Quality Assurance on new Grady's

[dbk123]

Hi - I just bought my second new Grady - a Freedom 235. I really like the boat, but have disappointed in some QA issues that I think should have been caught during production or at the dealer. Here are my issues during the first month:

1. The boat lost full power (engine and electrical) three times on my initial trip to my house after the first launching. Only some desperate actions on my part and the help of the Coast Guard and Sea Tow prevented me a potentially dangerous grounding. The problem was found to be a loose nut on the electrical ground on the motor. It appears as though like the nut was hand threaded on, but never tightened.

2. A fuel leak after the motor has been shut off (source yet to be found).

3. The power steering compensation line was found to have not been properly bleed when the boat was delivered.

4. Power steering fluid is leaking into the motor well (source yet to be found). The leak appears at the port side fitting where the steering control rod connects to the motor.

Am I an insulated incident or have others found numerous problems on brand news boats? I really like Grady's and have advocated for them both in town and online, but this has shaken my confidence. I have written to Grady customer service and my dealer and am awaiting their response.

 

[mr_mbuna]

I'm sorry you had that experience. It must have been a very disappointing first day after committing to such a big investment. I would return the boat to the dealer for a thorough evaluation at their expense.

 

[Fishtales]

I'd work through the dealer with GW in the loop.

 

[dbk123]

I sent an e-mail detailing the situation to both Grady and my dealer early yesterday and haven't heard back from either. Not impressed..... In my business dealings we make sure to get back to customers with a a problem immediately just to let them know we are working on it. I guess I will forward my note the heads of Grady and the dealership.

 

[wspitler]

I sent an e-mail detailing the situation to both Grady and my dealer early yesterday and haven't heard back from either. Not impressed..... In my business dealings we make sure to get back to customers with a a problem immediately just to let them know we are working on it. I guess I will forward my note the heads of Grady and the dealership.

Who is your dealer?

 

[drbatts]

A couple of thoughts. I assume it is a brand new boat. Loose connections and terminals may have been missed on initial inspection, but may have loosened a little more when the boat was actually ran and used. Then the problem was noticed. The good thing is these seem like fixable problems i.e. tightening up some connections. All new boats will have some initial issues that will become evident after they start to get used. Everything always works on land, its when you put it on the ocean the problems arise. I'm not sure who your dealer is, but many boat dealers are closed or have limited staff in on Mondays, so that may be why you haven't heard back yet. Maybe take a ride down to the dealer and speak to the salesman and service manager in person. Its easy to ignore an email, but much harder to ignore a person sanding in your face. Every problem has a solution, give them a chance to make it right.

 

[dbk123]

Thanks for the inputs. Unfortunately the dealer (Port Harbor Marine, in Portland ME) is over an hour away. They are full open on Monday. I plan to call Grady today and express my disappointment that my emails haven't been returned. I am having the problems locally, but will then need to seek reimbursement from Grady. Hopefully that won't be a hassle. I called to discuss this scenario before I purchased the boat and was told that I won't have any problems getting the service done locally. We will see. If Grady doesn't respond to my email before noon today I will highlight the issue on some other forums. It's really a shame as up to now, I've thought very highly of the company.

 

[Parthery]

If your dealer doesn't respond, then a quick call to 252-752-2111 (GW Cust Service) should do the trick.

 

[luckydude]

If it makes you feel any better, my dealer is less than I hoped they would be. You can find my thread about the trailer, them not catching that on the first go around is not on them, it is on the trailer company. But when I brought it in bent and the bent it back and sent me out the door with the possibility that any hard stop would put the boat in my truck? Yeah, that's 100% on them.

And I just bought a custom bracket for my kicker from them, as they sent me out the door, the owner made a comment about the hardware being crap. How right he was, I forgot the backing plate, I broke 3 out 4 bolts running them out. Cheap junk. That they knew about. So I lose another day of salmon fishing. Why the heck would they send me home with expensive junk?

I'm sitting on the new owner survey that grady wants me to do. I'm not sure what to do. If I tell Grady how crappy they are, I nix any chance at decent service down the road (another GG guy has told me he tried to get parts from this dealer; they won't sell him parts because he didn't buy the boat there. So my fear of a grudge is not misplaced).

It is super disappointing to pay such a premium for the GW name and then get shitty service. It is what it is, though, while you East Coast guys have tons of choices, I don't know of any other decent boat dealers in the SF Bay area. I think there may be some in the north bay but that is 1.5 hours away, at least my GW dealer is close.

Good luck and stick with it. It's all worth it when you take your kid out and get lings like we did recently (look for July 20, that's my younger kid with a 30 inch ling).

Larry and Barry and friends adventures in fishing boats

 

[Parthery]

Order your parts from Vero Marine, or Taylor Marine Center in DE. It may take a few days longer to get them there, but UPS is your friend.

I’d fill out the survey and call it like it is. You’ve got too much money invested in this thing. If they are that independent that they don’t need your business, there are other Yamaha dealers nearby that will happily do the maintenance on the motor.

 

[drbatts]

another GG guy has told me he tried to get parts from this dealer; they won't sell him parts because he didn't buy the boat there. So my fear of a grudge is not misplaced).

Not my experience at all. I'm on my second Grady, both purchased used. I routinely buy parts from my local dealer although I did not buy the boat from them. I have even contacted them and another dealer in state dealer with a multitude of questions on how to troubleshoot and repair things as well as questions regarding parts. Every time I have found both dealerships to be more then helpful. Even when they know I'm probably not going to use them for service. I have also found Grady customer service extremely helpful in locating part numbers and with general questions. All my communications are me calling them up, and have always had someone either get on the phone with me or call me back quickly. I have even had Grady send me replacement parts at no charge too.

I have a local Yamaha dealer that I use for service. He is an excellent mechanic and the shop is very close to my marina. If the Grady dealer was as close I would have no problem using them.

 

[luckydude]

Not my experience at all. I'm on my second Grady, both purchased used. I routinely buy parts from my local dealer although I did not buy the boat from them. I have even contacted them and another dealer in state dealer with a multitude of questions on how to troubleshoot and repair things as well as questions regarding parts. Every time I have found both dealerships to be more then helpful. Even when they know I'm probably not going to use them for service. I have also found Grady customer service extremely helpful in locating part numbers and with general questions. All my communications are me calling them up, and have always had someone either get on the phone with me or call me back quickly. I have even had Grady send me replacement parts at no charge too.

I have a local Yamaha dealer that I use for service. He is an excellent mechanic and the shop is very close to my marina. If the Grady dealer was as close I would have no problem using them.

Your experience is what I wish my experience was. I'm resigned to my dealer being so-so, it is what it is. I'm not going to bitch them out to Grady because they do eventually come through. I'm just jealous of your experience, I spent all that money to get that and no luck.

Whatever, it's a good boat and it came back full of fish 2 days ago. It might get renamed, Gratitude was nice when it was putting my kid and me back together, but I told him about "Driveway Slayer" and he's read up on fishing enough that he knows that slaying the fish is a thing, he loves Driveway Slayer as a name. He's a good first mate so maybe he gets to name it.
/ramble

 

[luckydude]

Order your parts from Vero Marine, or Taylor Marine Center in DE. It may take a few days longer to get them there, but UPS is your friend.

I’d fill out the survey and call it like it is. You’ve got too much money invested in this thing. If they are that independent that they don’t need your business, there are other Yamaha dealers nearby that will happily do the maintenance on the motor.

As I've said elsewhere, I don't want to blow up the relationship. Yeah, they could be a lot better. But they are all I have for the boat. I could care less about the Yamaha, I'm a shade tree mechanic in my retirement (long boring story), I can do all of the work on the engines. I had a real marine mechanic here looking at my work on the previous Yamaha, a carbed 2 stroke 150, I cleaned those carbs and he looked at them and said I did a better job than he would have done. I'm not skilled but I'm careful, I have those teeny tiny twist drills that go down to close to a human hair, I fit those in the jets so they exactly fit, they clean out the crud but they don't enlarge the holes.

I'm just gonna live with the dealer, it is what it is, I need them to support the boat. I feel a little guilty because maybe if I bitched they would get better but I doubt it, I think all that would happen is I would get worse support.

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

I have felt your pain and in some ways still do as my dealer went belly up in 2012 during the recession . I bought a new boat from a dealer 5.5 hours away. My closest dealer is 3 hours away and the next closest is 4.5 hours. My advice is take a day off from work , load her up and take the boat back with with your punch list and have it fixed. Forget the email thing.

Second, I buy OEM parts for my boat either from Mid Carolina Marine or Seels Outboard in Charleston. Neither sold me the boat but they are happy to help me especially Nancy at Seels . She has stuff dropped shipped to me routinely.

Lastly, take the boat back and have a face to face with the GM of the dealership. Tell him about your experience and let them resolve it. No amount of internet complaining will work here. Go there with your new boat. Grady corporate has always been helpful to me. Like Parthery said, call them. It's Carolyn or Burt are who you might talk too in Customer Care. Both very nice people. I sent a question about a part to Carolyn at Grady and it was not time sensitive. It took her a few days to get back to me. I found it acceptable. However,if I have a time sensitive question I call Grady directly.


I do have a question. Are you confusing hydraulic steering with power steering? I didn't know Grady offers that? Unless it's on the Yamaha 425s.

 

[Rustygaff]

I have been buying all of my OEM parts from Taylor Marine in DE since my local dealer never even responded to my emails. Taylor Marine responded quickly and their service has been impeccable.

 

[JM321]

It appears you might be an isolated incident. I took delivery of a Freedom 235 April 1st. No problems so far for me. Hopefully, the problems get fixed soon for you. I’m surprised GW hasn’t responded promptly, they’ve been excellent responding to my questions via email and phone calls.

 

[battles2a5]

I've not been impressed with initial quality either. My issues weren't as serious as yours but there have been a ton of them. I think my boat was rushed since it arrived weeks late and corners were cut.

 

[luckydude]

So I've been a bit of whiner. I had issues but I've been out a bunch and the boat is fine, better than fine. I can complain about stuff, the little ram that is supposed to hold the fish box lid open doesn't. On the other hand, everything that is supposed to work, does. I take the plug out and there is no water in there. So far, Grady White has been Grady White, it is a good boat. I've had to learn how to drive it, it is not like what I had before where it didn't matter how you drove. These boats need you to do your part. But when you do, yeah, it is an awesome boat.

 

[RussGW270]

Welp, for what it is worth, these boats would not be here this long and so many if bad quality was the norm. This coming from a guy that has a used one that knows my driveway more than water heh.

Look, I feel your pain, I do, but a new boat does not generally get driven around like you will do, thus they will not find everything. A loose nut is part of an issue with the mfg of the engine, not really a Grady thing. The issues you state can easily be missed and, might be “a” boat that someone had a bad day and let thru...bad? Most definately..and should be addressed. Worth worrying that “Grady has bad QC” on a forum? No.

Also, you being an hour away from the dealer is not their fault, that is a choice you made when you bought it and, again, an issue you should have planned on after a short burn-in of your own and testing it all.

An example: first launch, taking the boat to your house and you had to call sea tow and the coast guard? The boat should have gone in then and there.
The power steering line and the rigging issues, all centered around whomever rigged the boat, not a Grady thing, I believe they rig them at the Dealer, if I understand.

So, you contacted Grady and the Grady forum With a “Grady quality” issue and this is, honestly, the dealer and you do not want to go to the dealer because they are an hour away.

Hook the boat up and drive it to the dealer Monday morning and tell them what all is wrong and tell them you will be back when they make sure it is all fixed and they detail the entire thing and top off the gas for your troubles.May need to buy you lunch and possibly send your wife flowers for listening to you be stressed too...lol

Then go enjoy it.

Again, could be wrong, but I owned a brand spanking new bass boat that was dead for 9 months and I knew what was wrong...dealer blamed me, merc flew a man down to fix it, after a second dealer could not find it even when I told them what it was...finally, the merc guy confirmed it.

My point..at no time did I blame Triton...they made the boat...I blamed the dealership and Merc.

Now, go get your engine fixed.

R