Fountain Improvement Ideas
 

What do you Fountain owners and non-Fountain owners feel that Fountain should improve upon with the company and boats they produce?

I will go 1st:

1-cleaner electrical wire rigging under the dash. Compare a Fountain to a Cigarette or the Concept I last owned and you can see that Fountain really needs to clean up the wire looms and routing.

2- before delivery the guts of the boat need to be cleaned and washed out of all building debree. The last 2 Fountains I have bought brand new have had the drain holes in the hull clog up with saw dust, washers, screws, tie wraps and a piece of cloth.

3- Offer a amenity delete option of sinks, refrigerator, TV stereo on the performance boats and finish the cabin off like Cigarette does with out these items.

Left or right hand sticks

1- more graphic choices
2- dash layout different (can't read some gauges while driving)
3- the backs on the bolsters need to be a little taller

Just plain fit & finish. How you can send a 100-400k
boat out the door with carpet strands hanging out,
carpet glue all over,wiring that looks like a kid did
it. Blotches of gel coat everywhere,screws hanging
out...is beyond me.
A dealer told me the last 20 hrs of production is
done in the dealers service dept. Sad :(

Mike I would say also a cleaner electrical wire rigging under the dash.My Hustler looks like a race car wiring.

Also make the dash more rounded instead of a flat panel.

I like the new style cockpit interior.Could be a little deeper.

V berth needs a liner ,makes it stronger also and the bath room no carpet.If the carpet up front gets wet or stained:eek:

If I had one I would have to have right hand sticks.

as far as crap in the drain holes.My Hustler and Scarab had junk in them,part of it I guess.


Mike like the Hustler option Poker Run edition plain jane v berth makes them faster,lighter,cheaper, but I notice they dont resale to good with out the standard interior


Rob:drink:

I agree with these 2 itiems. While running water lines in the space between the gas tank and floor, it shocked me to see all the crap left in there. Don't use a mirror to look under the floor from inside the side storage compartments. It'll make you sick. Just plain lack of pride in doing your job in my opinion.
plus...
Be nice if the wiring could be done better along the underside of the gunwells(sp). Kinda hanging loose and coiled up from that 1 size harness fits every model size boat. But not a biggy.

My #1 peeve....
Cut those 3" long bolts off flush with the the nylocks that hold the side panels and seats in. Or heres a noble idea, use SHORTER bolts. :) PITA to store stuff in the side compartments w/o catching and tearing them when trying to remove them. I cut all mine off flush. Should not have had to do that myself.

Fountain makes a nice boat. I made it better.

Still love my Fountain. clothing and all. ;)

Uh, aren't we giving the non Fountain owner guys ammo?

I noticed that too. The carpeting in the side storage compartments and inside the rear bench seat is glued in, THEN the white paint is slapped on. All over the edges of the carpeting. I guess as long as it's out of sight from the dock, it's an acceptable practice.

I hate to say this and may get chit about it, but I have a buddy that has a Bayliner 26' cruiser that does not have these issues.

I agree with epeek and Mike.

They need to wake up and start offering world class service. Reggie needs to take a look at all the boats as they are being produced. Stop going to the tobacao fields for minimum wage workers for final assembly. Return phone calls instead of just promising to.

Fountain has there standard paint jobs (boring as they may be) or they will sub out to the painter of your choice. Lots of other builders do the same.

Good points. My 38TE was not perfect and I had to get Martin Sanborn invloved with a trip back to the factory to fix a few marks on the aluminum t-top tubes. Fountain did take care of everything and were quick about it all. Plus my local dealer was very good at handling this.
I agree attention to details needs to be addressed to improve the product more.

Mike:

Let Lisa take care of 35 Fountains problems , they'll get resolved in a hurry!:eek:

Mike, you guys are making me a little worried about my new purchase. I've just been through all of this with another manufacture, and was hoping not to repeat this.

I would like the windshield to fit. Equal spaces left to right and the gasket materials to actually keep the water out. No 1/4" gaps in the foam tape and water running down into the cup holders.

Naw, nothing really bad but just some improvments a lot of us feel Fountain should address. You see us Fountain guys can talk like this about our boats..not like other owners from other manufactures that live in glass houses with thin skin...you know who ya are!:drink:

This is all positive feedback and I just hope Fountain monitors this forum and takes a close look at some of the things Fountain owners and non-owners are talking about. Your new Fountain will be a way better built boat than your last one.

It all comes back to fit & finish. All the same stuff that
the domestic auto makers had issue with with back
in the 70's. By the time they finally got thier act
together, the Asians had half their market share.
I love my boats hull integrity & design,but the
fit & finish work sucks and Reggie should be
ashamed that his factory lets it go out the door
like that. To make matters worse, their warranty
dept is nothing to write home about either.

That's the truth...she could solve the worlds problems too.

Actually between both of us I am way better with customer/dealer service working out dealer recommitment orders and complaints and dealing with them than she is....I have to be as a factory rep in my field in the high end professional musical instrument industry. However I have seen her in business mode selling and nobody can tell her no!

A lot of factory reps ignore dealers concerns and problems to a point and especially ignore consumers. I've found that in today's world that the factory rep that takes care of and address' the consumer head on right away along with the dealer wins a customer for repeat business. I can't begin to tell you how simply returning a dealers or especially a consumers phone call with in minutes puts everyone at ease and solves most of the problem at hand. today people tend to ignore and not want to deal with a problem hoping it will just go away...it doesn't! Plus a happy consumer is the best advertising there is!

I have had warranty issues with both Fountains I have owned and never had a problem getting things resolved. Usually if your dealer is on top of things there should not be any problem between the consumer and the manufacture. However I have heard about the warranty dept too...word of mouth is the best or worst advertising.

I just edited my comment and toned it down because
you are right. The dealer should be handling warranty
issues with the manufacturer. Not the customer. The
problem is Fountain has a tendency to give anyone
with enough money to order some boats a dealership.
Mine sucked, no real knowledge of the product and
no service dept. But when you have to call the factory
yourself, they should step up and either get the dealer
to get with the program or take care of it themselves.
The auto industry would never stand for the crap half
these boat dealers pull. My boat went back to Fountain
and exactly 2 of the 10 problems were fixed. On top
of that the boat came back with torn upholstery and
was filthy. This after I paid the an extra 3k to put
a fairing on it while it was there.

Been through mine from bow to stern....And on the new ones at the boatshows, I look where no one else does.
Found lots of stupid little things that caused problems for me on mine.
They could have been avoided with ease.
Larger screws and washers with more of them in the cabin...I just about doubled up on all of them.
The wiring was the worst, with it hanging everywhere, I had a short going to the cabin that took a while to find.
Other than that, I agree with the hull design being superior...I spank most in moderate conditions.

How about big wave conditions? :evilb:

6 footers is about my boat's limit...:drink:
I've been on a 42 Tiger in 10's that I know mine would have gotten us wet.

Sure would love to work for their quality control department.

MERCURY FOUNTAIN IF YOU ARE READING THIS - not a joke I would work for food and water if I did your quality control.

Parents have a new Sea Ray - had finishing junk all in it as well.

I agree with the comments, I will also add

GEL COAT OR FINISH THE ENGINE COMP,, that crap white chalky paint sucks!!!!!!!!

I swear my damn Seadoos engine comparment is finished nicer.

WILL:drink:

Seadoos have a nice finish, I miss my 97 XP:(

I know this wouldn't be considered an improvement, but rather a step back. I personally prefer the older style rectangular dash as opposed to the newer (I think 05 and up) style dash.

some sort of dedicated foredeck access on non Lightning boats.........thats gotta be brutal stepping all over the seats and the dash every time you dock in a brand new boat.......Hey Reggie.......normal people dont have a support crew waiting every time you pull up to a dock........

was that harsh?

:drink:

uhmmm so what you guys are saying is that if you spend a few hundred thousand dollars on a new boat..you expect one with just a little attention to detail in assembly??

me too....i had a 96 XP. Best hull ever.

That is why Fountain has the 35 and 42 Executioner models.

I'm thinking we won't get no Xmas card from RF now.

:D :drink:

OK so far we have some good input.
Attention to details is the biggest concern and that includes:

*Clean up the electrical wire rigging especially at the helm. Notice how Cigarette, Apache, Concept, Outerlimits, Hustler, Skater, MTI, Active Thunder, Nor-Tech, Pantera and other have super clean wire rigging. This shows attention to detail, pride of workmanship, supports the wires better, and you can trace electrical wire problems easier.

*Clean the building debree (saw dust, screws, washers, tie wrap clippings, sandpaper bits) out of the boat especially since it clogs up the water drains

* clean up the carpet installation with how it is glued down

* use shorter bolts to attach upholstry especially around storage lockers because the long bolts snag clothes and towels while in storage

* buff out gel coat blotches

*windshield fit and finish... Equal spaces left to right and the gasket materials to actually keep the water out. No 1/4" gaps in the foam tape because water runs down into the cup holders.

* dash gauge layout. the driver can not see the gauges located behind the steering wheel

* better finish in the bildge instead of cheap white paint.
Finish the bildge off with gelcoat or paint with shiny awlgrip

*V berth needs a liner ,makes it stronger. No carpet in the head. The carpet up front gets wet and stained

* better graphics choices. graphics on the dash.

* choice of left or right hand throttles

Keep in mind some issues might account for a lower price than the Cigs, OL's Nortechs, MTI's, etc. Corners cut here and there.



Dash layout has always been a debate for yrs, but never addressed.

Graphics...... custom paint=premium price. You want it, you pay for it. Not an issue.


Fit and finish, shorter hardware use for the storage compartments, clean up of debris.....these items I feel are legit issues that are to do with workmanship quality/pride that should be addressed at FPB. These are not options that are being asked for at no charge.


Very good topic as long as it can stay productive and positive.

also a sliding cabin door on the 35's and 29's

I would like to see an improvement on the hardware used to secure the hatch covering the swim ladder on the Lightning series. I don't think a barrel bolt lock is acceptable hardware for this application. Fountain offers several items stock that are options, or N/A on other brands, and I applaud them for this, so why scrimp by using a barrel bolt lock on the swim ladder hatch?

I agree but so far except for the cabin liner comment all of this is just workmanship. The cleaner electrical wire rigging would take a few more man hours but for the cost that is associated with these boats already this should be priority job #1. Once Fountain has the pre-made looms pre cut, install is a snap. However the electrical wire rigging could easily be a whole lot better.

Also THANKS for everyone keeping this post positive and on track. Hopefully those at Fountain that monitor this forum will take note of what there customers are asking for.:D

Think im goin used outerlimits. The Quality and fit & finish is amazing! My 05 35x is falling apart already and is full of stress cracks, water leaks ect... Its really a shame. Very dissapointed!

With Fountain being a step hull producer I'd like to see them spend some time working on a transducer location that works when the hull is on plane. This is a problem tha tgoes across many models and hull changes.
If the issue is aireation then maybe they could work with Airmar or another transducer manufacturer and figure out how to read depth accuratly on plane.
I think it's nuts that they build a boat hull that is incompatible to most transducer types and mounting locations. I'm sure all of us have been in situations where we werre in water much thinner than we expected and either lucked out or hit something.
Yes, this is a issue that many other manufacturers of stepped hulls also have but why not be a front runner ?

Also, my hull has a stand up heads with holding tank. How about some form of indicator for how full the tank is ?
ed