Monterey Boat Manual
Leaking Gear Lube: this caused some serious head scratching, found out eventually due to a leaking joint in the tube that feeds from reservoir to outdrive (no jubilee clips or cable ties hold the tube onto the joint - only the strength of the tube - it can be slipped off with a finger, yet its located in the most inaccessible area at the bottom of the rear of the engine!!!). Don't know for sure, but may be common to all Bravo drives. More info here: Depth gauge: This hasn't worked properly from day one, constantly alarms, so have had to shut off at moment till dealer fits new one.
Saving grace is that believe it is the actual unit on the dash, not the hull transducer that is faulty. Trim gauge: From day one, this has been well out, so am trusting instincts on where drive is as opposed to the gauge (and avoiding known shallow areas). Flat battery: Still haven't figured out what drained the power, possibly standby status on stereo - but now always use the isolator when parking the boat overnight.
Boat is currently at dealers having all the above rectified. Despite the above, love having it out on the water - even though I wasn't initially enthusiastic about it's colour (bright bright Yellow) I've been pleasantly surprised by the amount of attention it's attracted from owners of other makes. Re: New Monterey - teething problems When I purchased my Monterey 250CR new in 07 she went back to the dealer 2 times with a punch list. Please don't think for a second that your new Monterey is sub quality.
All my problems and from your list as well were with the acsessory manufacturers. Once you get the little gremlins out of her, you will have years of great reliability and fun. You will also lean if your dealer has a good service department or not. My dealer's maintenance department was crap and the following year Monterey dropped them and had a new dealership 15 miles away that is far superior.
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Re: New Monterey - teething problems Black SNow.am impressed with the boat so far. Like you say its the other parts. Its been back to the dealers once so far and this has fixed the trim gauge issue - but may have left me with a water leak as the dealer had to remove and then reinstall one of the water hoses to repair the gear lube joint that was leaking! Hopefully tonight I'll see if I'm still losing gear lube as going to visit the boat to check the engine. The depth gauge has been replaced and not made any difference. Hoping that can get the gremlins out of it in next few weeks. Re: New Monterey - teething problems IOSLVR, not sure of the part number but in the fitting manual its referred to as this: It's one that has the transducer mounted inside the hull (not thru the hull) and has alarms for shallow water, can also be set for keel offset.
Sometimes it gives me a reading, but this is always way off for the depth of water am in, and all the time the display is flashing. Last time at the dealers I was told there was a leak in the transducer and this had been plugged and the actual gauge was replaced.
This hasn't made one bit of difference, so it's either the cabling or the transducer. I'm now waiting for the dealer to receive another transducer to try that. It's winding me up now as I'm in shallow coastal waters and a few times have almost caught the skeg when creeping in to moor just off a beach. Hopefully fixed soon, so once find out will post up.good luck with yours in the mean time. At least my gear lube issue seems to be fixed and loving the boat!!!
Happy Monterey Owner We could not be happier with our 262 Cruiser. Of course it needs attention occaisionally, but after two hard years of use it looks better today than when it was new. It's well built, heavy, convienent & very safe. A great entertainment platform. Of course we just wish it were bigger. As far as service goes, I've found them (Monterey) to be everything we could ask for. I've been to the factory, met people who actually built my boat & have been made to feel part of their family.
Any problems have been handled in a proper & professional (friendly) manner. The boat & their after sales service & support have exceeded our expectations. I would highly reccomend the brand & the builder to anyone. We have about 30 Monterey's in our cruise club, and everyone seems to feel the same way. So, I know it's not just me. The gentleman asked for opinions on Monterey boats and I gave him mine based on the FACTS with my boat. If you can't stand to hear anything but good things no matter what the facts are then you're just the kind of blind buyer Monterey wants.
You'd feel the same way if it was your money and your boat had serious factory defects. I asked a surveyor to check into why the boat listed so bad to starboard and he found the hook in the hull. He said its because the hull was not allowed to cure long enough and taken out of the mold too soon. That is easily preventable and something a decent boat builder knows better not to do. The floor is out of level because its made out of 3 separate pieces of plywood. No fiberglass liner like even a Bayliner has.
Again something most any decent boat builder knows how to do better. The dealer I took the boat for service used to be a Monterey dealer. He said the owners of Monterey routinely would not stand behind serious warranty issues like this and said ' if the owner doesn't like it he can sue us'.
I've done better and have been telling this story on the internet for 6 years now and have had MANY people avoid buying their boats. Monterey screwed themselves by manufacturing a defective product and not standing behind it. The facts speak for themselves, ignore them at your own risk. Just e-mail monterey at for that warranty info.I bought a Monterey 245 Cruiser when it was first introduced.The dealer,at the time of delivery did not have the new owners manual,so the factory e-mailed it to me in pdf(?) form so I could have it right away. I also visited the factory and was very pleased with what I saw. I never tested the sea-ray so I can't comment on that boat. Although I haven't had any problems with them,all of the faucets on my boat are of the cheaper plastic variety,but I see the same ones on boats costing a lot more money!
I would buy a Monterey 302 in a heartbeat if I could afford it! What a sad little man who speaks so loudly but is too scared to be identified. Let's face it even if he registered he would probably use false details. We are a major service center and service a very wide range of boats.
We have first hand experience of all the major brands, their build quality, their susceptibility to failure and their honesty in dealing with warranty work. Monterey's approach to warranty issues is one of the most courteous and honest in the business. It also has to be said that their boats have some of the least need for warranty work. If his case is as strong as he claims and he is telling the truth why is he scared to come out from under his stone?
And why did he not sue? It also seems he is stupid enough to take the word of someone who 'used to be a Monterey dealer'. Like that is the best place for advice? I would urge the wise not to be easily led by the foolish! I doubt very much that his boat is anything like as warped as its owner!
Monterey's sales speak for themselves and anyone in the business will tell you that demand is way outstripping supply. This guy does everyone who reads him a great disservice as he attempts to frighten them away from a very excellent brand. There are other excellent brands as well but I speak here of Monterey as it is they who are being slated. Anything Can Happen I too have owned both a 1999 262 and then traded up to a 2001 282 Monterey.I'm sorry that I can't support those who may have had problems with their purchase but if they did I don't understand that the company didn't stand behind the product. Monterey is a first class company and if I was able to get back into boating again I would look into another cruiser. They hold their value, and dollar for dollar their hard to beat. I never listen to those who bad mouth behind screens.
I agree with the others the bad mouth may just be an everyday complainer, never satisfied or they desire to destroy a company for something they have not done wrong. Maybe the guest was an past employee and is trying to get even. Who knows but then who really cares. If you are in the market to purchase a boat, check out the Monterey line. I loved my boats so much I used their name.
( For those who want to ask questions or complain ). My husband and I looked at all the major boat brands before we chose our boat. In the end it came down to Chaparral, Sea Ray and Monterey. We chose a Monterey 218LS Montura Bowrider. In looking at all of the above we found we the lay out of the Monterey to offered the best use of space which I wanted and for my husband the engine was easy to get to and there is a lot of storage on both sides of it. It had a lot of features that more expensive boats had like the stainless throughs on the side of the boat.
Most companies have plastic ones that crack and fall apart with time. We've had this boat a year and have put over a hundred hours on it driving it up land down Lake Powell. It's been great and we've had no problems with it. Montereys are almost identical to a Chaparral. The story we were told is that 20 year ago part of Chaparral's founding members started another company that is Monterey. As for the person who had a bad experience I find it hard to believe any boat company would not stand behind their product when it comes to manufacturing defects. I've heard good things about all the above.
Monterey Boat Owners Manual
Good luck and I hope you fine the boat of your dreams! Now back to my search for a bbq for my boat Susan.