california boat lemon law

does anyone know about a boat lemon law in the state of california?

Johhny - hey whats going on with your boat?????? I though you had it all fixed

nope
ultimate sucks im taken em down

Wow, this isn't a very positive thread especially considering you own the boat we were thinking of getting for next year.

Ouch....

"ultimate sucks im taken em down"

Good luck Johnny. You're not the first to express discontent with Copes.

Can you share some of the trouble with your boat? Major stuff going on or what?

I know Johnny was having some major issues with his transmission/engine. Thought they made it right. John I would go right ot Malibu.

I went to Malibu w/problems ive been trying to taken care of on my 06 VLX ... skins, dash... cosmetic stuff... poor customer service ( 10 months now ) ...didnt help ... but good luck

bad bob.. did you contact Malibu directly? if so they should respond quickly, or at least I would think so.

my buddy had his prop strut on his 05 XTI shear off the bolts and the prop went into the hull. Almost sunk the boat. When he took it in to cope's they were not surprised to see that had happened. They had seen it before, they used a lower grade bolt and were not putting any loc tight on the nuts. So this has hapened September, now here its almost the middle of January and the boat is still at cope's (been there sience it happened) and they havent even started on the repair yet. They said it would only thake 3 to 4 weeks and he would have his boat back.
Another buddy of mine Ski's for Malibu, and he brings his boat all the way back to the factory to get serviced and warranty work done. Due to Cope's jacking him around, and he's a sponcered rider!
If you ask me I woulden't even concider a Malibu in this area due to all of the dealers around northern CA are all owned by cope's. Get a Natique or a MB, that way you avoid all of the B.S. that comes with low customer serives that you get through Cope's.

well to start i am not upset with malibu or its boats i would still buy a malibu, i think they are great boats but my issue is more with the dealship and is machnics. the boat was never worked on correctley since day one when i brought it in there, there was 2 times they had it for over a month in the middle of summer..
mostley the transmission and the v-drive, they gave it back to me twice with no v-drive fluid after going in for v-drive problems and anuall service, dont you check all fluids durring an anuall service?. then every time i would get it back there would be more problems then when i brought it in, everthing from the gas gage, wedge, throttle, ballast pumps, starter, gelcoat, and so on
i have a three page list date for date that i brought the boat in and picked it up, and counted 20 times that i have had to bring it in to them
for the entire last summer they would take it durring the week then i would take it for the weekends 2 days a week i had my boat for the entire summer..

so i say ••••••••••••••

i just got off the phone with some guy named mike from the factory he said he would be willing to take the boat to the factory and fixe every little this wrong. i guess that is the only option i have at this point and trust me it is going to be a long list, but he did ensure me that there would be a new engin, transmisson, and v-drive replaced from the start.

so any one want o5 VLX with 0hrs? anyone?...LOL

well i guess i will post more when ••••••••••• to happen..

if someone was indmar certified in sonoma county they would be very wealthy...

They owe you a new boat. I would not accept a boat with that many problems. Those are not just "bugs" or "kinks" IMO.

Yep I'm with ya John I wish Ski World was still open in SR. We need a good mechanic here in Sonoma County.

Good luck John let me know how it go's. I will be heading to Merced next week I could tow it down there for ya if ya want.

Johnny,

I believe it is the same as for cars, 3 times for the same issue falls under the lemon law. I am not sure about any of the paticulars like if it is within a certain time frame or not.

I did a quick web search and this article says that its the same as with cars.

http://ezinearticles.com/?California-Boat-Lemon-Law&id=226433

there are no states laws that state a boat is covered under the california lemon law

the closest laws i could find was..
"Tanner consumer protection act"
"song beverly consumer warenty act"

boarder ... yup... thier customer sevice dept ... in Sept and last week ...didnt even get a reply last week... did get a reply from the dealer some stuff was in ( 2 replacement skins replacement dash wasnt ) ... since the dealer is 1-1/2 hr away ( w/ no traffic ) I would like to catch it all in one shot ... and I have been trying to get this stuff and others repaired since march ... they can build the boat in a week... but ... try to get parts .. ;)

Song/Beverly act is what governs boat warranty law...different set of rules than the car guys play by, but rules nonetheless. Cope knows all about the law...be sure someone there is going to pick up this thread and there will be some calls made. Whether or not that does you any good is another thing....

Not all the Malibu dealers around northern california are ran by cope. Go to boat country in escalon. So before you bail on Malibus because of cope's •••••• service, go check out Boat Country

Johny ~ what store are you working with?

How come I never hear anything good about Cope/Ultimate? My decision to buy a CC was driven hard by the constant negatives I hear.

the store i have been dealing with is ultimate in rohnert park

"We need a good mechanic here in Sonoma County."... You just need to look harder. Jim @ Ace Marine and Brent @ Marine Unlimited are top notch and the ONLY shops that will get near my boat! As far as either being able to do Indmar warranty, you'll have to call. I know Marine Unlimited does Merc because they did my exhaust manifold gasket under warranty. Sorry to here about your problems though Johhny.

ya.. i always hear about thoose guys but there not indmar certified..

Is Ultimate your only choice locally?

Johnny -
I know the GM of that store. I'll talk to him today and see if I can do anything for you.

Its a little bit of a drive but The guys over at Boat Country in Escalon really have it together. Might be worth a call.

Sparky dito - as John said there not Indmar Certified. Maybe you should start back @ the Fairfield store where the deal started with Sean. Not sure if that will help,

whos not indmar certified? boat country? my buddy works there and i asked him and he said they are indmar certified...

i am sure he is but i am in santa rosa CA

yea that is a bit of a drive... sounds like the boat going to the factory is the way to go...

Johnny, Hit me up personally. I spoke with several cope's/Ultimate people last night at the boat show about your situation. No guarantees, but I think I can help.

For all of the standard Cope's/Ultimate bashing, do a seach on my constant defense for them over the years. Simply put they sell hundreds more boats and product than any store in the world, so hence there are going to be unhappy customers. Take the same percetange of 5% unhappy customers from a small shop, comapred to thousands of their cutomers and it is easy to understand there are going to be a fair amount of unhappy customers, but thousands more that are happy. There is a reason they have a been in business almost 60 years, still in business, and adding stores, when all of the others have dissapered. I am not hear to have this pissing match, just trying to help a fellow boarder and a cool guy.

Jonny - hit me up!

J-
first off i totaly understand that cope's/ultimate is a huge bussiness but there shouldent be any excuse to just get brushed aside. it got so bad that they never called me back and knew that they screwed up my boat..
after being in the shop over 15 time they still put some 20 year old kid with maby 1 year experince to try to fix the problem. dont you think after bringing the boat in so many times that the service manager that claimed to have "16 years experinces working on tranmissions" would of steped in and fixed it right.
unless you get some guy that loves his job and thinks lifes great and wants to treat everone like family. what drive do these people have to really take care of you?
they get paid by the hour and could careless if my boat was in there once or one hundred times "the still get paid"

it sucks life is like this. i know there is still some good in the world and im sure there are still some "hounest mechnics" also
but not at rohnert park ultimate water sports...

i have been so patient with them but it got me know were...

i just want a good running boat.. thats it!

I will contest to John's above comment, they DO NOT ahve a good mechanic staff at all. and the service manager, well say no more. Hope you get this resolved soon John.

OK! SO HERE IT IS

3-28-05 BOUGHT THE BOAT

5-7-05 FRONT RIGHT SPEAKER DID NOT WORK ( THEY FIXED IT AND CLAIMED IT WAS NOT WIRED RIGHT FROM THE FACTORY)

5-28-05 RECIVED MY BIMINI TOP ( TWO MONTHS AFTER I BOUGHT THE BOAT)

7-23-05 STARTING PROBLEMS (CLAIMED THEY REPLACED THE NEUTREL SAFETY SWITCH)

9-14-05 STARTING PROBLEMS ( CLAIMED THEY ADJUSTED THE NEUTREL SAFETY SWITCH)

10-25-05 STARTING PROBLEMS (CLAIMED THEY REPLACED THE NEUTREL SAFTEY SWITCH)

5-10-06 DROPED OFF THE BOAT FOR A LOUD KNOCKING NOISE IN THE TRANSMISSION AT 1700 RPMS, THE WEDGE WAS VERY TIGHT, PROP WAS LOOSE, ALSO WANTED A ANNUAL SERVICE.

6-9-06 PICKED UP THE BOAT (NOTICE THE DATES) THEY CLAMIED TO REPLACE THE STARTER, DRIVE PALTE, FLY WHEEL, SOME BOLTS, R/R TRANSMISSON.
ALSO CHARGED ME 499.67 FOR THE SERVICE

6-10-06 I RAN THE BOAT AND HEARD LOUD KNOCKING NOISE IN TRANSMISSION AND WINDING NOIS IN V-DRIVE.
I CHECKED THE V-DRIVE AND FOUND NO V-DRIVE FLUID IN IT. IS THAT NOT ONE OF THE THINGS TO CHECK ON AN ANNUAL SERVICE?

6-16-06 BROUGHT BOAT INTO SHOP ADVISING THE PROBLEMS

6-19-06 PICKED UP BOAT. SHOP CLAIMED BOAT WAS ALL FIXED.

6-23-06 PICKED UP BOAT AND WENT STRAIGHT TO THE LAKE AND RAN THE BOAT.. STILL HEARD A WINDING NOISE IN THE V-DRIVE SO I CHECKED THE FLUID AND THERE WAS NONE. I CALLED THE SHOP WHILE I WAS ON THE WATER AND THEY ADVISED ME TO FUILL THE
V-DRIVE WITH FLUID AND BRING THE BOAT IN ON
6-27-06 ALSO THE WEDGE WAS STILL NOT FIXED

6-27-06 DROP OF BOAT ADVISED WHAT PROBLEMS I WAS HAVING AND ALSO THE BRAKES ON THE TRAILOR WERE ACTING STRANGE

6-30-06 PICKED UP BOAT FROM SHOP. THEY CLAIMED THERE WAS A CRACKED BOLT FROM OVER TIGHTNING TO MUCH ON 6-9-06 FOR THE ANNUAL SERVICE, THEY ALSO BLEED MY BRAKES

7-04-06 DROP OFF BOAT, FRONT BALLAST NOT WORKING DO TO ALL THE V-DRIVE FLUID THAT DRAINED INTO THE BOAT, V-DRIVE WARNING LIGHT ALWAYS ON, AND TRAILOR BRAKES LOCKING UP ON THE FREEWAY

7-7-06 PICKED UP BOAT, FRONT BALLAST WAS FIXED, V-DRIVE WARNING LIGHT NOT FIXED, WEDGE NOT FIXED, BRAKES NOT FIXED, SHOP CLAIMED TO BLEED THE BRAKES AGAIN AND ALSO TEST DROVE IT ON THE FREEWAY AND IT WOKED GREAT

7-11-06 DROP OFF BOAT, BRAKES LOCKED UP AND ALMOST CAUSED A FEW ACCEDENTS, V-DRIVE WARNING LIGHT ALWAYS ON AND WEDGE NOT FIXED

7-14-06 PICK UP BOAT, LIGHT NOT FIXED, BRAKES NOT FIXED, AND WEDGE NOT FIXED, BUT ITS SUPER HOT OUT AND I WANT MY BOAT FOR THE WEEKEND..

7-18-06 DROP OFF THE BOAT, TO FIXE THE WEDGE , WARNING LIGHT AND BRAKES

7-21-06 PICKED UP THE BOAT, BRAKES NOT FIXED AND ALMOST CAUSSED ACCEDENTS ON THE FREEWAY, WEDGE FIXED, BUT WHEN THEY TOOK OFF THE SWIM DECK TO FIX THE WEDGE THEY DIDENT PUT THE SAFTEY PINS BACK IN SO THE SWIM DECK FELL OFF AT 55MPH ON NORTH BOUND 101, AND THE V-DRIVE WARNING LIGHT WAS NOT FIXED AND SHOP CLAIMED TO GIVE IT SOME TIME DUE TO THE VEW PARTS THEY PUT IN ON 5-10-06

7-25-06 DROP OFF BOAT, FIX BRAKES, V-DRIVE LIGHT, SWIM DECK, AND I CALLED ON 7-26-06 TO ADVISE ABOUT THE TOWER BEING LOOSE.

8-30-06 5 WEEKS LATER, PICKED UP BOAT, TRANSSMISSON AND V-DRIVE NOT WORKING CORRECTLEY, SHOP CLAIMED THEY REPLACED THE FRONT BALLEST PUMP, WHICH THEY FIXED ON 7-7-06, V-DRIVE LIGHT, REPLACE ENTIRE BRAKE SYSTEM.

10-10-06 DROP OFF BOAT, TRANSMISSION AND V-DRIVE MAKING LOUD NOISE AND HAVENT BEEN FIXED PROPERLEY SINCE 5-10-06, FIX SWIM DECK, AND GELCOAT HAS SPIDER CRACKS DUE TO SHOP NOT PUTTING IN THE RUBBER SEAL WHEN TIGHTING THE TOWER ON 7-26-06

11-24-06 5 WEEKS LATER, PICK UP BOAT, SHOP CLAIMED TO REPLACE ENTIRE TRANSMISSION AND
V-DRIVE. BUT NOW
-BOAT IDLES REALLY ROUGH
-FUEL GAUGE DOES NOT WORK
-THROTTLE REALLY STIFF TO PUT IN FOWARD
-MOTOR SHAKES
-PACKING ON PROP SHAFT LEAKS A TON OF WATER


THATS IT....

John WOW..........

after all that i kept my cool and never yelled or got upset with them just felt screwed.

Wow thats just plain and simply WRONG!!I think Malibu should step up and give you a new boat.

The feeling was not unwarranted, you got straight screwed forwards and back. I'm sure they mean well and probably do a lot for area wakeboarding but clearly they don't know ish when it comes to fixing boats. I think my local bu dealer stole the one person who knows how to fix a boat from Cope. Guy named Travis does all the work for XM in Paso Robles and he is top notch.

That is rediculouse. Regardless of how many customers they have to service. I would think Malibu would pull their boats from dealers who treat customers this way. It makes their boats look like crap.

NO F-ING FLUID TWICE?????

I would have went into a rage!!!

"BUT WHEN THEY TOOK OFF THE SWIM DECK TO FIX THE WEDGE THEY DIDENT PUT THE SAFTEY PINS BACK IN SO THE SWIM DECK FELL OFF AT 55MPH ON NORTH BOUND 101"

Brutal! Are you sure Ashton Kucher wasn't filming you? You must have been waiting for him to jump out of the bushes!

you are probably the most calm person in the world to take all of that. i am honestly impressed. i would have lost my cool about 1/8 the way down your list, maybe less.

"I would think Malibu would pull their boats from dealers who treat customers this way. "

Not a chance. Listen to Jason, Copes is Malibu's biggest sales channel by a long shot. They ARE norcal Malibu sales.

makes ya wanna go skatebaording......

Johnny,

Was all this work warranty? Please tell me you didnt have to pay for any of it. You sound like the perfect customer. I can not understand why you would be treated this way.

"You sound like the perfect customer. I can not understand why you would be treated this way."

unfortunately, its always the nice guy that gets screwed over and taken advantage of!!

2nd what Heavy says about Travis @ XM. (805) 238-1477.

yea, not fluid in the Vdrive twice would have me PISSED!! somebody has their head up their az. i don't care how many boats go through there that unexcusable.

You 100x the patience i do. and then some. Hope 'bu gets it straight for ya

Johnny, Have't seen anything from you. Hit me up at skurfgod@sbcglobal.net,,

jason
i sent you a email
my number is 707-479-9434

thanks everyone for your concern..
i will try to keep this updated so you all know the outcome.
wishsomeone from malibu could see this and help me out...
i love my boat and just want it fixed right, allthough a new boat sound great i would just be happy with the one i bought working long enough to ride this summer, i guess the bright side would be that it has all been warranty work and i only had to pay 500 for the service

i talked with mike sanchez from the factory this morning and he is sending a guy from the factory tuesday to take the boat for reapir... finaily
will let everyone know how it turns out.. also the new GM from ultimate called and stressted his concern for the issue... so thanks to him for fowlling up on everything and sorry for the bashing on your shop.. nothing against you, personally since you were unaware of the nightmare i was dealling with.. so hope we can still do business in the future...

Nice.

I didn't seeing any bashing by the way. I thought you handled it cool.

tuesday the day my boat goes back to the factory

I guess Malibu is takin the "If you want something done right, do it yourself" approach.

Took bad the dealer didn't take this opportunity to show us they are actually capable.

Ouch,sorry to hear about your problems.I'm sure things will get fixed right this time,WW is GREAT for that.

---

quote:

Brutal! Are you sure Ashton Kucher wasn't filming you? You must have been waiting for him to jump out of the bushes!

---

That's funny I was thinking the same thing.LOL

Good to hear it Johnny. Let us know how it goes.

I hope everything gets taken care of and you can actually enjoy the boat that you bought!

i just hope i get it back before the west side spring ride so i can get some pratice in before the double up comp...

I bet I can guess who you'll never buy a boat from again......

That's a pretty amazing list. There should be some a$$'es in a ringer over there.

You sure have one level head on you, my compliments...I can honestly say that I would not have been able to stay that cool. Sorry for your luck.

IMO, Malibu should make the dealer give you a demo if you want it.

John - Hey hit me up if your boat is not ready soon I will take you out as much as ya need too.

Hit me up Brotha