Liferaft servicing

[Ross D]

I am about to get my 4 man liferaft serviced and repacked to a canister from a valise. The service agent thinks it is probably a better idea to buy and new liferaft and has offered part exchange on the old one. Seems like a good idea to me, the service and repacking is £445, and a new one is £599 and they have offered £100 PX.

Does anyone have any experience of this or any better ideas? I know loads of people think a liferaft is a waste of time and money (from previous threads) but I am sailing with two small children and it is peace of mind.

Cheers

 

[pvb]

£499 for a new one vs £445 to service/repack the old one? Seems like an easy choice, especially as the new one will probably have a better spec and 3-year service intervals.

 

[fisherman]

How does the new compare, is it really like for like? Is it really a free lunch?

 

[Iain C]

Seems to me that the service is expensive...mine was about £160 IIRC. I guess you are paying for the canister...is it really that important to you?

 

[AIDY]

I did similar a few years back... I ebayed the old raft....

however as others have said what spec is the new raft compared to the old....

what grade rubber / insulated floor / goodies included.....

a cheap raft is okay for coastal use if you crossing oceans invest in something that's right for the conditions.

 

[Ross D]

The raft is a like for like replacement, fairly cheap Seago 4 man, we will be coastal hopping for the forseeable future so no ocean capability needed. Our previous one is 3 years old and this is it's first service.

 

[maby]

I would try putting the old one up on eBay for a week first - I think you will probably get more than £100 for a three year old raft. If you don't, you've lost nothing except your listing fee and a week...

 

[snooks]

Force 4 (in Swanick) said yesterday that a service for 4 man Seago liferaft was £150 + anything that needs doing to it.

I know because I was looking for somewhere to service mine that came with the boat.

 

[silverdawn]

I am about to get my 4 man liferaft serviced and repacked to a canister from a valise. The service agent thinks it is probably a better idea to buy and new liferaft and has offered part exchange on the old one. Seems like a good idea to me, the service and repacking is £445, and a new one is £599 and they have offered £100 PX.

Does anyone have any experience of this or any better ideas? I know loads of people think a liferaft is a waste of time and money (from previous threads) but I am sailing with two small children and it is peace of mind.

Cheers

If you allow £120 for the new cannister this makes the service £325! this seems very high for a liferaft only 3 years old, Iam sure you would get at least £200-£250 on E-Bay for your raft, a lot of people would buy it with the view not to service it but use it for a couple of seasons then put it back on E-Bay for £100/150 .
The deal offered to you isnt so great. As previously mentioned you could save at least £150/200 for little effort.

 

[Cloven]

I am about to get my 4 man liferaft serviced and repacked to a canister from a valise. The service agent thinks it is probably a better idea to buy and new liferaft and has offered part exchange on the old one. Seems like a good idea to me, the service and repacking is £445, and a new one is £599 and they have offered £100 PX.

Does anyone have any experience of this or any better ideas? I know loads of people think a liferaft is a waste of time and money (from previous threads) but I am sailing with two small children and it is peace of mind.

Cheers

I have just been quoted for just this.

The service on the liferaft is about £150 including replacement bits etc. and the new cannister £100 - both + VAT. I am hoping it comes in at about £300 in total.

This is from Ron Hale in Portsmouth. - better than £445!!

 

[RobBrown]

You could also get a quote from these guys:

http://www.norwestmarine.co.uk/

I had my 6 man life raft serviced by them 3 yrs back for about £145 including return carriage to me in Oxfordshire and replacement of all time dependent items, tho I did deliver it to their workshop in Liverpool whilst I was up in the NW.

I just realised I need to send it to them again for a 3 yr service. How time flies!

 

[Dockhead]

Force 4 (in Swanick) said yesterday that a service for 4 man Seago liferaft was £150 + anything that needs doing to it.

I know because I was looking for somewhere to service mine that came with the boat.

I fell for that deal once

Except I think that the service was 99 squids on special.

The problem is that the service is not the big expense item -- it's the consumables and spares. I ended up spending 500, and that was less than I would have spent had I not declined to replace the rocket flares and the beacon battery. I declined all that because I have flares and a strobe in my grab bag.

It's worth servicing high quality rafts like the Avon ones, provided they have a vacuum bag and 3-year service interval. But don't expect it to come cheap.

The Seago ones -- although highly rated in tests -- are basically disposable, in my opinion. Which might negate their intial price advantage.

 

[PeterGibbs]

£499 for a new one vs £445 to service/repack the old one? Seems like an easy choice, especially as the new one will probably have a better spec and 3-year service intervals.

The quote for service and transfer to a valise is a bit rich: the service alone would be about £200 with new innards etc. So you are really paying quite a lot for the "convenience" or "cosmetic" value of a valise.

I am absolutely for having a liferaft on board - how can anyone take others to sea without this basic protection. Liferafts are reckoned to be serviceable for new + 3 services at 3 yr intervals = 12 years life. Depending on how far along this trail you are, you might decide to go with the valise deal or sell yours on privately if there is life left in it. Otherwise you're handing quite a lot of value to the dealer.

PWG

 

[Ross D]

Thanks for everyones replies, the basic service is £245 inc VAT, collection and delivery and including all of the replacement items (which most services seem to exclude). Putting it into a cannister seems to be the sticking point for many places as Seago will only sell to authorised dealers, I have contacted a number of other suppliers who seem a little cheaper but can't get the box and by the time you add in VAT, collection and delivery come in fairly cheap.

Looking at the "value" of my liferaft, it is only 3 years old but cost £519 new and has lost 25% of it's value so is worth £389 serviced and ready to use, if I serviced it and sold it it would cost me effectively £345 to do plus the costs of selling/couriers etc, so probably not worth it. I'll probably take the PX route.

 

[maby]

Thanks for everyones replies, the basic service is £245 inc VAT, collection and delivery and including all of the replacement items (which most services seem to exclude). Putting it into a cannister seems to be the sticking point for many places as Seago will only sell to authorised dealers, I have contacted a number of other suppliers who seem a little cheaper but can't get the box and by the time you add in VAT, collection and delivery come in fairly cheap.

Looking at the "value" of my liferaft, it is only 3 years old but cost £519 new and has lost 25% of it's value so is worth £389 serviced and ready to use, if I serviced it and sold it it would cost me effectively £345 to do plus the costs of selling/couriers etc, so probably not worth it. I'll probably take the PX route.

That's all true - as far as it goes, but it doesn't consider the possibility of selling it without first getting it serviced. If they are only offering you £100 in part exchange and it is only three years old, i really would first put it up on eBay, being completely honest about it and setting a starting price of £150. I think you will have no shortage of takers from people that need an coastal grade life raft and are willing to stretch the service interval by a year or two. I might even put in a bid myself!

 

[awol]

The whole liferaft and servicing deal is not consumer friendly. The simplest form, and easiest to cost, is buy new every 3 years and sell the previous one on eBay. Once you start servicing then the costs are driven by the requirement to have manufacturer trained service staff (and a possible set service charge) and the margin that the manufacturer wants to put on his parts (available only to the approved service org.) coupled with the inability/reluctance of the service organisation to release anything without the "i"s dotted and "t"s crossed to the manufacturer's specification. Anything which is not a standard service part, like the canister shell, is likely to carry a premium above the norm. Once the consumer has made the choice of which liferaft to buy then he is totally at the mercy of the manufacturer/service agent - there is no viable option other than self or non-approved service with non-approved parts. Determining the life-cost of a raft before buying is difficult with the seller usually having no interest beyond the sale.

The whole deal depends on the boat owner's fear of the alternative - a liferaft that doesn't operate when required - though, if past events are a guide, pukka servicing won't necessarily guarantee successful inflation.

 

[dslittle]

Thanks for everyones replies, the basic service is £245 inc VAT, collection and delivery and including all of the replacement items (which most services seem to exclude). Putting it into a cannister seems to be the sticking point for many places as Seago will only sell to authorised dealers, I have contacted a number of other suppliers who seem a little cheaper but can't get the box and by the time you add in VAT, collection and delivery come in fairly cheap.

Looking at the "value" of my liferaft, it is only 3 years old but cost £519 new and has lost 25% of it's value so is worth £389 serviced and ready to use, if I serviced it and sold it it would cost me effectively £345 to do plus the costs of selling/couriers etc, so probably not worth it. I'll probably take the PX route.

I have a Seago 8 man. I had it serviced earlier this year at Seago in Newhaven for £180 (I think but thereabouts). I did ask at the time how much they would charge to put it I to a canister and they said £100. Your liferaft would therefore be about £280 for the next three years. I would give them a ring !!!