Boat lemon laws...

I know that california has a car lemon law, and I'm wondering if perhaps there might be somethign similar to boats.
The situation: We have an 01 Mastercraft 230VRS and the gas guage has been messed up since day 1. boat's been in the shop about 6 and still no improvement. Just this weekend it showed 1/4 full... and was completely empty. Any way we can force SkiWorld USA (the place we bought it from) to do something that will actually help? we want to sell/trade in this boat and get a more wake-oriented one.

Have you ever seen a boat gas gauge work? I have yet to see one that works properly. Many people use their hour meter to track GPH. Also many fuel tanks are opaque so you can see the actual fuel level.

Unreal. Lemon law for a gas gauge?

My BU has never ever had a good gas gauge. It reads full until you are 1/2 full and then it drops to empty when 1/4 full.

If you dislike the boat, sell it and get a different one.

Not sure if automotive lemon laws apply to boats, but with cars, you must have cause to invoke it within the first twelve months of ownership and even then it's difficult to prove... so I don't think you have any recourse at this point due to the boat's age...

I wasn't real happy with my gas guage either. I did some work on my sending unit and it is much better, but the real fix for me was to install a fuel flow guage.. a digital 2 1/4" guage that tells you how much fuel you have left, and how much you have used. I think its much better than a tank guage because it accurately measures flow (usage). Only thing is you have to remember to reset it when you fill up or it doesn't know your tank is full again. But I have to reset the computer in my blazer when I fill it up so its pretty much the same. I use it in addition to the standard fuel guage. I just trust it more. too much motion in a boat. Gas rolls to the front of the tank and then floods all to the back every time you take off. This is why my particular tank sender tells me I have anywhere from 1/4 to full depending on my acceleration.

I like the thought of what you are doing Charlie but on a modern fuel injected boat the unused fuel is returned to the fuel tank by the fuel pressure regulator. This means a flow measuring device would have to subtract what is returned to the tank in order to have an accurate reading.

Peter. I have a 2002 Volvo-Penta engine. It has a small holding tank fed from the low pressure pump and the high pressure pump recirculates to and from that, nothing is returned to the fuel tank once it goes past the low pressure pump. I guess I am lucky in this design since it made it simple to add the guage.

I wasn't sure what defects would be covered under a lemon law for boats, if one existed.
matt - you're probably right. I was just checking all options before doing anything.
Peter - If you're paying over 30k for a boat, don't you think you're entitled to a working gas gauge?

Ittai, I don't care what you pay for a boat, the gas gauges are notorious for nto working well. Could be all the bouncing that happens compared to a car on the highway.

I've owned boats since the seventies and none of the gas gauges really work well.

A flow meter does help if you want to go that route.

Charlie, what kind of boat do you have? Ive never heard of a marine Volvo engine.

Andrew, I've got a Volvo Penta engine as well in my 2003 Larson 190SF boat.. It's acutally a Chevy engine, but Volvo just puts their name on it.

I dont think i've been on any boat yet that has a reliable gas gauge. Some might be better than others but none of the ones i've seen are true. But hey, if you can get your 01 mastercraft returned on lemon law let me know cuz then I'll just trade my boat in every year or 2 because of my bad gas gauge.