Quality Control on '05 models

[jpretti]

Anyone out there that has taken delivery of an '05 model notice that the quality of the boats has gone way down hill? I have had the decals fall off the side, the snap on my storage compartment fall off, motor is hard to start, rear storage decks do not stay closed when trailering, rear deck lids do not fit very well, discovered gel is very thin and the bow eyelet has started to fall out. All of the above and I have only barely reached 20 hours. I have seen one where the windshield is so far off you cannot even mount a tower. Saw another friend of mine's who found sandpaper and trash in the hull and one that arrived with torn decals and the driveshaft access panel had every weld broke.

My dealer has been more than gracious in taking there time to work on the boat and resolve issues, but it is really a bummer having to drop this thing off after a weekend of use to have repairs done week in and week out.

I want my 2000 21i back...and if this 21i continues to fall apart, I may have to demand a replacement. It just sucks paying this much money for something that is in the shop all the time.

[BrentRR]

I purchased a 2005 24V about 2 weeks ago. I bought it at Skiers Wharf Extreme in Osage Beach, MO on the Lake of the Ozarks. Their customer service sold us on the boat as much as the boat itself. The owner took my family out for a 2.5 hour test drive that included one of his employees, who is a part-time pro wakeboarder, showing us some of his tricks behind the boat. Pretty impressive to see someone go big behind the boat you want to buy without the use of ballasts.

After deciding to purchase the boat, the owner had 2 of his employees spend over 4 hours on the water with us which included shaking down the boat and free wakeboarding lessons for my 3 daughters.

Now to the not so good stuff:

1) While we were out on the shakedown run, a clamp came lose on one of the cooling lines and started spraying hot water in the engine compartment. Not that big of a deal except we didn't have a toolkit with us, all we needed was a flat screwdriver. (A new toolkit was one of my first purchases later that day.)

2) The console speedometer did not work. The speedo on the perfect pass is fine so we knew our speed.

Left the boat with the dealer to have fixed and came back a week later.

3) After dropping the boat in the water and loading up for our first real outing, the engine began sputtering coming out of idle. We could see that another clamp was lose around the exhaust hose. Could have fixed it myself, but I called the dealer and within 45 minutes his mechanic was at our slip. He tightened all clamps, which I was hoping they would have done after the first issue, checked the coolant level and test drove it.

4) The bilge pump was running but not much was coming out. He found that trimmed carpet waste had plugged the pump's filter.

The mechanic conceeded that Tige's quality has been an issue lately and he was looking forward to giving them h!@# at the upcoming dealer meeting that he will be attending.

Bottom line, I was pretty disappointed in the boat, as my family was freaking out over all the problems with a $50K+ boat. I left the owner a message on his cell saying as much.

We put over 25 hours on it over the July 4th weekend and I'm back in love with it. It handles the rough water well and pulls like a semi.

The owner showed up at our slip in one of his demo boats. He wanted to check on us to see how things were going. I can't say enough good things about this dealer. Their website isn't much, but you can get phone #s and addresses if you are looking for a quality dealer.

http://www.skierswharfxtreme.com/

[Cheeky]

Maybe I'll stick with the 2001 21v after all..... All the bugs have already been worked out. My biggest complaint was the tower, but now the 2005 tower is on and all is well...

[holiday13]

I had some problems with mine as well, but my dealer has been A+++ in fixing everything. My list is:
1. bad gas tank sending unit
2. transmission not properly prepped before paint, was rusted when I picked boat up
3. My stainless steel rub rail turned out to be anything but stainless, after sitting in the water 2 months (fresh water that is) it was comletely rusted, as well as the rear grab bar.
4. Bad light in the tach so it would not come on at night
5. All kinds of spare screws laying in the bilge bay and clogging the drain port

I know they are mainly little things but for what they cost I hoped for a little more. I love the boat and the dealer has made everything as painless as possible, if it were not for the dealer being so good I would not be as understanding. Kudos to 1st Klas Marina in PA!!!

[BrentRR]

You are right, most of the issues are minor. If Tige would just do some more quality checking they would have happier customers and their dealers wouldn't have to work so hard.

[jpretti]

I would agree, my dealer Stateamind Watersports in Hazelwood, MO has been first class the whole way, but it is a shame to have spent $40K on a boat and have to deal with all of this. I feel bad for those guys when I call them on Monday and have to tell them this broke or this is wrong.

Did I mention one of my board racks fell off too???

It is a shame to say this because I am a dedicated Tige owner, but I may have to look to another brand for next year, i'm not going to continue to put up with this boat for much longer if things continue to go the way they have been.

[Ruune]

here's a list of problems I've had with my '04

Every seating surface has been replaced, due to torn stitching.

Both boardracks have cracked or completely broken. Still waiting for one set of "fingers." Forward tower uprights are torn all to hell from the serrated boardrack clamps.

Rubber straps on the boardracks were dryrotted within 2 weeks of boat delivery.

Right side base of the tower has been replaced, due to either improper mounting, or manufacturing defect which would not allow tightening.

glove box spring was originally glued- came undone and now has screws w/ nuts holding it in place.

Drain for the cooler has an insert that will not stay glued.

Engine hatch cover- "catch" for the locking mechanism cracked and broke off. Had to relocate the locking mechanism so that the replacement part did not suffer the same fate. This would have been quite interesting if I had to tow the boat any substantial distance.

Stainless rubrail- continually buckles at the split points where the pieces meet, requiring adjustment every 2-4 weeks. I do this myself, since I'm not going to drag the boat to austin every time this happens and I'm not about to let another person get cut by it.

Here's the doozie- This past Feb, we were riding on the other side of the lake, when the propshaft cracked. Yes, it cracked. Did I hit something? Nope. The dealer confirmed that there was a casting defect, where the coupler is attached, and showed me. I think I've got pictures somewhere too, if anyone is interested. I was however, sent a bimini at a discounted price. This, too had problems with cracked plastic parts. Still waiting for the correct replacements.

Latest episode- I've installed my THIRD TAPS motor (includes the original). Unfortunately, the dealer informed me that since the boat was 1 year and 2 months after delivery, the motor wasnt covered. Sent an email to Andrew and I'll probably make a phone call tomorrow, since I should actually have some time to deal with this.

I ended up sending an email to Charlie Pigeon, but still havent received a response- this was about a month ago. Needless to say, I'm pricing X30s, Xstars and Wakesetters this fall.

[akdoc]

BrentRR,

Where do you ride at LOTO? We are down at the 41MM. We also have a Tige from Skier's Wharf Extreme. We had tons of trouble with their service at first but it was taken care of by the owner this spring and we really appreciate it. I was pretty angry with them for a long time but now everything seems to be better. They just got a great new mechanic also. I am glad to hear that they are taken care of you.

We have an 04 switch v and knock on wood we have 140 hours on the boat and just some minor problems, but mostly things that the factory screwed up. We were also told that Tige had been putting out some crappy boats lately, the dealer actually told us he has sold double the amount of nautiques and all that is in the shop is Tige's.

[delongheavyhaul]

just to get in the middle of all you unhappy people out there you have to understand that things are going to go wrong, and that things are going to break. either it be a tige, a mastercraft, malibu, or your ford truck. now, i understand if what went wrong could have been avoided by the manufacturer spending a little more time on the product. but i am sure that tige has a lot of boats to build. and you know that everyone wants theirs right now. so stuff will be missed. but it happens with everything you buy. the differnce is the way that the tige dealerships take care of you. they go out of their way to fix the problem and get you back on the water. my 2005 24v has had a couple issues, but nothing they could not fix. i absolutely love my tige. i would not even think to getting a different brand. there is no way that i would ever get the great service that i get now.

[holiday13]

delongheavyhaul I fully agree, my dealer has been great as I stated above, and as most people have stated. My frustration is it seems like every Sunday night I am pulling my boat and driving an hour out of my way to drop the boat off for warranty work, then an hour out of my way each Friday night to pick it up and drop it in. My only saving grace is the boat ramp is litteraly right next to my house. I will admit, and pray this is so, it seems like all the bugs have been worked out (knocking on wood). My 24v is a fantastic boat for sure and suits my needs to a T. Just the little things (which could have been avoided by better quality control at the factory) that have annoyed me.

[delongheavyhaul]

tige should recognize this as a problem and solve it. they should see that they are growing fast, selling tons of boats. they need to remember why they are starting to get big. it is because they would build the best quality boat on the market. i think they need to slow down and get back to what they are know best for.

[infinityent]

Thinkin about a 22i

We have been thinking about buying a 22i, 2003 or newer. Should we be worried about the quality of these boats. A major reason for us buying a new boat is to get away from all of the little things going on with our old boat (an '88 Hurricane). Is Tige not the way to go these days, I was originally attracted by the TAPS and and Convex V Hull and i thought that Tige had a great quality product, now you guys are scarin me.

[Ruune]

you have to understand that things are going to go wrong

right- but this many things on a new boat? come on. I'm not new to boat ownership, plus I've got friends with malibu, mastercraft, Tige, centurion, supra, you name it. Noone that I know has had this range of problems with their boat- and I'm known as the anal one. For example, a friend of mine has a '93 sunsetter with over 1200 hours on it- and he's had far less problems than I have. Only after over 10 years of use did he have to replace the vinyl. I have another friend with a '91 prostar- same thing. Yet another friend with an '04 supra launch SSV- no problems to speak of.

[BrentRR]

Don't get me wrong. This boat is perfect for my family of 5 plus guests (typically have 7-9 people on board). Love the TAPS because we all slalom ski and wakeboard which is why we are racking up the engine hours quickly. We also tube and just hangout in a quiet cove.

How many boats can offer this much room and versatility and still provide a quality wake?

I guess I was naive in thinking I wouldn't have these types of problems when spending this much money. I can understand a gauge not working but clamps not tightened that affect water coming into the boat?

I'm just glad I was at the Lake when this all happened since the dealer was able to take care of it all. But what if I had trailered to the other lake I will be using the boat which doesn't have a Tige dealer...

Akdoc,

We boat in the Camdenton area on the Big Niangua.

[jpretti]

I agree with all of the above; however, the quality has slipped drastically. Now I understand they are in business to make money as is anyone, but I definatley agree with the fact that they should slow down and go back to taking their time building boats. Tige is the best boat on the market for the money and that is what they have been built around. If you think about it would it really kill you to wait an extra month or two to get the best boat on the market. Probably not.

For example, I had a custom motorcycle built last year, told me it would take seven weeks to get it done, ended up taking four months, but it was well worth the wait. I waited two months for my boat, but if they would have taken another 2 months to get it right and the qaulity would have been better then I would have been more satisfied.

You should see the gel on my boat, it's pathetic. The fiberglass on the interior is dull, looks like someone painted it with a can of flat black spray paint, not to mention they cut a hole for a speaker right behind the driver seat when the boat was ordered with no stereo, go figure.

I would not deter anyone from buying a Tige, because the dealers are outstanding as mentioned and are the boats, but Tige definatly needs to do something about these batch new models.