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New 2011 boat at the dealer question


GRGKng

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Hi guys,

I ordered a 2011 247 with the supercharged motor, and it is now at the dealer. However, when I ordered it I requested the fuel vent to be moved up under the tower to reduce the risk of water getting in the fuel tank (since all I do is surf), and they authorized the change and said it would be placed where I requested. Now the boat has been delivered to the dealer, and the vent was not moved as I was told it would be, it is in the stock location.

Do I,

A. Not buy the boat and have them build another.

B. My dealer said they could plug off the vent on the left side and make one of the right side, however Malibu said they would not do this, so why can my dealer do it? Also being a brand new boat I don't really want a hole drilled in the boat and something rigged up to get it to work. Do I request in writing some kind of warranty holding Malibu responsible for anything that may or may not happen with the modification?

C. My dealer said that malibu's new fuel vent does not take in water with the LSA motor, but no one can explain to me how it works. Do I request something in writing holding malibu responsible and ask for more cash off the boat?

Thanks.

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when it comes to getting what you want, I've found that the only correct answer is to walk away. Anything else will be a compromise, and if you're like me, you'll be kicking yourself for not being patient enough.

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Hi guys,

I ordered a 2011 247 with the supercharged motor, and it is now at the dealer. However, when I ordered it I requested the fuel vent to be moved up under the tower to reduce the risk of water getting in the fuel tank (since all I do is surf), and they authorized the change and said it would be placed where I requested. Now the boat has been delivered to the dealer, and the vent was not moved as I was told it would be, it is in the stock location.

Do I,

A. Not buy the boat and have them build another.

B. My dealer said they could plug off the vent on the left side and make one of the right side, however Malibu said they would not do this, so why can my dealer do it? Also being a brand new boat I don't really want a hole drilled in the boat and something rigged up to get it to work. Do I request in writing some kind of warranty holding Malibu responsible for anything that may or may not happen with the modification?

C. My dealer said that malibu's new fuel vent does not take in water with the LSA motor, but no one can explain to me how it works. Do I request something in writing holding malibu responsible and ask for more cash off the boat?

Thanks.

It is almost boating season - if you walk you are going to miss a big portion of the season is my guess because you are at the back of the line in terms of wait.

A 247 has serious freeboard so even loaded for surfing I would have to assume the chance of sucking in water into the vent is almost zero. The opening in the vent faces aft, which will make it even more unlikely that water will enter.

I like your initial thought to move it "just in case" but since the plan was not followed, I would keep it where it is and enjoy the boat. Having the dealer mess with it opens up too many potential screw-ups, IMO. I would, however, pitch a huge fit and get some free stuff to make up for it not being exactly the way you wanted it.

Does the boat have two vents, one per side? If you surf one side vs the other, a suction cup over the surf side vent would give you peace of mind, assuming the other side is vented. You don't want to block all vents and have a fuel pressure/expansion problem mess with the floor or engine performance.

-- Mike

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It only has one vent on the left side of the boat. That's also the side I surf on, with my VLX the vent was always underwater... Which is what worries me and why I asked for it to be moved. The new vent for the supercharged motor looks like a flat circle with a smaller circle in it and an opening around the smaller cirlce, and no one can tell me how it works, just that "it wont suck in any water".. I just don't want to mess up the motor being a 10grand option, and I dont want the dealer to accidentally mess up the boat by plugging the first vent and putting another vent on the other side (I originally asked malibu to relocate the vent to the right side of the boat, but they said they couldn't do it, which worries me when my dealer says that they can put the vent on the other side rather, "we will do whatever it takes to put it on the other side and bill malibu for the work"). I also don't want to miss out on the small season MN has... ahhhh. If I were to live with it, I think I'd only do it if malibu would warranty the engine no matter what, as my dealer pointed out, they okayed it, and they screwed it up...

Edited by Gl4662
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It only has one vent on the left side of the boat. That's also the side I surf on, with my VLX the vent was always underwater... Which is what worries me and why I asked for it to be moved. The new vent for the supercharged motor looks like a flat circle with a smaller circle in it and an opening around the smaller cirlce, and no one can tell me how it works, just that "it wont suck in any water".. I just don't want to mess up the motor being a 10grand option, and I dont want the dealer to accidentally mess up the boat by plugging the first vent and putting another vent on the other side (I originally asked malibu to relocate the vent to the right side of the boat, but they said they couldn't do it, which worries me when my dealer says that they can put the vent on the other side rather, "we will do whatever it takes to put it on the other side and bill malibu for the work"). I also don't want to miss out on the small season MN has... ahhhh. If I were to live with it, I think I'd only do it if malibu would warranty the engine no matter what, as my dealer pointed out, they okayed it, and they screwed it up...

Interesting - maybe it has some sort of check valve or something?

Can you test drive and make sure it stays high and dry?

Sorry to hear it's not perfect - when you spend all that $$, I understand how frustrating that can be!

-- Mike

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Yes, well I dont mean to cause such a ruckus about it, but I'd hate for the fuel vent to be an issue like it was my last boat. If I remember right Wheelhouse moved his vent up to prevent the issue, and thats what malibu said they were going to do. I'm not sure how the new vent works, neither is anyone my dealer has talked to at corporate malibu, so no answer there. I'm not sure I can test drive it and load it like I would like to, being brand new and not broken in, hopefully something will get figured out. It only took them two weeks to build my boat though, so maybe it wont be such a long wait, at this point its all up for speculation.

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Sorry for your frustration.

I heard a great tip on another forum about fuel vents. Rather than drilling a new hole in the hull and trying to fill the old hole, a member used the original vent and took a longer piece of hose to make a loop between the vent hole and the gas tank. This loop was secured to the under side of the top deck of the boat, near the center of the boat. So unless the whole boat was under the water line there was no way for water to make it all the way to the tank. Fumes will still flow while the vent is above water, and if an over fill would happen, the vent would still function like a ballast overflow. But no water could enter the tank, even if the vent were submerged.

Thinking about it, you would have to keep a downhill angle from the loop all the way to the vent to let water drain out naturally after being submerged.

Just a thought, good luck!

Edited by jk13
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Well, you ordered a new boat with some specific instructions and that's not what was delivered. IMO, if you're plunking down that kind of cash, you should get what you want or it will always irritate you. Just my $.02.

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Well, you ordered a new boat with some specific instructions and that's not what was delivered. IMO, if you're plunking down that kind of cash, you should get what you want or it will always irritate you. Just my $.02.

Here's an Idea. Order the boat you wanted, And use the the one you got till the new one arrives, I know my dealer has demo boats that they use and still sell as new...
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I know it may sound crazy, BUT the relocation of the fuel vent to the drivers side front is not done by malibu, will probably never be done. all the fuel vents that have been done are the ones done after market due to surf setups. if they are loacted in the right spot LIKE next to the drivers side pop up cleat you will never know its there and as for the old one, just leave it there and plug it off and forget about it. ill post a picture of just how clean it can look. always better to be safe then sorry and pumping out water and bad gas i just pumping out money

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This is a personal choice only you can make. I had a very similar situation with a Mercedes that I custom ordered and waited over 6 months for. I settled instead of waiting for a reorder. I am glad I did, but every time winter came around and the rear seat heaters weren't there I got angry. You just need to decide if it is going to irritate you and if you can live with it. Malibu/dealer should at least do something extra for you in the deal if you take the boat. It is not every day that you custom order a boat and the experience has now been somewhat diminished.

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This is a personal choice only you can make. I had a very similar situation with a Mercedes that I custom ordered and waited over 6 months for. I settled instead of waiting for a reorder. I am glad I did, but every time winter came around and the rear seat heaters weren't there I got angry. You just need to decide if it is going to irritate you and if you can live with it. Malibu/dealer should at least do something extra for you in the deal if you take the boat. It is not every day that you custom order a boat and the experience has now been somewhat diminished.

Hey, The MalibuCrew can do something about that! Hey everybody, let's make a contribution towards Mercedes' heated rear seat fund before next winter so he doesn't get angry again! :cry:

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Hey, The MalibuCrew can do something about that! Hey everybody, let's make a contribution towards Mercedes' heated rear seat fund before next winter so he doesn't get angry again! :cry:

It was a three year lease and is long gone now. The replacement benz has both heated and cooled seats front and back so I can survive now.

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My suspician is that the dealer fed him a line just to sell a boat.....My boat has room under the gunnel to run the vent hose upwards about 4 inches and then down to the tank. If you're getting water in your tank with that setup then water is spilling into the boat as well and you've got bigger problems :crazy:

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Yeah I doubt Malibu would relocate the vent line at the factory, doesn't sound right to me.

I tried to make a few custom changes to my VLX and they were all denied by Malibu. My sales rep said you can only pick what they offer, they do not perform any "special" or "custom" modifications. He said the reason for this is because it is a production building a boat, and they need to keep everything consistent, which makes sense.

Personally, If I were in this situation and everything else looked good, I would take the boat and go out and enjoy it. There was someone else on this site that had gelcoat issues and had to re-order back in February, and they still dont have there boat. What a bummer to miss out on 2-3 more months of the boating season.

Just my .02, hope it works out for you... good luck.

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Well, you ordered a new boat with some specific instructions and that's not what was delivered. IMO, if you're plunking down that kind of cash, you should get what you want or it will always irritate you. Just my $.02.

I'm 100% behind this.

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I tried to make a few custom changes to my VLX and they were all denied by Malibu. My sales rep said you can only pick what they offer, they do not perform any "special" or "custom" modifications. He said the reason for this is because it is a production building a boat, and they need to keep everything consistent, which makes sense.

I agree with the OP, if they agreed to install the vent there, then I would be very unhappy. If they had said no up front,different story. In my opinion, out of the big three boat builders (Malibu, Nautique, Mastercraft) Malibu is by far the most flexible. I have personally seen them do custom engine options, dash colors, discontinued gel coat colors, metallic hull gel coat, adding extra hinges on seats, etc. Now they seem to have tightened up things a little, but compared to the others they are very flexible.

Just my .02 cents.

Edited by Malibuzer
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If its going to keep you up at night then refuse the boat and order a new one. If you can live with it then tell the dealer you want the price discounted or some other free stuff . They should compensate you for the error.

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Got word back from their rep, that due to the LSA engine, the fuel vent cannot be moved, and that it also has a filter or something, that doesnt allow water to get into the engine, but allows the fumes to vent.. Hope this is true, planning a trip from MN - TX for Big Jay to install one of his ballast systems..

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I can put some pictures up that I got from my dealer, havent gone to see it in person yet.

Are you sure that is a 247? It looks like a missile cruiser! Nice color combo. Is that stratospheric blue metallic?

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Yeah, really hoping it will pop more in the sun, looks kind of dark now. My last boat was the vapor blue and black 2010 vlx.

It will pop a lot more in the sun. My local dealer has a beautiful stratospheric blue, black and white VLX that looks incredible. Get that thing in the water and have a great time....with pictures of course. I still have over 2 feet of ice up here! :unsure:

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