What warranty to have manufacturer or West?

[teveau169]

Hi,
I am upgrading my chart plotter, radar, etc. & adding an auto pilot & AIS type B device. I have been looking at Garmin and I wonder if I should buy my equipment through West Marine to get their added warranty or shop for better prices either directly from Garmin or Defender Marine or other third party venders?
Please note I will be cruising to the Central American Isthmus and the western and Central Carribean so I want warranty coverage/service I can rely on from foreign ports.
Second issue: I am looking to buy a water maker and I have been considering Rainman as well as Cruise RO Water. I really like Spectra but they are just too expensive. As far as capacity 10-20 gals per hr is plenty as I will be either solo or cruise with only a first mate plus me. I live aboard my 30 foot cruiser and I have a good generater although I am considering buying a Honda with 30 watt shore power plug as a backup.
Any advise on any of the above subjects will be greatly appreciated.

Also what Marinas are the best for live aboard slips for 3/6/12 month leases along the Yucatán?
Thaznks in advance for any sage advise y'all may wish to provide to me.
T.
PS: any of you may PM me at my email address.

[donradcliffe]

Shop for the best price. No matter what warranty you get, it will involve shipping the bad parts back to the US for repair, which is a royal pain.

I'll leave the watermaker recommendations to the others, but if you already have a good diesel genset, use the main engine/alternator as a temporary backup and only get the Honda if the genset fails.

I'm confused as to why you want a marina, as most cruisers anchor out. Living aboard is not an issue outside the US. You will probably want to spend hurricane season up the Rio Dulce, as long as your draft is 6 ft or less.

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

Shop for the best price. No matter what warranty you get, it will involve shipping the bad parts back to the US for repair, which is a royal pain.

My view too. Warranties are about useless unless you're sitting in a marina in the US for a few months.

[zeehag]

the manufacturers , if you are going to cruise. there are no west marines outside usa.
manufacturers will send to you wherever you are, however.
good luck. i buy used to i have no hooks in me to be specific areas....

[Rainman]

I will respectfully dispute the comment about warranties being useless. I can say that Rainman has never charged shipping on a warranty repair/replacement, even going to remote areas like Caribbean or South Pacific. You would obviously need to be at one location to meet a part/system while waiting for DHL to show up. We are developing our dealer network around the world as well, so more places are having spare parts. Having said that, we have very few issues due to the simplicity of our design.

You won't go wrong with either Rainman or CruiseRO, depending on which system suits your needs better. Both have their pros and cons, so do your homework.

[YachtBroker]

In my experience, west marine warranties are done by a 3rd party entity. Basically and extended warranty insurance company and you have to register it online. Not worth it if traveling outside the country. More and More I see good products, carframo fans for example, that 4-5 years ago were really well made and now the company has been sold or they have cheapened them to compete or something and they don't last as long. I've got 8 on my boat and gone through two of them in 2 years. The extended warranty for one of the fans thru west is like $3, so worth getting if you're going to be somewhere stateside where you can take advantage of it and don't mind the hassle of the paperwork.

[ArmyDaveNY]

You raise many interesting points with your questions. Allow me to shed some light on the WM extended warranty, known as the Plus Plan. First, there is no one answer for everyone. Each person's situation is a little different. A person who relies on a piece of equipment, such as a charter captain, and in particular a fishing charter captain, is more likely to benefit from it than someone who is a casual user of the equipment. In general, the more mission critical the equipment, the more you may want to consider their Plus Plan or any extended warranty.


Their Plus Plan is not for everyone but it is worth considering. It is roughly twelve percent of the cost for the two year extension. It also has many benefits that most people don't know about.


Second, if you use an Amex for your purchase, the Amex may also provide an extended warranty at no additional cost. It won't cover the same things but it may be good enough, and Voltaire himself made popular an old Italian proverb that said "Perfect is the enemy of the good!" Other cards may offer similar benefits but you'll have to check with each card you have.


Third, the Plus Plan (extended warranty) does more than just extend the warranty. It covers things that are not covered by the factory warranty. Two examples of this are wear and tear and power surges. In particular the power surges can be important. In addition to this, the Plus Plan also provides for a swap. Instead of waiting weeks for it to be diagnosed and a determination made on coverage, the Plus Plan will repair or swap the equipment for a new unit. Now you will get it back in less time.


Fourth, they do have a department to assist you if you are overseas. A fair number of people who are overseas do use this plan.


Fifth, if your unit is discontinued they will replace it with a comparable new model if the old discontinued unit cannot be fixed or replaced.


In summation, their Plus Plan is not for everyone, but it does have some good benefits. If your equipment is mission critical, it becomes more compelling. It is worth thinking about it when you decide to purchase an expensive piece of equipment. Like all insurances, you will have to weigh the benefits versus the costs, including the cost of self insuring.

[Dave Lochner]

Extended warranty plans are essentially profit centers for retailers. In effect they are an insurance policy and are priced as such.

A friend owns a small independent appliance store. He uses extended warranties as a bargaining chip to compete against the big box stores. He'll throw in an extended warranty that normally sells for $25 for free. His cost? About $1.

If an electronic device is going to fail, it will most likely fail right out of the box or very shortly there after.

Save your money or put towards better equipment and not extended warranties. In the long run you will be ahead.

[ArmyDaveNY]

[QUOTE=Dave Lochner;2272291]

If an electronic device is going to fail, it will most likely fail right out of the box or very shortly there after.

QUOTE]

There is much truth in this statement. I have customers who have equipment that is ten or fifteen years old and it works perfectly.

Having said that, marine electronics are often affected by other things and in particular by voltage fluctuations and low voltage. Sometimes these affect electronics over time. Sadly I have seen people who's electronics die in just a few years.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Rainman

I will respectfully dispute the comment about warranties being useless. I can say that Rainman has never charged shipping on a warranty repair/replacement, even going to remote areas like Caribbean or South Pacific. ...

You cover shipping in both directions? What about duties?

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

Shop for the best price. No matter what warranty you get, it will involve shipping the bad parts back to the US for repair, which is a royal pain.

... You will probably want to spend hurricane season up the Rio Dulce, as long as your draft is 6 ft or less.

Having lived in Central America for over a decade I will echo that experience. Outbound shipping is less common and more of a hassle/expense. Inbound is easier, because thats the more common service, but some countries like Belize have stoopid high duties and will ding you regarless of it being a warranty replacement. Guatemala is easier and cheaper.

Very annoying when vendor ships you the wrong part and exchanging it will cost several times the value of the part...generally better just to reorder the correct part.

Rio Dulce is indeed the place you wanna be for hurricane season and repairs.

Also plenty of live aboard marinas there.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by teveau169

...
Please note I will be cruising to the Central American Isthmus and the western and Central Carribean so I want warranty coverage/service I can rely on from foreign ports.
...

Authorized service centers are few and far between in CA/W Carib. I know of precisely 1 Raymarine service center (Panama City) in the entire region...and they have not proved very useful to me.

[Rainman]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

You cover shipping in both directions? What about duties?

On the few occasions it's been required, yes, we covered shipping both directions. We could send out parts and email a DHL return shipping label. We can work with customer, DHL, local authorities to minimise/eliminate duty. It hasn't been an issue so far, but I recognise duty can be difficult in some jurisdictions.

I know when I have purchased goods that have had issues, and the company backs their products well, it buys a lot of loyalty with me. We are striving to achieve that kind of loyalty with the Rainman customer base. Of course, our first objective is not not have issues in the first place.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Rainman

On the few occasions it's been required, yes, we covered shipping both directions. We could send out parts and email a DHL return shipping label. We can work with customer, DHL, local authorities to minimise/eliminate duty. It hasn't been an issue so far, but I recognise duty can be difficult in some jurisdictions.

I know when I have purchased goods that have had issues, and the company backs their products well, it buys a lot of loyalty with me. We are striving to achieve that kind of loyalty with the Rainman customer base. Of course, our first objective is not not have issues in the first place.

Ok. Im impressed. Not many vendors will do that.

It buys a lot of loyalty with me too.

[ramblinrod]

Originally Posted by teveau169

Hi,
I am upgrading my chart plotter, radar, etc. & adding an auto pilot & AIS type B device. I have been looking at Garmin and I wonder if I should buy my equipment through West Marine to get their added warranty or shop for better prices either directly from Garmin or Defender Marine or other third party venders?
Please note I will be cruising to the Central American Isthmus and the western and Central Carribean so I want warranty coverage/service I can rely on from foreign ports.
Second issue: I am looking to buy a water maker and I have been considering Rainman as well as Cruise RO Water. I really like Spectra but they are just too expensive. As far as capacity 10-20 gals per hr is plenty as I will be either solo or cruise with only a first mate plus me. I live aboard my 30 foot cruiser and I have a good generater although I am considering buying a Honda with 30 watt shore power plug as a backup.
Any advise on any of the above subjects will be greatly appreciated.

Also what Marinas are the best for live aboard slips for 3/6/12 month leases along the Yucatán?
Thaznks in advance for any sage advise y'all may wish to provide to me.
T.
PS: any of you may PM me at my email address.

In almost all cases, the real warranty is provided by the manufacturer, and the retailer extends the manufacturer's warranty. In the case of extended warranties (beyond what the manufacturer offers) these are usually just insurance policies. Insurance companies make money, by paying out less in claims than they take in.

Before considering any extended warranty, look into the actual warranty of the manufacturer. For example, for Raymarine products, most come with a 2 year warranty (mail in), or 3 years if you register on-line. If you have the equipment installed by a Raymarine certified installer, you can get the installation certified for "on-board" warranty, that will be honoured anywhere there is a Raymarine certified installer (check details for some restrictions).

If you are getting the equipment professionally installed, see if the installer offers an "on-board" warranty. This can save a bundle of hassle, if your boat remains in or frequently returns within their service territory.