Are you happy with your warrantee work?

What kind of issues are you facing?

DK about the left coast, but in the east I always recommend buying a boat in that class based on the availability and quality of service if new. However my first recommendation is pre-owned boats rather than new. The new boat bugs are worked out and your savings pays for any work you need. Warranty work on boats can easily be a nightmare. When my boss had his Carver we had one great (Volvo) service guy, but he was independent. When we needed to bring the boat in for warranty work it was 6 hours of fuel burn and most of the problems never got resolved. After 2 years he sold the boat and got a pre-owned Viking SC which we could have serviced by our local guy who was good. At least Carver took the boat in even if the problems didn't get fixed. Certain other boats I know failed to reimburse the dealers, and the result was they refused to do the warranty work. On the east coast I recommend Sea Ray and Formula for new because they have extensive networks and good service. Bottom line though is it's better to save the markup and buy pre-owned, find a yard you can trust and pay for work out of pocket with what you saved. Boats are very different than cars.

I don't think it's just the boat industry. Since 2008 every industry has been seeing how few employees the can get by with and how little they can get them for. You're riding the result. In the NE we have a short season, and I'd be making a lot of noise. But then again I've never been known for extreme patience.

No, new boats don't all come with issues like that and that definitely should have included contacting Carver long ago. Living with that nearly a year is too long. Fault starts with Carver. A boat should not have been built and delivered in that condition. Then it lies with the dealer for not fixing the problems. But the list you outlined is not industry normal and not acceptable and don't let anyone tell you all new boats come with those type problems. I have purchased 8 new boats and if you count tenders then 14. Never one time have I experienced even 5% of the problems you have and I would not accept it as patiently as you have.

If it was a car, your boat would probably have failed under the lemon law of your state by now. California is one of the few states that does have a Boats and Watercraft Lemon Law. Actually the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act also may apply.

Now, I hope, but doubt, that you have communicated all this in writing and have it well documented. If not, you immediately need to put it all in writing now with dates and events and responses and failures. There is no excuse for what you've had to deal with and, if it's not fixed yet, I hold out no hope that the methods you've been using are going to work. If you haven't contacted Carver, then you need to with the full history and documentation immediately. You might even talk to a lemon law attorney so you do so correctly. While older Carvers have an excellent reputation and many new buyers are quite happy, Carver/Marquis does not have a great reputation in addressing warranty problems and that's disregarding those left stranded by bankruptcy.

Do not let this drag on or what will ultimately happen is they'll claim it's been too long and you were happy with the boat and used it with no problems.

And a note to all, your communications with boat dealers, car dealers, shipyards, need to be in writing. Either service orders written up, followed by invoices (even no charge ones) and if the work isn't completed right, when you follow up with a call, also send an email or fax or hand them a typed document summarizing the discussion in writing.

And don't wait too long.

It may be typical for some boats and some dealers, but not for all. And many who say that have not purchased new themselves.

My wife and I have only purchased new cars and new boats and have never encountered any real problems. We've had recalls when we never experienced the problem.

Obviously when it comes to your boat, Carver had a quality control problem. Just as obviously, the dealer failed to adequately check and test it before delivery. How much time did the engines and generator have on them when delivered to you? I bet very little. They certainly should have a check list and have checked and generally have given you a copy showing all the systems they checked prior to delivery. Most of the things you mention were things easily caught in a pre-delivery check. Did they accompany you on any kind of shakedown to show you all the features and how they worked?

And then the dealer has obviously failed to take the steps necessary to fix the problems.

I do toss one other thing out. We do get surveys of new boats before acceptance. It's worth it in my opinion, just as it is on a used boat.

And, yes, it is common for a few builders to deliver boats which have issues the first owner never gets straightened out.

This "common on new boats" philosophy reminds me of IT and computer systems and software. I once heard a head of IT for a company state, "Well, I'll have you know I've been involved with nine systems installations and there have been problems with all of them at start up". He was attempting to say it had to be that way. He was truly only reflecting on himself. Fact is, properly tested, no new system should ever have problems.

Well, properly tested and trialed, no boat should be delivered with major problems. There is no excuse for what you've encountered. As it reflects on the builder and dealer, I have no problem. As it may reflect on all builders and dealers, that is very unfair and unfortunate.

Not all boats have issues. I ran one new SF from Pensacola, FL to Ft. Laud, FL and had a punch list that was 2 legal pages long. I ran another SF from Ft. Laud to Belize and in 6 months, replaced one faulty DC water pump. I have delivered some new boats back to back from the same builder on the same delivery and one had a myriad of issues, including the anchor locker opening and the anchor chain down the entire companionway because someone forgot to install a keeper on the starboard slats behind the access panel. The very next boat was perfect with no issues the very next week. It all depends. I've also seen builders grow in length too much and all of their good craftsman work on the new big one and they hire new people to build the smaller ones and now they're a mess.

Glad you're getting results. Guess you found out who the weak link in the process was. Nice to see the manufacturers stepping up. Hope it all gets corrected for you.