Quality Control Issues? Opinions (Level-headed please)

[h20king 794]

No was not referring to you being a beginner but I see it all the time. Just go through all the hydrolock threads or the I can't make my boat surf threads.  Surfing is cool I get it but centurion is one of the more complex boats and in my opinion not for a first time boat owner.  I agree all brands will have some issues but most of those issues will be caught by a good dealer when they do the pre delivery inspection so in my eyes centurion and the dealer have to share the blame. Another thing to consider is the only thing a boat builder actually builds is the hull everything else is supplied by vendors and installed by fineline. I'm bot downplaying your issues I just truly believe fineline has less than other builders. I am getting ready to place my order for my fifth new boat from fineline my 4th since 2014 and like I said above none have had any problems that have kept me off the water. 

[carguy79ta 67]

11 hours ago, wheels said:

Take out all the advice you’ve got or read on forums and see how well you set up a ri or fi if it’s your first inboard. I have to agree with h as I have had to take people out on their new boats after they have owned them for over a year and show them how their boat works and how to set it up for the best wave .  A lot comes down to dealers also not taking the time to take them out and show them, also seen lots of dealers who don’t even know how to set the boat up right  

 

The only thing I can say is with the internet, you can figure stuff out. I had no help learning how to wakeboard, then how to surf. I have been the driving force in my family and circle of people to figure this out, using the resources available. YouTube, forums, etc. If you want to do something bad enough, you figure it out some way, some how.

[h20king 794]

2 hours ago, carguy79ta said:

The only thing I can say is with the internet, you can figure stuff out. I had no help learning how to wakeboard, then how to surf. I have been the driving force in my family and circle of people to figure this out, using the resources available. YouTube, forums, etc. If you want to do something bad enough, you figure it out some way, some how.

Some can not all

[Texifornian 0]

I find it funny that anyone could blame user for fiberglass hull leaks around fittings.  Requiring fiberglass, gel coat and seals repaired.  Guess it being my fifth onboard I fall in that category.  Love the wave....hate that the boat doesn’t hold water.  Counted today and boat has been in shop 7 out of 17 months.

[h20king 794]

1 hour ago, Texifornian said:

I find it funny that anyone could blame user for fiberglass hull leaks around fittings.  Requiring fiberglass, gel coat and seals repaired.  Guess it being my fifth onboard I fall in that category.  Love the wave....hate that the boat doesn’t hold water.  Counted today and boat has been in shop 7 out of 17 months.

You my friend are a troll with obvious dealer issues. Let us know what you buy next so we can tune in for your rants. All brands have some issues 

[byerman 5]

I have had the same question.

I bought an SV233 in 2015. At that time, Ramfill was new and there were several problems with the valves. There were times I had to put my boat on the trailer with one of the ballasts full. I would drain the ballast when the boat was out of the water. My boat spent more time in a state of disrepair than it did in working condition. Finally, with my third set of valves, they consistently worked. They now continue to work flawlessly. It took 2 years. The next problem was that there was no water intake filter. Within a few hours on Lake Powell, there was so much fine debris clogging the intake that my impeller burned up many miles from the marina. The boating plans for the week were forced to change. I found out later that even though I stopped when the engine overheated, the manifold cracked. I have sense added a water intake filter. I was told that the year I bought my boat, the intake filter was "optional." It is never "optional" to have a filter here and it is now included standard on Centurions. My boat is quite reliable NOW and we love it. It only has 120 hours after 3 years. If I the boat had been working, I would guess that I would have 2.5X the hours on it (still very low for some of you). I was hesitant to plan big trips because it was initially so temperamental. Because of some flaws in the original boat, my older kids (now leaving home) have missed out. We have really come to love surfing now that the boat is working. I took out an RI237 at the wake surfing championships in Utah this weekend. They are pricey but they are AMAZING. Do I risk upgrading? There are several times during my first 2 years of owning the SV233 that I wished I could simply give it back for a refund of 1/2 the purchase price.

[thesasquatch 3]

Hey Byerman..

I completely hear you and am so empathetic when reading your post. That sounds nearly identical to what I've been through this past year-- right down to losing ALL confidence in dragging the thing clear to Lake Powell and having it fail. TWO failed trips last summer (electrical failure - wouldn't start, and then pulley's failing the next week) and then the shaft drilling a hole in the gas tank a few weeks ago on our first day there (actually ALL incidents were the first day every time :-/ )..

That said, I'm not really sure what MY advice would be. As several others have pointed-out in this thread alone, all boats have issues and it's luck of the draw. I've also had several business associates and friends over the past few months reminding me of this very point. However, given so many of the "common" issues and compounded or 'severity' of the issues that we've had with Centurion, it simply HAS to be create a sense of bias and an argument AGAINST when considering a Centurion again. And, clearly, in the 3-4 years since your boat was built, the QC issues continue-- consistent or not, they're there. 

I've got two close friends with Nautiques and two with Malibu 23LSV's. One of the Nautiques (a 2018) had total engine failure on the second time out and had to have them replace the engine entirely. The others have all just had minor issues like throttle (by wire) linkage issues and various small hinge or interior problems. So I DO agree that all boats are just made with a different sense of QC than a car (given the fact that there are so many less moving parts that it's simply ironic). I also know of (not personally) a couple people with 2017 Ri257's like mine who've only had a couple of the issues I've had which were quickly resolved and they're completely happy since purchase. Also know of a guy with a new Mastercraft X46 who's had no issues since purchase last spring.

I guess it really boils down to which roulette table you wanna roll your dice on. As I said early-on (a few weeks ago) in this thread, the lay-out, size, and functionality of the Ri257 has me hooked-enough that I'm gonna put my faith in this new '19 I ordered and hope I have a good experience moving forward. None of my buddies' boats really impress me (size, gas mileage, layout, or functionality) quite as much as mine has. However, another year (2017 & 2018) like I've had without even feeling confident in taking a group out for an entire day and I'll never utter the word Centurion again.

Bottom line-- it's a toss up. Sorry about your experience. If it's been anything like mine, the expense of boat ownership didn't even come CLOSE to non-ownership.

Edited September 10, 2018 by thesasquatch

[Texifornian 0]

Again, I giggle as someone calls me a troll as my boat is still in the shop....ok.  Haha, don’t worry joke’s on me.  Bad service isn’t a problem until it’s a problem.

[h20king 794]

10 hours ago, Texifornian said:

Again, I giggle as someone calls me a troll as my boat is still in the shop....ok.  Haha, don’t worry joke’s on me.  Bad service isn’t a problem until it’s a problem.

I call you a troll because you post the same thing everywhere.  My guess is it's your approach. Take a step back and look how you are handling it. Would you go out of your way to help someone that is acting like you? Like I said above you have a dealer problem. 

[byerman 5]

thesasquatch:

I love the new centurion boats. I went to Lake Oroville in CA for a wakesurf event In 10/18 hosted by Wake9. We were able to try out 6 new boats--a Centurion (Fi23), a Nautique 210 (I also know have ridden behind sister's g23), Malabu, Heyday, Mastercraft, Supra and more. They were all new within a year. They had all been optimized specifically for surfing. The Centurion killed them all for quality of the wave on both regular and goofy. There were pluses and minuses for all of the boats but no wave compared to the Centurion for me. The guy that hosts the event owns a Supra. This was not a Centurion sales event.

2014: Having said that, I bought an SV233 in 2014. It was set to be delivered in March but was not delivered until late June or early July (all of my registration stickers are July). I spent the first summer trying to get the Ramfill valves  working. No luck. The local dealership was empathetic and worked with me but I only work 12 days/month, I love boating, and I only got 25 hours on the boat that first summer.

2015: Still having issues with valves. We moved to CA for 6 months and ran into a mechanic, Heath, in the Tahoe area. He has some connection to Fineline. He was AWESOME. He helped us through various small issues but valves never worked right. He helped us get lined up for a new set of valves (valve set #2). We had a prop problem--bent the prop shaft (our fault obviously). It took mechanics some time to realize that the "shake" I was describing was not just from a bent prop from a bent drive-shaft. More time out of the water. Not a Centurion problem.

2016: Moved back to Utah. The new set of valves was put in. The boat was out of the water for weeks while this was done. The local dealership did a great job. They look hefty and have been working great! We had some minor computer problems that made days on the lake a bit difficult but this was a good year for surfing after that.

2017: Our dealership lost their license to deal in Centurion. Another great dealership obtained the license. Went to lake Powell and found out the hard way that 2014 SV233 did not come with a filter on the water intake to cool the engine. It was optional. I evidently did not "opt-in." We sucked up fine wood debris. The impeller burned up and we were 4+ hours from the marina. We had a great trip on a houseboat, just not the surfing trip that we had planned. When we got home, we had the impeller changed and a filter retrofitted to the water intake.

2018: Boat was not running well. Went to the new dealer. Found out that our wood clogging the impeller last year caused the manifold to heat up and crack. Water was getting into the cylinders. Changed the manifold. Out of the water for a few weeks. What was left in the summer was great surfing. I was so happy that I finally had the boat that I wanted.

2019: The boat was winterized by the great local shop. It was in our heated garage. I took the boat out yesterday and the computer would not run the valves (ramfill), CATs fin, wakeplate, or front ballast pump. 

We have had great family times on the boat. There is not much that brings a family together better than this. Even with all of these problems, knowing what I know, I would likely buy a new Centurion if it were in the budget because the wake is unmatched and I think that they have better quality control now. BTW, filters on water intake are standard now. I do feel like my specific boat has been more trouble than it should have been. I wish that Fineline had intervened earlier with a replacement boat, loaner boat, or something. It is a brand that I want to like and do like but with a little reservation. I am planning to go to Powell in 2 weeks. If can get my computer issue fixed this year, it will be a good year for surfing. 

[Packrat 13]

Anyone know if you can retrofit an impeller filter on a 2008 sv230 ?

[Wylie_Tunes 146]

Sure, can be done on almost any fresh water cooled boat. Can even get one with the flush-pro type hose connection for no more fake-a-lake. 

[Nick213 583]

@byerman I was at the same event, and the centurion was a Fi25 not Fi23 it definitely out performed every boat there as far as wave is considered. Hunter had that boat dialed as what would be expected from a centurion rider bringing it.

Did that event (and boats brought) have you thinking one brand or another has better QC then what you have experienced with your centurion?

I feel they all were on par as for QC based on what was there, given non of the boats had any issues at the time and everything seemed to work properly on all of them that weekend.

[byerman 5]

Thanks, you are right. As mentioned in another post above, I think that I got the 1/1000 with more that the usual, expected issues. Really, Centurion should have done better. I think that they are doing well as a company and QC. After that event, I would get that Fi25. The wave was better than any other boat out there. The quality in the boat was good. Not quite as “refined” as a couple of the other high end boats but all small issues. 

[h20king 794]

Yep I went to the same event and now have a shiny new Fi25 sitting in my shop. Love this boat 

[jeepin29 0]

We were supposed to take delivery of our new Fi23 this past Friday. During the trip out with the dealer to show us features, I felt the transmission start slipping/lagging when engaging the throttle and had the dealer take over driving.

The dealer got the transmission to engage one more time briefly. After that, we were dead in the water.

Granted, this is more of an issue with PCM than with Centurion, but it was still rather frustrating. At least it happened with the dealer there and able to witness it and tow it back. PCM is supposed to overnight a whole new transmission, as the dealer couldn't find an issue with any of the electronics and it wasn't throwing a code.

Hopefully second time's a charm!

[byerman 5]

I just had a flawless week on Lake Powell with my 2014 SV233. 

[Smiles 0]

@thesasquatch Hey there, just reading through this post and was wondering if you ever received your 2019 Ri257 and if so, how is that boat treating you?

We have a 2020 Ri257 with the 7.4L engine and have had a number of major issues along with the many smaller fit and finish issues that you've quoted. I'm going to refrain from posting all the issues in order to give the dealer and Centurion a chance to make it right.