Ouch, my Supra Limited Hull Warranty is Worthless

I read quite a few threads over here, but do not post that much on WW.

Here is my recent discussion with SC. File this under the category of someone thinking they had LIMITED (hull) WARRANTY, but I found out today, I do not.

Not too happy with the *****ty work from the SC factory and SC telling me they will NOT help out.

This past month I was having some ‘thermal cracks’ repaired on my transom. Cosmetic work, nothing wrong with the structure and I was not looking at SC to be involved, just wanted to keep my boat looking nice.



While the fiberglass shop was repairing the small thermal cracks (the same shop the local SC dealer uses for warranty work), they also were going to repair a few cracks where the swim platform brackets meet the transom. Once they removed the brackets and ground-down the cracks, they found ‘voids’. Thus once the void was exposed, they had to grind more and more. Voids in the glass/core did not bond. !! Defect in the manufacturing process when the glass was rolled on !! The cracks on the lower transom are due to these voids in the core/glass. I’m glad water did not get water. No water damage. This is one pic:



I wanted to follow the correct steps and let SC know about my hull issue. So I followed up with my local dealer. Then we got SC involved. Pictures, phone calls, etc, etc.

I talk to SC today and hear my news:
I have a May 2007 Supra - Orig sold date to the first owner. I’m the second owner. Warranties can transfer to second owners.
I purchased the boat back in May 2012.
According the SC and for the limited warranty to be transferred: “ . . . . during a period of two (2) years from the Original Purchase Date”. I was on the phone with them and I also looked it up in my 2007 Owner’s Manual. Surprise. Surprise.

So for my boat and the HULL WARRANTY to work, the boat needed to be sold and transferred by May 2009.
I did not buy the boat until May of 2012.
Thus, no hull warranty for me. Not now and not in the future.

So the moral of my story is
1) To people that are reading - If you want to know your warranty, better check out the FINE PRINT by what year you have and what is listed in the manual. I learned.
2) To the SC Factory – nice work!!!
3) To the SC Office - you are correct to stand by what you have listed in the warranty and NOT your work or product. Nice job!!! But thanks for the apology on the call today. When it comes time to switching boats in the next year or so, my local MC and BU dealers loved talking with me at the boat show. A SA will not be in the cards - new or used.

You might slow down and re-read your post. It is full of errors so really hard to follow to get the idea of the story. Couple questions...
-You bought the boat used from the original owner?
-Did you buy it from a SC dealer or the owner?
-Did you have warranties transferred at the time of the purchase? Only an SC dealer can do that

Those questions are kind of pertinent to follow along and make sure you have a valid claim here. Also, did you check with the previous owner to make sure he had not had any gel/fiberglass repairs in that area? It almost looks like a previous repair from the pics, but hard to tell.

Not trying to harp on you, but want to get the full story on it before you drag SC name through the mud. They have always been known as one of the most stand up companies in the industry and hopefully you can get your problem resolved.

10 y/o boat that has changed hands at least twice and been through who knows what? I don't blame them.

2nd owner. Purchased from orig owner.

Originally Posted by SurfBoard

2nd owner. Purchased from orig owner.

Orig owner owned from 2007 to 2012.
I purchased in 2012.

Originally Posted by tyler97217

You might slow down and re-read your post. It is full of errors so really hard to follow to get the idea of the story. Couple questions...
-You bought the boat used from the original owner?
-Did you buy it from a SC dealer or the owner?
-Did you have warranties transferred at the time of the purchase? Only an SC dealer can do that

Those questions are kind of pertinent to follow along and make sure you have a valid claim here. Also, did you check with the previous owner to make sure he had not had any gel/fiberglass repairs in that area? It almost looks like a previous repair from the pics, but hard to tell.

Not trying to harp on you, but want to get the full story on it before you drag SC name through the mud. They have always been known as one of the most stand up companies in the industry and hopefully you can get your problem resolved.

Good points. Purchased from owner.
The boat did not not have glass work done in the past. I asked that same question.

You are not answering a very key question..

DID YOU TRANSFER THE WARRANTY WHEN YOU PURCHASED IT? It would have had to be done by a dealer and you should have receipts. If not, you don't have a warranty and SC never inspected the boat when it was sold to make sure of its present condition.... Can you blame them? The previous owner could have trashed it.

Can you get more pics of the transom from different angles. That gel coat does not look factory, but hard to see in the pics.. I am betting there was previous damage repair there

Originally Posted by tyler97217

You are not answering a very key question..

DID YOU TRANSFER THE WARRANTY WHEN YOU PURCHASED IT? It would have had to be done by a dealer and you should have receipts. If not, you don't have a warranty and SC never inspected the boat when it was sold to make sure of its present condition.... Can you blame them? The previous owner could have trashed it.

Could not b/c the warranty was only able to be transferred up to 2 years past the orig purchase date.

So you are saying that you purchased it in 2012 used and you were aware that the warranty would not transfer? Not sure what you are upset about....

If you try and say that you were not aware that it would not transfer, then you just caught yourself not ever trying to transfer the warranty when you purchased it cause that would have been disclosed then.
It just is not adding up here. I am by no means sticking up for SC here, but it is not fair to have people like yourself coming on to smear brands names just to try and get free work done on your boat that is not warranted. I really hope you get it taken care of, but you are not handling the situation in a respectable manner.

Originally Posted by tyler97217

So you are saying that you purchased it in 2012 used and you were aware that the warranty would not transfer? Not sure what you are upset about....

If you try and say that you were not aware that it would not transfer, then you just caught yourself not ever trying to transfer the warranty when you purchased it cause that would have been disclosed then.
It just is not adding up here. I am by no means sticking up for SC here, but it is not fair to have people like yourself coming on to smear brands names just to try and get free work done on your boat that is not warranted. I really hope you get it taken care of, but you are not handling the situation in a respectable manner.

I'm paying the bill and always planned to once they started grinding the cracks. That is why I put aside the money for that repair this year.

I'm still pissed the boat had the voids on the transom. Because of that it will at least double the repair cost.

Thus, the glass shop asked if I was the orig owner or the warranty from SC would cover the add'l work and materials. So I followed up and found out the warranty was only able to transfer up to 2 years after orig purchase date for a 2007.

Much like anyone else on here, just trying to keep my boat looking the best I can.

And I did not know about the transfer warranty process, but it's a mute point b/c I purchased the boat 4-5 years old.

Once I started the repair process, I pay for the surprises I find. This is what I found on my boat.

Gel voids are actually fairly common, I had a 2014 24 MXZ with so many voids Malibu bought it back! I replaced it with a 2015 24 MXZ, it had a couple of very small voids nothing crazy like your pictures. My 2014, I had holes form in the gel big enough to put your finger in!

Get it fixed and flip it. Make it someone else's problem like the previous seller did to you. Warmer days are upon us so it will sell.

Originally Posted by Darkside

Gel voids are actually fairly common, I had a 2014 24 MXZ with so many voids Malibu bought it back! I replaced it with a 2015 24 MXZ, it had a couple of very small voids nothing crazy like your pictures. My 2014, I had holes form in the gel big enough to put your finger in!

The cracks in my gel did not go through. They got longer and longer each year by bolts on the lower swim platform.

Most of the guys that work in this shop have worked for a wake boat company (TN). They could explain how and when it happens in the build process.

My boat was nothing compared to the other not-so-good stories they had. Probably like your situation. Yikes.

Originally Posted by tyler97217

Can you get more pics of the transom from different angles. That gel coat does not look factory, but hard to see in the pics.. I am betting there was previous damage repair there

No previous damage. Per pics from the glass shop, sent to the dealer, sent to SC.
Nobody was questioning that.

I understand people will question that here.

He's plainly stating the voids are from the factory. The factory is saying because you didn't dot your i's and cross your t's we can't help. End of story. He won't buy another SC product because of it. That's his right. What I love about Wakeworld is the owner is always at fault until they prove otherwise. The Manufacturer is always given an out until they are properly convicted. Lol

Originally Posted by cwb4me

He's plainly stating the voids are from the factory. The factory is saying because you didn't dot your i's and cross your t's we can't help. End of story. He won't buy another SC product because of it. That's his right. What I love about Wakeworld is the owner is always at fault until they prove otherwise. The Manufacturer is always given an out until they are properly convicted. Lol

So true, I would like to see the opposite sometimes: the manufacturer is at fault unless proven otherwise.

I think boat owners put so much money in their boats that they will do anything to make sure nothing will endanger the resell. Part of this anything is denying everyone who comes with a bad story about a manufacturer.

Exactly what i would said haha.
But the thing is.. if im planning to buy a used boat that still have a warranty. First thing I'm gonna do is check if any major repairs are listed on the boat history, how much owner and Make sure all is completely transferred!
It's a sad story for sure.. and i understand the guy who would never bought from Supra again. It's his choice but personally I would not blame the manufacturer for my mistakes.
I'm pretty sure that same story with any other dealer would had the same end..

Originally Posted by cwb4me

He's plainly stating the voids are from the factory. The factory is saying because you didn't dot your i's and cross your t's we can't help. End of story. He won't buy another SC product because of it. That's his right. What I love about Wakeworld is the owner is always at fault until they prove otherwise. The Manufacturer is always given an out until they are properly convicted. Lol

I expected to be called a liar, it's WW. How's the story go, "post pics or it didn' t happen".

Brand loyalty is big for me too. Always been on SC boats and that is why I bought one.

Companies have to have to draw lines. Maybe it would be different if I heard, "we cannot help you out with the warranty or the repair dollars, but be can . . . . . ????" . . . . i do not know, throw down a can of gel? Sell me the repair supplies at cost?

To the point someone was trying to make that here on W/W that the "Owner is at fault and the factory always gets a pass"

I see where you are comming from but let me add this. Many times the person that is posting on W/W is a person with little to no posting history (this makes them suspect) but just like this guy many people are long time users here on w/w but don't post. Some people don't lay out all the facts or provide pictures Ect and that's when the train comes off the track and that's where I see your point of the factory gets a pass. IMO people posting a problem (like the one above) only have 1 chance in their first post to get it right. All the facts and all the pics Ect, other wise it seems like 1/2 the people tune-out or have made up their mind. So it's important for people calling out factory's and dealers to be ready to be called out and be quick to provide evidence of their claim.

Back to the Orignal topic, I had no trouble understanding this guys 1st post. He listed everything and I understand. My 2c is he is not looking for anything he is just posting a public service announcement that. Know what your warranty covers read the fine print. Me thinks he bout the boat thinking he was covered and when he found out he had bigger issues he "then" wanted to involve his warranty and that's when he found out it was worthless and he was just venting. He said he knew in his first post if his warranty was to be any good it would have had to be transferred to him in 2009 when he didn't even own the boat. His point was supras Fiberglass warranty is only good for 2 years after the Orignal sale in 2007. So if your buying a Used Supra thinking you have a hull warranty and it's more then 2 years old your out of luck

Regardless of the warranty process I think its total BS when there is a clear manufacturing defect and the customer is left to fix something that never should have happened in the first place . Maybe Im just old school and I think you should stand behind your work .

I totally agree with some of your sentiments and I did not mean to "jump naked" on him, but before the post went off the track on blame it is important to state all the facts before we start pointing blame. I did not mean to come off as the agitator, but had to be specific about questions that needed to be answered. All manufacturers have issues that pop up for sure. I have always seen SC stand behind their product more so than most, but like any other warranty there is a process that each manufacturer asks you to follow to transfer the warranty and allow them to inspect the boat as warranty transfers to guard against a previous owner inflicting the damage. This is not unique to SC. Malibu, MC, Nautique, Centurion, MB, etc do the same thing. Yeah I defend SC cause they have treated me right and other SC owners, but to be 100% honest, if this started off as a Malibu, MC, etc then my post would have said the exact same thing. It is just fair to state all the facts up front. As others have said people just use this site as a place to bash and hope to get things done for free. Others are just sharing info. It is hard to separate those posts sometimes. I for one, definitely hope he gets his issue fixed at a reasonable rate. Good luck and again sorry if I came off negative or as the agitator...

Just to put things in perspective. My other boat (I will leave out the brand & the Dealer ) I had some serious Dealer caused Dammage. The dealer F"d up
My boat big time. And when things were not getting fixed they started pointing at the manufacturer. The dealer did provide some proof that the manufacturer was dropping the ball not providing the parts & infact shipping wrong and or damaged parts. So knowing what I know about how to post a thread when your gonna call someone out (listing all the facts and providing proof) and because I was a long time trusted member on this "other website" I thought it would be received. Pfffffft this website deleted my post and told me if I posted that information or talked about it they would delete me as a User!!!! Yup I was like (this would never happen on W/W)
This other website I'm taking about is a manufacturer run website, they control and sensor the content. What you are left with is a website that's strictly for the Brand cheerleaders and people that will defend the brand even when they are 100% in the wrong

This thread should be retitled "Ouch, I thought I had a warranty till I actually read it" or "Thinking you have a warranty isn't nearly as useful as having one" or something like that.

OP finds defect, seeks warranty service, discovers he doesn't have a warranty, pays to fix himself. Kinda like how the world works?

It would of ended the same way with most brands to be honest, they have written warranties to be able to get out of situations when they can when NEW...
So saying you will never buy a SC brand boat is a jab at them for you not doing your homework before purchase? I see no reason for the post besides your mad it's gonna cost you more than you anticipated.. Then found out what someone "told you" about the hull warranty wasn't true but you had no clue until you wanted to use it... It is a 10 year old boat with a "Limited Warranty" New and you thought 10 years later they would just say "yeah we will fix it"?

I do feel for you as it sucks when something happens to our boats that is out of our control..