Dealer Detailing Issue

[kinger]

I wanted to get some feed back from more experienced owners. I purchased a 210 in November, and have loved it! I had an issue when I picked up the boat, it was not very clean at all. My sales guy was great and said they had some issues at the time w/the detailing department, he said when i took the boat back for the 25hr service that he would detail it again. Well I just picked the boat up and they did a good job detailing it, but it looks like they used a buffer on it and they took off some of the coloring on the side decal. They didn't hurt the gel coat and it is about 2.5 inches by 1 inch. I am wondering if I should bring it to the dealers attention? if so would they do anything about it? I just don't want to burn any bridges because the dealer has been great in every other aspect and they always get problems corrected quickly I don't know if this is something you just pick you battles on and I should let it go?

Thanks ahead of time for all replys.

[gride300]

RE: Dealer Detailing Issue

if you do they will most likely just blow you off. just before i got rid of my mc i told them to detail the inside and when i pick it up it's sitting there w/ no cover on b/c they arent even done with it and there is pollen on the dash. even their rep told me that was something trivial. however, when you pay somewhere around 10-13 dollars a foot that stuff needs to be spotless. they even removed some tower speakers and didnt even bother to clean the grease spots on the tower. if i were you i would just forget about it and save yourself the hassell

[BigBald]

RE: Dealer Detailing Issue

I would let the dealer know...but push it only as far as your comfortable regarding your ongoing relationship. If it's a point of heartburn for you, then you should push hard. If not, then communicate it only as a learning experience between yourself and them....and as a point of communicating expectation the next time.

It's a brand new boat, so you would think it would be easy to detail??? Seems weird that they hit it hard enough to tone down the color on the decal? Or perhaps, their detailing department doesn't have a clue?

[Kozmo]

RE: Dealer Detailing Issue

A reputable deal will understand and resolve the issue. If you are anything like me, you will notice that spot every time you look at the boat and it will make you insane. A similar thing happened to me on my 1999 MC where they rubbed out the decals. It took them 4 months but they did replace the m and makd it right.

[DanielC]

RE: Dealer Detailing Issue

It may seem like 10 or 15 dollars a foot for an exterior detail is a lot of money, and a lot of pure profit for the dealer. Wash the boat. Look for minor scratches, sand them out. Fill major scratches with gelcoat, sand to flush, with several finer grits of sand paper. Go over the boat with a rotary buffer and rubbing/cleaninfg compound, redo the whole with a swirl remover, and the rotary buffer. Polish the boat with an orbital buffer, and then apply a wax. Hand polish the wax Clean the boat, clean the windshield. Factor in time, materials, and there is not a lot of profit left for the dealer. Time is money to them. Gelcoat is 25-30 thousands of an inch thick. The dye on a decal is very much thinner. Stay just a little too long on a decal, and the decal is damaged. I try to do a full detail on the sides of my boat when I am replacing the decals anyway.
I like to keep my boat looking nice, but I am not anal about it. I prefer to enjoy my time out on the water. Some people are really picky about their boats, that is their choice.
Talk to the dealer. Be nice about it, do not be demanding. Maybe the dealer will replace the decal, maybe not. Hopefully the person doing the detailing will learn to be careful aroung decals, and this will be a learning experiance for all.
You could always detail the boat yourself.