Volvo Penta's shameful warranty

DAKA

DAKA

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Is Volvo Penta's warranty shameful ?

Traditionally I have regarded Volvo Penta as market leaders in the pleasure boat industry perhaps not on the forefront of technology but not so far behind and the reliability compensated for the 'tried and tested' technology.

In recent years the reliability appears to have slipped slightly and I urge everyone attending boat show stands to make enquires specifically mentioning the warranty, the intention is to put a little pressure on the manufacturers to improve their warranties........


Volvo Penta 12 months + 12 months = 2 years
Nanni 24 months + 12 months = 3 years
Yanmar 12 months + 60 months major parts=5 years
Cummins-mercruiser 24 months + 72 months major components = 6 years


Full details here

http://www.volvopenta.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/Penta/Warranty/warranty_statment_int.pdf

http://www.nannidiesel.com/images/stories/services/silverwake-en.pdf

http://www.marinedieseldirect.com/repower/specs/yanmar/warranty.php?engine=yanmar

http://www.cmdmarine.com/documents/4081863_1203.pdf


Of course this is all just my opinion , quick selective skim read so could include errors, mistakes and cockups, if you dont agree feel free to say so I just thought it a bit rich that Volvo Penta expect you to act as a guinea pig for testing a new engine design and then expect you to pay for their cockups.
 
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reminds me of the time I had the seals replaced on the VVP290 outdrives on my old Fairline. Seals failed first time out and they refused to honour the guarantee because I had introduced them to "a hostile environment" i.e the sea. I was told a bit of sand or seaweed could have caused failure.
You can imagine my response. I took it right to the top and got a full refund of all parts and labour but it took me 6 months. For my next boat I specifically sought out something without volvos.
 
Volvo will do what they think they can get away with. They are percieved as market leaders, and some would say give better residuals in boats. Why should they give extended warranty's if their market is not demanding them?
 
DAKA said:
Traditionally I have regarded Volvo Penta as market leaders in the pleasure boat industry perhaps not on the forefront of technology but not so far behind and the reliability compensated for the 'tried and tested' technology.

In recent years the reliability appears to have slipped slightly and I urge everyone attending boat show stands to make enquires specifically mentioning the warranty, the intention is to put a little pressure on the manufacturers to improve their warranties........


Volvo Penta 12 months + 12 months = 2 years
Nanni 24 months + 12 months = 3 years
Yanmar 12 months + 60 months major parts=5 years
Cummins-mercruiser 24 months + 72 months major components = 6 years


Full details here

http://www.volvopenta.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/Penta/Warranty/warranty_statment_int.pdf

http://www.nannidiesel.com/images/stories/services/silverwake-en.pdf

http://www.marinedieseldirect.com/repower/specs/yanmar/warranty.php?engine=yanmar

http://www.cmdmarine.com/documents/4081863_1203.pdf


Of course this is all just my opinion , quick selective skim read so could include errors, mistakes and cockups, if you dont agree feel free to say so I just thought it a bit rich that Volvo Penta expect you to act as a guinea pig for testing a new engine design and then expect you to pay for their cockups.
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CMD have no restriction on servicing, provided you do it as shedule, DIY if you wish. No dealer lock in. Nanni seems to have got real as well.

As I mainly get involved with repowers the Volvo 6 month warranty deal crosses them off my shopping list even though certain engine models are technically 100%
 
DAKA said:
Traditionally I have regarded Volvo Penta as market leaders in the pleasure boat industry perhaps not on the forefront of technology but not so far behind and the reliability compensated for the 'tried and tested' technology.

In recent years the reliability appears to have slipped slightly and I urge everyone attending boat show stands to make enquires specifically mentioning the warranty, the intention is to put a little pressure on the manufacturers to improve their warranties........


Volvo Penta 12 months + 12 months = 2 years
Nanni 24 months + 12 months = 3 years
Yanmar 12 months + 60 months major parts=5 years
Cummins-mercruiser 24 months + 72 months major components = 6 years


Full details here

http://www.volvopenta.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/Penta/Warranty/warranty_statment_int.pdf

http://www.nannidiesel.com/images/stories/services/silverwake-en.pdf

http://www.marinedieseldirect.com/repower/specs/yanmar/warranty.php?engine=yanmar

http://www.cmdmarine.com/documents/4081863_1203.pdf


Of course this is all just my opinion , quick selective skim read so could include errors, mistakes and cockups, if you dont agree feel free to say so I just thought it a bit rich that Volvo Penta expect you to act as a guinea pig for testing a new engine design and then expect you to pay for their cockups.
Click to expand...

And another thing!

Go to the US and there is NOTHING to choose between manufacturers warranties, different brands all offer two year bumper to bumper with extended major component coverage. Why should Europe be different? Customer is NOT king.

RCD increased pressure on builders to limit engine options due to cost. Just a thought, if a builder specifies engine with clearly inadequate warranty and no alternative perhaps the builder should warrant the the vessel as a complete package.
 
I had soooo many problems with my 2008 D4 / outdrives. There was always something wrong. It drove me mad. Volvo and their service agents could not care less. They treated me with contempt every time I called cos something else had fallen off or died. My old AD41's were bullet proof!

The warranty covered me but I sold the boat as I knew that after 24 months and 1 day they would drop me like a stone. The repair bills would have crippled me.

Don't know if other manufacturers are better. The boat next to me got re-engined with Cummins/Mercruiser. A crankshaft failed (sheared) after 3 years...they are still out of the water 8 months later as C/MC state they are out of the warranty period. You don't expect a crankshaft to fail, ever!
 
MikeJ42 said:
I had soooo many problems with my 2008 D4 / outdrives. There was always something wrong. It drove me mad. Volvo and their service agents could not care less. They treated me with contempt every time I called cos something else had fallen off or died. My old AD41's were bullet proof!

The warranty covered me but I sold the boat as I knew that after 24 months and 1 day they would drop me like a stone. The repair bills would have crippled me.

Don't know if other manufacturers are better. The boat next to me got re-engined with Cummins/Mercruiser. A crankshaft failed (sheared) after 3 years...they are still out of the water 8 months later as C/MC state they are out of the warranty period. You don't expect a crankshaft to fail, ever!
Click to expand...

Crank was covered under CMD 72 month Major Component Warranty, unless of course it was a pesky VM based things.
 
Latestarter1 said:
Crank was covered under CMD 72 month Major Component Warranty, unless of course it was a pesky VM based things.
Click to expand...

even in the old Brunswick days 'Mercruiser' included a 6 year major parts warranty which covered the Crank among other things, that included the VM700 series.


edit

sorry Brunswick should have read Barrus
 
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hlb said:
If I have another boat, it will have anything, buy anything other than Volvo's.

They treat there customers with utter contempt and laugh about it.
Click to expand...

Could not agree more Haydn. Had a taste of Volvo service/customer care/parts prices with last boat and vowed I would never buy another boat with Volvo engines.
They will only understand when enough pepole vote with there feet.
 
DAKA said:
even in the old Brunswick days 'Mercruiser' included a 6 year major parts warranty which covered the Crank among other things, that included the VM700 series.
Click to expand...

They will replace the faulty crank and nothing else. That's only a small part of the overall cost of hard standing the boat then removing and rebuilding the engine. The crank on a 3yr old engine shouldnt fail under any circumstance (assuming it was serviced properly...which it was).
 
The old mercruiser 6 year warranty covered the parts and labour.
The current warranty includes parts , labour and removal

I dont have access to all the warranties inbetween, did you friend buy new and did he keep his paper work ?
 
Course, when buying / looking at boat shows, the casual "What other engines does it come with?"

"Oh, only Volvos? I wouldn't buy one of these then, the warranty is rubbish on Volvos" - accompanied by a frown and a look at SWMBO then leave the stand.

If enough people did that, the warranty would improve cos the dealers would demand it!
 
My experience seems to suggest that Volvo's are fitted to almost every boat I have come across, both motor and sailboats. Does Volvo "give" them away to boatbuilders? I am sure there will some nice incentives for them to fit Volvo.

When looking for a new used boat (if you know what I mean) without Volvo's installed, the choice is limited when almost all of them have Volvos installed. I suspect most people will just accept it's a blooming Volvo and get on with it, if they like rest of the boat.

Now that makes me think about IPS? I can't help thinking there will be some fun & games with them in a few years when they leave the comfort of the warrranty period! Hopefully I am wrong, cause that's when I am likely to be in the market for a boat fitted with a pair.
 
I tried to get a price of a F37 with Cummins in it for that very reason and specifically mentioned the 6 year warranty.......................

They simply offered me two F37 , both with Volvo Penta D4 and a D6 I think, at the time the D4 and D6 were getting slated and my mates had being in some seriously risky situations but from the snippets coming out in this thread you have to wonder if any pleasure marine engines are designed to last beyond the ******** seatrial.

You start to wonder if you are safer to spec a boat with secondhand engines say 15 year old AD41s or the old 63Ps
 
MikeJ42 said:
They will replace the faulty crank and nothing else. That's only a small part of the overall cost of hard standing the boat then removing and rebuilding the engine. The crank on a 3yr old engine shouldnt fail under any circumstance (assuming it was serviced properly...which it was).
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No a three year old crank should not fail. You have not mentioned the engine model yet, and I can understand your frustration. If it is a B series it is worlds largest selling one litre per cylinder engine and has huge crank area, they simply do not break. If I was on the case would be looking very carefully at the harmonic damper. Clumsy damage in transport or installation often leads to motor getting a biff. If motor has had suffered damage to harmonic balancer you crank WILL fail. Failure after three years would likely sound like a damper issue.

However woefully short on facts here however simple fact is yes extended cover does only cover the failed part, no point on complaining about it, there in black and white. As I say I would have got decent engineering surveyor on the job, if zero evidence of damage on the damper I would be putting pen to paper asking that serious consideration to be given to a Policy claim.

Goes back to my old beef regarding warranty by the builder, if engines sold direct to the builder the distributor gets not a penny piece, but he is the one you go to when things go wrong. Warranty is automated, if it fits in the boxes you pull the handle and out pops the cheque. Policy is a people thing, present the correct case act reasonably and the cash will come if you have a good case.

Is technician rebuilds an engine which has suffered a broken crank without replacing damper is cruzin for big trouble.
 
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asteven221 said:
My experience seems to suggest that Volvo's are fitted to almost every boat I have come across, both motor and sailboats. Does Volvo "give" them away to boatbuilders? I am sure there will some nice incentives for them to fit Volvo.

When looking for a new used boat (if you know what I mean) without Volvo's installed, the choice is limited when almost all of them have Volvos installed. I suspect most people will just accept it's a blooming Volvo and get on with it, if they like rest of the boat.

Now that makes me think about IPS? I can't help thinking there will be some fun & games with them in a few years when they leave the comfort of the warrranty period! Hopefully I am wrong, cause that's when I am likely to be in the market for a boat fitted with a pair.
Click to expand...

Fun and games in a few years!!! it started a while back, ive heard of units requiring new props after 6 months in the water, and bearing failures that render the unit beyond economical repair, my advise is dont go near a boat with them in unless you are in a position to pay for main dealer servicing and strictly adhere to service schedules and the cost that goes with it. Not to mention certain installation issues relating to engine exhaust backpressure and water ingress. Ill leave it there for now.

What I would like to point out is, there must be more volvo engined boats than probably any other, so your bound to hear more bad publicity than any other make, and believe me there are problems with other makes too, its just there are more greenmotors out there.
 
Engine warranties

Does the sale of goods act apply to boat engines?
I understood that if the cause of a failed product was faulty manufacture then the warranty period was 6 years.
 
Until there is a nationwide group of owners prepared to take on the suppliers they will offer the warranty they want.
We could call it the RYA but that might upset the sponsors
 
The sale of goods act applies to pretty much everything - the only things not covered in the same way I believe are items sold Business to Business as part of a supply chain (so parts sent to a manufacturer) but even then I am not sure of the exemption.

I certainly think that if a court knew how much one of these engines cost, and how much the repair was, plus how many hours it had done (and that was put into car mileage terms) I suspect most judges would find at least partially in the favour of the punter against the manufacturer but I don't know if anyone's tried this out yet...
 
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