sre

I want to relate the experience that I just had with Formula Boat Co. on Thursday August 24th. I trailered my 31' FASTech over 3.5 hours from Detroit to the Formula Factory in Decatur Indiana for a Manufacturers repair. I was in awe at the size of this factory (over 600,000 square ft.) and they have over 600 employees. It was incredible to say the least. I was greeted by Daryl Johnson, the Product Support Specialist. Daryl was extremely busy but took the time out of his busy day to give me a personal 2 hr. tour of the factory. We went through each and every department where I was able to see exactly what kind of meticulous effort that goes into every Formula boat produced. You wouldn't believe it!! I learned so much from Daryl throughout the tour that I will never even consider buying another boat again. I have taken other boat factory tours but none of them even came close to Formula. Before you buy another boat, condsider Formula and make sure you take a factory tour, you will be convinced!!
Derek Neher
Livonia, MI

J.B. Marshall

I wish I could share in your excitement about Formula. I use to think they were top notch also, until I tried to contact them regarding a problem with my 382.

Trying to reach Daryl Johnson was like trying to get in touch with the George W. Any how you can view the link for yourself.
http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...d.php?t=132536

Did you buy your boat new?

JUKED YOU

J.B. Did you try contacting your nearest Formula dealer? As a dealer they may have more pull than the average Joe, however I am quite suprised that the manufacturer we are talking about is Formula. We are a Formula dealer and have never had a problem with support from the factory, my regional support manager will bend over backwards for me..... I really think that your local dealer might be able to help you. Good luck and keep us posted...

bouyhunter

I went on the tour back in Feb or March with the Chicago club.
Very impressive, and very cool tour.
I've never owned a Formula, but I know they are definately top-notch in the production boat category.
The one thing that I kept thinking was...
Over 600 employees,
Only 800 +/- boats a year built.
That's $18 Mil. in labor, based on an average salary of $30,000. (I have NO idea what the "average" is in Decatur, just using a number that we use in my Industry.
So, that's $22,500 (average) on labor(including all employees) per boat.
This is before Marketing, Promotional, Material expenses, Utilities, EPA Compliance...
So if you price a 292, which is about the market I'm in, with base motors, and only options added are instrumentation/ VHF, it comes in at almost $170,000.
Don't get me wrong, they build a great boat. But, Damn, they are expensive.
They really do run a great operation there, I wouldn't hesitate to buy one - if I can come up with the $$$.

Glad you're having good experience with Formula - leaves a lot to be said about some other builders