M26M Transom failiure

[gescriva]

The other day while sailing with my 03 I suffered a minor transom problem which cause me lost control of the boat for a little while.
There was a pretty windy and rough seas day (Obviously for the Mac) and I was running only with half of my genoa. While I was intending to turn towards the wind, i realized that my wheel would not move from its position. I had to open the access to the transom, while sailing and found out that the cables from the motor where interferring with the transom.

I tried to correct it manually and only by lowering the motor and then raising it again i could correct this problem.

Is this normal to all users?. I found it pretty dangerous if you are sailing alone.

Thanks for your opinions...

Germ�

[Paul S]

The other day while sailing with my 03 I suffered a minor transom problem which cause me lost control of the boat for a little while.
There was a pretty windy and rough seas day (Obviously for the Mac) and I was running only with half of my genoa. While I was intending to turn towards the wind, i realized that my wheel would not move from its position. I had to open the access to the transom, while sailing and found out that the cables from the motor where interferring with the transom.

I tried to correct it manually and only by lowering the motor and then raising it again i could correct this problem.

Is this normal to all users?. I found it pretty dangerous if you are sailing alone.

Thanks for your opinions...

Germ�

When we took delivery of our M, I found the cables and battery cables a mess inside the boat at the transom (potential chafing and/or binding). I secured it with large wire clips to keep them from flexing as much as possible, routed the battery cable away from engine cables.

Also the steering linkage for the motor was wicked tightly attached to the rudder system, so the steering was super hard. I loosened the nut/bolt on the linkage, and it freed up and became looser.

This was just dealer prep (or lack of it). Don't get me going

Paul

[Jesse Days Pacific Star 2]

It seems as if quality control and gone by the wayside?

[Paul S]

It seems as if quality control and gone by the wayside?

You think I know our experience certainly shouldn't give you that impression

I still think it is funny when I compared the Mac to Kia...then I later found out the brake pads in the trailer are from a Kia Sephia I think even Kia has some form of QC.

Apparently Macgregor's QC is looking at the boat from 50 feet away and saying 'Yup...thats a good one...ship it' or 'Cracked countertop???....Ahhhh thats OK....let the dealer deal with it..ship it'


Paul

[Jesse Days Pacific Star 2]

When we took delivery of our 2002X (new), there wasn't a single thing that I found that wasn't up to snuff. Maybe it was the factory or maybe it was BWY, but everything waas perfect and has stayed that way. No leaks, no gel coat problems and no engine/steering issues. We've been extremely pleased.

J.

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

Apparently Macgregor's QC is looking at the boat from 50 feet away and saying 'Yup...thats a good one...ship it' or 'Cracked countertop???....Ahhhh thats OK....let the dealer deal with it..ship it'

Have you ruled out the possibility that your dealer actually cheated you and it had nothing to do with the factory? Could they have sold you a used boat as new?

[soapbox mode]
I know not everyone is lucky enough to have multiple dealers to choose from, but if I am buying something new like that, I would check out multiple dealers and make sure they are competing against each other for quality, etc. And if there is something I don't like, I just walk out.

For example, when I bought my Acura TL new a few years ago, I made a 1.5 hour drive to Ocala to go buy what I thought was the best priced car (back in 2000, it was very difficult to get a deal on these cars as they were very popular). Supposedly, I had the whole deal worked out on paper ahead of time. I didn't want to drive for 3 hours without knowing all the details. When I got there, they added a bunch of BS dealer prep charges probably totalling another thousand dollars or so...they said.."everyone pays these".. And I said..."nope, this is what I call bait and switch...and you already had a healthy profit margin" and then walked out. I was quite upset driving back to Tampa without my new car..but it was well worth it in the end. I wrote a letter to the dealer and copied the BBB. They apologized...of course, it was all just a "big mistake"

A couple weeks later, they delivered my new Acura to me in Tampa (on a flatbed trailer), sans the extra baloney charges...plus, they threw in another $500 worth of options on top of the original deal. The moral of the story is competition. Unless you are trying to make the dealer take a loss, there are plenty of dealers who want your business...my advice would be to go to the one that deserves your business....and don't be afraid to remove your business from dealers who do not.
[/soapbox mode]

[Paul S]

Apparently Macgregor's QC is looking at the boat from 50 feet away and saying 'Yup...thats a good one...ship it' or 'Cracked countertop???....Ahhhh thats OK....let the dealer deal with it..ship it'

Have you ruled out the possibility that your dealer actually cheated you and it had nothing to do with the factory? Could they have sold you a used boat as new?

[soapbox mode]
I know not everyone is lucky enough to have multiple dealers to choose from, but if I am buying something new like that, I would check out multiple dealers and make sure they are competing against each other for quality, etc. And if there is something I don't like, I just walk out.

For example, when I bought my Acura TL new a few years ago, I made a 1.5 hour drive to Ocala to go buy what I thought was the best priced car (back in 2000, it was very difficult to get a deal on these cars as they were very popular). Supposedly, I had the whole deal worked out on paper ahead of time. I didn't want to drive for 3 hours without knowing all the details. When I got there, they added a bunch of BS dealer prep charges probably totalling another thousand dollars or so...they said.."everyone pays these".. And I said..."nope, this is what I call bait and switch...and you already had a healthy profit margin" and then walked out. I was quite upset driving back to Tampa without my new car..but it was well worth it in the end. I wrote a letter to the dealer and copied the BBB. They apologized...of course, it was all just a "big mistake"

A couple weeks later, they delivered my new Acura to me in Tampa (on a flatbed trailer), sans the extra baloney charges...plus, they threw in another $500 worth of options on top of the original deal. The moral of the story is competition. Unless you are trying to make the dealer take a loss, there are plenty of dealers who want your business...my advice would be to go to the one that deserves your business....and don't be afraid to remove your business from dealers who do not.
[/soapbox mode]

Doubt we got a 'used' one. Our boat was built in Jan. 04 so there is little chance it was used prior. Our first M had far more serious flaws like the joke I made about the counter being cracked. It was on our first M (#225)Far more cracks and chips (large) and half assed attempts to repair than our delivered boat. That boat is now the dealers demo boat. Still unrepaired when I saw it at the Newport boat show. The dealers other demo boat (hull#10) had fewer flaws in it that I could see than either of the boats we owned. Both boats were untouched (literally) by the dealer, prep wise. Only installed the motor. Everything else was just 'delivered'. None of the rigging was set, roller was not installed. (even though prices were 'installed') The dealers contractor came down and finished the job. But IMO it should have been done before delivery. Don't get me going on the gelcoat finish...just pi$$ poor...even to this day.

There is pretty close to zero QC that I can tell. What pi$$ me off more...is the boat should never have got to us in the condition it was in. Not to start a tangent on something we beat to death months ago, but the dealer should have looked it over better and fixed/installed everything prior to delivery.

I would (most people) would never accept ANY new car with the flaws these boats have. But you have to lower your standards a bit if you want to own one.

Paul

[dclark]

MacGregor doesn't install the motor...or the motor cables. Probably the dealer for whatever motor you bought did.

[Joe 26M Time Warp]

I'm glad to find out as DClark says this is simply a dealer problem. They are the ones who install motors on Macs - probably a good thing.

I was also glad to find out Gescriva, that the problem with your boat wasn't that the transom fell off. I hate when THAT happens.

[Frank C]

Yeah, Joe
... kind of a b*tch too when the charger explodes, ain't it?

(You still a 2-boat, twin-trailer family?)

[Joe 26M Time Warp]

(You still a 2-boat, twin-trailer family?)

His & hers,
one & two,
03, & 04
One hot number, and one extra crispy