[rieber]

As I'm shopping for a new boat I'm learning of a disturbing situation where it is becoming more and more difficult to get service support for Yamaha outboards. I'm hearing Yami is pulling out or being dropped by a lot of the deralerships that used to carry them. Something about Yami not supporting warranty work or after sales service.

Maybe it's just the Merc guys saying this but I've now heard this from a three different dealers.

What gives - is this true?

I was set on buying the 115hp Yami outboard but now I'm thinking I better stick to Merc.

Has anyone else heard this - kind of sucks if it's true. I personnaly thought the Yami was the better outboard.

 

[Centerpin]

Hey rieber

Check with the guys at Checkpoint Yamaha in Port Moody. If anyone should have info or service support they should.

Centerpin 8)

 

[reelangler]

A company can't really back out of a warranty if a problem does occur. If they do, it just turns into a lawsuit... which they would lose, and they also probably wouldn't waste the money on. :2cents:
Anyways my advice is the same as CP's, just go in and talk to them...

 

[rieber]

I was seriously thinking about an 18' Hewescraft with the 115hp Yami prop.

I went to a dealership that carried Yami's last year and he said they pulled out - along with other places. I know Langley carries them but I was told their service is pretty poor.

I bought my 8hp Yami last year because I believed they were the superior product behind Honda.

I look at the majority of the new motors on the water over the past few years and I see that Yamaha has overtaken Merc (on the Fraser any way)

This news lately has rattled me somewhat.

Hopefully someone who has had Yami motor problems and dealership service will post. I just think that the 4-stroke Yami's are so kick-ass that nobody has had problems with them.

 

[marko]

News to me about this lack of support. A couple of my friends inclueding myself own fairly new
outboards and this is the first I have heard of anything.....

Marko

 

[Bertoli]

I had a bad experience with Checkpoint. I purchased a used 9.9 Yamaha last year, only used it a couple of times and had problems with it after two or three trips out on the water. I took it back to the shop and they told me the carb was gone and it was going to be three to four hundred to repair an eight hundred dollar motor. I asked if we could come to some sort of a warranty deal because the motor had seen so little use but they pretty much just pushed me out the door. Needless to say I won't be going back to Checkpoint ever again.

 

[MichaelR]

“I was seriously thinking about an 18' Hewescraft with the 115hp Yami prop.

I went to a dealership that carried Yami's last year and he said they pulled out - along with other places. I know Langley carries them but I was told their service is pretty poor.

Reiber”

Just so there’s no confusion – we’re the other place in Langley, Brigantine (we carry Suzuki, not Yamaha), and we’ve got a good reputation for service (Ian ‘Max” Maxwell is our head technician). Some of you may know him. He’s damn good.

The scuttlebutt about the other place in Langley is that because they are owned by a company having dealerships in BC and Alberta they buy in bulk and get a good price (which they pass on to their customers) and other dealers in BC couldn’t match these prices. I can’t confirm any of this however I have heard Yamaha, being a reputable company, is addressing this problem. How? I don’t know.

Retailing engines is a large capital investment. So is care under warranty (the engine manufacturers pay only a percentage of the real cost). We do get a rebate for rigging but we don’t make money in the 50 and 100 hours check/maintenance. We do on spring and fall maintenance after warranty and that’s because we can guarantee the service and frankly, now being in the business, I can see how important after-sales service is in maintaining a good customer relationship.

When the business plan is ‘get the engine out the door’ at the lowest price undercutting other engine retailers something has to give and that’s service beyond that demanded by the engine manufacturer under warranty. Period. Not to go into too much detail yet when you’re told your engine work will take three weeks to get to you’re being brushed off.

Point is, Reiber, do you want a cheap costing engine with so so service or one that may cost a little more yet offers a long-term partnership with the store that sold it. Many Yamaha dealers do offer that latter.

Obviously I am partial to Suzuki and if I could persuade you to buy one so much the better for me too. However, Yamaha makes a fine engine you can trust; getting a dealer you can trust is as important.

MichaelR

 

[GOFISH]

Posted on: August 11, 2007, 11:26:59 PMPosted by: rieber

I was seriously thinking about an 18' Hewescraft with the 115hp Yami prop.

Before you decide to go ahead with your purchase of a Hewes you may want to check with people who already own them. My buddy, and many others, have had problems getting simple warranty issues covered by the local dealer. Just a heads up.


GOFISH 8)

 

[Rivahman]

To be honest Reiber, I wouldn't be too concerned about service (unless you can't change your own gear oil or plugs). I am sure, though, Yamaha aftermarket service will be around as long as they sell the product. I've never taken ANY o/b in for factory service so I can't answer your question directly but it does kind of sound like other dealers need to trash Yamaha in order to sell their own product. Yamahas in my opinion are the best o/b out there and are virtually maintenance free (except for yearly oil changes and gear oil changes).

I presently have an 04 Yammie 9.9 4 stroke high thrust o/b on my 20' jet and I can tell you, without a doubt, it is the best small o/b I have ever owned. Have done lots of trolling with it and although my boat weighs about 4,000 lb wet, that engine will troll all day long just off idle with not even a fart. Smooth as can be. Open it up and the nose lifts a bit. It will scoot along at a good enough clip to get you home if the main engine fails. Have never done a single thing to it except for the aforementioned yearly oil and gear oil change.

I've owned quite a few o/b in my time including 6 ranging from 8hp to 110hp from, what I view as the worst o/b manufacturer ever.....wait for it....Mercury. To be honest, that 8 was a nice little trolling motor but the rest were just high maintenance junk (I'm a slow learner thats why it took me so long to stop buying them). I finally got tired of forking over $150 every time the igniter failed.

 

[rieber]

I have a small 8hp Yamaha 4-stroke that I bought new last year. I haven't used it much so I can't really say how durable it will be. As for service - I mainly do my own work anyways so I'm not too worried about that. It was the bigger, warranty issues that kind of threw me for a bit. After hearing the one dealer shoot down Yamaha it sure made me wonder.

It's funny about the Hewescraft having issues - this past week I've heard from a few unhappy people recommending that I look at another ride.

I just want a durable, almost industrial type boat that looks good yet is practical for fishing and the odd time out on the lake with the wife and kid. I want my next big boat to be my last big boat.

Oh well, more research ... or more confusion. :happy:

 

[Rivahman]

My 'last' big boat was a 17 footer. Now have a 20..never say 'last'..it will come back to haunt you :naughty:

 

[steve]

I am a Yamaha dealer and we have no problems getting warranty on their product, but warranty is a strict contract and both dealer and customer have hoops to jump through to get the warranty. It can be a pain but that is no different than any other brand believe me( I carry mercury and bombardier as well nevermind all the lawn and garden equipment) Warranty covers defects in materials and craftmanship (simply put) and everything else is not covered and what does get covered is determined by the manufacture and the manufacturer only, the dealership can make recommendations but in the end the manufacturer has the last call. Yamaha has pulled some dealers but it is more of a territory issue and a performance issue. If the company doesn't measure up to Yamaha standards they have the right to remove their product (it's right in the dealer agreement) That way they know that their product is being promoted and serviced properly and they don't have negative publicity due to some bad apple dealers. Galleon Langly is part of the Shipwreck marine and they buy stupid amounts of inventory and sell it all off at dealer cost and they live off of the kick back at the end of the year. This chaps my a$$ but we roll with it, we get people buying product from them and comming to us to have it rigged or serviced, but I have to say that we will always look after the people to bought from us first. When buying something price can only be a partial factor because you are also forming a relationship with dealer which will take care of you down the road, something the shipwreck guys don't do because it's all about volume with them in and get them out, so warranty and service takes up that precious time they could be selling new units which hurts their kick back!

bertoli, I hope the issue you have is not reflected on Yamaha prouduct. Buying used product and having "warranty" is up to the dealer only. There are some dealers who give you 30, 60, 90 days warranty on used product, but most give you the "30 seconds or 30 feet..what ever comes first" type warranty, which is checkpoints fault for not disscussing that with you at the start.

Also for the record..we do very few warranties on Yamaha product.. most issues are related to the customer misuse, neglect or lack of knowledge/support.

 

[eimaj]

Awsome post CM, it's always best to get things straight from the dealers mouth. :beerchug:

I can sympathise with the buy elsewhere but come to you for warranty thing, we get it allllll the time :wallbash:

 

[Bertoli]

You hit the nail on the head Cascade! That was the reason why I was so apalled with Checkpoint's service. BUILDING A RELATIONSHIP! I'm a young guy with a reasonable amount of disposable income to blow on boats, motors, quads and other toys, it's is in their best intrests to appease me on a small item(we're talking 800 bucks here) for the expected payoff in the long run. I'm going to be buying all sorts of expensive items in years to come, only now not from Checkpoint. P.S I used a new 30 hp 4 stroke yamaha in Rivers Inlet this past weekend for about 40 hours and I was very impressed. I don't know the retail price but that is the kind quality I'm looking for.

 

[MichaelR]

GOFISH:

Message in your inbox.

MichaelR

 

[MichaelR]

Bertoli:

Give Gordon Aulenback, owner of Checkpoint, a call and talk personally with him about your problem. No one likes an unhappy customer and Gord is no exception. I can’t speak for him but I do know he’ll listen.

MichaelR