Tracker Woes

[Durand Dan]

I have held off for years on publicizing my problems with the Tracker Tournament Pro V-18 I purchased in 2004. I have always felt that the situation would be remedied by Tracker Marine at some point. I am still hopefull this will be the case.

Here's my story:


I purchased a Tracker Tournament Pro V-18 with a 2005 90hp Mercury at the end of the 2004 model year. This was quite an upgrade for me having previously owned a Bass tracker with a 25hp motor. I noticed from the first trip out that it accumulated water in the hull. This didn't concern me too much as the Bass Tracker with the riveted hull had a tendency to do the same. Well, I happened to mention this to a knowledgeable Marine Manager and he informed me that the boat I had shouldn't be taking on any water from the hull. He went on to say that this all welded hull had a lifetime warranty (that has since changed on the 2007 and later models).
I decided to call Bass Pro to schedule an appointment. I took the boat down and left it for about 4 weeks. They told me they checked it out and the hull was sound. The same day I picked it up I launched at Lobdel and fished for about two hours or so.   As I was tying down the boat I took a 5 gal. Bucket and my trusty movie camera and pulled the plug. Water ran out and practically filled the bucket. Having this on camera I e-mailed the Tracker Store Manager at Bass Pro in Auburn Hills with the evidence. He said bring it back down for inspection. Another few weeks later the boat was ready for pickup. They said they had found a couple of hull leaks and welded them inside and out. Well I felt that maybe the issues with the hull were in the past. No such luck! The hull leaked as much or more on my next outing. This was starting to get very irritating!
This time I demanded they pick the boat up as I was tired of driving 50 miles to drop it off and another 50 to pick it up.
They retrieved the boat and kept it a couple of days. When it was returned I noticed that the screws were getting stripped out and they had put the boat back together in a shoddy manner with various size screws. After being taken apart and put together by this ragtag company Tracker uses it was not looking good. Again it started taking on water. The repair company picked it up again and fixed it. This lasted a few months and it was taking on water again.
I took it down to Tracker Marine and dropped off. I believe this was sometime in October of last year. Well in February of this year they called and said it was fixed again. My wife and I went down to pick it up. Looking it over I noticed the carpet was pretty beat up. I should have taken pictures before I let them have it. Also the lock and pin on the trailer hitch were missing. I asked them to replace it and they seemed pretty irritated but came up with a pin.
Well the leak was finally fixed! However the Tachometer and fuel gauge no longer work. I called about this and they said it wasn't their fault.
Moving on to September of this year I decided to replace the carpet on the boat since it was 6 years old and with all the times it had been disassembled it was looking pretty shabby.
I had removed the front deck and was working on the floor when I was surprised to see they had removed the foam insulation in chunks to weld the leaks in the hull and just threw it back in loose. This could have been catastrophic if I had developed a leak on Saginaw Bay or Saint Clair since the foam was no longer secured. I took some pictures of this situation and e-mailed the Boat Sales Manager at Bass Pro. Currently I am waiting on a response.
At this point I am seeking a solution from Tracker Marine. I have given them a couple of options which I'm sure they don't care for. One, replace the boat or two, completely recondition it. However the company they use probably couldn't do a decent job. We will see. To be continued.....

[thedude]

tracker is terrible in most respects. we should start a support group.

[McCarter]

there used to be a website called ihatemytracker.com i think it was.  it was horror story after horror story of the problems people had after buying tracker, nitro, and all the other brands in the family.  there was a guy on lsc.net i remember who bought a tracker, used it once, had to take it in and never got the boat back til the following spring, and it was still broke.  i think he went through that a few times and ended up suing.  matter of fact, i think a lot of people did a class action lawsuit, but i could be wrong on that one.  but i know a few people who own trackers and its always bad news with them.

hope everything works out for you Dan

McCarter himself

[Waterfoul]

The lose foam would not have been an issue really... it was below the floor and could not get out.  Therefore it would have offered the same floatation as if they had glued it back in.  Still should have been secured... but you were not in any danger.

I miss my old Tracker... 1988 Tracker Pro 17 with a Mariner 40 on it.  Riveted boat that leaked like crazy but I sure loved that boat.  Haven't been able to fish the rivers since I sold it.  Sure miss that old boat.

[Lightningboy]

My condolences; I'm a former tracker owner too. 

I'm not sure what recourse you have with the company, but I wouldn't want the boat back.  The fact that it took on water already made it suspect.  Add in that you have no idea how much the repair crew screwed up while fixing it, and you've got a boat you can't really trust.

Trackers are made for price point.  You can't sell at a low price without cutting corners in materials and construction.

Stand your guns the best you can with tracker, but I suggest you get out of that rig.

If I had it to do over again, I could have had a proven, used 18 ft bass boat for the same price I paid new for my tracker POS.

BTW- my 2000 TR21 is still solid as a rock.  You get what you pay for.

[LennyB]

My recommendation is to get rid of it. If you want a quality aluminum look at Crestliner, and for glass buy Ranger. Buy a quality rig, set it up the way you want it, take care of it, and it will last a life time.
Good Luck

[Mike S.]

Man, I had a 96 Tracker Tournament TX17, and loved it.  Granted, it leaked like crazy, but what do you expect when you take a riveted boat out, and try to drive it in ROUGH waters like it is a Fountain or a Baja.  I tore the boat down, and took it to a buddy of mine's fab shop, and let him go to town with the aluminum welder, fixing every crack and rivet that was messed up.  I even split the seem where the bottom and side are joined together, in several spots.  My bad, lots of abuse.

Then, last summer, I bought a 96 Nitro 884 Savage.  My buddy had owned it for 11 years, and ran the dog crap out of it.  But, always was reliable.  Most of the electrical didn't work, but it floated, ran, and the livewells worked.  I ran it for a year before it got hit on the trailer.  No complaints with it. My dad has a Tracker Tadpole that he bought new in 90 or 91.  Never a problem with it.  Not a crack in the hull or anything.  Granted, it's not quite the boat most of us here are talking about, but it's a Tracker nonetheless.  I have a buddy who bought a new Tahoe pleasure boat from D&R four years ago.  He's more than happy with it, and never had an issue.

Now, I have a Skeeter ZX202.  it is a far better boat than the Nitro, in my opinion.  The glass is thicker, rides way better, and the fit and finish is way better than the Nitro.  But, the Tracker boats are built to be "budget rigs" for the most part, and they are everywhere.  Every manufacturer will have their bad units, which is what it sounds like you were the unfortunate one to get.  However, they should stand up to their warranties, and they should show some pride for their name and products.  They should want to keep their name clear of bad word. 

Stick to your guns, and hopefully things will get better.  You have definitely had enough problems.

[Durand Dan]

The lose foam would not have been an issue really... it was below the floor and could not get out.  Therefore it would have offered the same floatation as if they had glued it back in.  Still should have been secured... but you were not in any danger.

I miss my old Tracker... 1988 Tracker Pro 17 with a Mariner 40 on it.  Riveted boat that leaked like crazy but I sure loved that boat.  Haven't been able to fish the rivers since I sold it.  Sure miss that old boat.

That is what the Tracker warranty person I spoke to said . I did question quality of workmanship, that didn't seem to be a concern.
The foam when applied or formed has to be gun mixed in the most ideal condtions, humidity, ,tempature etc. However, when the foam block is comprimised (split into many poeces) it multipies the surface area exposed to water. With closed cell foam this will increase possibility of absorbtion and add weight making the vessel more unstable. Also the loose foam to me is equivalent to wearing a life jacket stuffed in your pants.  It's still contained on your body but....
Anyway most of my concerns point towards the craftmanship of the boat repair shop. The boat is actually a great fishing platform with a larger than most deck