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Malibu Customer Service Sucks


mympower

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So check this out, my boat is a few months old and my interior vinyl is already starting to turn RED. Ive talked to a bunch of people and they say its due to my black boat cover transfering the color "yeah the cover they gave me with the boat". I talked to my dealer and they have no answers. So when I filled out my customer service survey they stated if I have any problems call my dealer or Malibu. So I just got off the phone with Brandi Thomas over at Malibu and she said its a dealer problem and acted like I was bothering her and hung up the phone. WTF

Does anyone else have this problem w the cover? My boat is stored mostly indoors but when its outside the cover is on it. The Red color that transfers on to the white and gray vinyl does fade over a few days. Any ideas for a great cover company?

Sorry for ranting.

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My dealer Put some sort of fabric on the inside of the cover under warranty didn't have to pay a dime out of pocket!! If you want to you can call Taylor's boats in south Jordan Utah, they are the best!!

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What a bummer, there is another thread going right now on how not to purchase the factory Malibu cover just for this reason. My dealer had the same issues with other customers, this why they are not recommending the factory Malibu cover. I hope you get the issue resolved, I would think Malibu would step up and repair your vinyl seeing as you purchased there cover.

I know Malibu likes everything to run through the dealer channel, calling them direct seems to get nothing accomplished. Have your dealer contact them and place a warranty claim, this might be your best action to get it repaired.

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They new factory covers will scratch the hell out of your boat gunnels at highway speeds. Dont ask me how I know. Yes 2011 and 2012 covers will scratch your boat gel coat. Yes even when the are tightened properly real tight.

2005-2008ish Malibu's had the same problem.... but it wasnt the cover transferring color.... it was the black covers getting the vinyl so hot that it brought glue adhesive from UNDER the vinyl in the cushion area to the top of the vinyl and stained it and made it brittle and crack.

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You guys plugging evolution covers are being no help to this thread...

The consensus to this problem is that the dyes in the cover are having a reaction with the vinyl seats (wet or dry cover). However on earlier editions I believe the problem was caused by the glue used on the seats. Our 08 vlx is having the same issue on the rear deck in the lower hand corners. The problem was first noticed when we picked the boat up from storage. This year we added some padding to the parts of the cover that touched the rear deck vinyl and there seems to be no reaction. The problem should go away when you get it under the sun. I spoke with the dealer that services the boat and he stated that he contacted Malibu but they would not offer any service or compensation regarding the issue with the cover.

Edited by BlitzedVLX
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You guys plugging evolution covers are being no help to this thread...

fwiw the op ended the post with " Any ideas for a great cover company? ".

i think that is why there is a chorus of 'evolution'.

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I asked about this today and I was told that it actually wasn't the cover, but the material under the vinyl staining the seats??? Anyone else hear that...

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I've been doing the boat thing over 15 yrs. The only material I would EVER use in any boat cover is Sunbrella. It doesn't fade or bleed, it breathes, yet it's highly water resistant. There is no other material out there that can even come close. Evolution & CS are probably twp of the top manufacturers of ski boat covers, and they use Sunbrella.

Sounds like a dealer problem to me. Malibu may not have handled it very well. Any chance that the cover didn't come from Malibu & was a dealer ordered item?

I asked about this today and I was told that it actually wasn't the cover, but the material under the vinyl staining the seats??? Anyone else hear that...

Back in like 2002 or 2003 Malibu had an issue where the adhesive used in the upholstery process was bleeding thru the vinyl. Your description sounds like this to me. They replaced entire interiors under warranty because of the problem. Seems like a stretch to imagine it coming back to haunt them again.

Edited by Bill_AirJunky
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I asked about this today and I was told that it actually wasn't the cover, but the material under the vinyl staining the seats??? Anyone else hear that...

No. Never heard of such a thing.

read my previous post.

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how come I made a comment about their service on their Facebook page and they deleted it :biggrin:

I made a comment about that canadian edition malibu with the big red maple leaf down the side..... I said it made me throw up in my mouth a little. They deleted that also.

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I made a comment about that canadian edition malibu with the big red maple leaf down the side..... I said it made me throw up in my mouth a little. They deleted that also.

ROFL.gif FUNNY!

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If the vinyl turned red/black like a black & blue bruise on your skin, it's due to the cover actually trapping the heat against the vinyl and overheating it. The vinyl supplier (which is the same for most of the ski boat mfgs) did some tests where they took the vinyl and placed it in an oven for a period of time and recreated the issue. (Something like 300 degrees in the oven) They are calling it "bruising".

The best solution currently is to lay a towel or similar on the vinyl area that the cover may physically touch, such as the back sun pad area. It's not the cover transferring color, it's the vinyl literally "baking" in the trapped heat.

As mentioned by others, I prefer Sunbrella covers for their ability to breathe, but if you live in a warm-hot climate and the boat is covered outside, I would still recommend a towel insert. On the other hand, the CS (Commercial Sewing) covers are the worst. All the Malibu dealers can get sunbrealla covers from Great Lakes, and they are excellent covers.

Peter

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everyone has a theory to what is causing this issue, but I don't believe anyone truly knows. I was having this issue, but only when the cover is on and left in the sun. My boat stays covered, under an enclosed canopy on the side of my house. No issues when I bring the boat out, not even on hot days. If I leave the cover on in direct sun light for an hour, then the vinyl looks bad. My dealer claims it is a vinyl issue and is replacing skins. The dealer first made the discovery before I did and said that they would contact Malibu and replace everything, and that is what is going on right now. With people being told so many things, it would be nice if Malibu just stepped up and gave an answer once and for all. My first boat, a 2002 wkstr vlx never had this issue.

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