Back to the main site

New boat process not going well....

R

royal4

Well-Known Member
Messages
291
Reaction score
224
Location
Jordan Lake, NC
I have  relatives that purchased a 2014 Bennington (new) -- They haven't picked it up yet.  They have been waiting for a "privacy enclosure" to be delivered and installed. They bought the boat from a dealer (chain) about 2.5 hours from were they live but need to pick it up at another branch about 3.5 hrs from where they live.  Today they get a call someone backed into it and put a dent in a toon.  

I have no details... price paid, deal made etc.. but I wouldn't be a happy camper.  They are being offered some money off due to the dented toon. Since I'm only 30 minutes away I'm going to look at it tomorrow so they don't have to drive 3.5 hrs to look at it.

What would you do.... to me it's like buying a car with a dented door. I guess I'll need to see it first before knowing what I would do but I'm leaning toward I want a perfect boat for money paid or give me a "very significant" discount on damaged goods. 
 
Last edited by a moderator:
One of my tunes was slightly dented before i took delivery. The boat had been at three shops getting different stuff done, so everyone blamed the other shops. The dealer said a new disc could be welded on, but the dent was so slight I decided to pass. I did not have a good experience when I purchased my boat, and would not use the same dealer again. Good luck...
 
My toon had a small dent on it caused by hitting the bunk when they set it on the trailer. I traded out a  tailgate pellet grill and the supplies for the first oil change. The first time out, I hit a submerged piece of iron on the loading dock that put a nice gouge in the same toon. The dent is not near as noticable now.

The ball is in you court so you should have some leverage. Can't be cheap to replace the whole tune or even exchange it with the other side.
 
That stinks! We just picked up our new Benny this past Friday. One thing I know is if that had happened to us my wife would refuse the boat until it was fixed, find us another boat or give us our money back. She insisted with the investment we made that the boat be perfect. Which thankfully it is. I did do a good bit of research on that dealer before I even considered shopping with them. For us it paid off. Best of luck with your situation.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
If you do take a repaired toon, and if it has sharkhide, make sure it gets a reapplication ASAP. The damaged area will likely have scraped off some of the sharkhide and even if they cleaned it up and buffed it out, you may not realize it until it starts oxidizing while the rest of your tubes will be shiny and new looking. I learned that the hard way. 
 
If it were me, I'd go see the damage. Until you I see it, I can't guess what I would think was fair.

I'm with OMike though. My baseline would probably be - "let me know how many days less than 7, you'll need to fix the damage."

If more than 7, then it's time to start with math.

"This is a 10 year boat, so cost divided by 10 for an annual investment. And I get about 15 weekends a year, so annual investment divided by 15...for a per weekend investment..."

"comes to...$x per weekend I miss for my personal opportunity cost of your error".

"Or you can send me down the road with a comparable loaner."

"Or we can cancel the deal."

If it's a holdover 2014, the dealer isn't going to want to lose the sale.

The benefit of seeing the damage is - if they just pop out the dent (fine if they do it right, weak if they don't) you'll know where the damage was and your relative can hit the damage area with the side of their fist to see if the dent pops back in again. That's what dents tend to do when popped out. The metal has memory and the dent has a strong tendency to reappear.
 
Wow, you guys are much more understanding than I'd be. By "backed into it and put a dent in a toon. " it sounds significant enough. I'd say have my tube replaced. They do have insurance on the dealership for this kind of loss.

Didn't Derrick get a new tube from a similar incident?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
New boat or at a minimum ,toon replaced .

Some A** H*** hit me in my slip last season . Insurance paid for toon replacement .Not a big deal if the dealer knows what he is doing 
 
Good sheet metal men are hard to find these days, and never in a boat dealership's service department.  Even body shop technicians are more bondo men than they are sheet metal workers.  And aluminum is a different animal than fixing steel bodies.

The dealer should see if a paintless dent repairman can do something with the dent in the toon.  Some are artists of their craft. 

If not, the person that backed into the toon has a very large claim that needs filed on his insurance policy.  Getting the toon on order would be the appropriate action.
 
Ditto what Bama said.

If your relatives don't buy the boat, one of two things will happen. Either the next guy will get a bigger discount, or the marina will fix it so they don't have to take a loss (either through insurance or just paying for it).

In either case, why shouldn't that "next guy" be your relative?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I would never accept a "dented" toon at a discount. If repaired and looks ok, "maybe", or, MAYBE if the dent were under the waterline, which is doubtful. This is a big investment and they'll have to look at it for years thinking, "why'd we accept that". For me, I'd want repaired properly, or replaced. As stated, that's what they have insurance for.
 
SEMPERFI8387 said:
I would never accept a "dented" toon at a discount. If repaired and looks ok, "maybe", or, MAYBE if the dent were under the waterline, which is doubtful. This is a big investment and they'll have to look at it for years thinking, "why'd we accept that". For me, I'd want repaired properly, or replaced. As stated, that's what they have insurance for.
Click to expand...
Could not agree more. Selling dealer did an Outstanding job replacing my port side toon ,would never know it had been replaced .

Other issue was ,my dent was under the water line and it appeared to slow me down .Went from 38 to 35 .
 
Last edited by a moderator:
spinzone said:
Wow, you guys are much more understanding than I'd be. By "backed into it and put a dent in a toon. " it sounds significant enough. I'd say have my tube replaced. They do have insurance on the dealership for this kind of loss.

Didn't Derrick get a new tube from a similar incident?
Click to expand...
Well yes, and no. I was towing my boat to the dealer to trade it in, stopped for fuel and a guy backed into the toon! Luckily my dealer still took it and then we dealt with the guys auto insurance. They were going to replace the toon, but my dealer had a guy that wanted to buy it already and luckily the trailers fender ended up stopping the vehicle and took the brunt of the damage. Dealer talked with insurance company and they I believe gave him $1500-$2000 payout. It saved the insurance guys money since just shipping the pontoon would have been a hefty bill! My dealer said he's seen worse dock rash than the dent.
 
I'd have a new toon put on. Nothing like that new boat smell to go with the look of a used one....
 
The one thing that dawned on me after about 30 hours of polishing my pontoons to a mirror shine is you can't see the pontoons from inside the boat. 

Plus our boat is garaged at the marina, so it's not like its sitting on a lift behind my house where I would see it every day (I wish that were the case).
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Maybe that explains my stance as I would see it daily. Plus it's like when you are in a parking lot, you don't park with by the beat up car as the assumption is they don't take care of their stuff. I wouldn't want someone to have that impression of me.
 
I'd dent a toon on the showroom floor with a sledgehammer and see what happens. My guess is they'd hold you accountable. Same should hold true for whoever dented it.
 
cityview3.jpg


I hope you and your relatives get the service you deserve

It's an expensive toy , you should be proud and happy with it !
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Update:  They got a call this morning, Bennington and/or the dealer are getting them another boat.
 
Some dealers are very good and would do this but not many at all IMO, I would have to believe that it is Bennington
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top