Yamaha Outboard Warranty Claim - Is This Reasonable?

[Tranona]

The forum seem tough on this one.

Is court action the right way to go? At this point defiantly not in my view, however " soak it up" seems a bit harsh.

As reported the thing has a 5 year warranty. As reported the part in question requires no maintenance as per the schedule.

The "5 year warranty" is a limited warranty with very specific terms. It limits replacements to items as I highlighted, so to be successful he will have to show either of those was the cause of failure.

The mistake here is believing that the extended warranty is the same as the original 3 years and it simply is not. It is just a marketing gimmick and deliberately restrictive.

He might have had more luck by contacting them when it broke and I expect they would have given him the component FOC as a goodwill gesture. As it is he wants to rely on the contract and my reading is that it is not covered unless he can show the cause is within the terms.

 

[MapisM]

I suspect that if we should monetize the time dedicated to this debate at the rate charged by all the contributors in their daily job, the total would easily exceed the service cost...
Interesting case though, because aside from all legal(ish) rights, I can't for the life of me figure how the cowl lever in a 4yo Yam o/b can get seized to the point of needing (I suppose) a destructive removal, hence replacement. In this respect, I think the OP actually has a point in considering the Yam response a bit weird, just imho and fwiw.

 

[Cbjroms]

Again, thak you everybody.

 

[Hurricane]

IMO you will lose this if you take it to court, and no you're not being reasonable.

It is stipulated in the manual that you must check it. But it's also bleeding obvious. You don't have to strip it down to re-lube it so your complaint on that score will be challenged. Zillions of yam owners (incl me -several of their engines) have never had a problem.

Onus of proof will be on you and you will have about 6 minutes to speak. Fortunately for you your costs will be limited to about £100 when you lose, assuming the thing gets allocated to small claims track which seems very likely but is not certain in this particular case (and take great care if it isn't).

Also the terms of the warranty are important because that is the contract that you're suing under (unless you're proceeding under consumer statutes- you don't say you are and you suggest this is a warranty contract matter). I haven't read the warranty contract but you will need to file it as part of your claim and be confident that the wording supports you/no exclusions. Good luck with that.

Anyway I can't see you winning and you must have spent more time thinking and typing about the thing than it would have taken you to fix it. We're only talking about a latch for the cowl on an outboard engine ferchrissakes.

Warranty!!
What warranty
I think you bought your Yamaha from the US like me.
Yamaha don't warranty their US products in the EU.
Believe me - I had a "dead on arrival" with the power trim.

And after 3 years, I think that the OP might be a tad out of order here.

 

[Tiger Rag]

Having spent several years running a marine warranty and aftersales department perhaps it would be of interest to see how I would (making some assumptions and guesses) handle this claim.

Is the product still in warranty - yes
Is the product new or coming to the end of the warranty - coming to the end
Has the latch design changed (hinting at a known issue - I don't think so
Is it a common or known fault - Not that I am aware of
Is it a component that it would be reasonable to expect wear and tear - No
Is there any signs of user damage - No

That's the easy bit, the next is always open interpretation;

Is the customer a loyal and repeat customer - shouldn't make a difference I know but it does
Is it reasonable to expect the owner to wash off with fresh water and occasionally give it a spray with WD40 or similar - I would say yes even if not expressly laid out in the warranty or service literature.

If I was handling the claim I would perhaps, if the customer had been pleasant and reasonable throughout, offer a latch FOC. If I had a good dealer nearby who was carrying out work in the same marina I MAY have asked him to fit it FOC as well. I would definitely not refund any labour costs from an independent engineer. If the owner took the legal route I would be extremely confident of winning any case and would make that clear early on.

 

[Grubble]

Does this extended warranty fall under the ambit of the Financial Services Ombudsman? Did you pay extra for the extended part of the warranty? What does the warranty itself say about dispute resolution?

I would look at all of those options before wasting any money on legal action and don't even think about the smalls claim court until you have exhausted all other options.

 

[jfm]

Having spent several years running a marine warranty and aftersales department perhaps it would be of interest to see how I would (making some assumptions and guesses) handle this claim.

Is the product still in warranty - yes
Is the product new or coming to the end of the warranty - coming to the end
Has the latch design changed (hinting at a known issue - I don't think so
Is it a common or known fault - Not that I am aware of
Is it a component that it would be reasonable to expect wear and tear - No
Is there any signs of user damage - No

That's the easy bit, the next is always open interpretation;

Is the customer a loyal and repeat customer - shouldn't make a difference I know but it does
Is it reasonable to expect the owner to wash off with fresh water and occasionally give it a spray with WD40 or similar - I would say yes even if not expressly laid out in the warranty or service literature.

If I was handling the claim I would perhaps, if the customer had been pleasant and reasonable throughout, offer a latch FOC. If I had a good dealer nearby who was carrying out work in the same marina I MAY have asked him to fit it FOC as well. I would definitely not refund any labour costs from an independent engineer. If the owner took the legal route I would be extremely confident of winning any case and would make that clear early on.

Exactly. Agree every word- makes perfect sense.

 

[jfm]

Does this extended warranty fall under the ambit of the Financial Services Ombudsman?

no it doesn't.

 

[Boat2016]

Would it have made a difference if the OP hadn’t switched to an independent and stayed loyal to the dealer network he was then expecting support from ? The main dealer might just have been aware of the requirement to lubricate the latch which may have prevented the problem in the first place. Just a thought as to wether it’s a false economy to go for the cheaper service option ?