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Gel Coat Acceptable? Am I being too picky?


bigskydoc

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11 minutes ago, Five Cent Worth said:

My second Malibu had a 'dusting' on ~2/3 of the black gel.  Very odd places but it looked like you could wipe it off - but you couldn't.  It ended up having to go back to the factory to be repainted.  Like it has been stated over and over in this thread - the dealer makes or break this situation.  My dealer worked with Malibu to make it right (no push back from them at all).  The dealer even gave me a loaner '23 LSV while mine was at the factory.  They are awesome.

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That's awesome !!  Last year I asked for a loaner and was told they had nothing available while relentlessly advertising brand new 2021 axis rentals.  I told them I'd gladly take one and they said they couldn't do it.  Figure that one out. 

 

Hell, we have a dealer in town that sells Tige' and MB.  Not at all a fan of either.  A friend of mine buys Tige' and his boat was damaged last year by a jet ski impact.  After all the insurance BS, the boat went in for repairs ($50k worth) and has been in gel repair longer than anticipated.  The dealer gave him a brand new 2022 Tige' as a loaner until his is done.  Considering my experience, I can't see my dealer doing that. 

 

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Quick funny Tige story - a friend (more of an acquaintance) was a dealer driver for Tige last year and his daughter got sponsored by Soulcraft.   He lost an impeller (yes, that is right, and it didn't even have an M6 in it!) due to some factory issue and blasted it out on social media about terrible Tige QC, which he then deleted within a day.   I'm guessing his dealer wasn't fond of his response.   

Anyways, just another example - it is all brands.    I think he swapped to a Supra this year as he hated the Tige so much and certainly felt the wave wasn't on par with most other brands as his daughter progresses.    

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7 hours ago, hethj7 said:

We're fortunate enough to be a on a website here that isn't filtered by Malibu itself - so we get the good, the bad, and the ugly here.  

The straight talk is one of my favorite parts of TMC. 

7 hours ago, hethj7 said:

I also think many people do appreciate the nuances between the waves, once you are lucky enough to ride different brands. 

There are definitely differences, guess i'm generalizing that of the 50+ boat guests i take out each year, most are simply thrilled to be trying the new activity and wouldn't appreciate the different waves. But none of them have gone out and bought a wakeboat afterwards, so maybe not reflective of the wakeboat market writ large.  Personally, while i have started to care about wave nuances as my ability increases, the wife/CFO doesn't care yet and that's the threshold that matters LOL

You are spot on regarding luck/effort to ride more brands - very dealer/geography limited.  i've tried mastercraft but never been behind a Supra/Tige/Nautique/Moomba/centurion - would love to try them for the novelty at least.  i need more cool friends.

Edited by CaptainMorgan
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21 minutes ago, Slayer said:

That's awesome !!  Last year I asked for a loaner and was told they had nothing available while relentlessly advertising brand new 2021 axis rentals.  I told them I'd gladly take one and they said they couldn't do it.  Figure that one out. 

 

Hell, we have a dealer in town that sells Tige' and MB.  Not at all a fan of either.  A friend of mine buys Tige' and his boat was damaged last year by a jet ski impact.  After all the insurance BS, the boat went in for repairs ($50k worth) and has been in gel repair longer than anticipated.  The dealer gave him a brand new 2022 Tige' as a loaner until his is done.  Considering my experience, I can't see my dealer doing that. 

 

Our market, like many of the markets out there, is big and competitive.  I have buddies with other brands.  The local dealer for Tige, Mastercraft and Supra are all top notch.  If one of them was delivering the level of service (or lack there of) that you are getting - they would have hard time keeping the doors open.  I feel our market is a bit more pricey than some of the other markets, but happy to pay a bit more and receive exceptional service.  I don't need another car dealer experience...  

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A little off topic regarding the dealer/manufacturer relationship. If a boat like bigsky's leaves the factory needing something like gel repair, does the dealer make money from the repair itself? Does the dealer charge the factory? And is it cheaper for the factory (in the long run) if they let the boat go like that and have the dealer do the fix?

Steve B.

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1 minute ago, Steve B. said:

A little off topic regarding the dealer/manufacturer relationship. If a boat like bigsky's leaves the factory needing something like gel repair, does the dealer make money from the repair itself? Does the dealer charge the factory? And is it cheaper for the factory (in the long run) if they let the boat go like that and have the dealer do the fix?

Steve B.

Great questions.  I'm sure there's someone on here who can answer.  

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2 hours ago, Slayer said:

I think I have one of the lemons.  I’m currently get a tow because my throttle broke.  

That sucks 

If it weren’t for bad luck. You would not have any luck at all 

 

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Every time I use the boat something goes wrong.  We have a short season here in Michigan.  With a busy family schedule having all 4 kids in sports, boat time is precious and limited.  It really six to get in it every time and find something else that prevents us from enjoying it.

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I have a friend who does all the warranty gelcoat and glass repairs for Brunswick boats, dies a lot of heydays, lunds,sea rays and all their other lines of boats. Its a strange setup dealers will ship him a boat all the way across the country for him to respray the gel on the sides of a boat, or to have him swap hulls or replace top decks. I would never have thought it would be cheaper to swap a top deck with all the labor and glass repairs etc than to just replace the whole boat. But seeing what those guys warranty, I would wholly expect Malibu to step up and do you right. Im 20 minutes from the Malibu factory and if my boat turned up looking like that it would go right back. 

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