. Although we are still working hard to come up with a solution for this color, I am not confident that we will have a timely resolution. I highly recommend talking through this with all of your customers that have Tungsten selected and encourage them to come up with a colorway that they like that does not include Tungsten Grey. This will ensure a more timely delivery. If you have an order in the system that you change away from tungsten please email me and let me know so I can inform production they can schedule the order.”


I ordered in January. They've missed 3 build dates. Im over it. Im ready to just cancel it at this point. Ive lost all faith in Nautique.

[Tallredrider]

I think you are being too hard on them. They have tried to get the color, and simply can't. They gave you the opportunity to get a different color 3 times if I understand this right, and you declined the offer. I have owned a lot of different boat colors and I think there is something wrong with someone who can only have 1 color. And that is coming from a guy with 'red' in his name. For the record, my current boat is copper metal flake, and the boat before that was silver metal flake. I like the Tungsten gray a lot also, but it isn't the only really nice color out there.

[scottb7]

I understand the point the above poster is making, but to me it is a custom product at an extremely high price. They should not have offered it if they couldn't fulfill.

[bird_dog0347]

That assumes they could have known at the time of the offer that they would have challenges fulfilling the orders later, which is extremely unlikely. It seems to me they are doing everything in their power to come up with a solution that will work for the buyers, but honestly if you are that dead set on the color it sounds like it just isn't going to happen.

[Shamsra]

Man I remember the agony in selecting the colors. It was a much debated family affair. It would have been heartbreaking after that process to be denied a selection. The heart wants what the heart wants. I feel for ya.

[HAWKS2842]

I told the dealer I'd make a switch and ease the pain for Nautique if they brought back purple metallic flake for me. Hopefully I have an answer early next week.Nautique was open ears about the switch. the higher ups have to make the decision though so we'll see. I don't care when they deliver it at this point as long as its prior to May 2022.

I received this information on the tungsten : Found out the main issue is their supplier for the gel coat is making the tungsten fine in small batches, however when they od the large batches for layups, something goes wrong with the formula in their system and they’ve had to scrap several hulls (maybe one of yours) because of the finish that came out. They have been working with other venders and their normal supplier however it needs to match everything they have in already as many towers have been made, vinyls ordered etc. They said they have not been able to produce a boat with Tungsten in over four months. The S23 was built earlier in the year in product design before shortage started.

[scottb7]

That assumes they could have known at the time of the offer that they would have challenges fulfilling the orders later, which is extremely unlikely. It seems to me they are doing everything in their power to come up with a solution that will work for the buyers, but honestly if you are that dead set on the color it sounds like it just isn't going to happen.

What we did is adjusted our business model such that customer specific components are in stock before taking an order. Other items that are not customer specific that are part of a build we handled differently and did not ensure stock on hand.

It is super easy to have a list of openings for specific colors or items. Sharepoint, and other in cloud systems allow for real time understanding of inventory.

Honestly, any excuses for Nautique regarding this specific issue are IMHO just b.s.

[HAWKS2842]

The Saga continues. Nautique agreed to purple metal flake for me but cant do a matching interior because they don’t have matching vinyl, and the platform has to be another color. I feel like I’m beating my head against the wall with this boat. I’m ready to walk away from it

[scottb7]

Up to you, I would not buy a new boat if I could not get exactly what I wanted, but that is just me.

[HAWKS2842]

I’m right there with ya. Gonna start looking at other manufacturers next week. Very frustrating.
basically nautique is offering me something for not being able to deliver for 10 months but not a whole package. It’s half a deal in my eyes.

[scottb7]

Are they really actually offering anything for the inconvenience? Or just willing to change to something that you could have picked yourself anyway. To my way of thinking about it, after taking your order for something they couldn't fulfill, they should give you something extra. You know, like free heater, or something else that has monetary value.

[HAWKS2842]

they're not offering me anything. they can't deliver anything I want. tungsten grey interior deck = can't do it we can't produce it pick a new one. I pick purple exterior and they say okay but you have to change the tungsten interior to white, I agree to it. then they come back with we don't have access to purple vinyl anymore and can't order it (I say that BS personally), and your platform can't be regular purple because we don't have that either....there claim was we're not charging you the custom color fee......THEY ARE THE ONES THAT ASKED ME TO CHANGE COLORS BECAUSE THEY CANT DELIVER AFTER 10 MONTHS! I'm pretty close to walking away from the deal. They've had my deposit since beginning of June. In my eyes I have made concessions on a boat im spending over 200k just to get it built at this point and they aren't coming to the table with anything helpful.

[NautiqueJeff]

I understand your frustration, but I do wonder what you would consider to be appropriate for them to offer you.

I can give you a little background on the purple metal flake gelcoat. I had that color one year. There has not been a non-metal flake purple gelcoat offered by Nautique in the recent past. Also, I have never had good luck matching the metal flake gelcoat colors with their non-metal flake counterparts anyway. The colors just don't match. You would not be happy with an attempted match.

Swim platforms cannot use metal flake gelcoat due to the tight angles in the fiberglass. The actual pieces of metal in the gelcoat will not conform to the tight corners (inner or outer), and the overall finish is not great in that sort of situation. That's why they don't offer metal flake colors on the platforms or on the interior decks.

If they don't have any of the purple vinyl left over from when they offered it years ago, I can understand them having a hard time getting it now. The price and the lead time on ANY vinyl not already ordered from the vinyl manufacturers is crazy right now. Throw in a weird color like purple, and a small batch, and I totally get that they would have trouble sourcing it in a timely manner.

I feel for you. You ordered a custom boat and paid lots of money. You should get what you wanted. Nautique probably shouldn't have offered Tungsten, but at the time I assume they didn't realize that they would be unable to get it at all in the near future. It seems like this one thing is derailing your whole order. Have you considered a replacement for the Tungsten alone, like Haze (which I know you said you don't like, but isn't really that different), or even black? I bet they'd be willing to do a black interior deck for you at this point, and that would look great in my opinion.