|
Elan
Elans are built in a country without any siginficant level of recreational boating culture (Slovenia) and have received a real commerical boost in popularity due to the country''s 2004 membership in the EU (making their boats absent import taxes inside the EU) and their low labor rates. As a British broker explained to me, Eastern European builders these days will acquire modern materials and attempt to build to similar standards as those followed by W European and N American builders - which is why the build practices and equipment seem so comparable. However, the devil''s in the details. E Euro companies often lack a ''quality culture'' similar to what we''re accustomed to, and believe their job is done when the boat is trucked off to one of their brokers. (This is a general observation and may/may not be valid at a given point in time for a given builder; nevertheless, I think it''s a generally valid observation). The British broker told me some real horror stories about lack of factory support after one firm in Poland (who builds for Beneteau as well as under their own name) used out of date (tho'' brand name) GRP components. The hull in the new boat lacked structural integrity but the builder didn''t think this was his problem...AND due to a prior Communist culture where everyone supposedly ''owns'' business decisions, getting the factory to authorize a repair was all but impossible
Consequently, my advice would be to view a purchase of one of these boats a bit differently, putting a much larger emphasis on the written warranty offered by the broker, since that may be the only source of problem resolution. (IOW I would use an attorney to review and perhaps modify the purchase agreement). This is if buying new, of course; if buying used, proceed as tho'' the builder is no longer in business as follow-up, factory-direct support is probably also an unknown concept in practice.
Jack
|