Warranty and Going Abroad???...

J@mes · 01 August 2013, 12:59

Hi there,

Hope this is in the correct section!

I have a question about warranty and going abroad.

My rib is now in Spain (it was bought brand new in the UK a year ago) and the Tohatsu 50HP outboard is now due a service. It is hard to get to the nearest Tohatsu dealer out there and also they charge a bomb compared to smaller local marine companies. What I want to know is, does my Tohatsu outboard have to be serviced at a main dealer to keep its warranty or can it be serviced by any marine company as long as they use OEM parts and service it to the book/schedule? I know with cars in the UK this is the case, that you can use none dealers without effecting your warranty! Is it the same in the boating world and in Europe?

Many thanks,

James.

J@mes · 02 August 2013, 10:41

Bump!

Tim M · 03 August 2013, 05:52

No idea I'm afraid. I would suggest calling the dealer you bought it from.

Poly · 03 August 2013, 17:43

J@mes - the normal position is warranty is only maintained by approved dealer. However as you say with cars the OFT ruling has declared this unfair, and any competent garage can do it. There is no definite position on whether that could extend to other similar arrangements such as boat engines but common sense would suggest it should. However unless you are a lawyer (assume not if asking here) or rich and willing to prove a point then you may not be willing to run the risk. I'm not sure that an outboard service will be ENOUGH much more (if both are using the same parts) to justify the risk. You could write to the OFT and ask but OFT opinion may be of little relevance overseas. You may want to check the engine doesn't need to come back to UK for warranty work anyway.

J@mes · 04 August 2013, 15:58

Thanks for the reply guys. I did ask the dealer I bought it from from day one and they said it has to be serviced at authorised dealers only, but then they would say that! As we know this is totally unfair and as with cars is no longer the case!

I thought I would ask on here to see the situation for servicing/warranty for outboards was the same as with cars. I guess from the lack of response (despite the high number of views!) most people have no idea.

I have a friend in Spain who works for a marine company who service big boats and is happy to help me out, so I will get a quote from him to come to me and service my outboard, and I will also get a quote from the Tohatsu dealer who are very expensive, they charged me €120 (£105) to come to me and do a simple gear oil change (took 20mins) after I had done the 10 hour run in period! They also quoted me €235 (£205) for an OEM Tohatsu 11 x 15 prop, when its £150 here (33% more).

Guess I will make up my mind once I have both quotes!