That don't sound right???? Why not??? If you buy a corvette in Chicago, and need warranty work in Fla. does that mean that you have to drive back up to Chi-town for it???
Something just does'nt sound right with that. Can anyone explain this.

Mike, just remember, where there's a will, there's a way.

See 10X that is the problem..the boat indistry does not work like the car industry. Fountain like most manufactures pays only 75% of the shop rate to cover some of the warranty work.

If I did not buy my boat from my local dealer they will lose money even with the 5% hold back given to dealers from customers that buy outside the dealers territory. I heard Fountain up'd this to 10% but still the dealer loses money doing warranty work on boats they did not sell.

The dealer will put paying customers and customers that support the local deal 1st before a boat bought elsewhere...especially from Shogren they said. My local dealer will absolutly refuse to work on a Fountain bought elsewhere under warranty.

Also unlike the car industry they can refuse to work on anyones boat...it not regulated.

Buying a new boat outside the dealers territory is not going to work.

How much warranty work does the boat need in the first year anyway? The motors/ drives have their own warranty and any Mercruiser dealer can handle that. I would buy out of territory in a second if the deal was great. If the boat had huge issues then I would ship it back to selling dealer. If you save 20K+ on the boat that is worth the risk.

I'd also like to add that this is why I am getting more and more disalusioned and turned off with the boating industry. Getting the best price and buying from another dealer is nothing but trouble. Dealers are not factory regulated and boat manufactures do not seem to care about the service and/or warraty side of the business. They ALL could care less about service AFTER the sale. then when you need warranty service they all act like it's a incoveniance to them.

This is why I bought a Porsche and started to do race track and autocross events.

You'd be surprised at the warranty work after the sale that is needed. Every new boat I've bought (5 of them since 1995) has needed something. At least here around the Tampa area getting warranty Mercury service is next to impossible unless you bought your boat from a dealer. There is only a couple places that can even lift a 35+ foot boat out of the water for service in the Tampa area and they are all some sort of boat dealer...and you will get this line from the service manager..." sorry you did not buy your boat from us so I will try to schedule you into the shop 8 weeks from now but that is not a promise.

Mile I can't believe what you're typing !!! I never heard of such BS !!! But then again, I've never bought a new boat. After hearing this, I don't know if I'd want to.

I'm gonna be with Scott Shogren all week at the Chicago boat show. Reggie and Wyatt will also be there with us. I'm gonna DRILL Reggie about that stuff !!! that's just not right !!! I wanna hear what he says.

I believe you will find the same answer I'm giving you.

Mike, if you need a Chicago address to buy a boat up here, just let me know. That's just total B/S !!! I thought we lived in a FREE country, where we could buy what we want, wherever we want.

I do not think you are understanding me...I CAN buy where ever I want...BUT...getting any kind of warranty service from a local dealer is out of the question.

Again...let me explain...if I buy the 42EX for example from Shogren or even the dealer in Ft. Myers...any dealer other than my local Fountain dealer and I need warranty work done on my new boat. I am out of luck getting anything done or anything done in a timely manner..understand? yes it totally sucks!