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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Dalton, GA
    Posts
    108

    Default Horrific first trip out in new boat

    The short story:

    10 friends, 1 New 2007 LSV, Memorial Holiday, faulty installed water intake hose= my new boat with only 15 minutes use on her sinking and haveing to be towed back to dock and hand trailored after the engine shut down and about 14 inches of water flooded the engine compartment... NOT A HAPPY CAMPER!!! dealer has boat now and they and MOOMBA are fixing the issue...


    I hate holidays and the whole first trip curse thing....

    want to see a grown man cry then sinkk his new $40K boat in it's first 15 minutes works every time...


    later

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Central FL
    Posts
    791

    Default

    You did not even break it in yet ? You took it out the first time loaded with freinds having no clue how it was going to work ? I find this a bit silly.

    Boats are not cars. They need some "checkout" period. Usually you and 1 person works best. Break-in is boring, but once it's done, then have at it with all the people you can fit (life vests for all as madated by USCG)... By then - all the bugs are worked out.

    I am Sorry for your problems. It sucks no matter when it happens.

    You will be back on the water in no time!

    -Joe

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Tigard, Oregon
    Posts
    3,017

    Default

    Sorry Joe, I disagree. Why is it unreasonable to expect a $40k boat to perform flawlessly the first time out? I think I read on a Skier's Choice brochure that every new boat comes with 0.5 hr on the clock because it undergoes 30 minutes of on the water testing before it is shipped out. You wouldn't expect a $10k Hyundai to break down on the way home from the dealership - why is it excusable on a $40k boat? You are right - boats are not cars - they are much simpler conveyances (think of all the engineered systems that a car has and a boat doesn't).

    This is just one of many new boat problems that I've read on this site recently and frankly, it's worrisome. If I was a visitor shopping around for a new boat and read some of the new boat horror stories on this site, I would probably look elsewhere.

    When I took delivery of my boat (in January in Denver), I insisted on taking it for a checkout ride with the dealer. I am glad that I did because it would not power up enough to plane out. Once they got it back to the dealership, they discovered that an electrical connector to the Perfect Pass module had become disconnected. I am glad this discovery was made during the checkout ride rather than during my maiden voyage.

    Don't get me wrong - we love our new LSV and have had no other mechanical problems since that initial incident, and I think Moomba is the best V-drive value for the money. But with all the new boat problems recently, it makes you wonder what's going on at SC ...

    My two cents.

    Al
    Al

    2006 Mobius LSV

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Orange County, CA
    Posts
    213

    Default

    I think I'm kinda in the middle of both your arguments. I do agree that loading up a boat with a ton of people on a Holiday weekend no less wasn't the smartest move without having the break in period done. Or at least a few hours on her. But I also agree that when you spend 40k and in my case (50k), you expect something to perform. As I have told many times before that my 50k XLV with 6 hours on her was smoking and almost caught fire. Now I understand that these boats are "hand made" and mistakes will happen but more and more of these stories are popping up. I'm not worried at all that SC and the dealers will make good but it makes me wonder what the "quality control" guys are being paid for.

    Anyway sorry to hear about your first trip, hopefully it wont take 5 trips like it took me to finally have a problem free day on the lake.

    Good Luck
    Contrary to popular belief, a boat does not run on "Thank Yous"

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Posts
    340

    Default

    I'll have to agree with both of you on this one. A busy holiday weekend is probably not the best time to test out your new boat. However, speaking from the point of view of someone who had numerous problems with a new boat I can really feel his frustration. Most of the things were nickel and dime stuff that could be easily fixed but a few were fairly major issues that could also have compromised the safety of everyone in the boat.

    To top everything off I can still remember one particular conversation I had with my dealer. I mentioned one more thing that wasn't working right on the boat and he told that when you have all these new things on a boat you can pretty much expect some things to go wrong. I wanted to jump through the phone to get at him. When you're laying out the kind of money that we spend on these boats you kind of expect that you're getting the Mercedes or BMW of the boat world. Not to mention I can't really think of one thing on these boats that is particularly cutting edge in the technology department especially when compared to the features on some new cars. Seriously, that's like having a new Bentley and the windows won't roll down on it and the dealer telling you that with all these new gadgets, things like that are bound to happen.

    Bottom line is that for the money you spend, things like this on a new boat are totally unaceptable.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Tigard, Oregon
    Posts
    3,017

    Default

    I am neither condoning nor criticizing gsi09907's decision to take 10 friends out on his/her boat's maiden voyage on a holiday weekend. Maybe he/she intended to run the boat according to the break in instructions for a short while, then find a cove, drop anchor, and hang out with his/her friends for the afternoon. We don't know what his/her intentions were. It's hard not to take your new $40k toy out at your first opportunity - I can certainly understand his/her eagerness. But this is all besides the point, which is, it should not be an unreasonable expectation for your new $40k boat to perform as intended the first time out.

    Further, I agree with lowdrag that these boats are not exactly cutting edge, technological wonders. Fuel injection just this year became standard on Moombas whereas they've been standard on cars for decades (when was the last time you could buy a new car with a carburetor??). They are just now starting to install catalytic converters on boats. A cruise control on a boat is a $1200 extra whereas you can hardly buy a car these days without one (even that $10k Hyundai). A boat has a single speed tranny whereas most cars have at least a 4 speed tranny. Etc., etc.

    Al
    Al

    2006 Mobius LSV

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Springfield Missouri
    Posts
    3,391

    Default

    You can't compare boats to cars. You don't have two boats in every garage, the numbers aren't there. The boat manufacturers use other companies to manufacture parts, engines, trailers etc. and most of the other boat companies use these same companies. There isn’t a demand to have there own R&D and fabrication of those parts and systems and be able to pass the costs on and still have a better product than what is out there as Bayliner found out with their Force engines. People are having issues with the Indmar EFI fuel rail problem but if it is inherit issue with these engines then other boat manufacturers using Indmar are having the same problems also. I can’t even say there is an issue with the engines as the issues is fed from the dealers back to SC and then back to Indmar. The bulletin board users are a tiny fraction of the total Moomba ownership so if the people who voiced their issues are the only ones affected I would say that statistically SC is doing very well. I’m sure SC gets feedback and data from the dealers on issues and are tracked and trended so that they can put more emphasis in those areas. Some areas SC has control over such as the hull, compatibility and installation of components and testing while some issues such as engine problems go back to Indmar, defective ballast pumps back to the bag manufacturer etc. Some issues are easier to fix than others like go to another bag company if there is a systematic problem shown with these particular bags/pumps but engines and transmissions are manufactured by very few and the boat hull is tooled for that particular system so SC relies on a reliable and proven manufacturer of these systems and are responsive to issues. My friend, the $40K price tag has nothing to do with the expectations of the boat but it is a measure to which people are willing to spend for the boat. SC and other boat manufacturers are able to move boats out the door at the price tag that they list. Manufacturing is a complex process and many factors affect the quality and price of the product. Some discussions on this board have to be taken with a grain of salt because the discussions don’t always give the reader an accurate picture of what is going on and may lead to conclusions that are not accurate.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Alabaster, Alabama
    Posts
    143

    Default

    My dealer cautioned me to do the break-in at the lake he is on. Good advice, I thought. I had a problem with a sensor, don't ask me which one, and the boat would die at idle at about the 4hr mark. I limped back on the trailer and pulled around to the dealership. He dianosed the problem, I came back next week, after I almost lost my boat over a retaining wall, another story, and we replaced the sensor. I guess my point is, no one wants to have problems with anything they buy. If there were no problems, there would be no need for a warranty. These are handmade, custom vehicles. How many problems are acceptable? if you ask SC, they will tell you none, but problems are a fact of life.

    You might be able to send the boat id number to SC and they can track who was working on your boat that day. I sell toilets, SH**tty business, I know, but the manufacturers can tell who was on the line that day if we have a problem.

  9. #9

    Default

    now after all these horror stories im really worried about getting my boat in a few weeks cause im only going to be home for two weeks and the dealer is 4 hours from where i live and I hate having to work on something brand new espessially after i just spent 40k on it; that just means more money on the parts to fix the darn thing plus time

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Central FL
    Posts
    791

    Default

    Zabooda makes my point perfectly.

    $40K has nothing to do with it. The $10 Hyundai is built by robots and 10,000 units of the same model are made. They have hundreds of checkpoints along the way. And STILL The first dozen off the line, never make it to the end consumer... for that matter, the first year of any model may suck - so there are simmilarities. HUMANS ARE NOT PERFECT.

    Anyone heard of Recalls ?

    No one here owns expensive sports cars I'm guessing.

    How would you guys react if your brand new $400,000 Italian racer did not start on the first try ? OR sputtered out while cornering? Very common. Why ? They are small quantity productions all hand built.

    So to expect perfection is just silly. To be silly enough to entrust ten of your friends well being to an untested vessel is downright irresponsible, but that is just me. I've been raised around boats since birth (actually before as My mom was skiing up till 3 months w/ me ) I liken it to taking a brand new off-the-lot corvette to a race track... having never raced before.

    A simple check-out ride or an hour or two on the boat ahead of time would have found these in a much less stressfull arena.

    So my simple answer is "No, I do not expect a $40K boat or a $1.2Million boat to be perfect, nor should anyone" ... the differenece is that the 1.2Million boat has a paid capt. that takes it out for it's shakedown cruise.

    With that, I truly understand his pain and it tottally sucks !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (or blows... not sure which is worse)

    I'm empowered by the fact that our dealer network is better than that of Hyundai, and that we have direct links to the parent companies where that is 19 levels deep in the auto industry. This WILL be resolved and gsi09907 will look back and laugh in a few months.... ok, the sinking part would stay with me for a while.

    -J

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