www.iFourWinns.com

Better Luck - I feel your pain. Another week has gone by with no reply from FW on my warranty issues either. What a joke. If your car needed warranty work and your dealer told you they couldn't even get an answer from the manufacturer would you just sit there and calmly wait? No freaking way!! So why do it with a boat?

I am thinking of selling mine next spring. Do I really want $30K of my money (paid cash) tied up in a depreciating asset with no warranty support? No thanks.

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2008 H210SS Yellow VP 5.7 GXi 320 HP (sold May 2010)
2008 Mercedes ML 320 CDI Diesel

Hey Brenden thanks for the props. I bet you would drive to MI and tell them what you think!

To the rest of you guys out there, sorry if I got ugly, it is not usually my style. I have about a year and a half on this forum with no incidents and would like it to remain that way but when pushed, I will push back as I am sure most of you would do.

Besides looking great and performing well and relatively few issues compared to previous ownership experiences, one selling feature that attracted me to FW in the first place was the two-year warranty compared to the industry standard of one-year. Only to be denied coverage regardless of reason is somewhat disconcerting and unpleasant when you're the one out the money.

Some of you have said that your dealer has done warranty work for you with no problem and that might be true since they are not involving you in their battle to be paid from FW. That is not a fact, just an opinion. They would rather shield you from the politics of bankruptcy and hope they get reimbursed, rather than seem petty and piss you off and try to collect from you.

I was using a repair place that FW uses, when a warranty customer has no dealership to go to. Last year after my selling dealer went belly up, this is the place FW contracted with to do my factory repairs. They do not have any reason to be nice to me since they can't potentially sell me a boat nor will they likely be my mechanic of choice since they are not located near me and I would incurr huge travel time charges by using them over my local repair shop at my marina. I hope that clears up any confusion.

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2008 Four Winns V358 (T 6.2L Merc Bravo III's with DTS and SeaCore)
2006 Sea Ray 340DA
2006 Sea Ray 320DA
2005 Maxum 3100 SE

For what it is worth, I had multiple warranty issues repaired with out question or charge in September Things such as a speaker, ice maker, trim indicator, snaps pulling, heatexchanger on the port engine and a couple other little things. It sounds to me like the issue is a lack of a dealer in your area not an FW issue. Maybe I missed it but were the repairs authorized before they were completed? As a past warranty administrator for a world wide manufacture I wouldn't touch a claim if I hadn't approved it ahead of time.
I do hope you get reimburshed however stuff like that can jade one for a long time. Good luck.

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2008 318 Vista "Ka-wai-ola"
350 MPI/BravoIII DTS Seacore
2006 1500 Key West -70 Yamaha
Previous Boats
Key West 2300CC
Pacemaker 270 Sport Fish
290 Sea Ray

I also had a decent laundry list of warranty items corrected in September with zero issues. The only problem my dealer is having right now is getting the parts for one of the repairs (the mounting points for the gas shocks for the engine hatch have broken on both sides - even I can tell it's a crappy design). I was even past the one year for warranty work, but I had made my dealer aware of the problems in time. Can't say if it's just my dealer handling everything for me (doubtful), but I've been happy so far. Sorry to see you are having trouble getting your claims resolved - hopefully it ends well.

My experience to this point would absolutely lead me to buy another Four Winns.

This repair was authorized by FW although they are claiming that my contact in the warranty dept. was not employed at the time he authorized the repairs. I would wonder if any dealers have been paid for the things they have billed to FW as warranty work.

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2008 Four Winns V358 (T 6.2L Merc Bravo III's with DTS and SeaCore)
2006 Sea Ray 340DA
2006 Sea Ray 320DA
2005 Maxum 3100 SE

You know that is a very good question. I will call my dealer tomorrow and ask, it is George Winn so he should have the inside scoop.

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2008 318 Vista "Ka-wai-ola"
350 MPI/BravoIII DTS Seacore
2006 1500 Key West -70 Yamaha
Previous Boats
Key West 2300CC
Pacemaker 270 Sport Fish
290 Sea Ray

There's nothing in common between boats and cars. Way too many people new to boats fall for that thinking and it just isn't true. Not now, nor has it ever been. The quantities sold YEARLY of any given model of a boat for most 26' and up sized boats numbers in the dozens. Cars are made by the dozens PER DAY. There's just no comparison. How you might interact with an auto dealership and the factory is thus likely to be completely different. Now, it might be nice to wish it was that way, but it ain't.

The very deep recession in boat sales has made things quite a lot more difficult. Doesn't make things any better, but it's certainly a huge factor. I can't imagine the hassles of dealing with downsizing and cleaning up the mess left from RIF'd workers.


For a mere $30k you're not going to make much impact on how any boat manufacturer does things. Good luck with your move to something else.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Come to think of it, even when my boat was under warranty, it was always a difficult and lengthy process to get something fixed by my dealer. I could only imagine how hard it is when the dealer in which one purchased a boat goes out of business. Good to hear FW's is still honoring warranty work payments for some of your dealers though.

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Current Boat: 2000 Four Winns 298 Vista
Previous Boat: 2000 Carver 406MY

There may be not much in common between cars and boats but guys come on.... when some people here have spent almost as much on their boat as their house, are they not entitled to some form of satisfaction when dealing with warranty issues?
Would it not be prudent for FW's to perhaps keep the warranty department intact and deal with these issues in these trying times? After all, many here would certainly consider moving up to larger FW's models when the economy strengthens but would they if totally ignored now?
I'm sorry but Chapter 11 doesn't give them the right to bail on their existing customers.
Just my two cents.

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"ROCKHOUND"
2005 Vista 298
Georgian Bay, Ontario.

Again, while that's a fine sentiment, it's just not backed up by much track record in the industry. How many houses come with warranties? That's probably a better analogy than cars. Even there it's a train wreck.



It does sound like there's more to the story and hopefully it'll get worked out.

As for future business, if today doesn't improve there won't BE a tomorrow.



Quite often that's exactly what it does. It's even worse when a company gets bought out. Plenty of existing customers get the shaft. Not saying that applies here, just refuting the notion of "rights" when it comes to legal proceedings like bankruptcy.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Four Winns is not "bailing" on their customers, they are currently "resource challenged" with respect to the number of bodies they have available, the time those bodies have to resolve warranty issues in their customary expeditious manner, and doing all of this within the constraints of a Chapter 11 filing. It does not matter to FW whether their customer has invested $300K or $20K into their boat. They will handle the claims in order that they were received, some may take longer than others just because of the nature of the warranty issue, and the constraints placed on FW due to the Chapter 11 filing.

I too would not be overjoyed with some of the delays and issues BetterLuck has faced, but there is really not much he, or any of us can do to speed things up. It will just take more time than it has in the past to be resolved. As unfortunate as that may be.

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One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

I don't think it is a better analogy as houses don't come with warranties.... boats do! Thus warranty issues should be dealt with in a fair and timely manner as per their warranty statement.




Or maybe a tomorrow without repeat customers.




Doesn't make it right... or fair.




Agreed, they are resource challenged. Maybe they need to increase the number of bodies working in the warranty department. Perhaps this just isn't possible. I'm not a lawyer nor do I claim to know anything about Chapter 11's but just talking as a FW's owner, the lack of response to other owners warranty issues is to me disturbing.

Like I said, just my two cents.

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"ROCKHOUND"
2005 Vista 298
Georgian Bay, Ontario.

I have purchased four new homes, each with a 1 year warranty that covered everything in the home from nail pops to flooring replacement.

My original invoice for the warranty work goes back 105 days from Sept. 8th. I think my repair facility was more than patient. If I get the money back, I will consider myself lucky. If I don't, my original post which was well received by everyone here with the exception of Cap'n Morgan will seem mild in comparison to what I will have to say.

Cap, you said FW isn't bailing on its customers, yet I have no reassurance from them that my invoices will be paid. Some communication would be nice. How many of their customers have laid out their own money to get broken things that should have been under warranty fixed? I would say not too many. Your defensiveness towards anyone that has an unkind word to say about FW has my curiosity. Why do you defend them so vehemently, is there some connection between you and the company?

I would venture to say that if I were FW, I would be paying warranty work since that affects the end user who ultimately keeps the company in business. I already said this, I wonder how many dealers are waiting to be paid too?

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2008 Four Winns V358 (T 6.2L Merc Bravo III's with DTS and SeaCore)
2006 Sea Ray 340DA
2006 Sea Ray 320DA
2005 Maxum 3100 SE

I have to disagree with this as well. If a company sells a product with a "warranty" they are obligated to honor that. Period. I don't know if FW underwrites their own warranties or if they use a third party, but a portion of the cost of each boat should be applied to that. FW has been in business long enough that they should know exactly what that unit cost is. Using the "they don't sell as much product" arguement just doesn't fly. In the car business, if the manufacturer or third party warranty co stops paying, the liability falls on the selling dealer which is likely what's happening here. That's why those with dealers still in business are getting "warranty" work done and those whose dealers are gone aren't....at least that's my opinion....which might not be worth much.

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'99 234 Candia Funship, 5.7Gsi SX

Here is my two cents on warranty. I deal with warranties on a fairly regular basis in my job and dread every minute of it !!! You see when I purchase a product (HVAC unit, heating/cooling pumps, heat exchangers, plumbing fixtures etc...) I am at the end of a chain of suppliers and distributors. The manufacturer is several people away from my original contact. If one of those people brakes the "chain" then the whole process comes to a ginding halt. If one of the people in that chain does not agree then the "chain" is broken etc... I believe that's what is happening here, the original authority was removed from the chain and since others don't know (or care to know because they are overloaded with their own work) the paperwork has stalled.

In this day and age of low profits it is very hard to get companies to authorize warranty work without being persistent and having all the i's dotted and t's crossed ahead of time. I have had to use video just to convince a supplier that we attempted to fix a problem and that they need to send a technician ASAP because I had a hospital without a chiller in the middle July.

BL, I would stay on top of FW show proof you have paid the invoice, take pictures of the repaired items, did you keep the defective parts (or get pictures), get a statement from the former employee and the repair centre .... Give the warranty department no excuse to reject your claim. You'll eventually get your money.

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Marc, Kathlin & Nathalie


'89 Chaparral Laser 32

'93 Vista 245, 5.8L w/ King Cobra

Former Boats
'01 H260, 7.4 VP Duoprop
'98 H200, 5.0 GL w/VP SX drive