A question for barrack room lawyers.

  • Thread starter Thread starter cnh
  • Start date Start date
C

cnh

Well-Known Member
Joined
18 Oct 2003
Messages
372
Visit site
Manufacturers of marine diesel engines often give warranties with their engines, detailing what is covered and for what length of time.

Now, imagine you are buying a new boat. Who should fill out the warranty? The builders of the boat? The agent who sells it to you? Or would you expect the warranty to be given to you as you buy the boat, for you to fill in?

Nicholas Hill
 
I'm no lawyer but I would suggest that if you are buying a brand new boat, you will be dealing with an approved dealer of the manufacturer.

I would suggest that your contract is with the dealer, but they in turn are selling-on the manufacturers warranty and it is the manufacturer who will make good any claim in accordance with that warranty.

In conclusion I would suggest that it will be in order for the (approved) dealer to make out the warranty documentation.
 
Buying a new boat is something I'm unlikely to ever be doing but, given the amount of money involved, I think I would write to the dealer and ask for a written statement of their policy regarding guarantee problems.
 
As a fully unqualified barrack-room lawyer, I would ignore them unless they gave me rights in excess of those given by the Sale of Goods Act.

I would keep the receipt and make any claim against the supplier.

Next question.
 
The dealer is the only one with whom you have a contract so I don't think that you can chase down the line. Imagine the mayhem if your car fan belt broke early and you had to chase the maker of the fan belt.
 
If it is a new boat with a new engine then the warranty does not commence until it is in the hands of the end user. If the end user returns the warranty registration card, and this is acknowledged by the engine manuf, then your contract with them is complete. The card should NOT be completed or returned by the supplier on your behalf unless it is in your name and you have agreed to them doing this.

Lets assume the supplier of the boat goes bust. Does this mean the warranty goes bust with it? Of course not, provided that all installation/ servicing/operating requirements have been complied with, your warranty remains valid.

ALWAYS READ THE BIG AND THE SMALL PRINT......THEN READ IT AGAIN

Tim (many many moons ago I worked in the claims dept of a warranty company)
 
As a person who had a brand new boat with a brand new engine from the Dufour Dealer in the UK let me advise it did not matter a damn who the contract is with if its a Volvo.

Personal use warantee 3 years, Chartering 1 year but when it went wrong Dufour/the Dealer nor Volvo wanted to know and said that the engine overheated must be due to a plastic bag over the cooling water inlet!

Being part of a large charter fleet I can only observe from personal, albeit limited, experience that Yanmar engines do not suffer from any cooling water blockages - funny how all the plastic bags love Volvo's!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
I'd suggest that their initial response was merely a return of service. You have to volley them back with a rebuttal of their conclusion, and a re-statement of your rights. If still no response you either spend your own money on a solicitor or get trading standards involved, or get an engineers report...or small claims court.

Yes, its a bit of a game, but if you are persistant and insistant you will get a result more often than not. It would help considerably if the cause of the overheating could be identified with a degree of certainty, or if there were evidence of overheating being a well known problem on Volvo marine engines. I know nothing of marine engines I hasten to add.

Its a shame when they play it that way though. Any engine manufacturer could play the 'plastic bag in inlet' as a getout for just about anything.

Tim
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top