taylor made replacements

Mar 20, 2012
3,983
Cal 34-III, MacGregor 25 Salem, Oregon
I had two fenders fail me recently, they were very old so its not a surprise.
one of them had stress cracks in it, and finally blew out, and another one cracked up thru the valve... i believe its all due to sun damage.

I have a total of three of the taylor made hull guard fenders, the size is 8.5"X27", all the same age...
I took two of them to west marine to get them replaced, and even though they sell taylor maid, they said they couldnt help me...

So I called taylor made and explained the issues, they didnt ask questions, they said send them all in.... so I let the air out of the one still holding air, nested them all together and rolled them up the best that i could and tied them

I wrapped them in cardboard and took them to ups... it cost 47 dollars to ship them.

today I received three new fenders under their lifetime warranty. they paid all freight to get them to me....
so even though the shipping is expensive, it still saved around 60% on the cost of new fenders.
 

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Sep 15, 2009
6,243
S2 9.2a Fairhope Al
I took two of them to west marine to get them replaced, and even though they sell taylor maid, they said they couldnt help me...

That suprises me i have seen them replace over a dozen finders in the last 4 years

So I called taylor made and explained the issues, they didnt ask questions, they said send them all in.... so I let the air out of the one still holding air, nested them all together and rolled them up the best that i could and tied them

I wrapped them in cardboard and took them to ups... it cost 47 dollars to ship them.

today I received three new fenders under their lifetime warranty. they paid all freight to get them to me....
so even though the shipping is expensive, it still saved around 60% on the cost of new fenders.
that does not suprise me they are very good at coustomer relations
 
Feb 10, 2004
4,095
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
I had a similar experience. I called them and sent pictures and they replaced them promptly. They didn't want me to send them back. Great people.
 
Mar 20, 2012
3,983
Cal 34-III, MacGregor 25 Salem, Oregon
I had a similar experience. I called them and sent pictures and they replaced them promptly. They didn't want me to send them back. Great people.
the girl at taylor made that i spoke with on the phone emailed me an RA number... as expensive as it was for the smaller package i sent to them, the HUGE box that they shipped the new ones in to me, had to cost almost double that..
it would have been better for me if I could have just sent a photo... but im not complaining:D
 

cptjak

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Apr 13, 2010
21
CS 36 T Channel Islands Harbor
That's funny I have 2 very large tough end fenders that cost me $160.00 each one won't
hold air when I contacted Taylor they told me they don't warranty them after 1 year.
 
Jun 2, 2004
3,496
Hunter 23.5 Fort Walton Yacht Club, Florida
My Experience With West Marine was Quite Different

The store here replaces them no questions asked.

I have replaced quite a few of mine and for our youth sailing program.

It has been a year or so since the last one have things changed or was your WM not up on how they can facilitate an exchange?
 
Mar 20, 2012
3,983
Cal 34-III, MacGregor 25 Salem, Oregon
That's funny I have 2 very large tough end fenders that cost me $160.00 each one won't
hold air when I contacted Taylor they told me they don't warranty them after 1 year.
im not sure about that particular model of fender yo uhave, but on the model i have, they advertise a lifetime warrenty...
 
Mar 20, 2012
3,983
Cal 34-III, MacGregor 25 Salem, Oregon
The store here replaces them no questions asked.

I have replaced quite a few of mine and for our youth sailing program.

It has been a year or so since the last one have things changed or was your WM not up on how they can facilitate an exchange?
WM said that they will only do the warrenty exchange under two conditions... if i bought them there, AND, if they have them "in stock".... I did not buy them there.

when I mentioned to taylor made that their vendor would not warranty their product, they said that the vendors are not required to do warranty exchanges, but if I would send them directly to taylor made, they would be happy to do an exchange, providing the damage is caused by normal wear or a faulty product....
 
Feb 20, 2011
8,048
Island Packet 35 Tucson, AZ/San Carlos, MX
"...splitting or bursting..." Fine print, indeed. Later on the page, it's in all caps.;)

I'm somewhat amazed that anyone's been made whole under this warranty.

I've got a Big B sitting around with a slow leak, not "split" or "burst", that I assume won't be covered.
 
Jan 11, 2014
12,691
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
Depends on the cause of the leak, a small split might be covered. It is more likely that the valve has failed. Contact Taylor and ask, only takes a few minutes to email.
 
Feb 20, 2011
8,048
Island Packet 35 Tucson, AZ/San Carlos, MX
Depends on the cause of the leak, a small split might be covered. It is more likely that the valve has failed. Contact Taylor and ask, only takes a few minutes to email.
A valve failure would not be defined as a splitting or bursting, so I'm not holding my breath.

Rich Stidger's experience seems fantastic, literally!
 
Oct 2, 2008
3,810
Pearson/ 530 Strafford, NH
I replaced two and the newest one wouldn't hold air which became an issue. WM in Portland, Me replaced it with my receipt from the previous exchange. The valve leaks would no longer be covered by them.

I used Green Slime in an older fender with some success, still slow leak but its a 12X30" and I use it for rough pilings. I wonder if a can of foam insulation would work? I'd hold the fender so only half got filled.

All U Get
 
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Mar 20, 2012
3,983
Cal 34-III, MacGregor 25 Salem, Oregon
I've got a Big B sitting around with a slow leak, not "split" or "burst", that I assume won't be covered.
as far back as i can remember i have had fenders tow leak air without any visible sign of damage...
the first one I aired up and then put a big c-clamp on and immersed it in water.... it was the valve.
i removed the plug and used silicone grease to lube the valve... it held air forever after that.

the second fender was only a couple years ago and it took a basketball needle to air it up... i packed the hole as best i could with the grease and lubed the needle and inserted it.. added air and its still holding....

im not sure why or how a valve that is never used can either dry out or become unseated, but a bit of lube has helped in both cases here.
 
Feb 20, 2011
8,048
Island Packet 35 Tucson, AZ/San Carlos, MX
Thanks.
Looking at the fender, there are some splits radiating out about a half an inch from the central through-hole.

At least, that's the word I'd use. We'll see.
 
Oct 5, 2016
2
Hunter 46LE Warwick
Late to the party but thought I'd add this to the post just for the info. I have four of the Super Gard fenders and while on the Taylor Made site today, I clicked the Chat icon. I explained that 3 of my fenders were not holding pressure and that is was due to leaking valves. The girl said she would send me new valves and that replacing the valve was simply pulling out the valve with needle nose pliers and inserting the replacement.

May save new viewers shipping cost or just throwing away fenders that can be fixed.