I think you will be surprised what a letter from an attorney will do. At least talk to one and look at your options. At this point I think they know you will just roll over and that's probably what they're banking on. Stop the nice guy stuff. I truly hope you get this taken care of.
Thanks Sandman. Appreciate it.
He did talk to his contact for me about 9 months ago. His primary contact is more on the engineering side of things. That contact did call me to let me know they were working on the issue at that time and had put in a call to someone. It was nothing with any teeth.Originally Posted by grandbassslayer
Not sure how long you have followed this but I'll tell you that, on more than one occasion, I've been told "we're sorry about your issues, but I remind you you did purchase the boat from a professional fisherman."
I've been told this in print and over the phone.
I still have his contact information but really have no interest in speaking to him about the boat anymore. Without boring you with subtle timing and "reading between the lines" issues, I will just tell you he's tried to help in the past and, I say with confidence, had his wrist slapped pretty good.
These pros work hard to procure what sponsorship backing they have. Most need their sponsors more than their sponsors need them. That's especially true in the outboard motor sponsorship game. He is certainly an exhausted route to get the problems resolved. I do not believe he has a contact with power. If he does, it is quite clear he never had an interest in burning a call for a big favor on me. But he did try to help at one time.
SO at the end of the day it sounds like Suzuki produces a product that they wont stand behind for the serious bass fisherman. Automatically takes them off of my list. I'd go so far as to say I'd actively avoid Suzuki even if I found a killer deal.
1997 Triton Tr-21
1999 Johnson 225HO
No worries man and wish you the best.
I hope Suzuki reads this as they have lost a ton of customers due to this. I know I now will never own one between my buddies fiasco and yours as well as others I have read after looking around from reading your issue.
96 Viper Coral202 225 Opti serial#1B011431
Theres a lot of them on my local lake on pontoon boats. I pretty much thought that was what they were good for- maybe not so much now. Imagine how much a new engine costs a manufacturer to send out... and how much money they lost on this thread. Pretty much like nissan and force was back in the 90’s- never a serious consideration for most people
xpress x19, 200ho G2, aluminum sawtooth cut prop, paper sack tackle storage, ugly stik pro team, color c-lector
Can’t use them on a bassboat, thanks Suzuki! I will make sure my boat never sees one. Give this man the new motor that he deserves or at least get him moved to the priority line.On your handling of this.
I read in the BassCat boards that the tech that said that “has been managed”...B.S.
Last edited by grout-scout; 05-27-2019 at 10:52 AM.
I have been following since the beginning and I feel for ya. I hope your patience and softer approach pays off in the end. I would try and elevate my contact and story within Suzuki to as high as I could find a number, name, email. Has there been any discussion from you or Suzuki about a deal on a new engine? A 'fair' trade in per say. Even if it isn't free, but discounted accordingly it might be a win/win.
I guess Suzuki doesn't get embarrassed easily. They have to know that this situation is out there on social media. Anybody wanna take bets that the "battery" is the issue? Come on, please! I don't mean to be a dick to the marine dealers you have been dealing with but one washed their hands of you and the other says 3 to 4 weeks out? Seriously? I feel so sorry for you making payments on a big paper weight. I have bought pro boats before that were used for a year with the warranty being carried over to me with no issues. Even bought one where the Merc blew and Merc put a new powerhead on pronto. Most of the time the boat isn't even registered to the pro so the buyer is registered as the first owner. I came so close to ordering a new Falcon with a Suzuki but ended up getting a Merc. Thank Jeezus that deal didn't go through. BasCatKev, give us a email address to a good contact at Suzuki and lets get the wrath of BBC to rain down on them.
Myself and a few other Suzuki owners have been openly chastising Suzuki on their official FB profile about Kevin's issue and linking Kevin's original post in the Suzuki section of this site. A Suzuki PA rep did reply to one of my postings and stated publicly they will reach out to the owner, but that hasn't happened yet. Who knows if Suzuki's marketing department even talks to the warranty/claims department, but I highly doubt it since this type of stuff is usually contracted out third party. Plus that profile page gets very little traffic on it as well. A link was also posted in the Official Suzuki Outboards owners FB forum, but that's 90% salt water guys with a few dealer reps, but most offered solutions on how to fix the outboard, but not how to deal with Suzuki.
2018 Bass Cat Lynx w/Suzuki 250SS.
This will not help. As soon as someone mentions the "A" word, we shut them down and no longer communicate to them.....as they say they have representation. The attorneys can talk to the other attorneys, all while collecting your cash.
Agree.. once you lawyer up.... that boat will NOT be touched again until the legal fight is over and the judge decides the next move.
Like ive said before, getting a lawyer is the absolute worst move you can do. You can spend $25k and theyll fix your motor alright. Probably ought to ship it to us. We’ll pay for shipping but youll pay for rigging and be without your boat for a year while they put their best guys on it. Quickest way to shut them down is to get a lawyer
xpress x19, 200ho G2, aluminum sawtooth cut prop, paper sack tackle storage, ugly stik pro team, color c-lector
Seems like Suzuki has been shut down since day one.
If I was considering a new engine today, it would not be a Suzuki based on this thread.
This is the first time I've heard anything bad about Suzuki's motors. Two things disturb me as I planned on repowering with a Suzuki. 1- how wide spread is this issue? 2- Is their customer support really this bad? There are two sides to each story even though the OP has been very detailed. This is really a bad deal on both sides. I can't stop thinking that what I had my mind set on for so long might not be a good fit for me anymore. I'd hate to be treated like this. Sorry to hear this but thank you for posting this information.
It's not a wide spread issue as myself and a few others have repowered with a Suzuki 250SS over the past few years and don't have Kevin's headaches. The only issue I had was caused by myself when I accidently put a kink in my fuel line when running a new transducer cable to the jack plate. The only complaint about Suzuki's outside of Kevin's is that they are hard to prop and you won't have the top end speed like you would with the big 3.
2018 Bass Cat Lynx w/Suzuki 250SS.
As a boater with motor issues, Suzy was my list of repower options. Not any more! this thread is crazy. I think the Japanese ego is very large. I've had issues with Japanese bait manufactures thinking there stuff can't fail. That seems to be the case here as well. It's quite obvious the pro in question lied through his teeth about the history. These issues don't just pop up out of nowhere. I also find it concerning BCB can't/won't step in and get involved to find resolve.
Kevin, I hope your issues a resolved to your satisfaction quickly.
I understand it could be the wrong thing to do, but this is getting personal to me and I’m not the owner of the motor. It’s kind of like having someone that’s 6’3” pinch your wife on the ass right in front of you and give you the look. Smart thing would be to move on, but the man in me says WTF and goes in knowing I might get my ass handed to me but I’ll be damned if I’m just going to stand there and take it. My wife would surely think less of me if I did nothing and chew me out after the fact for getting into a fight. As I’ve said before, Kev is made different than me. I do hope he gets made whole on this thing. Larry
There’s no use being stupid if you’re not willing to show it off.
BassCat really has no obligation to get involved and very well may be exposing themselves to liability if they do. The hull and the outboard are 2 completely separate components. I have seen BCB reply here a few times and from my understanding they made some tentative outreach. That’s honestly more than you could expect from one of the White River manufacturers. This thread hasn’t changed my opinion of BCB one bit (think we need more builders like them) but to hell with Suzuki.
1997 Triton Tr-21
1999 Johnson 225HO
BCB responded about this thread in their section. He just said that the rep was “managed”. But if their boats can’t handle the extra weight & poles/talons, then they need to let people know. I know Champion had the same issue with sitting too low in the back.
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