new yacht poor quality and commissioning

[Scillypete]

Been in Las Palmas for almost a week now and have bumped into a guy who has a brand new Hanse 40 (or 400 not sure) this boat was only handed over to him at the end of August with hardly any of the things asked for being completed. the original delivery date was back in May but kept being put back. He left the UK towards the end of October so the boat has only had a few weeks actual use and the list of defects is growing rapidly. The supposedly stainless steel rigging is running with rust and is now staining the decks. The saloon table is wobblier than a drunk rocking horse. The charge controller for the batteries has blown and the batteries are now slowly going flat.
This is just a few of the things that are wrong there are more but its pointless listing them all. I have no axe to grind but I am just amazed that a new boat such as this is suffering just as badly as my near thirty year old Prout, I'm glad I didn't shell out for a new boat after all (not that I could ever afford one).
Is this just the odd lemon of a boat or do most new boats suffer with delivery dates put back and then lists of things not being done with defects on top of that.

 

[AIDY]

humm yes... his not the only owner that's had problems with the 400. On the plus side lovely boats to sail.

 

[MapisM]

[ QUOTE ]
The charge controller for the batteries has blown and the batteries are now slowly going flat.

[/ QUOTE ]'Course the charge controller shouldn't blow in the first place, but if he didn't fix it, what else should be expected from the batteries...?

 

[Boatman]

Have heard of a number of problems with boats commisioned in Las Palmas, probably same agent as a friend used which had numerous problems.

So stay clear of Las Palmas

 

[iangrant]

probably a little worried about a trans atlantic crossing??? i would be

 

[Sailfree]

Having a boat in a charter fleet you are always exposed to a breadth of experiences that many others don't benefit from.

1. Ask about which boats are reliable,
2. which are delivered with 100 faults,
3. which are delivered late.
4. how good aftersales service.

My own experience with 2 new Dufours was actually quite good if the stories I hear about todays commissioning standards are true. It was only wrt 4 the Volvo bits that kept going wrong where they don't want to know and push you onto Volvo.

The Commissioning on my Jeanneau was bad with items ordered deleted from the factory fit for bob the builder from nextdoor to do it cheaper. Final faults fixed after 18months of hassle.

Frankly the more I have learnt the more I realise that no other industry could get away with such poor service. I would now do what other experienced boat purchasers do.
a) Order the boat with only factory fit options.
b) Get quote from recommended contractors to fit the extras.

 

[landlockedpirate]

I think all new boats will have snagging, the important bit is how quickly and effectivly the dealer fixes the problems.

I ordered a new boat from a dealer which came with an optional hole in the deck and no-flush loo. Both (and other probs) fixed with a smile, an apology and usually within a week of reporting them.

 

[jofb]

I have an early build Hanse 400 (#31) that was exhibited at LIBS in January 2006. It was delivered on time and with everything as ordered and since launching has proven very reliable and huge fun, albeit with only local cruising around the Solent and immediate neighbouring areas.
Hanse have expanded their build capacity significantly since then and I suspect (as shown on the myhanse.co.uk website) that some boats have suffered more problems than I have, perhaps as new staff have been employed and learned the ropes, as it were. Still no excuse and it is important to make sure that the attention to detail and quality control is maintained.
That said, the dealers in Hamble are fantastic and very helpful at sorting any minor niggles and made the whole buying and commissioning process stress-free. Even mainstream high-volume production boats are built largely by hand and will therefore be prone to require some "snagging" and it seems that is the case even for very much more expensive and prestigious low-volume makes - they do not have the huge-volume production line of a car factory where most processes are computer controlled.
On the plus side, as someone has already said, they are great boats to sail and surprise some much more highly-rated "performance" boats with their speed. We were 2nd in class and 10th overall in the ISC-rated division of the Round the Island last year and Hanses came 1st, 2nd and 4th in our class.

 

[cnh]

I bought a new boat from Poland last year. Mind you, I did collect it in Gdansk, so the commissioning was done by the builders. The only problem in the first twelve months was a leak through a screw in a ventilator in a torrential thunderstorm, first night on boat. Next morning, take screw out, blob of sealant - problem fixed. I had excellent service from them [EM Yachts].

Nicholas Hill

 

[Sybarite]

Amel yachts in France apparently have never missed a delivery date.

John

 

[PeterGibbs]

And remind us of the premium you pay for this service.....?

Why are my eyes watering?

PWG

 

[AIDY]

Fake deak decks /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[Sybarite]

Fake teak decks --> no exterior wood = no maintenance.

John

 

[AIDY]

[ QUOTE ]
Fake teak decks --> no exterior wood = no maintenance.



[/ QUOTE ]

= Lazy Owner /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Scillypete]

He bought the boat in the UK and sailed here at the end of October.

Surely new rigging should not be showing signs of rust, the sprayhood 'stainless' tubes are also looking pretty bad as well almost as though they came off another yacht. Another point I missed earlier are the leaking windows which is not ideal when he wants to cross the Atlantic.

 

[zenyacht]

The quality control at Hanse is non existent. They are sorting out boats with serious problems that should never leave the shipyard.

You can not compare Amel with Hanse it is like pears and apples.

Zencap