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Dealership trouble on new boat purchase


ffsmo

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Ok , my family and I rode both  MC and BU and malibu wins!!!! the new 17 vlx we went out on today was great except the color. Totally doable for the slightly discounted price until I found another new 17 vlx at another dealer with the colors I would have built. And its 2 K cheaper!!!!! That dealers problem  is that its 200 miles away. I called the original salesperson ( ugly boat)who was incredible and told him the situation. He new I wasn't crazy about the colors when we did the test drive. HE obviously got irritate and he felt used. I told him that was not my intention and I just wanted to talk about the pros and cons. He then told me that his dealership (ugly boat)would not service another dealers boat and have fun driving 200 miles for oil changes (to good looking boat). This pissed me off and confused me.

I asked him what would happen if I got a job transfer to another state, would no other dealership service my boat. I get being back of the line for service but really, no warranty work or service at all. 

So now I am confused. I only called the guy out of courtesy and to see what, if anything he could do. I even asked if they could buy the boat and I would pay a premium from them. Its the color, not the price that is drawing me away.

So part of me whats to say screw you and buy the good looking boat(200 miles), but the other part is that local is nice. I don't really care about the $ as much as the color. What are your thoughts?

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His attitude says it all. Dealer support is so critical in these boat deals. Since i work on my own boats id have no problem buying the pretty boat from the dealer 200 miles away. If the dealer with the ugly boat isnt willing to work a deal for a boat you like then id walk away. 

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Atkeast you found out how the dealership treats people (ugly boat). Buy the boat colors you want and don’t look back . Plus 1 screw them .

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 that’s what I’m thinking. I emailed malibu to see if that is their policy. We will see if they respond.

So for you folks out there that have newer Malibu’s under warranty, have you had big issues. I remember my 01 was bulletproof. 

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buy the boat you like … and figure out how to do maintenance.  If something breaks then you figure out how to get the parts and do it yourself.

That's what I do and I think quite a few members here do as well.  I told my dealer that if he sees my boat in the lot - he won't like it … if he doesn't see it - well I'm happy and we're cruising.

And buy the first sales guy a bottle of wine etc. to make him happy or at least less pi$$ed at you … he knows that money doesn't grow on trees … at least not in my yard :(

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I have a 2017 23 LSV that I have had a for a year and a half. My dealer has not seen my boat in more than a year and they are less than 5 miles from my house. I change the oil, the filter and the impeller. If you have small maintenance, like changing the tranny and v-drive, then I'd take it to another shop close by. Hopefully you will not have a lot of warranty issues, but if you do then just drive the 200 miles. I haven't had any warranty issues since about 20 hours and now I am close to 200 hours.   

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if that dealer does not want your service business take it to another dealer In your area that sells a competitive brand   for service  I’m sure they would help you out.

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What other brands are close by??? 

Dealer attitude and policies will be much more important than the badge on the side of the boat......

That dealer should have at least said “Let me see what I can do. I want you to be happy with the boat.” ...... and then call the other dealer, and see what could be worked out. 

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4 hours ago, h2oratJR said:

if that dealer does not want your service business take it to another dealer In your area that sells a competitive brand   for service  I’m sure they would help you out.

I had communicated with a couple of different dealerships when I was looking for a boat.  I bought my boat from a dealer farther away.  I told the dealer closer to me that I had already bought a boat that I liked for the price I liked.  He told me "no problem.  If you need any service done let us know."  Most places want to do service work.  Not sure if boats are like cars, but most dealers make their money doing service more than selling the cars.

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Seems completely silly to me considering the very limited inventory that these dealers have.  I would give the close dealership one more chance by reaching out to the GM or owner(if that’s not who you have been dealing with already).  Make the conversation very positive and tell him/her that you want to buy a boat from them and have them service your boat but you found a boat that you like better and is also cheaper.  Ask them to reconsider doing a swap and offer to pay any delivery fees or fees associated with a swap. If this doesn’t work then It’s up to you if you want to do your maintenance and Warranty work(or drive the 200 Miles).

For what it’s worth, I bought my boat from a dealer 4 hrs away over a dealer that is 3 hrs away for the exact same reasons, color and price(a pretty significant difference).  These two dealers are the closest dealers to me(KC really needs a Malibu dealer).  The dealer I purchased from has been incredible helping me resolve any issues, almost all have been very small and they just ship me a part and I fix myself.  

This spring we purchased a lake house that is 6 hrs away from my purchasing dealership and 2 hrs away from the other dealer that I considered buying from and also 45 min away from a Malibu dealer on the lake.  I had a engine error code pop up in June that I couldn’t figure out.. the purchasing dealer was happy to look at it as soon as I could get it to them.  The dealer on the lake said that I go to the very back of the line because I didn’t purchase the boat from them, I am not a slip renter or a memeber of their yacht club.  They told me 2-3 months.  The dealer that is 2 hrs away that I almost purchased from told me a couple of weeks to look at it, so I took it to them.  They got it in 2 days after I took it to them and were very helpful resolving my issue.  

There can be quite a few different ways dealers want to deal with boats that aren’t purchased from them.  

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6 hours ago, h2oratJR said:

if that dealer does not want your service business take it to another dealer In your area that sells a competitive brand   for service  I’m sure they would help you out.

For regular maintenance, maybe, but for warranty work, very doubtful unless the two dealerships have a working relationship. 

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I think I am going in today to talk to the sales manager. This whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. I might just save 40k and buy a used boat. Once I’m on the water with my family I doubt I would care about the last 2 numbers on the vin.

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@MadMan, but does that preclude a dealership from servicing other boats? (I'm being somewhat serious with my question). I had Tommy's of GR looking for a boat for me for about 9 months, and the sales guy answered all sorts of questions on both the TXi and VTX knowing I very well could buy a boat elsewhere if one came up. I asked him about that, and he said, "We just want to make sure you get in the right boat." He seemed pretty sincere, and so far so good with my recent Tommy's purchase.

I would hope some folks at the "ugly" dealership would step up the plate and realize that the customer should be the most important entity in the transaction, and they could potentially get just as much profit from servicing the boat than selling it... (I would assume)

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I had no trouble getting warranty service on a holdover boat I purchased out of territory.  My closer dealer even told me what they thought of the price and options.  Its a good idea to talk with the sales manager.  But stop back in and chat with the service people as well.  Maybe every else is great to deal with and would help you out.

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I just dont understand why dealers act like this. Bad stuff always gets talked about and spreads faster and farther than the good. Treat people right and they will remember it.

Plus, from a legal stand point, as a dealer they cant refuse to do warranty work, regular service work yes, but not warranty work. Now, they can still put you off for weeks, which also sucks, but months? C'mon. Theres always a way to work someone in.

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I tend to prefer to buy something that I want rather than buy something to make the salesman or seller happy.  Move up the chain at that dealership and indicate your dissatisfaction with your treatment.

  • Like 3
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Yeper  see the sales manager or owner. If you don't get something helpful it may be a dealer you don't want to work with. But if you have any ability with simple tools you may not need to see your dealer but one or two times.  Oil changes are something you may want to do. Not hard and saves a bunch of $$$$$$$$ and time.  Its always a good thing to get to know your boat. But if you are going to depend on a dealer you want one who respects you!  My boat has never been back to the dealer. I did all the work including some warranty work. I just worked with the dealer on parts. He did know I had good skills to do the work so that did help.  

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47 minutes ago, rakr said:

@MadMan, but does that preclude a dealership from servicing other boats? (I'm being somewhat serious with my question). I had Tommy's of GR looking for a boat for me for about 9 months, and the sales guy answered all sorts of questions on both the TXi and VTX knowing I very well could buy a boat elsewhere if one came up. I asked him about that, and he said, "We just want to make sure you get in the right boat." He seemed pretty sincere, and so far so good with my recent Tommy's purchase.

I would hope some folks at the "ugly" dealership would step up the plate and realize that the customer should be the most important entity in the transaction, and they could potentially get just as much profit from servicing the boat than selling it... (I would assume)

What I was getting at was that Malibu doesn't seem to require dealers service all Malibu's, regardless of where they were purchased, like auto manufactures do.  This would give the consumer the sense that Malibu stands behind their product, instead of just leaving it up to the whim of individual dealers.

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1 minute ago, Sixball said:

Yeper  see the sales manager or owner. If you don't get something helpful it may be a dealer you don't want to work with. But if you have any ability with simple tools you may not need to see your dealer but one or two times.  Oil changes are something you may want to do. Not hard and saves a bunch of $$$$$$$$ and time.  Its always a good thing to get to know your boat. But if you are going to depend on a dealer you want one who respects you!  My boat has never been back to the dealer. I did all the work including some warranty work. I just worked with the dealer on parts. He did know I had good skills to do the work so that did help.  

I was told from "ugly boat" dealer  that per Malibu, services need to be done by an authorized service center to keep the warranty in check. Is this another line of crap I'm being fed? If so , I don't see why this dealership and the salesperson gets such glowing reviews online.

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4 minutes ago, ffsmo said:

I was told from "ugly boat" dealer  that per Malibu, services need to be done by an authorized service center to keep the warranty in check. Is this another line of crap I'm being fed? If so , I don't see why this dealership and the salesperson gets such glowing reviews online.

Name the dealer.... BURN THEM!!!!! lol :Tease3:

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