BRP Canceling Authorization for Parts?

[JK230SP]

Finding a repair shop for my 2012 230SP has always been a challenge in North Texas. In a market with a 10 month boating season and 6 mil + residents, I can't understand why nobody wants to work on with Sea Doo boats. (even with me offering to send the superchargers to PWC)

In my search for a shop with less than a 6 week wait, I talked to a business owner that told me that BRP just pulled the licensing on all dealerships and shops who are not authorized SWITCH dealers. With no notice, he was stuck with three Sea Doo jet boats in various stages of disassembly - and no way to get needed parts. Then he told me that last week there was an online attack on BRP's ordering system that has hampered their ability to fulfill parts orders...even for the SWITCH dealers..

When asking for advice, he said that he was not aware of anyone who would be able to help me in North Texas, and my best bet might be to take the boat to Austin...three hours away.

Really? I have a 10 year old boat in excellent condition that has the same Rotax engines as many Sea Doo water skis - but because it is a boat, I can't get it serviced...in the nations fourth largest market?!?!?

Any ideas from those who live in the local DFW market???

 

[ski-d00]

If you were a shop owner would you want to invest time and money into fixing a product that was made in relatively small numbers compared to other brands and hasn't been made in 10+ years? A smart business owner looks to a growing future, not a dying past.

There are still plenty of places that will work on your boat but they are very busy as you've noted. Engine and pump parts are very simple to get even if you don't go directly through BRP. BRP has implemented several temporary shut downs in many of their systems due to their recent cyber attack.

I suggest you either learn how to work on your boat or sell it to me.

 

[Joe Starbuck]

I'm not sure what "licensing" is relative to ordering parts from a manufacturer. Is the manufacturer refusing to sell parts to a buyer because of their status as a seller of boats? That sounds a little illegal.

 

[JK230SP]

If you were a shop owner would you want to invest time and money into fixing a product that was made in relatively small numbers compared to other brands and hasn't been made in 10+ years? A smart business owner looks to a growing future, not a dying past.

There are still plenty of places that will work on your boat but they are very busy as you've noted. Engine and pump parts are very simple to get even if you don't go directly through BRP. BRP has implemented several temporary shut downs in many of their systems due to their recent cyber attack.

I suggest you either learn how to work on your boat or sell it to me.

Actually, my experience says that a smart business owner looks at things like ROI and net margin. He works on mostly high-traffic jobs that have decent returns while staying available for jobs - like working on obsolete boats with overpriced parts that create a much greater contribution. He also looks at competition - and in my market ...one of the largest in the world.... there is a need for qualified maintenance/repairs that is not being addressed. I used to spend my time fixing everything myself. Then I realized working on a boat in August with 100 degree Texas heat was only making me suffer - while taking my time away from my family. It isn't that I can't work on the boat, because there was a time in my life when I fixed everything...and built airplanes that I trusted my life with. It is that I choose not to spend hours if not days doing the work that I can easily afford to pay someone else to do in their air-conditioned shop. I too am an Ohio native. Texas heat is simply a different animal when it is still 90-95 degrees at 11pm.

The smart shop owner would service Sea Doo PWCs, Ski Doos, Sea Doo Boats, Scarab IDs, CanAm's ATVs/Side By Sides....KitFox Airplanes even. They all run on Rotax engines. My CanAm defender has a BRP logo on it.... a company with $7.6 bl in global sales and 20k employees. The use of Rotax engines has grown exponentially ...regardless of what Sea Doo Boats have done. I would bet that Scarab alone took up the slack for BMP after taking over all OEM inventory from Sea Doo.

Instead of paying me for my boat....for which I want significantly more $$ than I paid for it in 2018.....why not make some money doing what you apparently enjoy? How about me sending you a plane ticket from CVG to DFW and I'll pay you a $2000 weekend minimum + parts to fix my boat? Since I live 90 minutes from DFW, I'll pick you up and drive you here and back.

Then you can decide if you want to fix it....or buy it. Since I have one of the nicest, lowest hours 2012 230SP's on the planet, you can't lose with either choice.

 

[JK230SP]

I'm not sure what "licensing" is relative to ordering parts from a manufacturer. Is the manufacturer refusing to sell parts to a buyer because of their status as a seller of boats? That sounds a little illegal.

That is the term the shop owner gave me. He could get me in for service quickly. However, he was told by BRP that he was not authorized to buy OEM parts from BRP as a dealer unless he was selling the new Switch for Sea Doo. Apparently, that meant that he had to abandon two active motor repairs due to ...something..., pricing, availability, priority of dealer vs. not dealer orders. Regardless he was pissed, and was declining to work on Sea Doo Boats.

 

[ski-d00]

I'm in! My oldest son moved to Dallas in April and I haven't visited him yet so sounds like a good opportunity for that. I'll shoot you a message with my number.

You make good points in your response and in agreement on most but BRP is not an easy company to deal with and genuinely doesn't care about your business as long as you can make them money even if it is at your expense. They are the Walmart of recreational products which is more than I should be saying publicly.

 

[Premix]

I’m imagining BRP earns money on the sale of goods, but earns nothing on service. Dealer warranty services cuts into BRP profits, but routine maintenance jobs goes right into the dealer’s pocket. “Earn money selling our products and you also reap the all the rewards of a profitable service industry.”

Now it becomes BRP’s job to keep dealerships from competing with each other so in the dealer contracts, they need to put some fences up. As it stands, licensed dealerships are already competing with unlicensed aftermarket shops in the service industry, but for the manufacturer to allow Ski-Doo dealers in the north to loose 50% of their service work to Sea-Doo dealers in the south creates a problem for dealers who exist in the snowy regions and would like to remain profitable.

Even though a consumer notices one part number for a component serves Sea-Doo, Ski-Doo, Can-Am, Scarab, product doesn’t mean the dealer selling that component feeds the ecosystem for that product line. A dealer commitment to the product line likely pays for technician training and product advertising.

 

[MacSeaDoo]

We have a seadoo dealer here where I live but they will absolutely not work on a boat. They say they are not allowed, which is rediculous.

Last SC rebuild, I just take the SC in and tell them it is from an RXT-260. If I told them it is from a boat, no dice.

Rediculous.

The only dealer that works on boats is 2 hours away.

I bought CanDoo and am very mechanical so I just do everything myself.

 

[acooper]

If you were a shop owner would you want to invest time and money into fixing a product that was made in relatively small numbers compared to other brands and hasn't been made in 10+ years? A smart business owner looks to a growing future, not a dying past.

There are still plenty of places that will work on your boat but they are very busy as you've noted. Engine and pump parts are very simple to get even if you don't go directly through BRP. BRP has implemented several temporary shut downs in many of their systems due to their recent cyber attack.

I suggest you either learn how to work on your boat or sell it to me.

That last line is really funny w/o being a mean bastard. You're definitely an asset for all of us to have on this forum.

 

[JK230SP]

ski-d00 (member) made the trip from Ohio to DFW last summer and helped me pull the superchargers. One was in good condition and was rebuilt by ski-d00 on site. The second one had experienced a gyroscopic failure somewhere in its history and had scored compressor blades and casing.

Three years ago a dealer overhauled both, then one failed due to improper assembly. The dealer replaced the motor after the supercharger came apart and blew through the induction. I think they realized both superchargers had been reassembled incorrectly and reorganized the bearings on the second supercharger after seeing the damage to the blades. Because they caught it before it created a catastrophic bearing failure, they simply didn't tell me.

So I bought a new SC through PWC Muscle, installed it myself and have one new SC, and one freshly rebuilt SC unit. We found several toasted wiring harnesses, replaced them....overhauled the fuel pump (screens) and replaced the fuel injectors.

Anyone who has a need for a SC that experienced a touch-down event on the compressor wheel, let me know.

In the end, I learned a ton from ski-d00 and gained enough of an understanding of the SC rebuild process that I can install/uninstall them myself. From here I can only drive the boat and discover what breaks next. Once the maintenance exceeds my ability to troubleshoot and fix the issue, it will be time for a new boat. For now, however, the boat is as fast as new - turning a solid 53mph at 7800rpm with motors in sync every time above 4000rpm.