Is this normal as a brand new polyethylene kayak?

Hello. I’m planning to purchase a sea kayak. I went to a kayak store the other day, and found this red one. It’s made of polyethylene. Its price was good but I thought its finish was not refined enough. Please look at the attached photo. Do you think the finish of the surface of this kayak is normal as a brand new polyethylene kayak? Or, do you think I should say ‘‘Could you reduce the price a little bit because the finish of the surface of this kayak is not good enough?’’

Here is the photo.

As Sheldon Cooper would say, “Sarcasm?”

That’s very common among red kayaks…

So the flash isn’t trimmed flush? That’s typical for a plastic mold. It will wear off. The “finish” on the field (which we can’t see well) looks ok.

What brand? There is no reason a brand new poly boat shouldn’t be nicely finished. However, some stores tend to handle them rather casually and they end up with some scars. If it isn’t pristine, I wouldn’t pay retail price and probably wouldn’t buy it at all.

From the picture you provided, I would say the manufacturer left a bit of a statement. The untrimmed plastic shows that they don’t care much about their product.

Came out of the mold and they didn’t quite trim off excess. not a big deal. what brand and model?

I cannot write the name of the manufacturer here because I don’t want to be sued by it. Suffice it to say, it’s one of the most famous kayaks in the history of the industry.

“…it’s one of the most famous kayaks in the history of the industry…”

Valley Nordkapp?

I hope the above is a joke. If I went back far enough I could find threads talking about NDK’s chopped stand glass layups as being just this side of a reason for the maker to be sent straight to hell upon their demise. No one ever got sued.

I once had a Chevy Suburban that was a constant PITA , so I told a bunch of people.
The manufacturer never sued me and I never bought another Chevy.

@string said:
I once had a Chevy Suburban that was a constant PITA , so I told a bunch of people.
The manufacturer never sued me and I never bought another Chevy.

That’s interesting, since I have a Chevy Suburban that’s 31 years old and it’s never given us one bit of trouble. A local contractor has a fleet of them and never parts with them until the odometer is well past the 400,000-mile mark. Yours was probably built on a Monday morning or a Friday afternoon!

The finish of that hole is about normal, and nothing to worry about. That hole would be used if you installed a rudder on the boat, which few do. Even if used as a rudder, the plastic stubs would wear off. Or could be easily trimmed off.

@Guideboatguy said:

@string said:
I once had a Chevy Suburban that was a constant PITA , so I told a bunch of people.
The manufacturer never sued me and I never bought another Chevy.

That’s interesting, since I have a Chevy Suburban that’s 31 years old and it’s never given us one bit of trouble. A local contractor has a fleet of them and never parts with them until the odometer is well past the 400,000-mile mark. Yours was probably built on a Monday morning or a Friday afternoon!

Apparently the roof was welded on a bit out of line or their electric window supplier sucked because the motors all burned out. That was just the start.
We bought it because we lived in Houston at the height of the oil boom and I wanted my family surrounded by as much steel as I could find .
We kept it 14 years. Couldn’t afford not to .

Much Ado about nothing.

What did it cost? Maybe they don’t have enough mark-up to pay a skilled person to clean it up after.

…and what the heck is the hole for? Add-a-rudder?

@Sparky961 said:
…and what the heck is the hole for? Add-a-rudder?

That’s my guess.

It’s how they get the Grey Thing in there…

@gorsescent@yahoo.co.jp said:
Suffice it to say, it’s one of the most famous kayaks in the history of the industry.

Sounds like it might be a Pamlico 140 :wink: