cfauvel

With the recent bevy of warranty claims against the myriad (sadly Evinrude is no longer in the mix) of boat engines, I thought it would be nice to hear about some POSITIVE outcomes regarding warranty.

Tell us your stories regardless if it is boat or car.

I'll start with two stories
1 - 2001 Toyota Sienna V6....a couple of years into it, maybe 3...I don't recall, I took it to the dealer for an oil change on a Monday, on that Tuesday , for whatever reason, I decided to check the oil ...the dipstick read 0. Took it back to the dealer, showed them the receipt for the oil change the previous day. You'd think that the mechanic either left out the oil plug or left the o-ring from oil filter on the block.....nope it was their oil gel problem that they had with these V6s.....in one day the 5 qts they added turned into jello.

They completely rebuilt the motor (saw it on the bench torn down)...not sure why they didn't just put in a new motor, and replaced the valve cover with a modified version then let the crankcase breath better....there was a class action lawsuit about this problem....Toyota covered the repair and extended the warranty to 8 years..

After the repair we used the van for at least another 5 years and sold it with close to 300K miles

2 - in 1993 I nearly sunk my boat (the current boat and motor actually) , the only thing that saved the boat was the full transom....but the motor became partially submerged in the process.....(BTW thanks to Miami Coast Guard for coming to our rescue and saving the boat ). Since it took a while to get insurance sorted, the motor sat unpickled for a bit ( not the easiest thing to do with a V6 that weighs 450lbs)...found a mechanic that had the ability rebuild the motor on the premises....I think it was Precision Boat Repairs in Perrine, Fl (near Cutler Ridge, fl ).... I had the boat rebuilt and the motor rebuilt and for whatever reason the motor would not idle properly and just a big mess...the guy spent HOURS diagnosing, inspecting, testing....then out of the blue he decided to re-check the bores....turns out the bores were all ovals rather than circles....something went wrong with his machine...he had to get that fixed....rebuilt my motor for the second time and recalled a bunch of motors they had done......No extra charge to me

sammythetuna

I warrantied a marine amp from JL audio the other day via Crutchfield. New unit at my doorstep 2 days later no questions asked

CAP1

Lenco trim tabs:

Been a few years, but I had one of my two trim tab actuators die a couple months out of warranty. Emailed LENCO support and had a very great experience with them. They asked me to perform several tests which I did. Then asked me to send them the bad actuator. They tested it, found it to be bad (IIRC water intrusion or the like), then sent me a replacement at NO charge.
Very happy with their products, and their service and support is outstanding.

autobaun70

2008 Ram 1500 Hemi. Truck has been great since new, and worked hard it's whole life. Early on, about 8 months old at 37K had some sort of god awful noise coming from the engine. Failed rocker on the passenger side. Fixed quickly, and down the road I went. fast forward to 2019 the thing started eating oil. As in about a quart every 500 miles. The dealer side of it sucked, but Chrysler put a new motor in it, with well over 200K on the clock. A week later on the way to the beach with the boat in tow, I lost the transmission due to the engine being incorrectly installed. Dealer at the beach worked with Chrysler to make it right, went back through the engine install, and got the transmission replaced at no cost. Everything still under lifetime warranty. Best part was I only paid 26K for the truck new.

Lorne Greene

2007 Chevy Avalanche in 2013 GM replaced the engine due to AFM defect. Super simple. I went in, had them do the oil change, swing by once a week so they could look at the oil level, claim was approved and about a week later I had a new engine in my truck.

captainbaker

Lifetime warranty on a Sommer Garage door opener (Circuit board was bad). Called them up and they Fedex'd another without question. Home warranty on our new house replaced the pool heater two months after moving in. Snapped a cheepo rod that I got on Amazon with a year warranty....replace it no problem. Snapped that one about two months later and figured Id let the guy off the hook.

cfauvel

HOLY SHIT!! I think you won the warranty lottery

DrDanH

1997 Audi A4 Quattro developed a leak in the oil cooler which pushed oil into the cooling system, resulting in overheating and a gooey mixture of oil and coolant overflowing from the expansion bottle. Although this happened out-of-warranty at 53,xxx miles, Audi paid 80% of the repair cost, which included a new oil cooler, new radiator, and repeated cooling system flushes to clear everything out. The car was still running well when I sold it at 185k several years later. I should have kept that one!

jj1987

Literally anything involving Sea Pro and Power Pole. Both companies have stopped at nothing to make me happy.

autobaun70

When I bought the truck I was really wanting a Toyota. New bodystyle at the time, and it was the last year of one for Dodge. Put 50K on it the first year I had it. Job needs changed not long after that and I bought a commuter car I put another 200K on to keep miles off of it. Currently drive it about 1/2 the time and a cheap suburban the rest, but have no plans to get rid of it anytime soon, as the warranty stays in place as long as I own it. Just have to take it in every 5 years for a quick inspection. Amazingly its been a great truck. Interior has no rattles, and everything body related is still tight.

raybark

Garmin I: SiriusXM Weather stopped displaying. 28 months on a 24-month warranty. “Do you have the receipt? If so, we can fudge the time a bit.” Replaced the antenna and power supply at no charge.

Garmin II: Fusion radio delivered with the boat worked fine for about a year, then the “digital encoder” (adjusting knob) started acting odd - on a smooth turn, the volume or item selection would go up and down randomly. I typically controlled the music from my phone so lived with it for a year and a bit, but with COVID restricting a lot of stuff, I decided it was time to get it fixed. I sent it in and 5 days later received a brand new, upgraded unit, again at no charge.

HTJ

Sierra 12 string guitar that the bridge was lifting on - called the shop before I went in and when I walked in old man grabbed a new one off the wall and we exchanged over the counter without a single question.

BIL dry fired my sporty Martin compound bow - cable and limb bits went everywhere. Called Martin the next day to buy new limbs and they wouldn't hear it. Asked me for the name/address of a local archery shop to ship the bits too and a week later it was done.

joe.giuliano

I bought a recirc pump from fasterhotwater.com about 2.5 years ago. a few days ago it starting making noise. They are sending me a replacement cartridge today.

nicecast

A negative that turned into a positive... my 2.5 year old GE refrigerator stopped cooling. I self-diagnosed a bad thermostat. Bought from Costco with Squaretrade warranty, so it was covered, and Squaretrade agreed it was covered.

After two missed appointments and two weeks without a fridge I had had enough. Early one weekend morning I deciphered the email addresses of very senior execs of both Costco and Squaretrade. Within two hours I had a reply email from the Costco guy. Within a few hours of that I had calls from execs at both companies - on a weekend!

A few days later I got a check for the full purchase price of the fridge, plus the cost of the warranty.

cfauvel

WOW!!...did you buy a new one or fixed the old one

BiloxiGuy

If I remember correctly, Dodge was offering the lifetime warranty back when they thought they were going bankrupt and therefor would not have to honor it for very long, and then got bailed out by the government. Boy did that backfire!

My neighbor bought the same truck back then because of the lifetime warranty as well. The only downside for him is that he feels like he has to own it forever because how do you rationalize getting rid of something that has a lifetime warranty? He puts the hammer down on that truck everywhere he goes.

avenger79

2018 Stingray - my current boat. purchased new
first time out we notice a small hole in the hull, above the water line. -- fixed under warranty no questions.
second time out, motor dies strange noise. -- entire drive train replaced by Volvo. says engine suffered catastrophic failure
next season we notice an oil leak from drive. -- fixed by dealer. kid who winterized it rolled an o ring
this season went to take her out for the first time and noticed a crack in the hull. -- took 6 weeks but fixed under warranty by Stingray.

not sure how realistic this dream is, but next season I am hoping to get to use the boat more than once or twice. Stingray and Volvo have been very good about taking care of everything. just wish it didn't need so much taking care of.

avenger79

had it on my Jeep wrangler as well. everytime I took it in to get work done they "recommended" I trade up. LOL I did finally sell it this year as it was just a secnod vehicle at this point that I didn't really need.

jubal

My sister in law gave me a Yeti Hopper in 2016. The zipper broke in 2018 and they replaced the whole thing without a receipt. This summer the new one broke the same way. They've discontinued the Hopper (which I didn't like anyway) and sent me a Flip 18 instead. No hassle or arguing.

autobaun70

Pretty much. At the time I had taken a sales role that required the truck, and had an age cap of 4 years, so I wasn't planning on hanging onto it that long, mainly just wanted to cut my risk of out of pocket $ while owning it. Quickly figured out I had no business being in sales, and have since hung onto it. I definitely get the feeling of needing to hang onto it. At this point I can't be without a truck, but don't need it every day. Have picked up a cheap suburban to cart babies around in for the time being (back seat of the truck is tiny), and once I quit hemorrhaging $ for daycare am likely going to get a newer suburban or expedition max, and retire the truck to occasional use.