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Dealer refuses to service boat?


gmab

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I've been a long time Malibu owner in the Pacific Northwest, so when my brother decided it was time get a boat I steered him towards Malibu which he ended up buying.

His touchscreen(small one) just crapped out.

He took the boat to a local dealer (in California) for repair and was asked by the dealer  "did you buy the boat from us?". His response is "no" as he found what he really wanted elsewhere. He was told by the dealer that they do not do service or warranty work on boats not purchased through them.

Really? Has anyone else run into this?

Next closest dealer is over 2hrs away. Frankly, if dealers go this route he's ready to sell and go with another brand which I wouldn't blame him one bit. It would also cause me to walk away from Malibu in the future as well.

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Another boat dealer that refuses to make money....... big surprise.

just FYI, dealers for other brands are known for the same thing...... some individual dealers know what is good for them, and some don't. There are only a couple wake boat manufacturers that don't let their dealers refuse warranty work on boats purchased used or out of area..... and that's a very recent change, even for those brands. In my humble opinion, I think it might be a good idea for Malibu to do the same for their customers.

Edited by TenTwentyOne
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The way I see it, " Malibu " and " Axis " is a brand like Ford and all the other big name car brands, and we can can take our trucks to any dealership while under warranty. Heck, some people travel and use their boats, most likely thats prime time and all dealerships and marine repairs shops are backed up anyways, but still should be an option. 

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Have him call malibu corporate and explain his situation.  If they feel it's out of step they will call them on his behalf.  

If not he has his answer on malibu service.  I think this exclusive dealer stuff is a joke and I'm amazed it has gone on for this long. 

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This has happened a thousand times.   

Random thoughts: 

Dealers repeatedly say that warranty work pays less than regular work and that they hate it.   They claim the shop just breaks even, and they only make money selling boats, so they lose money on warranty work.  I have a hard time understanding how they cannot make ends meet at $100+ per hour labor, but that is another subject.  Dealers say it over and over consistently, so I do believe that  there is some truth to it.  

The guy screwed up when he did not try to work with his local dealer to get the boat he wanted.  He should have been straight up and said: I found boat X at another dealership and the cost is Y, I would rather buy here, but you don't have this option.  What should I do?  It doesn't always work out, but they will remember that good faith when this happens.  

Where was the 20 hour service done?  They usually charge many hours for something that takes a trained tech with all the right tools less than an hour.  Now they are faced with doing work that pays less and are left scratching their heads.  

Malibu does not sell boats to customers.  They sell boats to dealers, so if keeping your customers happy is the goal, Malibu is in a tough spot when you call corporate.  It all comes around, but keep that principle in mind when dealing with these folks.  Several folks have had Malibu wrangle the dealer and it worked, so it is worth the call.  

 

 

 

 

 

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Its a problem for sure. Having territories is where it all starts, car dealers dont have so called "protected territories", at least not mainstream brands. Dealer A gives a price, dealer B undercuts said price. Sales gets upset as a result. If its a smaller dealer losing 2 or 3 boat sales is big deal and a big loss, and loosing money just to make a deal isnt always worth it., or an option. Bigger dealers that sell more boats have more pricing flexibilty. And as to the above post, we have in the past worked with other dealers to get a boat a customer wants, most times its sharing some of the sales commision if we sell a boat in another territory, and vise versa. And yes, its very difficult to make money on warranty labor. Malibus flat rates are not on par with actual time in most cases, alot of this may be the tech working on it. Is he fast? Slow but thorough? Fast techs are great, but in my experience their attention to detail is lacking. 

Edited by COOP
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@TallRedRider

The “we don’t make money on warranty work” line, is complete BS. 

They make less, because the dealer doesn’t make a 100% markup profit on parts, and the labor is paid on a flat rate amount for the job being performed (with boats some jobs are flat rate, and some are not)

basically, they lose the ability to make easy money with huge margins. They still get the shop rate, and still make money, unless their tech is completely incompetent (which is not uncommon)

Edited by TenTwentyOne
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You make nothing on warranty parts. In fact Malibu in most cases wants the bad parts back. So all you are left with is the labor.

Curious, what kind of "huge margin" do you think dealers make?

Edited by COOP
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2 minutes ago, COOP said:

You make nothing on warranty parts. In fact Malibu in most cases wants the bad parts back. So all you are left with is the labor.

Curious, what kind of "huge margin" do you think dealers make?

Yes, I realize they don’t get any markup on warranty parts, but a well running shop, with competent techs can remain profitable on flat rate warranty at shop rate. Yes, the margin is much lower, but they still make money. If they aren’t, they have another issue......

It is very common for dealers to charge high flat rates for regular services, and it is very common for them to charge a 50-100% markup for on the shelf maintenance parts.

when you are charged $500 for winterization, and they bill you $25.00 for an oil filter..... things like that, are a huge margin. They can’t make money like that on warranty work.

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Also from talking to my local mechanics is that the manufacturer rates the warranty flag hours based upon the time taken by the factory not really a field guy. 

Just like a buddy used to specialize in power-strokes and could do 6.0 headgaskets in substantially less time then book. But I sure as hell couldn't. 
Not to fair to pay based on the time the fastest guy can do it. 

 

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$500 for winterization is high, unless its a bigger boat with sinks or head, or a water cooled generator. But for a Malibu or an Axis thats pretty high,

$25 for an oil filter is high as well, unless its something unusual.

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7 minutes ago, COOP said:

$500 for winterization is high, unless its a bigger boat with sinks or head, or a water cooled generator. But for a Malibu or an Axis thats pretty high,

$25 for an oil filter is high as well, unless its something unusual.

I agree......... however, the sad fact, is that is a low average bill for winterization..... there are dealers that will charge upwards of $900.

i actually remember a thread on here, not too long ago, that had members stating their winterizing bills were between $500 and $1000.

it takes less than 2 hours to winterize an open cooled boat with ballast tanks and a heater...closed cooled is less...... dealers should be charging $300 or less, if they are being fair with their charges.

Edited by TenTwentyOne
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The problem isn’t just that it happens... its that the Malibu leadership all the way up to Jack Springer knows it happens and let’s it happen to fatten their pockets.  

^^^^ unethical business practices 

 

 

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1 minute ago, TenTwentyOne said:

I agree......... however, the sad fact, is that is a low average bill for winterization..... there are dealers that will charge upwards of $900.

i actually remember a thread on here, not too long ago, that had members stating their winterizing bills were between $500 and $1000.

it takes less than 2 hours to winterize an open cooled boat with ballast tanks and a heater...closed cooled is less...... dealers should be charging $300 or less, if they are being fair with their charges.

Wow, I must be really valuable doing my winterization in less than 2 hours (actual time including being anal about it) including 3 ballast pumps and a shower.  $450 per hour ain't bad!

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5 minutes ago, TenTwentyOne said:

I agree......... however, the sad fact, is that is a low average bill for winterization..... there are dealers that will charge upwards of $900.

i actually remember a thread on here, not too long ago, that had members stating their winterizing bills were between $500 and $1000.

it takes less than 2 hours to winterize an open cooled boat with ballast tanks and a heater...closed cooled is less...... dealers should be charging $300 or less, if they are being fair with their charges.

We charge $340 for most boats, that includes all parts/fluids (antifreeze, sta-bil, no damp bags or buckets) and labor.

I cant imagine sleeping at night if we charged $900+.

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5 minutes ago, COOP said:

We charge $340 for most boats, that includes all parts/fluids (antifreeze, sta-bil, no damp bags or buckets) and labor.

I cant imagine sleeping at night if we charged $900+.

 

I'd say that rate is pretty darn fair.  :cheers:

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19 minutes ago, TenTwentyOne said:

 

I'd say that rate is pretty darn fair.  :cheers:

Is it though? 

6 gallons of rv antifreeze is $24.  I let the boat run to get warm, then drained the block and the heat exchangers.  Then, I put a big funnel with a hose attached into the strainer and let the boat idle while I poured antifreeze into.

if you added in de-winterization check up and an impeller change in the spring.... I'd take it in a heartbeat. 

Anyway, beside the original point of the thread....

I don't see malibu (or any boat dealer) like I do a car or truck dealer.  Even car dealerships have a pecking order for their customers.... my dealers (boat and car) love repeat customers that sell the dealership.  Refusing service altogether, that seems a bit crappy... however, it a busy time of year I can see a dealer turning away work if they are simply swamped....especially if it isn't one of their customers.

Edited by bamabonners
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2 minutes ago, bamabonners said:

6 gallons of rv antifreeze is $24.  I let the boat run to get warm, then drained the block and the heat exchangers.  Then, I put a big funnel with a hose attached into the strainer and let the boat idle while I poured antifreeze into.

 

That's exactly how I do the engine on the Bu and the I/O.  Never had an issue and it gets pretty cold here.  Use the polypropylene glycol antifreeze, not the alcohol based.

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32 minutes ago, bamabonners said:

Is it though? 

6 gallons of rv antifreeze is $24.  I let the boat run to get warm, then drained the block and the heat exchangers.  Then, I put a big funnel with a hose attached into the strainer and let the boat idle while I poured antifreeze into.

if you added in de-winterization check up and an impeller change in the spring.... I'd take it in a heartbeat. 

Anyway, beside the original point of the thread....

I don't see malibu (or any boat dealer) like I do a car or truck dealer.  Even car dealerships have a pecking order for their customers.... my dealers (boat and car) love repeat customers that sell the dealership.  Refusing service altogether, that seems a bit crappy... however, it a busy time of year I can see a dealer turning away work if they are simply swamped....especially if it isn't one of their customers.

I'm under the assumption that $340 gets your block and trans cooling loop drained, and refilled with that RV antifreeze, plus heater, plus ballast tanks flushed and partially filled with AF,  plus oil and filter change, plus fogging, stabil, etc.......

is it cheaper than doing it yourself? No....... but if you can't do it yourself, it's a couple hour job, and almost $100 in fluids and filters. $340 seems like a "fair" rate, yes.

$500-$1000, however, is a ripoff.

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Again, you both should call Malibu about it.  

This is dealers representing a brand differently to customers based on which customers they want the most.

They get the guys that buy the showroom boat, does every high dollar service recommended with them, and trades the next boat before the warranty expires losing $30-50k without a care.  Then they treat other Malibu owners poorly because they don't have as high of "return per customer" and they'd rather chase them off. 

Malibu is a boat manufacturer and these dealers are not Malibu.  They are only dealers with an agreement to sell Malibu boats.

Some are great, but MANY have gone high and to the right in the last few years.  

Edited by Pra4sno
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Just do as I did and build a climate controlled building for all the toys.  Sell it to the wife as a cost savings for never having to winterize anything again.   

Not that Im serious but I do have above mentioned building and I never winterize anything.  It will never pay off but sure is easy.

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7 hours ago, gmab said:

I've been a long time Malibu owner in the Pacific Northwest, so when my brother decided it was time get a boat I steered him towards Malibu which he ended up buying.

His touchscreen(small one) just crapped out.

He took the boat to a local dealer (in California) for repair and was asked by the dealer  "did you buy the boat from us?". His response is "no" as he found what he really wanted elsewhere. He was told by the dealer that they do not do service or warranty work on boats not purchased through them.

Really? Has anyone else run into this?

Next closest dealer is over 2hrs away. Frankly, if dealers go this route he's ready to sell and go with another brand which I wouldn't blame him one bit. It would also cause me to walk away from Malibu in the future as well.

Don't be surprised if the "other" brands don't have the same results.  Most dealers right now are getting very busy,  and regardless of brand they will definitely put there customers who purchased boats from them in the front of the line.

How about some more information.  What year and model is the boat?  Under warranty?  Why would he not take the boat back to the dealer he purchased it from? (Assuming its much further away than the closest dealer to him?)  What is the screen doing?  Does he have the latest software update installed?

And lastly, if it actually is a defective screen that touchscreen is simple to replace yourself.  Pretty much plug and play.  He could always have a dealer send it to him and install it on his own.  Would expedite entire process and eliminate a lot of headaches.

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