snave8

I talked to Brian, he's done quite a few of these boats with non-centered drives.
What I don't get is...........Why would anyone pay the kind of money they got/get for these boats new, and not be screaming at the dealer/Donzi to fix the issue. I mean if the drive was improperly installed at the factory, it would clearly be a warranty issue. I for one, would never accept this, and would take legal action to make them correct it if necessary. Yet, it seems as though, when they are repaired, it's done by privately owned shops.......I don't get it.
I talked to Chuck at Donzi....He of course said he's never heard of a drive being installed off center.
Equally puzzling is that I've searched all over the place online for any forum post from an owner who had an off centered drive, and had it repaired........Can't find anything, very strange. If anyone else knows of one, please send over a link.

thirdchildhood

I personally know of two and possibly three. I don't want to drop names and risk stigmatizing someone's boat (mine was not one of them). The reason they weren't covered by warranty is because the problem wasn't discovered in time. Owners spent a lot of time prop testing, etc. Some would finally figure it was a normally bad handling hull design and sell them. Brian discovered the alignment issue.

snave8

Just seems odd that customers would spend over a year trying to diagnose a problem like this, then not pursue it through the manufacturer when the culprit was finally determined. The factory wouldn't have a leg to stand on in this case (IMO)

SB

Leg to stand on what...if you know what I mean. Anything broken ? Way I see it is if they want to provide customer service on this or not.

Edit in: I'm saying this more of regular statement than anything. I'd be po'd too...even if these boats where cheaper.

thirdchildhood

Donzi customer service and warranty was very good. Probably still is. Problem is that I don't know of anyone who caught this problem within the 5 year warranty period.

snave8

I didn't realize the boats had 5 year warranty's.....That makes it even harder to understand why they wouldn't of had it fixed under warranty.

phragle

You guys do realize that Donzi isnt Donzi anymore... Its been thru a few different shell game owners, its now Fonzi by baja or something like that.....

thirdchildhood

But they never went bankrupt and they never stiffed a buyer and as far as I know, all warranty claims were taken care of even during hard times.

Pat McPherson

Mark,
Are you still researching ways to improve the handling of your boat?
Are you planning to have others evaluate it?

Said this before, I think the handling that you've described is not the norm...

In your shoes, I'd have an experienced boat rigging expert check the drive & engine mounting as well as the steering.
If all good, maybe try a short lower unit.

Good Luck with what ever you decide to do...

snave8

Yes, I'm still not completely satisfied with it.
The boat is currently at Performance Marine in Lake George. They're going to check the rigging, drive installation, and try out a shorty lower unit they have on hand (before I spend the $$ on one) to see if it improves the handling.
Seems to be a mixed bag on the shorty........Some say it will improve things, others say it will make it worse.....We'll see.
In speaking with Jason Saris (the owner), he thinks that because the drive is so deep on this boat, the drive being off centered slightly could cause problems...If that's the case, the shorty could improve things.