Steve Merlo: Time for boat and engine makers to cut back or lose it all
| Thursday, Mar 11 2010 06:42 AM
Last Updated Thursday, Mar 11 2010 06:42 PM
Everyone loves the thrill of running down a lake in their boat, wind in their face, heading for a secret honeyhole where fish line up to be caught cast after cast. Unfortunately, those days are getting fewer and fewer because many outboard engines burn up before they ever get near that spot. Too many of my friends have recently experienced exactly that, even after taking good care of their equipment. Most have been forced to pay outlandish repair prices for shoddy equipment that's supposed to be top-of-the-line and failed after only a few hours of use.
My wife and I recently had the same nightmare misfortune, our first after nearly 30 years of well-cared-for, trouble-free engines. After a lengthy battle with the engine's manufacturer, we were told that we did not have the extended warranty we thought we had purchased (trust me, we did) and our claim was denied. Fortunately (and gratefully), Foremost Boat Insurance took up the slack and paid most of the $8,000 bill due to the "foreign-object-caused burned piston" clause in our policy, leaving us with only a factory-rebuilt powerhead, impeller, labor and whatever else the marine dealer charged to total that incredible amount.
$8000 to rebuild a powerhead for an outboard? Heck, an automobile's replacement engine would cost a lot less. I'm sure it would last for at least 150,000 miles, at 60 mph, without any major problems, instead of the measely 123 hours our engine got before self-destructing.
Imagine if jet engines of the same quality only lasted a little over 100 hours; would anyone ever ride in one? Would any intelligent person ever buy a car that lasted only 7,500 miles? Where's the quality at a reasonable price we as Americans have learned to expect from our manufacturers? What's going on here anyway? Where's the Henry Ford of boating when you need him?
Why should a single, new, fiberglass fishing boat's cost be more than the total for two brand new full- size automobiles, when the boat's nothing more than molded fiberglass and an overly expensive engine put together on an assembly line? Would you believe that a decked-out, 20-foot-long Ranger Bass Boat might cost over $60,000 these days? Even a new aluminum easily tags 20 grand or more, and that's on the cheap side. What on earth -- or rather -- who on earth ever allowed things to get that far out of hand?
We all did. Every outdoor-oriented person who ever purchased a rig is at blame for continuing to let the prices fly way outside the realm of fair market value. Until recently, loans were easy, interest rates were down and credit was available, and then the American dream began to crumble. Suddenly, the "great boating deals" we thought we had negotiated with hungry salesmen were gone, gone, gone and marine companies began to suffer when people could no longer afford their to buy their outlandishly priced products.
It should not come as any real surprise then, to announce that Genmar Corp., owners of Ranger Boats, Champion Boats, Stratos Boats and a host of other brand name fishing boat companies, has finally gotten caught with its pants down and had to file for bankruptcy protection. In the ensuing corporate struggle, "Platinum Equity," a California-based business group, recently bought most of Genmar's holdings at auction for a mere $70-million. The new CEO hopes to continue in the proud manner of which the name brands were accustomed to delivering -- quality, jobs, profit, and etc.
I've got news for him. Unless he's figured out a way to improve the quality and move his products at a far cheaper price than what they were selling at before the bankruptcy, his company's eventually going to be doing a little Chapter 7 dance itself. With the rest of our economy already in the dumps, Platinum Equity needs to get a handle on the over-greedy horns of the boating industry and find ways to make quality equipment a lot more affordable and dependable for the average Joe.
Since unemployment has already risen to all time highs, fishing and boating may already be on their way out as a too expensive leisure activity. Without some common-sense marketing changes in pricing, financing and overall quality, the industry will die and we'll all be paddling our used canoes down a river to nowhere.
