We are owners of a Lekker Damsko series boat.
Buying this Lekker boat has been the worst decision of our lives.
Our family has been stranded at sea due to engine failure, left invisible overnight anchored in a crowded harbor because the anchor lights shorted and have had so many issues limiting our use of this brand new boat.
We have tried to resolve this amicably by proposing a settlement agreement with Lekker, however Lekker would only offer to sell our boat for a commission at a significantly reduced price which was unacceptable.
Selling the boat is not an option. It would be unethical to make this boat another family’s problem.
Currently, we still own the boat and are exploring our legal options.
This article will detail the issues we’ve had with our Lekker boat and working with the Lekker people because we feel other consumers should know our experience.
Our Terrible Lekker Boat Experience
The Boat was delivered on May 24, 2023 in Cannes, France.
Since this delivery, we have been forced to deal with numerous breakdowns due to various defects in the boat, preventing normal use.
Everything below happened over a 3.5 month span of owning the boat starting on May 24, 2023.
First, the boat’s sanitary installations were subject to recurrent breakdowns, due to faulty installation of fuses by Lekker during the boat’s manufacturing process. This failure immobilized the boat for several weeks before it was possible to determine its origin.
Once that was fixed, we experienced a breakdown at sea due to a faulty engine connection and had to radio for help and get towed into port (pictured above).
After intervention by the local Mercury distributor, he was able to determine that “a contact ‘pin’ on one of the motor’s wiring harness sockets had become sunken when the motor was installed. This failure should therefore have been detected immediately by the Lekker when the boat’s motor was installed.
We’ve experienced other types of engine failure when the engine automatically went into emergency “Limp Home Mode” (as seen in the picture below), requiring emergency assistance to reach the nearest port safely.
We’ve experienced bow thruster failures on numerous occasions, which prevented the boat from maneuvering properly at each failure, particularly when docking. Lekker has come out to fix our bow thruster, only for it to fail again.
Frustrated, we got an independent mechanic to fix it and the bow thruster failed again on the next use. This mechanic expressed a concern for the wiring of the boat and recommended a comprehensive investigation into the boat’s electrical systems. Here’s an excerpt of his write up:
On our first overnight trip anchored in Saint Tropez harbor, the anchor and navigation lights shorted, leaving us invisible to other boats in a crowded harbor. It was a very dangerous night for our family. Lekker sent a technician out to repair the anchor and navigation light short when we returned.
This same Lekker technician who fixed the anchor and navigation lights couldn’t fix our boat’s WiFi connection that had never worked which is needed to make software updates that we’re prompted to make every time we start the boat (link to image of software update prompt). This technician said he would go back to the office and communicate a fix. We were informed that we don’t need to make any software updates because the boat worked fine and won’t need the WiFi. This was unsatisfactory to us.
The regular occurrence of breakdowns prevents normal use of the boat. In addition, the numerous defects compromise the overall safety of the boat.
It is also out of the question to proceed with the resale of such a boat in these conditions, as the probability of a new dangerous incident remains high due to these defects.
We hope this Lekker boat review helps.
If you’d like updates on our situation or to ask any questions, you can folow us and engage on Instagram, here.
As it stands, we’re still asking for Lekker to do the right thing and refund our purchase.
Time will tell whether Lekker Boats has any ethics and cares for the safety and well-being of their customers and the boating community in general, or if they snake oil salesmen who are just in this for their bottom line.
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