Simtex

[stovercrna]

Has anyone had problems with their Simtex vinyl? I am very frustrated because my seats look horrible and my boat is only one year old.

 

[stovercrna]

Dock got put in Monday. Got dock and lakeside yard along sea wall completed today for water fowl mitigation. Boat and jet ski splash in the water in a week and a half. Currently clear, sunny and calm. Actually supposed to get into the 80’s next week at our cottage. Feeling it!

My view right now:
View attachment 32549

Set up earlier today to be ready for the season:
View attachment 32550View attachment 32551View attachment 32552

I see you are a moderator. Maybe you can help me. Im wanting to know if Bennington has a warranty on the Simtex vinyl. My boat is 1 year old and the seats look horrible

 

[Bill N]

I see you are a moderator. Maybe you can help me. Im wanting to know if Bennington has a warranty on the Simtex vinyl. My boat is 1 year old and the seats look horrible

I think you need to better define "look horrible"
If they are deteriorating, should be a warranty issue.
If they are filthy from boat not being protected, not so much.
If they are torn op from a Chupacabra, well it might require pics of the culprit.

 

[SEMPERFI8387]

Well first please explain what is “staining” the seats. If you are leaving uncovers and there’s mass amounts of bird poop, that’s not a material issue. Please explain further.

 

[stovercrna]

I think you need to better define "look horrible"
If they are deteriorating, should be a warranty issue.
If they are filthy from boat not being protected, not so much.
If they are torn op from a Chupacabra, well it might require pics of the culprit.

Here is a picture of what I mean. Also, white spots in certain areas.

 

[stovercrna]

Areas that look like this picture and I’ve tried all of the Dawn dish soap I can.

 

[Jack M]

Do a search in the upper right hand corner. I posted the updated Simtex instructions in May

 

[Jack M]

Do you use sun screen or lotion ?

 

[stovercrna]

Not very often and I apply on land when I do. Also, I am on a canal and have areas with tree sap that is driving me crazy! Zoom in

 

[stovercrna]

I’d add that working through your dealer will be much more successful than directly through Bennington.

I attempted to work with the dealer. I even paid extra to have some kind of seat protection. They are unwilling to help. Very frustrated here.

 

[jcr159]

I attempted to work with the dealer. I even paid extra to have some kind of seat protection. They are unwilling to help. Very frustrated here.

Bummer to hear on the dealer front. Most of us are lucky and have had great dealer support.

I will say that it is odd…. If there is a “protectant“ on the SimTex, it likely voided the warranty. It’s a different beast than normal vinyl, and doesn’t work well with any of the typical detailing products or ceramic sealants used on normal boats. If you really have SimTex and it was treated, I could see that leading to some of the issues you are experiencing….

Not that this makes it any less frustrating. Sorry to hear and hopefully the dealer/Bennington can help. You may want to call another dealer that is the next closest to you and explain your problem, explaining what you worked through with the other dealer and see if they can help. It isn’t typical, but If a dealer isn’t keeping up their end, other dealers tend to help “keep the peace” so everyone doesn’t get their name drug through the mud….

That said, there’s likely a lot you’ve left out, and if it’s user error, fess up and make peace with it. The interior may not look the way ya want, but I bet the boat still runs well, and can be enjoyable! Kinda like a new car the gets nicked up the first time even though you park it 75 spots away from the door and you come out to a shopping cart against the door!

Good luck! Sorry we couldn’t help more!

 

[Jack M]

Do you use your cover ?
Here is the number 800 247 9901 for Sprading ,the company that manufactures Simtex and the updated cleaning instructions .

 

[Vikingstaff]

I have consolidated some posts from the OP and replies from two other threads into this one since bits and pieces of the inquiry, suggestions, and further details were being spread out in multiple threads.

Addressing question asked to me from OP in another thread:
(1) If a material or construction defect in some way, you have a 10 year warranty via Bennington. You go through an authorized Bennington dealer for warranty inquiries and issues.

(2) If user error/damage, or environmental damage, then it could be potentially an insurance claim depending on extent of damage vs. deductible. However, these would not be warranty coverage issues for somewhat obvious reasons.

Questions raised by OP or member responses that would need answers or more clarity for any of us to further advise:
(1) Sounds like you’ve done the Dawn dish soap. Have you done the other above manufacturer recommended Simtex cleaning options? The 409 or Fantastic with water cleaning instructions? If not, try them next. They may resolve your issues completely. Hoping they do…good luck!

(2) You mention tree sap coming down on it in your canal location. Boat always covered? Spots from tree sap? If not, what are they from? They are from something as the boat would not have come that way. This sap issue sounds so frustrating…yikes! My heart goes out to you having to deal with it. Knowing what is getting on the fabric and causing spotting will likely be helpful in cleaning them or eliminating them somehow.

(3) Is it kept covered to protect from sap or other droppings? For future mitigation, this may become essential nearly all the time depending on location and the tree sap issue you mentioned.

(4) You stated a protectorant was added to seating. Did you do this or dealer? If dealer, it may be a warrantied product and process. If so, follow up would probably need to come from the protectorant company now. May be a blessing, or added problem. But unfortunately may be the situaiton now. Have you inquired about this specifically with dealerships IF they applied it? What response and direction did you get?

(5) If you applied the protectorant yourself aftermarket, and it’s not on the approved list above (don’t actually believe there are any that are approved), you may have compromised manufacturer warranty. Not saying either way, but it‘s possible. If so, my guess is it would likely make most further issues insurance claims.

(6) You mention follow up with dealer, and them not being helpful. Have they actually looked at it? Was the source or the problem explained to them. Was the problem diagnosed? What did they do or say? I too have not had the best dealership experiences in this regard, but at the same time, I am assuming there is more to it than they ignored you completely. But if they did, or are refusing to even try to evaluate the situation, go to the next closest authorized Bennington dealer for assistance as JCR advised above. Off season is coming up, so the perfect time for a dealer to take a more detailed evaluative look at it.

My Final Thoughts:
From the sounds of it, and this is without a lot of details, it seems like something has gotten onto the Simtex and is causing some level of staining or spotting now. Bennington is not a direct to customer company, just like GM, Ford, etc… are not. You have to go through an authorized Bennington dealership for service, repair, warranty, etc… If your current dealership is not helping, you can try another.

However, as Semper mentiond above, there are a lot of missing details. As Jcr mentioned above, there is a lot left out, and if user error [or Mother Nature, tree sap for example], fess up so as to get better advice and assistance. For instance, did the dealership turn down any warranty assistance because it is tree sap? That’s not really a bad dealer or Bennington‘s fault…that is a Mother Nature problem; that is an outside of warranty mishap; that is an insurance claim, not a warranty claim.

 

[stovercrna]

Bummer to hear on the dealer front. Most of us are lucky and have had great dealer support.

I will say that it is odd…. If there is a “protectant“ on the SimTex, it likely voided the warranty. It’s a different beast than normal vinyl, and doesn’t work well with any of the typical detailing products or ceramic sealants used on normal boats. If you really have SimTex and it was treated, I could see that leading to some of the issues you are experiencing….

Not that this makes it any less frustrating. Sorry to hear and hopefully the dealer/Bennington can help. You may want to call another dealer that is the next closest to you and explain your problem, explaining what you worked through with the other dealer and see if they can help. It isn’t typical, but If a dealer isn’t keeping up their end, other dealers tend to help “keep the peace” so everyone doesn’t get their name drug through the mud….

That said, there’s likely a lot you’ve left out, and if it’s user error, fess up and make peace with it. The interior may not look the way ya want, but I bet the boat still runs well, and can be enjoyable! Kinda like a new car the gets nicked up the first time even though you park it 75 spots away from the door and you come out to a shopping cart against the door!

Good luck! Sorry we couldn’t help more!

I will contact a nearby dealer. That is a great idea. I contacted Bennington and they connected me with the vinyl seating representative. It was very discouraging. He said there is no warranty on the seats.

 

[Jack M]

The warranty is from Bennington, not from any of the manufacturers . The warranty statement says no middleman . If you would like to read the entire statement , you can do a search for it in the upper right.

 

[stovercrna]

I’m having trouble looking it up in the search option. Sorry I’m so needy, just trying to get somewhere and I appreciate your help for sure

 

[Jack M]

Try this link.

Lifetime Structural & 10-Year Bow-To-Stern Warranty | Bennington

Bennington customers are offered an industry-leading 10-year bow-to-stern warranty in addition to our lifetime structural warranty, giving you and your family the protection and assurance you deserve.

www.benningtonmarine.com

 

[Potomacbassin’]

OP while everyone is sympathetic to your issue - we all want our boats to be as like-new as possible - I would just emphasize that whatever got onto your seat(s) may have exceeded the performance criteria of the Simtex product. It's not impervious or indestructible, but rather resistant to many contaminants but they need to be cleaned quickly. At the end of the day it's still plastic even with the Permablok coating and as such it's possible whatever got on the seat may not be able to be cleaned and could be permanently stained. It happens and my boat is living proof of that!

Doing a quick search I came upon this link that may be instructive to some of the other products you can try - I just caveat that you should be aware the actual manufacturer (Spradling) does not appear to offer Step 4 or 5 and could void your warranty. But if you're at wits end you may want to test somewhere out of the way first (area out of sight) to see how it reacts. It's probably the nuclear option so treat this as bad advice accordingly!

Spradling Simtex

fabricsupply.com

 

[stovercrna]

OP while everyone is sympathetic to your issue - we all want our boats to be as like-new as possible - I would just emphasize that whatever got onto your seat(s) may have exceeded the performance criteria of the Simtex product. It's not impervious or indestructible, but rather resistant to many contaminants but they need to be cleaned quickly. At the end of the day it's still plastic even with the Permablok coating and as such it's possible whatever got on the seat may not be able to be cleaned and could be permanently stained. It happens and my boat is living proof of that!

Doing a quick search I came upon this link that may be instructive to some of the other products you can try - I just caveat that you should be aware the actual manufacturer (Spradling) does not appear to offer Step 4 or 5 and could void your warranty. But if you're at wits end you may want to test somewhere out of the way first (area out of sight) to see how it reacts. It's probably the nuclear option so treat this as bad advice accordingly!

Spradling Simtex

fabricsupply.com

I took some better photos to share. I know you guys said fess up, but I didn’t do anything wrong. I truly believe that it is the material. It is everywhere like a plague. I went to my dealer today with pictures. We are sending them to Bennington. Difficult to capture in photos, but painfully obvious in person.

 

[Jack M]

Not very often and I apply on land when I do. Also, I am on a canal and have areas with tree sap that is driving me crazy! Zoom in

Where are you getting the tree sap ?