Hobie Oasis - Warranty

We are considering buying a Hobie Oasis. However, I am somewhat concerned about all of the posts I have read about cracks in the hull. It appears that Mr. Miller is responsive and is willing to entertain claims after the 2 year warranty period but often refers buyers to their dealer. That is all fine. My question to Mr. Miller is why doesn't Hobie extend the warranty period to say 4 years. This is a $2,500.00 purchase and I am concerned about replacement being discretionary after the 2d year. I have read all of the posts about how Hobie supports its customers.

I am truly interested in buying an Oasis but this issue is causing me to hesitate. To me, the best way to support your customers is with a reasonable term warranty. I do not intend to throw gas in the fire, but this really is an issue for me. The hulls are not mechanical and under normal use should not crack in 2 or even 4 years. Perhaps an extended warranty could be offered at a reasonable price or you could add $50.00 to the cost to extend the warranty. There are many ways to skin this cat -- which I am sure you have all discussed. I am interested in hearing your response. Thank you.

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2010 Oasis

Our official warranty coverage is two years 100% on all boat products. This is already double the period offered by us several years ago. The official period of warranty is fixed at this time due to many factors. As noted, we are very responsive and commonly extend coverage well beyond this period.

It is one of the drawbacks to being open and honest in forums, people begin to think issues are bigger than they really are. Forums are the modern problem solver for many people. They post their issues here most often before checking with their dealers or us directly. The fact is, our warranty percentage is very low compared to production levels.

Rest assured, as you already noted here, we are very responsive and extend warranty coverage well beyond the official period of coverage on issues we feel are out of the ordinary.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Mr. Miller thank you for your prompt response. You are correct that Forums do highlight certain issues and also highlight the positive qualities of the kayak. I think I can make an informed decision if I knew what percentage of tandem hulls using the mirage drive have made warranty claims. I understand that you cannot provide sales figures (nor should you) but if I knew less than 0.5% of sales in the past three years resulted in a warranty claim I can conclude that the comments on the Forum were out of proportion to claims made. I then know it is unlikely I am buying a problem.

Personally I would pay more ($100-$150.00) to extend the warranty on the hull to 4 years.

Again, thanks for your response.

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2010 Oasis

The Oasis has not been one of the models with many issues, except in some earlier 2009 production where the Click-n-Go system for the drive has caused some problems in the aft well along with the rubber seal that helps to reduce water surge into the cockpit. This combination along with a tighter tolerance in the well has caused some problems. Boats built in or after the spring of 2009 would not be subject to this problem. Boats built before that may simply need to adjust the spine length and / or be more cautious when inserting the drive. FAQ: http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=12836

I do understand your concern. FYI... the over-all claims for us have never been more than a couple of percent at the high. This is mostly due to rash of issues in Outbacks and Adventures when we changed plastics a number of years back and then added ST Turbo fins as an accessory. The St Turbo fins seem to represent the majority of claims for issues in drive wells. They cause a lot more stress as users try to achieve higher performance. We never had these issues before these few changes. We have since changed (back in 2007) the way we mold the drive well and have been changing plastics and color mixes to minimize issues. By the way... most issues appear very early on, within the two year period.

We are the number one manufacturer of kayaks according to dealer and consumer polls. We build a very specialized product and have been pushing the envelope with the MirageDrive performance and hull features molded in. These are different beasts than your average kayak for sure and our commitment to consumer satisfaction is second to none.

I wish we could guarantee that there would never be a problem with our products, but this is unrealistic and why companies have warranty coverage. There are typically a few problems that crop up in any type of production.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Hello everyone. I write from Italy. I too have purchased a model 09 oasis in July and I was with the drive well damaged. Now I hope that my dealer will be able to have the replacement of the hull!
(forgive my bad English!)

Greetings phil1ben
My wife and I purchased our Oasis Hobie Tandem Mirage Drive Kayak in 2006, site unseen except for online photos, and we have since spent many enjoyable hours out on the water.
We have found our Hobie Oasis Tandem Kayak to be very reliable and dependable in a variety of Lakes, Bays, and Rivers as well as being versatile.

Whenever I have read the many forum posts here, if there were an issue with a particular kayak model, Mr Miller and The Hobie Company have always responded in a positive, professional reasonable manner, often while providing any repair solutions at the Hobie companys expense.

One could think by reading these forums that there appears to be a lot of kayaks with problems, however many are due to inexperience and most all issues that I have read about here have become resolved whether large or small in nature.
That said , it is still a big world out there and you can break just about anything if you do it right. Therefore the forums have become a useful tool to keep abreast of any changes modifications or improvements available to those interested as well as to share the exchange of ideas among Hobie Kayak owners.

If ever asked we would not hesitate to recommend a Hobie Mirage Drive Kayaks to anyone looking to spend some quality time out on the water.
In fact we have done so many times over the years because rarely can we ever put our Oasis in or out of the water without having to answer the 20 questions from curious onlookers about how it works and where can you find one.
This year, in fact we were chased down while on a leisurely cruise and cornered out in the waters of Tomales Bay by a man and his son who just had to find out all about our Tandem Hobie Oasis Kayak.


Good Luck
Have fun out there
Kepnutz

I'm about two years I read this forum and I want to thank kepnutz, thanks to him and his photos I decided to buy my Oasis. H13

Thank you for all your responses. When we buy one in the spring we will be using it on the Delaware River (where G. Washington crossed) and off Long Beach Island New Jersey. The posts did help answer some questions. Two years still seems short to me for the hull. Kepnutz thanks for the pictures.

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2010 Oasis

The claims we've seen have all been within about 1 year, a defect will show up almost immediately. I have never had a problem getting warranty hulls or work out of Hobie. We had a boat that serial number was past the 2 years but was an old stock bough from a dealer and had no problems getting it replaced. We sell other brands of kayaks too, some have "lifetime warranty", I still tell people I'd rather have Hobie's 2 year than there life time, good luck getting anything approved from them.

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Brad Stephens
[email protected]
(866) 786-5266 <--- Advice HOTline
http://www.sunjammers.com
www.facebook.com/sunjammers

It's easier for a an honest company to limit their warranty to 2 years and make extensions discretionarily rather than to say "lifetime" and hang you out to dry on technical exceptions and exclusions. As with absolutely any company or individual--go with reputation; its take forever to earn and a minute to lose. Hobie has guarded its reputation by service and support. I sue people for a living-- Hobie's not on my radar.

I just want to share my good experience with Hobie.

I live in Australia and bought a Hobie Outfitter a couple of years ago. The Hobie was put for storage in Winter but when I brought it out, I noticed a small defect. Photos were taken and sent to Hobie. Despite being a little out of warranty, Hobie replaced my hull.

Honestly, you really can't ask for better after sales support than that.

That you very much, Matt.

PS I love the Hobie!!!

I've had rotten luck with my 07 Adventure, and 09 Adventure. But after the last replacemant. Hobie said the problem was from bracing on the pedals. And excessive force during pedaling. I can see how that is a possiblitiy. And they have been making many changes/ improvements since we started out with them in 2007. My wife has a 07 Revolution, and has had no problems. Bracing is a hard habit for her to break too. But what it really comes down to in the end is Hobie has the best product. My wife and me have tried many but nothing out there will spoil you like the mirage drive. Understandably you have concerns. But that's the bottom line. They really have no competition. So if you what to see what's around the next bend, wave, or bluff Hobie is the only option.

Adventurer