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Jeff Drumm wrote:The motor was provided with a Havencraft warrantee, and the net result for me was that it was fixed at no cost. I got a good price on the motor, too. How is the lack of a "factory" warranty impacting me?

Couldn't the residual value of your boat be impacted? Many of us shop the whole country when looking for a used boat, and might be discouraged if the motor warranty could only be handled by some far off service center.

I'd be concerned about the questionable lineage myself, because it's hard enough to find someone to service a Honda USA motor around here -- let alone a Canadian version.

(Not judging here, just thinking aloud after considerable run around on my Honda 45 in the last six months)

Zavala wrote:

Jeff Drumm wrote:The motor was provided with a Havencraft warrantee, and the net result for me was that it was fixed at no cost. I got a good price on the motor, too. How is the lack of a "factory" warranty impacting me?

Couldn't the residual value of your boat be impacted? Many of us shop the whole country when looking for a used boat, and might be discouraged if the motor warranty could only be handled by some far off service center.

I'd be concerned about the questionable lineage myself, because it's hard enough to find someone to service a Honda USA motor around here -- let alone a Canadian version.

(Not judging here, just thinking aloud after considerable run around on my Honda 45 in the last six months)

Maybe I'm missing something, but I thought that warranties had a finite lifetime.

Whether it's a Canadian or domestic engine, it's still going to cost the same to fix it when whatever warranty it comes with is no longer in effect.

Most any Honda Service Center will happily provide out-of-warranty service; I'm sure they'll get more money charging a customer than they could ever hope for from Honda's warranty reimbursement.

Resale value of the boat during the warranty period may be an issue if Havencraft/Millennium will not allow the transfer of their warranty to the new owner, but I don't have any indication that they wouldn't do that. And I'm not going to put words in Otho's mouth.

FWIW,
i'd like to mention that my only dealings with Otho were very fair and even overly generous on his part. For a 100 dollar deposit, he held a brokerage boat for me for over two weeks, while i made plans to inspect it, (and i did eventually fly to Norfolk $ and drive a few hours $ to the boat, and overnight in a hotel $ before returning), then when i backed out of the purchase, he unexpectedly refunded the entire deposit, though it cost him ?? maybe several other sales. Eventually the boat sold to an alien. ('though still an Earthling.) He also put me onto financing, without prejudice, which i used for another seller's boat.
.... that being said, the lack of warranty status disclosure does not seem proper.
the poll's answer votes don't include the reason for denial of warranty by the mfg. US division - which is that the manufacturer has no control over how it's Canadian motors cross the border before they are first retailed NEW in the US.
Technically, they might not be considered new, since they were sold by the original Canadian wholesale or retail dealer, to another entity that was not one of the manufacturer's Canadian dealers. They have been sold twice.
It cannot maintain it's pricing structure for the US market, if motors from Canada are imported GREY MARKET and then sold new, which if repaired under "warranty" in this country, bleeds the warranty repair funding allowed for the US motors.
For every Canadian motor sold here, there would be one more US motor that had to wait for another buyer. Eventually US motors of that manufacturer would have to be discounted, and sold at a loss or lesser price, making them less likely to be ordered. Fewer US market motors sold in the US while more money spent on warranty repairing.
That would drive up the cost of its US motors even more and make it more profitable to sell Canadian motors - many of them would not ever come back for warranty service there. The more that happened, the cycle would spiral. Thus the denial of warranty for GREY MARKET products.
Same thing for many of the cameras sold out of discount houses and online. Seller assumes the warranty, but has to disclose the status.

Jeff Drumm wrote: Maybe I'm missing something, but I thought that warranties had a finite lifetime.

Whether it's a Canadian or domestic engine, it's still going to cost the same to fix it when whatever warranty it comes with is no longer in effect.

Most any Honda Service Center will happily provide out-of-warranty service; I'm sure they'll get more money charging a customer than they could ever hope for from Honda's warranty reimbursement.

Resale value of the boat during the warranty period may be an issue if Havencraft/Millennium will not allow the transfer of their warranty to the new owner, but I don't have any indication that they wouldn't do that. And I'm not going to put words in Otho's mouth.

I probably overemphasized the issue Jeff. All I meant to say is if I was buying a late model boat (especially in the warranty period) and had an (unlikely) equal choice otherwise, I'd choose the one with regular manufacturer's support.

You're right about the warranty period for sure. Once it's over, it's essentially a mute point. But oddly enough the three Honda dealers within 150 miles of my house were all reluctant to help on my older '93 model, even with me paying the tab -- so I'm guessing they might be put off by the Canadian issue. Maybe it's just this is OMC country....

Everywhere is OMC country, and most of them won't work on other motors.

Even though the model 2000 Evinrude 4-strokes were actually manufactured by Suzuki, the two local Evinrude dealers refused to do the basic 20-hour service on my Suzuki (essentially an oil change). My only option was towing an extra 30 miles to either of two Suzuki dealers.

But it's not really such a mystery ... they are jealously guarding their distribution market. The rebranded Suzuki is sold by a USA dealer, as a USA motor. But when Suzuki began establishing their own brand, and creating a new dealer network, then they began cannibalizing the OMC distribution market. There's a very deep-rooted resentment, barely beneath the surface.

So why did I choose the Suzuki brand instead of Evinrude?? Three reasons ... 1) Suzuki offered a 3-year mfg warranty, 2) Suzuki offered a 3-yr EXTENDED mfg warranty (so 6 yrs versus 2 yrs by Evinrude), and 3) Evinrude wasn't the manufacturer. I'm so glad I chose as I did - never used the warranty, but Evinrude went bankrupt!

The case of Honda isn't nearly so blatant, but it's still a case of trying to penalize the consumer, making him suffer for the audacity of choosing the import. The real debate is ... why should there be any price difference to begin with, since the production and shipping costs were obviously identical !! ??

The same question (with more complexity) applies to prescription drugs. But pricing inequities are just a blip on the long-range world economy. Market disruptions caused by global production will eventually settle out ... partly due to internet sales plus the distribution efficiencies fostered by FedEx & UPS. Eventually global prices will equalize, so there won't be much incentive to chase gray-mkt imports.

Believe it or not ... many of the electronics that are manufactured in Asia sell for slightly LESS over here than in Asia. The reason ... the magnitude of our consumption, plus the extremely aggressive retailing landscape in the USA. And the European prices of similar goods are much higher than here or in Asia ... just temporary displacements.

Market forces, and US tariffs, protectionism, and possibly EPA fees, emission and/or safety specification differences, may determine a higher price for US bound goods, even while transportation / distribution costs are similar. As drawn out previously, there is a fair and valid ecomomic reason for Honda to deny warranty service to grey market motors, not just punitive, but for legitimate financial reasons. Mainly to control the ratio of revenue and expense and keep pricing stable within the US and other markets. When the world becomes a truly single economy, or North America adopts the AmeriDollar, or Honda uses the same distribution network for both countries, this problem will disappear.