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Bennington 2020 SLV Flooring Issue

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Paul1234

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Hello,
I have an issue, and would like to get thoughts and suggestions on a resolution. I have a 2020 SLV 20Ft Bennington i bought new in June of 2020. This spring, I noticed what looks like rust stains coming thru the flooring throughout the boat, mostly in front and back. It started getting worse and spreading. I sent pictures and email to dealer, and just received a response back. It seems like the dealer heard of others having the same issues, and said something to effect it was bad flooring causing proble. The dealer said they can not replace the floor, and my options are that Bennington would give me $3000.00 in liu of repairing, or that I the dealer would need to send it to Bennington for repair. So, my question to you, is $ 3000.00 a fair amount to settle (personally I dont thin k so, as it really would lower the resale value) and would you opt to have it sent back to Bennington for repair ,that is my thinking as of now). My other option would be to have Bennington exchange my boat for a new one.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this, and has anyone else have this issue. Attached are pictures of the issue.

This is the response from the dealer. I have blocked the dealer name.

Thank you for the pictures. As a friendly reminder, it is a requirement for the boat to be brought in for any and all warranty concerns. Your pictures were sent over to Bennington for their review. They agree, this shouldn’t be happening but without the boat here, we can’t quite figure out what exactly is going wrong at this time. We also can’t tell exactly where this is happening since the pictures are only close up. It would be great to have more pictures showing the entire boat and flooring but we can always get more once the boat is here again too.

Bennington has asked if you would be willing to accept a cash offer in lieu of replacing the floor. When I inquired as to the amount I was told $3,000.00. *** Marine is unable to replace the flooring on these boats here but should you want to consider a new floor instead, we can request a return to factory for this repair.

Please feel free to think this over and get back to us. Should you have any questions please feel free to email them to me by replying to this email so we can document everything. This way I can also forward any questions or concerns directly to Bennington on your behalf.

Thank you and have a great day!! This weather has been amazing (other than that bit of rain) so I hope you are enjoying the boat since this concern doesn’t hinder use of itJ

Your patience is appreciated during these busy times in the marine industry. Not only is **** Marine experiencing delays due to vendor backlogs, but all of our manufacturers are also experiencing delays due to material backlog. **** Marine strives to do the best we can for all of our customers, however delays are occurring worldwide. As always, our amazing customer and our outstanding epmployees will remain our driving force so thank you for choosing **** Marine.
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Seems like a good reply from your dealer. You’ll need to get it into them for official warranty write up and what not…but that is spelled out in their reply too.

Given what seems to be your issue, I would 100% take the offer of sending it back to the factory for floor replacement. $3,000 would’t cover getting that kind of work done at all. Heck, labor would be more than that most likely. It’s a BIG job.

I don’t beleive any offer of boat replacement would be made, or reasonable, as it is fixable. So I would move past that thought personally and focus on the shipping it back to Bennignton for repair. That said, you could also inquire if there is any arrangements that could be made for loaner/rental boat access while it is gone. My dealerhsip was a hard no on that type of thing this past year when my boat was down, but I have heard of some dealerships that will work with customers in that regard. Worth asking, but wouldn't expect it.

If you are located in the north and have a long down season, get this in motion NOW so you can hopefully have it all set by next summer. If you are in the south, expect it to be gone for awhile. I had major repairs last year, and my boat was gone for 11.75 months due to supply chain issues, work load backlog, etc…

But again, my advice would be 100% sending it back for floor replacement at the factory, and getting it done right. Unless you have no issue with the problem and it getting presumably worse over time, I would NOT take the $3,000 in lieu of repairs. Nope…not at all.
 
Let Bennington replace the flooring .
 
I am actually surprised by their $3,000 offer. That doesn't eliminate the problem of a Bennington out in circulation with an issue. Not really their style.
 
I agree ,could the dealer be paying the 3K?
 
I would think it’s fair to ask for extension of warranty if boat is gone 11 months or however long it’s gone.
 
If I could Sea Dek over the existing floor and have some beer money leftover I might consider the settlement offer but as Viking noted it's a big job no matter how you slice it.

Have the floor replaced under warranty or consider a counteroffer amount that you would be happy with. If it's just cosmetic and you plan to run the boat until you die pocket the $3-5k and invest it.
 
Vikingstaff said:
Seems like a good reply from your dealer. You’ll need to get it into them for official warranty write up and what not…but that is spelled out in their reply too.

Given what seems to be your issue, I would 100% take the offer of sending it back to the factory for floor replacement. $3,000 would’t cover getting that kind of work done at all. Heck, labor would be more than that most likely. It’s a BIG job.

I don’t beleive any offer of boat replacement would be made, or reasonable, as it is fixable. So I would move past that thought personally and focus on the shipping it back to Bennignton for repair. That said, you could also inquire if there is any arrangements that could be made for loaner/rental boat access while it is gone. My dealerhsip was a hard no on that type of thing this past year when my boat was down, but I have heard of some dealerships that will work with customers in that regard. Worth asking, but wouldn't expect it.

If you are located in the north and have a long down season, get this in motion NOW so you can hopefully have it all set by next summer. If you are in the south, expect it to be gone for awhile. I had major repairs last year, and my boat was gone for 11.75 months due to supply chain issues, work load backlog, etc…

But again, my advice would be 100% sending it back for floor replacement at the factory, and getting it done right. Unless you have no issue with the problem and it getting presumably worse over time, I would NOT take the $3,000 in lieu of repairs. Nope…not at all.
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Thank you for input. I am in Northeast, and agree getting the boat to dealer soon would not put that much down time.
 
Bill N said:
I am actually surprised by their $3,000 offer. That doesn't eliminate the problem of a Bennington out in circulation with an issue. Not really their style.
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Me too. I went with a Bennington for that reason, quality.
 
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