Anne Bucher  |  August 1, 2013

Category: Legal News

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Yamaha class action lawsuitTwo plaintiffs have filed a class action lawsuit against Yamaha Motor Corp. USA, alleging that the company manufactured outboard boating motors with a defective aluminum coating that are susceptible to corrosion and premature engine failure.

Florida residents Clifton Mitchell and Keith Johnson filed the Yamaha boat motor class action lawsuit on July 22. They allege that Yamaha should have known about the motor defect and taken steps to provide a remedy for customers who were affected by it.

The proposed members of the Yamaha boat motor class action lawsuit include Florida residents who bought a model year 2000-05 Yamaha first-generation F-Series four-stroke outboard motor for their personal use. The plaintiffs claim that because Yamaha failed to fix the problem with the motor, the Class Members have been forced to either pay thousands of dollars to repair the defect or be stuck with a defective motor that they never would have purchased had they known about the flaw.

Mitchell and Johnson purchased boats with the Yamaha F-Series motors from a boat dealership in Pensacola, Florida. Both plaintiffs were informed about the motor corrosion after they had their boats inspected after approximately 650 hours of recreational use. It cost Mitchell approximately $7,000 to repair the motor, while Johnson experienced close to $3,800 in repair costs.

In their class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim that there is either a design or manufacturing defect in the coating on the aluminum exhaust components. They claim that this coating allows hot gasses to corrode the exhaust passages, eventually creating holes in the passages that cause engine problems or failure.

The plaintiffs claim that the expected life of a motor made by a major manufacturer like Yamaha is several thousand hours of usage before failing or requiring significant repairs. According to the class action lawsuit, the affected Yamaha motors sometimes only 500 hours before failing.

The affected Yamaha motors came with a three-year warranty. However, because these motors are marketed for recreational use, most users only average about 100 hours of use per year. As a result, the warranty usually expires before the customer experiences problems with the motor. Because the affected components are within the dry exhaust system, the corrosion takes place within the fully enclosed engine housing and is not visible. Therefore, boaters are unaware that the damage exists until they experience engine problems.

The plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit allege that standard engineering tests should have revealed the motor defect to Yamaha during the design or manufacturing stage of production. Despite receiving numerous complaints about the defect, Yamaha failed to take steps to fix the situation. While Yamaha has changed the coating and created a kit to repair the defect, the kit alone costs $650 and will cost thousands of dollars to implement, the class action lawsuit says. The plaintiffs claim that Yamaha did not notify its customers about the defect or issue any service bulletins or recalls. The class action lawsuit accuses Yamaha of negligence, product liability, and violating the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. The plaintiffs have requested a trial by jury.

The plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit are represented by Peter J. Mougey and James Kauffman of Levin Papantonio Thomas Mitchell Rafferty & Proctor PA, and by Steven R. Jaffe and Mark S. Fistos of Farmer Jaffe Weissing Edwards Fistos & Lehrman PL.

The Yamaha Boat Engine Coating Class Action Lawsuitis Mitchell, et al. v. Yamaha Motor Corp. USA, case number 3:13-cv-00417, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.

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94 thoughts onClass Action Lawsuit Targets Yamaha Boat Motor Defect

  1. Larry d bates says:

    exhaust corrosion lf 150 txt and f150 txr both motors showing corrosion problems

  2. john Houser says:

    i have an Everglades 433CC with quad Yamaha 350s on it, i have had to replace all 4 lower untis because of corrosion with less than 500 hours on them. I have also had to repair (2) of the motors for not going into gear properly and the Yamaha Hemlmster boards have failed at a cost of 8k dollars plus labor and still arent right. Everglades in their infinite wisdom chose to locate the Joystick (helmsater) electronics in the rear transom in the bildge and their answer was it was corrosion.
    The whole system is problematic and I think a class action suit should be filed by anyone with a Yamaha 350, these motors are absolute garbage

    1. Dave says:

      I have 2 yamaha outboard motors 1 is a 115hp 2005 4stroke . It has a headgasket blown and the block is full of corrosion, and is unrepairable, the other is a 100hp 4stroke outboard which is 2011 and has the same problem, we have had the motors from new washed and sevriced more than what was recomended so never expected any of these problems, both boat motors only lasted 1100 hours

  3. Brian Kruppa says:

    I have defective 2011 vf200 with corrosion holes in the head on 2 cylinders. Engine is ruined with just 450 hours. Contacted yamaha and they acknowledge they know about the problem but say motor is out of warranty. Very deceptive!

  4. David Dingee says:

    I have a 2008 f225 that has corrosion issues in the block. Holes in cylinders.

  5. Joe zsiga says:

    I have a2003 with 65 hours on it and the block corroded and leaks exhaust into the port head

    1. Brian Reed says:

      I have a 2012 150 that just got the blow hole. Does anyone know what happened in this lawsuit?

  6. John J says:

    I have a pair of 2013 f150s and one just suffered the blow hole issue. Is there any legal recourse against Yamaha at this point being out of warranty? If anyone knows please let me know wskybiz@yahoo.com thanks Jim advance!

  7. ted flannagan says:

    I have two 2014 150hp yamaha and both are in shop with less than 1000 hours and both have blow holes, citationlady@verizon.net I would gladly assist in lawsuit with yamaha. thanks ted flannagan

  8. Steve Bailey says:

    I was told by the macanic that put the power head on my moter at Kentucky at The Yamaha service trailer that The 04 s were junk so they new

  9. Steve bailey says:

    I have a 2004 250. For my first big tournament, I saved all my money to make a go at semi-pro fishing on Sam Rayburn in an Ever Start tournament. I got struck by lightning my first day, but went on to fish the second day. The last turnament was on Kentucky lake. 11 days I pre-fished! -and at take off on the very first day, my Yamaha blew up and has never been the same. I have been through rebuilds, low power issues- one thing after another! I’m one of those people that purchased my boat to make dreams come to fruition, and I will- but not in a damn Yamaha. I was a loyal Yamaha owner. Yamaha has wasted my years of commitment, and dedication. It takes consistent reliability to make this happen and I have consistently had to waste time and money on a motor.

  10. Joseph Jiovenetta says:

    I have this issue with two outboard engines.

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