Opinion on Warranty Issues

[Bill3558]

Hi Folks. Im pretty close to buying a new 2006 CD22, but the dealer is hundreds of miles away. There is one a little closer but Im not buying the boat there.

I wonder how many of you CD 22 owners who bought new actually had a warranty issue where you had to bring to boat back to them? I am assuming any C-Dory dealer can do warranty work, but I wonder what my chances are of having to do that.

Thanks for any feedback. Spending this much money on a boat has got me soooo nervous....

[Alok]

I live near Houston and we bought our boat from Wefings in Apalachicola...more than twice as far away as you. I am sure that a lot of us live a long ways from the dealer. This is going to become even more common as C-Dorys start appearing on the East coast.

The warranty on the motors and instrumentation should be good anywhere. We had a couple of instruments fail on us and getting those replaced locally was no problem.

As for the other stuff, Wefings has had the attitude that we can get the work done locally and send them the bill. So far, we have not had to take them up on the offer.

Enjoy your new boat!

[Notayot]

We bought our "06 22 footer from Les on Whidbey Island WA. I had one minor warranty issue, and the factory handled it. The issue was minor and could have been handled by anyone that can do gel coat repair. We have had none of the issues you might read of here, and I am knocking on wood now so as not to upset the good fortune! By the way we have 100 hours and a couple of thousand miles on ours in the water and a couple thousand more on the trailer.

[seahooked]

We got our CD25 last summer from Les on Whidbey as well. My situation is a little different in that I bought without a trailer and keep the boat in dry storage in Edmonds Marina, about 40 miles from the dealer and even further from the factory. Definately not convenient to return to either for service work. As far as warranty issues with the boat, I had several plumbing leaks and wanted larger cockpit drains installed (as was implemented on later boats). I contacted the dealer, he contacted the factory, the factory contacted me and arranged for a qualified marine repair person at Edmonds to do the work. The work was done well and and pretty painless to me.

The CD25 is more complicated than a CD22 and therefore has more things that can go wrong. I do however recommend you expect to have at least one significant issue and plan in advance how you will take care of it. A recent change is the factory is not longer doing service work directly; dealers are now responsible for this function. I would find a person in your immediate area authorized for doing marine service work and get your dealer to agree to use that person if the need arises. Before you sign on the dotted line.
Good Luck. It's a great boat!

[flagold]

I found a new 22 at a dealer in New Mexico, bought it over the internet, had them hang a Merc 90 on it and then went out there in the motorhome and got it. Before I ever put it in the water, I did some preventative maintenance on issues at the time which were some stemguards with holes drilled to deep and screws not sealed in the tank area (you won't have that on the new design) by sealing all that thoroughly. I already had a Merc 90 (4 stroke) and knew it was bulletproof, the boat itself (the 22 specifically) I felt had been around long enough to be fairly trouble free (and anything that did crop up I could handle myself) and thusfar all that has come to pass.

[RVP]

Before you take delivery check the boat out with a fine tooth comb,I wish I would have. My CD-22 was paid for before I took delivery,after taking delivery I discovered approximately 30 % of the bottom of the boat was not painted properly, also some shipping damaged to the gelcoat on the sides which I did not discover until waxing the boat in a well lite area. It was at a later date I discovered the dealer knew about the rub marks on the sides. I was surprised that the boat ever left the factory without this being noticed.
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[pcator]

I live in Western North Carolina and bought my boat from a dealer 400 miles away.

I bought my 2007 CD25 from Mobile East Marine in Alliance, NC. The owers, Carrie and Gene, have treated me and my wife like we are their only customers. From the very beginning they have answered my emails and phone calls in a friendly and timely manner. When we finally went to visit them they answered every question we had. Never once pressured us to buy a boat.

When we picked up the boat, Gene went with us to launch the boat for the first time. He went with us underway and answered every question we threw at him. He personally checked out everything on the boat and showed us how to use it.

We stayed at a local marina which they had arranged and on Sunday morning I discovered that the steering was jumping as I turned it. I had been given both Carrie and Gene's cell phone numbers in case I needed them. I called Gene and told him what was happening and he said he would be there in about an hour. He arrived and bled the lines and the steering was fine. Didn't take any time at all. I told him I was sorry to have bothered him on a Sunday morning. He said it was okay and the reason it took longer to get there was he was out on his boat fishing when I called.

If I had a major problem I would not hesitate to take it back to them because I trust them to fix it right.

What I am saying is I and the boat are getting to know one another and I am not an expert on the boat. But at age 71 I am an expert at knowing good customer service. Wouldn't worry about how many miles I had to drive but what kind of service was I going to receive when I got there. So get to know the dealer and feel how you are being treated and then make a decision.

Patrick