Axis Wakeboard Boat Forum

I have seen so many people mentioning dealer importance and so fourth so my question is regarding warranty service. I know typically a it's nice to buy from a dealer, have service and warranty work etc done at the same place and build a relationship. But am I correct that a new boat is like a new car, it has a factory warranty that must be upheld by any dealer nationally? For instance if you buy a new Axis out of state because it is $10k less than your local dealer then your local dealer could and would do warranty work if needed etc? I do typically prefer to buy local but at the same time not if it is at a higher expense for the same product.

Thanks for any input.

I would take the price that you get to your local dealer. Every dealer wants to sell a boat so most dealers would match the price.


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I have done that but our local dealer can't get close on the price because it is a demo boat with 25 hours and they don't have a demo to offer to compete on price.

So dealers have an agreement with Malibu not to sell outside their territories and your local dealer could complain to Malibu about the other one (not sure what would happen), but think about it this way. You buy a boat from your local dealer and you have a warranty problem, but some guy with a 97 Bayliner brings his boat into your dealer and wants an oil change on the same day. Who do you think is gonna get theirs done first? Now apply the opposite situation with with yourself. A customer who bought their boat from that dealer brings their boat in for work on a Thursday and you bring your boat you bought from another dealer. Who do you think is getting their boat back before weekend?

Just gotta decide what it's worth to ya.

Nailed it [emoji375]


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I bought my boat from my most local dealer and still get treated like crap by them. Service department has been terrible and I've had a lot of problems with my 15 A20 and its always been a hassle getting it worked on. Buying an Axis has been the worst experience I have ever had with a boat dealer. Wish Supra still made a 20 footer.

But I will say if I wanted to buy a boat from a dealer out of my area I find it hard to believe a manufacturer would take a chance of losing a sale by not allowing a dealer to sell. I ran into a similar situation with a warranty work on an RV. Wanted to deal locally but the dealer didn't want to deal with us because we had a trade. Said we would have to sell it ourselves they don't deal with motor homes on trade. They had 10 on there lot used. It was a nice trade in nothing run down or worthless. Went to out of area dealer. Made the deal. Had some warranty work that needed done about 6 months later. Simple stuff so didn't want to drive 6 hours to the other dealer and they knew when we bought it we wouldn't be back and they even told us any dealer can do the warranty work. The local dealer told us they wouldn't work on it period, we didn't buy it from us. Contacted the manufacturer and they forced the local dealer to work on it and about 6 months later pulled the franchise from them. Most manufacturer 1 want to sell product one way or another and 2 want to make sure they get taken care of afterward. Not sure about Axis right now though.

I bought a leftover to get a deal that was more affordable from an in-state, but not local, dealer. My local dealer looked at the price I was going to pay and commented positively. I also discussed warranty work with them before I bought the boat. Since then they have completed a few warranty repairs with no complaint.
I'd love to buy a boat from my local dealer and one day I may. But in my case the price was to good to pass up. Discuss the process and your options with your local dealer. See how they feel about doing warranty work on the demo boat.

I learned the same thing about out of area dealers refusing to sell to you. I also learned that buying from my local dealer didn't really matter much on the service side unfortunately.

BTW, Supra does make a 20ft boat, the SR.

Talk to both your local dealer and the remote dealer and explain it all to them. They can work with their Reps to figure out how to work with you on it.

Thanks but unfortunately the Supra SR is still to long. I am limited to 20' or under. I wish the SR was the right size. At this point I would find a way to pay extra for a Supra because of my experience with the boat's poor quality and the dealer. They are nice people don't get my wrong but very inept. Might go Tige.

Back to the original post. See if your local dealer can work a deal with the dealer that has the demo and that way you can still purchase locally.