Am I being unreasonable? Out of warranty ask?

[emtlibby]

Hello!

I own a 2021 Ranger R-25OB. I am the second owner having purchased the boat last year.

Since I got the boat there have been a number of what I call "holidays" that I've had to repair/fix:

• No bilge alarm
• Battery charger mislabled wires causing charging to not work correctly
• Downrigger wiring shorted out because fuses were placed in fuse block, but wires just cut (boat has no downriggers)
• And a few other small items that were just odd, one was my boat having an additional battery that did not appear in any diagrams. Eventually someone at the factory helped me figure out the one off wiring.

None of these were a big deal, and I just chocked it up to maybe not awesome quality control.

A few weeks ago, while overnighting with our kids, and running the AC, they woke up totally drenched in water. Turns out the drip pan had overflowed and poured water on them all night. After drying them off and getting their clothes and bedding dry, I took apart everything to inspect the AC. I troubleshot everything, and eventually found that the issue was that the drain hose to the shower sump was connected to a plugged fitting. When the sump is bought from Johnson, it has a few different possible connections. All of them say "CUT HERE", indicating that you need to cut the end off before connecting a hose. It seems the factory connected the drain hose, and never cut. I cut, and repaired it.

As part of the wet bedding was wet overnight, it also stained the mattress covers in the tunnel.

I reached out to Ranger Tugs and explained the situation. I asked for a courtesy replacement of the cover. A low cost item I believed. I guess my theory of the case was that this was not something "breaking" but rather something that was wrong since day 1, but just discovered. I guess I expected as good will, they'd just send me a new cover.

They responded, and told me the boat was not in warranty, and that they could not send me a cover. They said it would take them a while to get a price together, and that I should just find someone local to make a new one. I responded as I said above, explaining that I figured this might be a reasonable good-will replacement based on the circumstances. They stopped responding altogeher, even though I sent a follow up email over a week ago, with still no response.

Feels crappy... Not how I would handle it. I know I'm the second owner, but we were considering upgrading to a new 29 next year, and now I have a bad taste in my mouth. Am I being unreasonable?

 

[S. Todd]

I know what I would do if I ran the company.

 

[Brian John]

I feel you approached this the correct way and feel Ranger Tugs should take the high road and furnish you with a new cover. As a company owner, I would not have handled it the way they have. Not responding to your emails is totally unacceptable in my opinion. I am also a second owner and my experience with Ranger Tugs has been positive with warranty issues

 

[SJI Sailor]

I think the ask is perfectly reasonable. RT is perfectly within its rights not to do anything but it would be better business and goodwill if they did. At this point I'd personally give up but my perception of RT would drop.

 

[emtlibby]

Yeah, I think that's where I am at. Certainly they are within their rights. I think this is a case where I'll just have to deeply consider if I'd buy another RT product. Penny wise and Pound foolish on their part.

 

[curtisgeiger]

I was also denied warranty support on the 2023 R-23 I purchased a couple months ago from the original owner.

My problem was that one of the hydraulic steering hoses at the F200 outboard engine was kinked in the down position because of the way the hose was installed at the factory.

Since this is a potential life-safety concern while offshore I was hoping that RT would help with the cost to replace the hose.

Customer Service says no - boat is over 1 year old and I am a second owner.

Not sure if I would purchase a Ranger Tugs again when it comes time to upgrade to a larger vessel.

I am not impressed with Ranger Tugs at the moment - but there is still a chance something could change.

Curt

 

[emtlibby]

I would agree that in general, quality control from the factory is lacking. All of my weep holes were plugged because they didnt drill them all the way through. The water tank was so full of waste plastic that I had to replace the pump twice. etc. I've owned lots of sailboats, some new, and all were much more "finished" in a fit and quality way, but maybe this is how powerboats are.

Curt- I saw your post about the hose. Get a replacement made, you can replace with boat in the water. Also, get yourself a bubble purge kit from outboard solutions. You can fill and bleed your system very easily with one person. It's really a simple job.

Matt

 

[AGLyme]

I bought an 11 yo RT… so I don’t expect any company courtesies naturally. I did receive a Ranger Hat in the mail last week for signing up to TugNuts… thank you, it perfectly matches my shoes and purse.. ; )

My take… I am happy the company is around and (seems to be) thriving. If the factory closes as so many boat companies do, our $ values will plummet overnight - a la Mainship.

The hard and fast warranty policies are frustrating, but they are cash and time sucks - given the insane % increase in costs post-Covid (esp labor, and boat building is ALL about manual labor). The only relief is to raise prices.

I’d hate to be a boat builder’s pricing forecaster in this nutty economic, post-Covid-price-bounce and political environment. I’ll bet boat ownership and owning a boat maker in 2024+ are similar in one regard - they are both holes in the water that consume gobs of cash.

In sum, I am grateful the company is alive and kicking and puts out good how-to vids and underwrites this fine site. Without all the advice and deep knowledge from the Tugnuts community, I’d be sunk.

 

[emtlibby]

The site is great, true. From a fiancial standpoint though I can't agree. I was seriously considering purchasing a 300k+ boat, and now am really on the fence, all over probably $50 in materials.

 

[Rauguthj]

We received our 2024 R-31 CB about 6 weeks ago, and are working through a few warranty issues, all are quality control based. While annoying, all are being addressed by our dealer. I just had a conversation with the owners of the boat next to ours (a 2 year old 80’ Marlow explorer) and they experienced similar kinds of issues that took 2 years to address. My point is that I’d put the present Ranger Tugs quality and after sale service up against other boat manufacturers.

 

[curtisgeiger]

I would agree that in general, quality control from the factory is lacking. All of my weep holes were plugged because they didnt drill them all the way through. The water tank was so full of waste plastic that I had to replace the pump twice. etc. I've owned lots of sailboats, some new, and all were much more "finished" in a fit and quality way, but maybe this is how powerboats are.

Curt- I saw your post about the hose. Get a replacement made, you can replace with boat in the water. Also, get yourself a bubble purge kit from outboard solutions. You can fill and bleed your system very easily with one person. It's really a simple job.

Matt

Matt,

This one? https://outboardst.com/product/bubble-purge-hydraulic-steering-bleed-and-purge-kit-ost-pbb-001/

Curt

 

[dclagett]

Hello!

I own a 2021 Ranger R-25OB. I am the second owner having purchased the boat last year.

Since I got the boat there have been a number of what I call "holidays" that I've had to repair/fix:

• No bilge alarm
• Battery charger mislabled wires causing charging to not work correctly
• Downrigger wiring shorted out because fuses were placed in fuse block, but wires just cut (boat has no downriggers)
• And a few other small items that were just odd, one was my boat having an additional battery that did not appear in any diagrams. Eventually someone at the factory helped me figure out the one off wiring.

None of these were a big deal, and I just chocked it up to maybe not awesome quality control.

A few weeks ago, while overnighting with our kids, and running the AC, they woke up totally drenched in water. Turns out the drip pan had overflowed and poured water on them all night. After drying them off and getting their clothes and bedding dry, I took apart everything to inspect the AC. I troubleshot everything, and eventually found that the issue was that the drain hose to the shower sump was connected to a plugged fitting. When the sump is bought from Johnson, it has a few different possible connections. All of them say "CUT HERE", indicating that you need to cut the end off before connecting a hose. It seems the factory connected the drain hose, and never cut. I cut, and repaired it.

As part of the wet bedding was wet overnight, it also stained the mattress covers in the tunnel.

I reached out to Ranger Tugs and explained the situation. I asked for a courtesy replacement of the cover. A low cost item I believed. I guess my theory of the case was that this was not something "breaking" but rather something that was wrong since day 1, but just discovered. I guess I expected as good will, they'd just send me a new cover.

They responded, and told me the boat was not in warranty, and that they could not send me a cover. They said it would take them a while to get a price together, and that I should just find someone local to make a new one. I responded as I said above, explaining that I figured this might be a reasonable good-will replacement based on the circumstances. They stopped responding altogeher, even though I sent a follow up email over a week ago, with still no response.

Feels crappy... Not how I would handle it. I know I'm the second owner, but we were considering upgrading to a new 29 next year, and now I have a bad taste in my mouth. Am I being unreasonable?

Years ago we had severe manufacturing defects with the engine installation on a 2 year old boat we purchased second hand. Wrote to the factory and explained the problem and they said that they only warrant the boat for the original owner. Very sad for manufacturing defects which cost me many thousands to fix.

 

[emtlibby]

I want to update the group, that RT did circle back, and has agreed to replace the cover. I think this is fantastic, and I wanted to call out the satisfactory resolution.