Tracker Boats!!!!

[walleyemen]

Purchased a boat from the tracker marine at bass pro shops in June/05.Boat was a demo model used at Ontario place for the boat show, I was told boat was in as new condition and that all new warranty’s applied. When I went to pick the boat up I found the boat to be damaged, scratches, decals rubbed off and 2 patches of paint flaked off on both sides of the hull. Told the dealer I did not want the boat, but after some negotiations tracker marine agreed to repaint and decal the boat in the fall after the fishing season. Returned the boat in the fall and there repair guy Grumpy repainted and decaled the boat. This was now the spring of 2006, ran the boat until the fall of 2009 and noticed the boat was taking on water, upon inspection i found many cracks in the hull around welds for the internal bracing of the boat, returned the boat to tracker marine at bass pro shops in February of 2010 for warranty inspection, several months later (May 2010) I’m told warranty is refused because there is bondo in the cracks around the welds, and the cause of the cracks is due to hard loading of the boat on the trailer. I inform the manager that the only time this boat had been fixed was when they had it back in 2006 to repaint and decal the boat, they tell me they will get back to me. Second week in June I receive a call from the dealer stating warranty is refused again and that tracker marine does not put filler in their boats, I reply by asking then who did. They tell me they don’t know and warranty is denied, maybe something happened when it was at Ontario place, I proceed to tell them regardless of what was done to the boat prior to me owning it was not my issue and that in fact tracker marine sold me the boat not Ontario place, had in fact they sold me a damaged/repaired boat under false pretenses?I then asked the dealer(bass pro shop tracker marine) to send me the findings and the warranty claim # for my boat, so I could submit this to my insurance to make a claim on the damage. Again they proceed to tell me there is no claim number as no work had been done to the boat, and to call the manufacture. I proceed to file a claim with my insurance show them the pictures and they say by looking at the photos this looks to be a structural issue and is not covered and should be the manufactures responsibility to repair the boat, I tell them the manufacture stated the damage was from hard loading which should be covered under impact, insurance says they will inspect the boat and make a decision but cannot promise anything. I phone the manufacture and inquire about their findings and get the same response, bondo/filler in cracks, cracks are due to hard loading, no claim number and told to tell insurance to call them. As I stand now I have been denied warranty twice and am awaiting the insurances decision on the damage, I have been sold a damaged boat under false pretenses that clearly has internal structure issues and am left holding the bag, boat is 5 years old and I’m still left paying half the balance of the purchase price of a boat I cannot use or resell because of the said damages. There lifetime warranty is not worth the paper it’s written on, nor the 5 year limited warranty, Buyer beware! Anyone with similar issues please respond with you stories I would love to hear how you were treated as well!

[MuskieStalker1]

you should take them to small claims court . the cost to you is very small and you should be able to claim the max i think its around 3500.

[Hookup]

That is insane!!! I'm angry just reading it and cannot imagine how upset you must be.

[brufan]

Wow, that sucks. Take them to court, or at least get a lawyer to write them a letter threatening legal action. I had an issue with a local marina many years back and their tune changed instantly when they received my lawyer's letter. Question for ya, do you have a roller trailer? I'm having trouble figuring out how hard loading will damage the hull. When I hard load with my bunk trailer the hull never touches anything.
good luck,
brufan

[moonshine]

an online petition calling for a boycott on Tracker boats should do the trick. I'd be the first to sign it.

[Mr Twister]

Dido!!!

[walleyemen]

I posted some pics, bunk guides, notice the cracks around the welds are nowheres near the bunk areas, small claims is $10000 now i think, i still owe $7000 on the boat, welding aparent weakened aluminuim is not going to fix this but rather make it worse, as far as the bondo, i guessing i was sold a damaged boat under false pretenses that it was new.Is the dealer at fault or the manufacture?

[cprince]

Dido!!!

This is Dido:

<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/j-fWDrZSiZs&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed>



But I digress...

I will sign right next to you Twister!

So... Ditto!!!!!!

Craig

[moonshine]

I would think the dealer is because they are probably the ones who fixed it to hide the damage.

[brufan]

Hmm, good question. I think you need to go after the dealer and he goes after the manufacturer. If the dealer did sub-par work and made promises, you could go at him on that angle. Not totally sure though. I'm sure someone here has experienced something similar and will be able to point you in the right direction.
The whole situation is brutal, and you are stuck with an unusable boat. I can't believe the dealer is doing nothing for you.
brufan

[moonshine]

keep us posted. in the mean time, I will spend my money at Cabela's not Basspro

[RJ]

I watched this thread over on another site and since I don't post over there I left it alone.

I happen to work in sheet metal. I just showed your photos to 42 years of sheet metal experience including our welder.

The synopsis from the group was that is from impact on your trailer while loading your boat. There is no way in our eyes that there is anyway your boat could take enough stress from "on the water" use to crack those welds.
Technically the welds aren't cracked, the edges of them are giving way from the stress that is being caused to the hull.

Can you provide photos from the inside of the boat?

Why are there so many other hard scuff marks and scratches around these cracks?....my boat has been powerloaded probably 500 times and I have zero marks like that at all.

Maybe it's poor trailer design....but those cracks are caused by impact with something.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the experienced eye is agreeing with Tracker.

RJ

[horsehunter]

My tracker boat just turned 25 ( Tournament V17 -riveted hull ) still no leaks I replaced the front casting deck last year . I like the boat enough that next winter I will be sending it out to have all the decks replaced and recarpeted and have the boat repainted

[walleyemen]

I watched this thread over on another site and since I don't post over there I left it alone.

I happen to work in sheet metal. I just showed your photos to 42 years of sheet metal experience including our welder.

The synopsis from the group was that is from impact on your trailer while loading your boat. There is no way in our eyes that there is anyway your boat could take enough stress from "on the water" use to crack those welds.
Technically the welds aren't cracked, the edges of them are giving way from the stress that is being caused to the hull.

Can you provide photos from the inside of the boat?

Why are there so many other hard scuff marks and scratches around these cracks?....my boat has been powerloaded probably 500 times and I have zero marks like that at all.

Maybe it's poor trailer design....but those cracks are caused by impact with something.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the experienced eye is agreeing with Tracker.

RJ

RJ i appreciate your opinion, boat has never been power loaded, always walked up on trailer then cranked up, if you notice there is no impact dents at all, scratches are from some sand that had gotten on the bunks when launching from sandy launch in rough weather, believe me if i had hit something i would have no problem filing a claim threw my insurance, impact is covered, i sure hope they see it that way, still doesn't explain the issue of the filler or bondo around the cracks, i had the floors out livewell covers over the said areas, i'd have to cut it apart as everything is welded.If it is impact someone please show me the dents, because the metal does not fatige around the welds from loading it on a trailer.Those photo's are after the dealer quaged them out and scraped around them, here are the pics before i dropped it off,

[RJ]

That is not only my opinion I will add.

If impact is covered...you'll be fine. Like I said in the eyes of the experienced sheet metal guys and obviously Tracker as well that has been caused by impact with something whether it was you or whatever they did with it as a demo boat then repaired as you contend.

I'm not going to get into an argument with you over it, it is a terrible situation you are in and just wanted to pass on experienced opinions on the subject before the newspapers, media and lemons comments start to fly from the Peanut Gallery like it did on OFN.

I wish you the best of luck dude....I'd be devastated without my boat for a week nevermind what you are going through.

RJ