What they Don't tell You when You Buy a Boat

When you buy a boat it's "buyer beware". When it comes to warranty issues, you may expect the same level of customer service as when you buy a car. Unfortunately boat buyers are frustrated at the time it takes for the boat distributor to complete warranty repairs. We had ongoing issues with our Boat distributor. It took months to solve an intermittent depth sounding problem. It is unfortunate that the regulatory compliance in the boating industry is 20 years behind the car industry.

The Solution: At Pleasure Cruising we take care of all the boat maintenance issues. No worries for you.

What the boat dealer won't tell you is that when you buy a boat, turn the key and head out into the blue sea, your boat has massively depreciated. In an uncertain economy it is very difficult to sell your boat and if you do you may have lost up to 40% of the boat value. On a $300,000 boat do the numbers! That's $120,000 gone! Then add up to 15% brocker fees and there is not much left. The worse case is that there are no buyers in the market and you still must pay the berthing fees and the maintenance fees that will keep on comming. Also you are putting expensive machinery in the most corrosive environment on the planet. You can bet that things go wrong all the time and do you have the time and money to fix things?

The Solution: With Pleasure Cruising Club you don't buy the boat so you don't have the depreciation hassles! You don't have a share in the boat. It's like joining a gym. You get to use all the equipment, without buying it.

Many boat owners only use their boat during summer. The boat sits idle for many months. When the owner goes down to the marina and wants to start the boat, it won't work. You then cannot find a boat mechanic in Melbourne in summer for GOLD because they are flat out. It may take a couple of weeks to sort your problems out and then the season is almost over!

The Solution: Pleasure Cruising Club. We have a solid relationship with our suppliers and use their services all year round. They are very responsive to us and want our business. This means more boating time for you and we have more than one boat at your disposal. How cool is that!

What the boat dealer won't tell you that you have to read the fine print regarding warranties. You may think you can save money by not servicing the boat as per the manufactures specs. If you don't service the boat as per the agreement your warranty is voided. If you miss the time deadline or exceed your engine hours then your warranty will be voided. If you get salt water into your engines it may void the warranty and the distributor may say that it is "operator error" and your warranty is voided. You have no way of proving otherwise unless you are in the industry. To get a mechanic out of bed into your boat usally costs at least $1000 each time. You should be prepared to spend 15% of the boat value in maintenance costs.

The Solution: Pleasure Cruising Club takes care of all maintenance issues so you can live the dream.

What the boat dealer won't tell you is that you should engage a marine surveyor to have an independent report of your boat before you buy it. The boat must be taken out of the water which will cost money and the marine surveyor will cost money; but it will save you buying a lemon. It does not matter what the boat is. Have it professionally looked at and make sure the surveyor is independent.

The Solution: Pleasure Cruising Club takes the worry away. You just come down to the Marina and use the boat, no worries.

What the boat dealer won't tell you is that you should get one-on-one training on the boat and make sure you do sea trials. The day we bought our boat and did a sea trial one of the engines stopped working because of a faulty fuel pump. We did not take delivery until the problem was fixed. We made sure that the boat distributor paid the marina fees! Also we know of a few situations when a new boat owner has gone aground and done tens of thousands of dollars damage to their boat because of inadequate training.

The Solution: Pleasure Cruising provides boat training for our clients. We also have a fleet manager to help you during the day and provide weather warnings to keep you safe!

So why buy a boat when you can take a time share membership and experience the dream. If you like to workout, do you buy the gym equipment or join a gym? If you like to play tennis do you buy the tennis court or just hire it? Sure some buy the gym equipment, some buy the tennis court,. But what does the smart money do? Join Pleasure Cruising Club of course!