Interesting service bulletin from Mercury Racing

[Magicfloat]

Any blue motors that were invoiced to boat builder 3 years prior to retail sale will have no warranty.Over 8.5 litre,2 years from invoice,no warranty. With the market like it is,I'm sure there some new boats out there that will fall into this catagory. While I understand Merc's reasoning on one hand,sure is going to make it hard for the dealer to sell a brand new 2 or 3 year old boat if the engines will be sold "as-is". Fortunately,I don't have any that will be affected,but I'll bet there are some out there. Seems unfair to me,what do y'all think?

 

[Bgchuby01]

just another way of mercury saying they are broke

 

[HPOffshore]

Some of the marine diesel manufacturers(bigger inboards) are starting the warranty-clock ticking at a certain pre-determined time after dealer invoicing, regardless of the unit being retail sold or not.

 

[MattBMiller]

That's probably going to make alot of dealers think twice before ordering a boat for inventory....

 

[Davidmnc]

That's probably going to make alot of dealers think twice before ordering a boat for inventory....

Dealers are going to have to attach after market warranties to there aged inventory in order to get customers to take these older units. It’s hard to sell aged inventory to begin with. In the current market dealers are discounting no-so aged inventory like never before, and that makes 2-3 yo units that much harder to sell. At least that is what is going on in the RV world. Our friends in the boat bus can confirm if they are doing the same thing.

 

[J.T.]

8.5 liter and above means 850 and up,
.....how many of these new pieces do boat manufacturers
and dealers have lying around ?....I wouldn't think
it would be as common to have them sitting around
as say it would be to have the 502 based engines.

 

[Bradz]

Something to consider is this. How many time do we see boat never titled yet driven. Dealers use boats all the time for Poker Runs that Mercury is on the hook for. Then the boat is sold with the warranty. Lots of games are played on warranty time frames. When time are tight I can see why Mercury is doing this. If dealer has not sold a boat in two or three years that is a problem of another nature anyway.

 

[Chris]

I wonder if this conflicts with federal and state laws governing warranties?

 

[Magicfloat]

Wondered about that myself. The warranty for each product is printed and available to prospective buyers. But maybe Merc can change them anytime,it's their engine. However,if I bought a blue motor boat 3 years ago and have not sold it yet,shouldn't it still have the warranty it had when I bought it,1 year from retail sale?Merc may or may not be on firm legal ground,but it is still a poor marketing decision,IMO

 

[Marginmn]

Makes you wonder if they are seeing much higher warranty issues on engines that sit idle for years before being sold?

 

[Sean H]

i'd be surprised if the orginal contract didn't already have some sort of time limit already (I am sure merc has some good attorneys reviewing their contracts), maybe they are just enforcing it now? but really, where do you draw the line? 3 years? 5 years? 10 years?

and what happens to the valve springs that sit compressed for 3 years in that 1075?

 

[Wrinkleface]

BS, buyer looses again in an already stirred up industry & poor country economy!! I know of dealers that have driven the Chit out of a "demo boat" and not start the warranty until a customer took delivery!! That may need 2 B looked into! Can't disagree there! But in an expensive & elective market, I think Merc is given themselves a beer enema!!! More people & manufacturers should B look'n at other companies 4 engines if possible! U would almost think the opposite, give an extended period an get or keep a customer!!! Not screw somebody 4 buy'n a "NEW" boat!!!!!

 

[HPBoats83]

I agree, I think this is total Bull S. I think that it's going to start hurting the manufacturers more then anybody. The way that I see things happening are:

1) Manufacture builds a boat for inventory, doesn't sell due to economy or other factors, then one day,

2) Customer finally wants to buy a new boat, but wants a full warranty and forces manufacture to replace the engine in the inventory boat with one that has a full warranty. Atleast that's what I would do if I was to purchase a new boat, or I would look to a different manufacture/dealer.

 

[Offshoredrillin]

8.5 liter and above means 850 and up,
.....how many of these new pieces do boat manufacturers
and dealers have lying around ?....I wouldn't think
it would be as common to have them sitting around
as say it would be to have the 502 based engines.

I think it means 500/525's and up. my 496 in my truck is an 8.1

 

[Magicfloat]

Up to 8.2 blue motors,3 years,8.5 and up,2 years. Doesn't affect black motors,as far as I know.

 

[Wrinkleface]

Up to 8.2 blue motors,3 years,8.5 and up,2 years. Doesn't affect black motors,as far as I know.

It sounds like motor racism 2 me!!!!!:smilielol5:

 

[Magicfloat]

 

[inbetween]

give an extended period an get or keep a customer!!!

I see this practice all the time at the auto dealer I work for. This has to affect the bottom line of the manufacturer, they're footing that bill. I wonder how this practice has affected the state of the auto industry.

 

[stainless]

Any blue motors that were invoiced to boat builder 3 years prior to retail sale will have no warranty.Over 8.5 litre,2 years from invoice,no warranty. With the market like it is,I'm sure there some new boats out there that will fall into this catagory. While I understand Merc's reasoning on one hand,sure is going to make it hard for the dealer to sell a brand new 2 or 3 year old boat if the engines will be sold "as-is". Fortunately,I don't have any that will be affected,but I'll bet there are some out there. Seems unfair to me,what do y'all think?

Sounds like Bullchit to me!:03::dupe::boxing_smiley:

 

[BOJOE2]

that suuuks