The realities of owning a Ranger Tug

[T-Bone]

I have a brand new 2026 R25.

Overall, I like the boat. I wish I loved it.

The quality control coming from the factory isn’t good on this boat. Within the first month, the depth finder stopped working. This is a common issue on these boats and Fluid Motion has to know about it but hasn’t fixed the issue. Not a big deal, I fixed it myself. The stereo on this boat was absolute junk. I honestly would rather they have just left a hole in the dash for me to put a new unit in. The stereo stopped working in the first week of ownership. I replaced and upgraded. Now onto the many electrical gremlins. I’ve had many issued with the inverter and the GFCI tripping. The dealership replaced the unit and it still kept tripping. They finally looked at wiring in other parts of the boat and found that many connections were loose, including those on the Lithium batteries. They went through and tightened everything and it worked…for awhile. Today on the boat, the GFCI on the inverter keeps tripping when I try to turn on the port side outlets. It trips even with no load. I’m sure there is a wire somewhere in the bowels of this thing that is loose. There are other, smaller issues, but these are the most irritating and are clearly simply a case of poor quality control.

Most of these things are minor and I’m sure someone will jump into the comments and give me some garbage line about owning boats and expecting stuff like this. This if the fifth boat I’ve owned and the second I’ve purchased new. I’ve had more issue with this boat that I spend $200k on than any of my other previous boats.

I remember when I bought this boat a friend told me I had better bring my toolbox. He was right.

I’m seriously reconsidering my purchase and hope this post serves as a warning to others thinking about this brand. If you do buy, go into it with your eyes wide open and bring your toolbox.

 

[JMarshallR25]

I have a brand new 2026 R25.

Overall, I like the boat. I wish I loved it.

The quality control coming from the factory isn’t good on this boat. Within the first month, the depth finder stopped working. This is a common issue on these boats and Fluid Motion has to know about it but hasn’t fixed the issue. Not a big deal, I fixed it myself. The stereo on this boat was absolute junk. I honestly would rather they have just left a hole in the dash for me to put a new unit in. The stereo stopped working in the first week of ownership. I replaced and upgraded. Now onto the many electrical gremlins. I’ve had many issued with the inverter and the GFCI tripping. The dealership replaced the unit and it still kept tripping. They finally looked at wiring in other parts of the boat and found that many connections were loose, including those on the Lithium batteries. They went through and tightened everything and it worked…for awhile. Today on the boat, the GFCI on the inverter keeps tripping when I try to turn on the port side outlets. It trips even with no load. I’m sure there is a wire somewhere in the bowels of this thing that is loose. There are other, smaller issues, but these are the most irritating and are clearly simply a case of poor quality control.

Most of these things are minor and I’m sure someone will jump into the comments and give me some garbage line about owning boats and expecting stuff like this. This if the fifth boat I’ve owned and the second I’ve purchased new. I’ve had more issue with this boat that I spend $200k on than any of my other previous boats.

I remember when I bought this boat a friend told me I had better bring my toolbox. He was right.

I’m seriously reconsidering my purchase and hope this post serves as a warning to others thinking about this brand. If you do buy, go into it with your eyes wide open and bring your toolbox.

Glad you like the boat! Sounds like you've resolved your minor issues, except for the inverter tripping. Is it tripping on shore power or off? Maybe check the connection of the ground wire to the inverter. The R25's included stereo is not great. I replaced with a TD50 that fit nicely in the spot. The actual stereo is a Fusion hideaway. Hope you continue to enjoy the boat and the projects. It's fun learning the systems, how everything is put together, and how to make upgrades and tweaks. There is a lot of great content on this forum for boat upgrades.

 

[scross]

Welcome to the age of post-COViD poor quality control. It’s not just boats. Think travel trailers, 5th wheels and Class C & A motor homes. Quality control disappeared industry wide in 2020.
By now you would think quality construction would have been restored to pre-COVID levels. Nothing I read supports that.
The manufactures just want to get product out the door and let dealers deal with the problems. Some dealers are decent but many are overwhelmed by both the volume of warranty work and poor reimbursement practices from the manufacturers.
If you are not happy with your RT I dare you to find ANY manufacturer who is delivering an exceptional quality product today.
I buy used per-COVID with detailed professional surveys to know what I’m getting.

 

[OverTime]

Plus, the boat building process isn't completely robotically automated like a lot of manufacturing is these days. The human element is still very high, hence, quality control is more hit and miss. (A lot of miss these days.) It also raises the price of the "finished" product.

 

[venajeff]

As an engineer, when designing any system, there are three main considerations when sourcing components. Lead time, price, and quality. If a component isn't available then it doesn't matter it's price or quality. If its price is to high it doesn't matter it's quality.
You try to choose the best of the bunch that are available, but testing each individual one through real world wear testing is generally unfeasible.
I always try to put myself in the shoes of the person or people trying their best to design and build anything I purchase. It's difficult, stressful, and mostly unrewarding. Customers like to focus on the mistakes and faults.
My feeling is always the same, if someone thinks they can design and build the perfect product, please do it, I will be first in line to purchase it.

 

[T-Bone]

As an engineer, when designing any system, there are three main considerations when sourcing components. Lead time, price, and quality. If a component isn't available then it doesn't matter it's price or quality. If its price is to high it doesn't matter it's quality.
You try to choose the best of the bunch that are available, but testing each individual one through real world wear testing is generally unfeasible.
I always try to put myself in the shoes of the person or people trying their best to design and build anything I purchase. It's difficult, stressful, and mostly unrewarding. Customers like to focus on the mistakes and faults.
My feeling is always the same, if someone thinks they can design and build the perfect product, please do it, I will be first in line to purchase it.

I was waiting for the Fluid Motion white knight! How about tightening nuts and bolts? Is that too much to ask? How can other manufacturers produce a product that actually works when it is delivered? Is that too much to ask as well?

 

[T-Bone]

As an engineer, when designing any system, there are three main considerations when sourcing components. Lead time, price, and quality. If a component isn't available then it doesn't matter it's price or quality. If its price is to high it doesn't matter it's quality.
You try to choose the best of the bunch that are available, but testing each individual one through real world wear testing is generally unfeasible.
I always try to put myself in the shoes of the person or people trying their best to design and build anything I purchase. It's difficult, stressful, and mostly unrewarding. Customers like to focus on the mistakes and faults.
My feeling is always the same, if someone thinks they can design and build the perfect product, please do it, I will be first in line to purchase it.

Also, my car that I just purchased has been perfect. Everything has worked exactly as advertised. Is that impossible???

 

[T-Bone]

I know exactly what type of customer you are, and I am sure you were waiting for my response.

I'm the kind of customer who expects to pay almost $200k for something and have it work! Crazy right?

 

[venajeff]

I completely understand your frustration. But do remember that vehicles are mass produced and are in a totally different league. That said I have had major issues with brand new $50k vehicles before. And as for expensive purchases, I have heard horror stories about people purchasing brand new homes worth over one million dollars that are plagued with problems.
I just feel like this forum should be used to find and focus on solutions.

 

[OverTime]

I too have a boat that is less than a year old. I have fixed a few issues. Every vessel I have ever dealt with, from my first homemade raft to a US Navy aircraft carrier, to my current R-29 has had things that need to be addressed. It's the nature of the beast. I have found though that the more I "tear into" my Ranger Tug, the more connected I feel with it. It helps to build confidence in the systems and an ability to fix them when needed. I predict that the longer you have your tug it will truly become "yours" and you will end up loving it...not just liking it.

 

[venajeff]

As to your issues with the GFCI outlet. GFCI outlets have tormented me for the last 30 years. I am so frustrated by them that I often feel like death by electrocution is an acceptable alternative. I wish you the best of luck getting it resolved.

 

[T-Bone]

I agree. Those things are challenging. I had to have several replaced in my home. I’m sorry if I came off too harsh earlier. I’m frustrated, but that doesn’t give me the right to criticize someone else. My apologies.

 

[venajeff]

No need to apologize. I have been in the frustrated tent so many times I can't count. I am sure you will get your issues resolved and then in the future when someone has the same issue you are going to be a hero when you tell them the solution.
In my experience, my Ranger Tug is not perfect, but overall I am very impressed with the thought and care that went into creating it.

 

[venajeff]

I don't know if you want to try to fault find your problem on your own or have your dealer address it. But if it was my boat I would find which circuit is causing the GFCI to trip, and then do a thorough inspection of each of those outlets or devices. Any dust, lent, or spider's web on those terminals can be enough to trigger a GFCI when the humidity is high enough. Which could explain why the issue seems to be intermittent.

 

[Sam Bisset]

Hi T-bone. We're sorry that this has been a frustrating experience. One of our customer service team members is going to give you a call shortly if they haven't already. I'm also going to reach out to your dealer to see where they can help. Please don't ever hesitate to reach out to our office if there is anything we can assist with (253) 839-5213. Our goal is for you to love your boat!

 

[T-Bone]

Big props to Fluid Motion. I received a call from them a little while ago and we are working through the issue. They are also reaching out to the dealer to help. I’ve got to admit, this is a level of customer service I didn’t expect. Again, much appreciation to Fluid Motion for their efforts to make things right!

 

[William Sanborn]

Have not had a new boat, and most of the bugs were worked out of used boats that we purchased. But I spent 40 plus years in Equipment Dealerships and have delivered many hundreds of pieces of new equipment to Customer and have always insisted that my shop did a complete PDI, because we understood the Manufacture just assembled. There are Monday and Friday units also that require special attention, and assembly lines move, one example We delt with was the time allowed to paint a Truck lay out design and each color for a total of 15 minutes. We repainted, or buffed out a lot of trucks prior to delivery to our Customer.
So if your purchasing a new Boat make sure the Dealer does more than wipe it down, and that they test all the system, and a complete sea trial.

 

[BB marine]

I have a brand new 2026 R25.

Overall, I like the boat. I wish I loved it.

The quality control coming from the factory isn’t good on this boat. Within the first month, the depth finder stopped working. This is a common issue on these boats and Fluid Motion has to know about it but hasn’t fixed the issue. Not a big deal, I fixed it myself. The stereo on this boat was absolute junk. I honestly would rather they have just left a hole in the dash for me to put a new unit in. The stereo stopped working in the first week of ownership. I replaced and upgraded. Now onto the many electrical gremlins. I’ve had many issued with the inverter and the GFCI tripping. The dealership replaced the unit and it still kept tripping. They finally looked at wiring in other parts of the boat and found that many connections were loose, including those on the Lithium batteries. They went through and tightened everything and it worked…for awhile. Today on the boat, the GFCI on the inverter keeps tripping when I try to turn on the port side outlets. It trips even with no load. I’m sure there is a wire somewhere in the bowels of this thing that is loose. There are other, smaller issues, but these are the most irritating and are clearly simply a case of poor quality control.

Most of these things are minor and I’m sure someone will jump into the comments and give me some garbage line about owning boats and expecting stuff like this. This if the fifth boat I’ve owned and the second I’ve purchased new. I’ve had more issue with this boat that I spend $200k on than any of my other previous boats.

I remember when I bought this boat a friend told me I had better bring my toolbox. He was right.

I’m seriously reconsidering my purchase and hope this post serves as a warning to others thinking about this brand. If you do buy, go into it with your eyes wide open and bring your toolbox.

I was a TugNut for a number of years. I purchased a NEW 2016 C26 Cutwater. I was excited when I purchased a PNW well designed and manufactured boat. Looking from the outside in it was the perfect boat. After owning it for a season my punch list of missed quality control items was several pages long. I discussed this with customer service representatives at Fluid Motion. When discussed , this involved several phone calls, emails, text messages and messages through this forum. Many are probably still available to read and see in my photo album. The common topic I had with the representatives was Quality Control! QC was in almost every email, text or phone call. I was continually assured that this was the goal of Fluid Motion, a work in progress QC. The representatives were always polite and helpful and apologetic to my issues. I tried to return my opinions in a polite and helpful way. There were times I was asked to tone my opinions down but it was rare to have my post removed. I did believe that Fluid Motion as a whole was listening and reading complaints about Quality Control.

Your comment :

This if the fifth boat I’ve owned and the second I’ve purchased new. I’ve had more issue with this boat that I spend $200k on than any of my other previous boats.

This was my comment over and over. I had owned and repaired many used boats that had far less issues than my New C26. After selling my C26 I purchased a 20 year old Mainship Pilot 34, The quality of the Gel coat and wiring was better than my New C26 the day I took delivery of it. I purchased the boat, did a general maintenance program that would be expected to do to a 20 year old boat, threw the lines and did a 14 month trip (Great Loop) without issue or making a repair. The 20 year old boat had far less maintenance requirements than my new Cutwater did.

2016 to 2021 of ownership and being a frequent forum poster to Tugnuts. Fluid Motion went from being a small boat manufacture to a larger player in the industry having three different boat lines and more boats on the water today compared to 2016. My assumption was the QC issues were under control. Are they better? I hope so! I do know that I have had many emails and phone since moving on from Past and Present Tug and Cut owners that have read my post or comments on TugNuts. Most of these Tug and Cut owners common comments mirror your post. They love their boat ( The boats are awesome looking boats) but are very disappointed in the quality and say they get more help from talking with me on the phone or email than they do from the manufacture. While I know that this is a exaggerated. The reason they are saying this is because they are disappointed in the QC. At some point this will start to hurt a boat manufacture. I have seen many boat manufactures over the years come in strong and are no longer in production. Fluid motion has been building boats for about 20 years. They build a unique niche vessel. I hope they read complaints like yours and take it to the administration building and discuss how theycan improve QC. Building for demand still requires Quality control.

I am still an avid boater and see many Rangers and Cutwaters on the water. I still think they are awesome looking boats. I enjoyed my Cutwater but I can honestly say I'm glad I moved on.
Just being honest.

Enjoy your Ranger. I understand your frustration as many I'm sure do. Once you get through all the issues and fix the things that are a disappointment. You will find a lot of enjoyment. I did enjoy my Cutwater. As you can tell from my post It was a new boat purchase that I will never repeat.

The photo below was a happy day. The day I sold it.

 

[OverTime]

I was a TugNut for a number of years. I purchased a NEW 2016 C26 Cutwater. I was excited when I purchased a PNW well designed and manufactured boat. Looking from the outside in it was the perfect boat. After owning it for a season my punch list of missed quality control items was several pages long. I discussed this with customer service representatives at Fluid Motion. When discussed , this involved several phone calls, emails, text messages and messages through this forum. Many are probably still available to read and see in my photo album. The common topic I had with the representatives was Quality Control! QC was in almost every email, text or phone call. I was continually assured that this was the goal of Fluid Motion, a work in progress QC. The representatives were always polite and helpful and apologetic to my issues. I tried to return my opinions in a polite and helpful way. There were times I was asked to tone my opinions down but it was rare to have my post removed. I did believe that Fluid Motion as a whole was listening and reading complaints about Quality Control.

Your comment :

This if the fifth boat I’ve owned and the second I’ve purchased new. I’ve had more issue with this boat that I spend $200k on than any of my other previous boats.

This was my comment over and over. I had owned and repaired many used boats that had far less issues than my New C26. After selling my C26 I purchased a 20 year old Mainship Pilot 34, The quality of the Gel coat and wiring was better than my New C26 the day I took delivery of it. I purchased the boat, did a general maintenance program that would be expected to do to a 20 year old boat, threw the lines and did a 14 month trip (Great Loop) without issue or making a repair. The 20 year old boat had far less maintenance requirements than my new Cutwater did.

2016 to 2021 of ownership and being a frequent forum poster to Tugnuts. Fluid Motion went from being a small boat manufacture to a larger player in the industry having three different boat lines and more boats on the water today compared to 2016. My assumption was the QC issues were under control. Are they better? I hope so! I do know that I have had many emails and phone since moving on from Past and Present Tug and Cut owners that have read my post or comments on TugNuts. Most of these Tug and Cut owners common comments mirror your post. They love their boat ( The boats are awesome looking boats) but are very disappointed in the quality and say they get more help from talking with me on the phone or email than they do from the manufacture. While I know that this is a exaggerated. The reason they are saying this is because they are disappointed in the QC. At some point this will start to hurt a boat manufacture. I have seen many boat manufactures over the years come in strong and are no longer in production. Fluid motion has been building boats for about 20 years. They build a unique niche vessel. I hope they read complaints like yours and take it to the administration building and discuss how theycan improve QC. Building for demand still requires Quality control.

I am still an avid boater and see many Rangers and Cutwaters on the water. I still think they are awesome looking boats. I enjoyed my Cutwater but I can honestly say I'm glad I moved on.
Just being honest.

Enjoy your Ranger. I understand your frustration as many I'm sure do. Once you get through all the issues and fix the things that are a disappointment. You will find a lot of enjoyment. I did enjoy my Cutwater. As you can tell from my post It was a new boat purchase that I will never repeat.

The photo below was a happy day. The day I sold it.

Great post.
Ironically, I started out looking at 20 yr. old boats. There were a lot of things I liked about about the designs and there were more options as far as trawlers are concerned. The problem was the older boats had "more" problems than I wanted to deal with so I figured, "I'll just buy new" and I won't have to worry about it for awhile. HeHe. Sure. I do love my boat though.

 

[HookedUp]

I just got my Ranger R-27 and to date it's fine. Of course I've had other boats both used and new. I won't name brands, but my new 2003 27' boat went back to the factory twice for hull problems. The issue was severe and in my opinion dangerous. In addition on that boat I had to replace both outdrives and one engine over the course of a few years, so I bought another new boat to replace the money pit. No real issues, but some design issues. I couldn't reach the seacock and several other items that you should be able to access. Next boat was a 2018. On that one I had to sign an NDA, so I can't discuss that problem. Let's just say they changed their manufacturing process to avoid any repeats.
So far (about 1 week into it) I've found a few things that could be improved, but nothing too dramatic. I'm replacing the radar this week, but it's a choice. Previous boat I had installed a Garmin 24" Fantom radar and the 18" HD is nowhere near close to what the Fantom could do. Only drawback is I'll be limited to an 18", but I think I can put up with that. The 'GPS store' is only a few miles from me and I'll drop by today and pick it up if they have one in stock.