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Gel Coat Acceptable? Am I being too picky?


bigskydoc

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I took delivery of my new, '22, M220 this week. Overall, I love the boat, and can't wait to get my 10-hour service, so we can start surfing. 

The, fit and finish is a disappointing step down from my '17, 22 MXZ, which is even more problematic, given that this is a boat in their premium line. 

One problematic area is the gel coat. In several areas, just below the rub rail, there are areas that look not unlike when paint is applied to thickly, and runs as it is drying. 

I'm attaching some pictures. Gel coat issues don't photograph very easily, but I think this conveys what I'm looking at. 

My question. Am I being to picky?  Are my expectations unrealistic, or is this unacceptable in a boat of this caliber

20220531_124045.jpg

20220531_123934.jpg

20220531_123857.jpg

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Forgot to mention, there is also an area, surrounding the port, stern cupholder, where the gel coat was not finished smooth. It feels a little rough, like sandpaper.  

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You are not at all being too picky! Did your 2017 develop gel coat cracks? I have a 2015 23LSV and the thing has gel cracks everywhere, as well as heavy spots like what are in your picture. For the money you paid for your new boat, it should be top notch. That said, I do understand that boats are hand-made, and will not have the consistent quality as automotive. The bad thing is, in my experience, the more people monkey with the gel, the more accessory defects come out a lot of times.

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Not cool. This is a huge fear of mine as well. My boat is set to build late June and I am terrified of the speed at which they are making these boats. Sure hoping that Malibu is not sacrificing quality simply to pump out more boats at a faster rate…..

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ASAP get pics to Malibu documenting all issues. The dealer should have done this, If you wait to long Malibu wont approve the fix under warranty.

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23 minutes ago, BDFD1206 said:

You are not at all being too picky! Did your 2017 develop gel coat cracks? I have a 2015 23LSV and the thing has gel cracks everywhere, as well as heavy spots like what are in your picture. 

The gel coat on my '17 was pristine on the day I bought it, and the day I sold it. I did put a couple of scratches into it, that I repaired myself. In fact the only warranty issue on that boat was replacing the catalytic converters. 

Proper repair of this is going to run north of 5k, as the Metallic Zephyr Blue will have to be stripped and redone on both sides. 

It will be on the list of warranty issues that I bring to the ten hour. 

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ahopkins22LSV

Walk the boat with your dealer at the ten hour service with a wax pencil and circle everywhere so it can be documented up front as others have said. Then once it’s documented you can get it fixed when it works with yours and your dealers schedule.

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I found issues on the inside and outside in the gelcoat of our 22 A24. I was a little disappointed when finding all the spots after giving the boat a thorough cleaning but when I dropped off for the 10 hour service my dealer took pictures of everything and Malibu agreed to fix everything in the off season. 

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4 hours ago, bigskydoc said:

Forgot to mention, there is also an area, surrounding the port, stern cupholder, where the gel coat was not finished smooth. It feels a little rough, like sandpaper.  

We really like our 2021 23LSV, but I was similar to you. Some of the things from my 2017 22mxz were executed with more fit and finish. Disappointed, but they fixed most of it. Some things like the carelessness of lining up stainless brackets and hull fittings could not be fixed.

Heck...my trailer was damaged...

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That looks to be more of a long air void. Nice thing is that falls under the gel coat warranty but I would still get photos and make sure dealer is aware and submitted a claim.

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6 hours ago, Sixer said:

Ooph.......I'd be disgruntled with that finish on a premium line boat.  

I think I'd be disgruntled even if that was on a little open fishing boat.

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You aren't being too picky at all @bigskydoc.  My 2021 wasn't that good, but my 2022 is worse.  Frankly, I'm extremely disappointed in it.  It's all been addressed with the dealer but at this point I have very little confidence that it's going to be taken care of.  On my boat, the gel is just the beginning and this is 2 years in a row of terrible quality.  It's got me seriously considering selling the boat and moving away from Malibu, unfortunately.  

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14 hours ago, ahopkinsVTX said:

Walk the boat with your dealer at the ten hour service with a wax pencil and circle everywhere so it can be documented up front as others have said. Then once it’s documented you can get it fixed when it works with yours and your dealers schedule.

Might be to late.  At 10hrs the boats been on the water, any scratches Malibu can just blame the owner. All cosmetic issues should be noted as soon as the boat is unwrapped. They should be emailed to Malibu so there is a date showing that they were there before the customer took the boat.

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ahopkins22LSV
39 minutes ago, COOP said:

Might be to late.  At 10hrs the boats been on the water, any scratches Malibu can just blame the owner. All cosmetic issues should be noted as soon as the boat is unwrapped. They should be emailed to Malibu so there is a date showing that they were there before the customer took the boat.

Understand on scratches. These aren’t scratches though. These look like overspray and runs from the clear coat for flake. Hopefully his dealer already got it documented. 

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1 hour ago, ahopkinsVTX said:

Understand on scratches. These aren’t scratches though. These look like overspray and runs from the clear coat for flake. Hopefully his dealer already got it documented. 

Except that the gelcoat is sprayed into the mold, so it can't run that way.  That is either a mold defect, or the gel stuck to the mold (poor prep) and they repaired it afterward.  I suppose it could also be a case of poor hardener mixing that kept the gel from hardening in time (unlikely with a mixing gun), or maybe they pulled the boat from the mold too soon.  If I had to guess, too soon makes the most sense.  The top edge can be subjected to a fair amount of motion as they break the boat free from the mold.  If the gel isn't hard enough, it will take an impression.

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ahopkins22LSV
3 minutes ago, justgary said:

Except that the gelcoat is sprayed into the mold, so it can't run that way.  That is either a mold defect, or the gel stuck to the mold (poor prep) and they repaired it afterward.  I suppose it could also be a case of poor hardener mixing that kept the gel from hardening in time (unlikely with a mixing gun), or maybe they pulled the boat from the mold too soon.  If I had to guess, too soon makes the most sense.  The top edge can be subjected to a fair amount of motion as they break the boat free from the mold.  If the gel isn't hard enough, it will take an impression.

I disagree. For flake, the clear coat is sprayed first into the mold and then let to get tacky to spray the flake and color into. It the clear isn’t sprayed correctly or evenly then you will get imperfections in the clear coat. It is a difficult process that is 100% dependent on the person spraying the clear. I’ve seen it in person multiple times and they always explain that part of the process in depth so people can maybe understand it. It does not make it an acceptable issue on the boat, but maybe and understandable issue that still needs to be addressed. 

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1 hour ago, ahopkinsVTX said:

Understand on scratches. These aren’t scratches though. These look like overspray and runs from the clear coat for flake. Hopefully his dealer already got it documented. 

Im having issues with a similar situation. And they are saying it should have been brought up at delivery.

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3 hours ago, ahopkinsVTX said:

I disagree. For flake, the clear coat is sprayed first into the mold and then let to get tacky to spray the flake and color into. It the clear isn’t sprayed correctly or evenly then you will get imperfections in the clear coat. It is a difficult process that is 100% dependent on the person spraying the clear. I’ve seen it in person multiple times and they always explain that part of the process in depth so people can maybe understand it. It does not make it an acceptable issue on the boat, but maybe and understandable issue that still needs to be addressed. 

Yes, but the photos make it appear like the imperfection is on the mold (outer) side.  If it were a bad spray job, the outer surface would still be flat.

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6 hours ago, justgary said:

Except that the gelcoat is sprayed into the mold, so it can't run that way.  That is either a mold defect, or the gel stuck to the mold (poor prep) and they repaired it afterward.  I suppose it could also be a case of poor hardener mixing that kept the gel from hardening in time (unlikely with a mixing gun), or maybe they pulled the boat from the mold too soon.  If I had to guess, too soon makes the most sense.  The top edge can be subjected to a fair amount of motion as they break the boat free from the mold.  If the gel isn't hard enough, it will take an impression.

They could have made some cosmetic repairs post-build if they were ID’d by QC.

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3 hours ago, justgary said:

Yes, but the photos make it appear like the imperfection is on the mold (outer) side.  If it were a bad spray job, the outer surface would still be flat.

It is flat I think.  Just like you mean.  But it's too thick and bending the light deeper into the clear making it look like gloop on the outside.  I have that happen sometimes on my airbrush work in molds when I have the mix wrong or just am in a hurry and screw up.  The subsequent candy coats look like I blobbed the clear on top.  In fact I DID, but I blobbed the clear on the bottom and then layered the candy under it.  Document it right away and get the factory to make it right.  It's not correct or worthy of Malibu.

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6 minutes ago, Slurpee said:

It is flat I think.  Just like you mean.  But it's too thick and bending the light deeper into the clear making it look like gloop on the outside.  I have that happen sometimes on my airbrush work in molds when I have the mix wrong or just am in a hurry and screw up.  The subsequent candy coats look like I blobbed the clear on top.  In fact I DID, but I blobbed the clear on the bottom and then layered the candy under it.  Document it right away and get the factory to make it right.  It's not correct or worthy of Malibu.

I guess @bigskydoc can confirm whether it is flat.  Either way, it is the worst job of flake I have ever seen.

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