Another warranty thread

[Scrooge]

So, I've worked my deal on my new SLX (310) and am happy with where I got to (approx 23% off msrp). My question is this... I'm financing through an outside company and the dealer is going bat$hit crazy about wanting the financing, then on top of that, they are of course pushing the warranty - to the cost of $8625 for a total of 8 years. I know it's an insurance policy and has a slew of exclusions. My question isn't a "should I" question but really is two fold:

1. Searay says the warranty is for 5 years, but the dealer seems to indicate it's a sliding warranty with declining coverage. Is this what others have experienced as well? So, somehow your "5 year warranty" evolves and doesn't cover something in year 3 that it covered in year 2?

2. The price of the ESC seems very high to me - I would have thought it was about $4k. Probably should have negotiated it in on the deal, but that ship has sailed. I saw where others paid 12-15 on a 750k boat. So maybe the right price is 6k? Perhaps I can negotiate this part of the deal separately since we've signed off on the price of the vessel.

The whole dog and pony show is just ridiculous... This is a new, 2019 boat, and they're pushing how amazing it is to sell it and then the financing jokers dog their own product and talk about how it's going to break.

Thanks for all your help and opinions. I don't own an SR yet, but this forum is already proving very helpful!

 

[FastMarkA]

I can't comment from a SR perspective, but I did buy a new Formula in 2017. Here are some random thoughts on the topic:

• Formula promotes a 5 year warranty, but it is "sliding." Basically, the first year is "no questions asked, anything gets fixed," and in Formula's case, they did an outstanding job on honoring all warranty requests. Year 2 introduces a small deductible, and years 3-5 the deductible goes up a bit more. The MerCruiser warranty was a similar arrangement. (Formula provided a nice "grid" at delivery which gave a visual of how the warranties play out over 5 years.)
• Warranties are great on paper. They are not so great, however, in practice. Not sure where you're located, but in Chicago, getting an authorized dealer to visit your boat to explore an issue usually involves a 2-week wait and a $200 service call (which, btw, is not always covered by the warranty).
• Divorce the boat from its engines. When you think about it, the boats themselves are relatively simple things, and items that break are usually an easy DIY repair, except if you start to get major structural issues. Engines, however, are costly to repair, and in my experience, are the items most likely to cause you headaches.
• Mercury will do whatever they can to avoid shelling out under warranty. One of my engines started leaking oil at ~20 hours; in the end, it was repaired under warranty, but it took a LOT of arguing to get full coverage. Fortunately, I had a mechanic who went to bat for me.
• If the dealer's financing institution offers you a better rate than the one you've secured with outside financing, use them. If not, tell the dealer to pound sand. You're engaging in a business transaction (as opposed to a budding friendship) that, in a month's time, will be a memory for them. Who cares what they think...it's your money. (Also, don't think that by being Mr. Nice Guy upfront will lead to expedited service and better care down the road. In most dealerships I've experienced, service and sales might as well be completely different companies.)

If it were me, I'd want more details about the life of the factory warranty (knowing what it covers and in which years), and I'd also want the same for the extended contract. Warranties are best in the first year when pointing the finger at a factory fault is much easier than, say, year 3 when the factory can come back with, "well, you've been using the door incorrectly and that's why the hinge fell off, so we're not covering it."

 

[paulswagelock]

SR has a 5 year warranty on the boat itself which covers most everything. It was not a sliding deal in 2018 when I purchased mine. The motors and controls are a Mercury warranty. Mine was 3+2 meaning it had platinum coverage for the first 3 then gold for the last 2. Platinum covers electronic items where gold is only mechanical. I opted to upgrade the last 2 to platinum for about $600.

 

[Scrooge]

Thanks guys for the info. I'm waiting on documentation to be sent to me to "explain" it. I'll report back on it when i receive it for others who may be interested.

 

[mobocracy]

So, I've worked my deal on my new SLX (310) and am happy with where I got to (approx 23% off msrp). My question is this... I'm financing through an outside company and the dealer is going bat$hit crazy about wanting the financing...

The dealer makes a spiff on loan origination, which on a boat is a lot of money. What I've found with car dealers is that they will often make the deal even better if you go with their financing. Don't even discuss financing until you get close to your number, and then use your willingness to finance with them to extract a bit more or get where you want to be. For them, they're not giving anything away since they think they're making it up on the loan origination spiff, especially if they think they can get you into a less than stellar loan where they make even more money.

Meanwhile, you're shopping around for outside financing from someone else. As soon as you take possession, refinance with someone else. Just make sure the original loan doesn't include prepayment penalties and the new loan respects the item as "new", which can get more complicated with a boat that may be delivered on the water. I've found with cars that the finance organizations I've worked with are fine with anything original owner under 5k miles, I'd imagine boats might be a similar situation.

The only person that really loses as far as I can tell is the dealer's loan originator, since the loan never makes more than 1-2 payments worth of interest before being paid off. I don't know if the banks behind dealer financing penalize dealers whose loans get paid off prematurely or not.

I got clued into this about 15 years ago when I got solicited for auto refinancing right after buying a new car. The mailing I got seemed sincere, and I called the place on a lark -- turns out they were offering nearly a full percentage better than the dealer (who was better than my bank, which isn't saying much). I asked the guy what the deal was, and he explained it much as I have above, and he said it actually works even better if you push them hard on price if you take their worst financing, because they'll think they're making it all up on loan origination.

Even on my last car purchase where the rate was BETTER than my credit union, once I got financing I called the credit union guy back and asked what he could do for me and he explained they had a competitive rate that would go a half point under whatever I had.