John_NJ
TVWBB Wizard
interesting
The summits are corroding away - I’d want to see a longer warranty and product improvements if I ever purchase again
- Thread starter Ken-Canada
- Start date
Jon Tofte
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
I don't blame you one bit, Larry. Your experience was a bad one for sure. It took a small sheet metal shop in central Indiana to fix a bad situation. Seems like Weber could have done it themselves.
On the other hand, I am still a Weber fan. That doesn't mean I won't call them out on product misses or a bad deal like yours. However, I have bought and will still buy new Weber products. I am also trying to keep in mind that times are changing and what people value today is different from when George Stephen
was still at the helm. Today I was in Lowes for a little while. I stopped to look at Genesis 435 I believe - 4 main burners plus a 5th sear burner. Sure, the firebox is thin and the build quality isn't the rugged strength of our favored "classic" Genesis grills. Nonetheless, it does look like it would be a great grill to use for 4 or 5 years.
On the other hand, I am still a Weber fan. That doesn't mean I won't call them out on product misses or a bad deal like yours. However, I have bought and will still buy new Weber products. I am also trying to keep in mind that times are changing and what people value today is different from when George Stephen
was still at the helm. Today I was in Lowes for a little while. I stopped to look at Genesis 435 I believe - 4 main burners plus a 5th sear burner. Sure, the firebox is thin and the build quality isn't the rugged strength of our favored "classic" Genesis grills. Nonetheless, it does look like it would be a great grill to use for 4 or 5 years.
Brett-EDH
TVWBB Olympian
as Weber clearly states on their webpage:
How Do I Find Replacement Parts For My Grill? | Burning Questions | Weber Grills
Many of our longtime Weber fans have grills that are 15, 20 even 30 years old and they are still going strong. Over the years various parts on these grills might nee...
www.weber.com
specifically: "As a general rule, we do our best to keep replacement parts in stock up to 10 years after a grill has been discontinued but often times we carry parts for even longer than that."
you SHOULD vote with your wallet. there's nothing wrong with that. just stop lambasting a company that provided 10 years support. if you don't like the product, then move on and don't buy from them.
how long your grill lasts is tied to how often you use it and clean it. for heat, grease, cooling, and repeat over and over, 10 years is a long time for a grill to last. most go 12 years or more.
and we can all agree that the Summit gassers aren't worth $xxxxx new as they won't last much longer than 12-14 years. SO DON'T BUY ONE.
there are cars that will not be of much value over 100k miles. that's reality. and there are cars that hold their value well above 100k miles.
if i were to buy a gasser right now, i likely wouldn't buy a Weber. i'd seek 304SS or very similar. the one model that looks appealing is the Blaze grill. but i'm not buying a grill so it doesn't matter.
LMichaels
TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
I don't doubt it Jon. But a couple things. If I drop in the range of $1500 on an appliance I would hope for more than 5 years. But, sadly the innovation is gone too. Anyway this whole thread brought up that bad taste in my mouth..........................again LOL. The weird thing about it all is I did not even consider the thing was under warranty. It only came up when I tried to buy the new fire box and the Weber rep looked it up and said "you're still in warranty". I'll get that right out to you.
Part of me doesn't even want to bother with a regular gas grill anymore. As you know I pulled the Genesis down to pieces. Tonight I made ground prime rib sliders on the pellet grill. Cranked that bad boy up to 475 and those burgers crusted over nicely. Yet on Sunday I was able to slow cook that rib roast to perfection then sear/finish it just prior to putting it out to serve. The range of functions and flavors I get out of that thing is nothing short of amazing. And the ease of maintenance is amazing. Pull the plate, scrape it, shop vac the ashes and right back in business. Maint takes all of about 6 minutes
Part of me doesn't even want to bother with a regular gas grill anymore. As you know I pulled the Genesis down to pieces. Tonight I made ground prime rib sliders on the pellet grill. Cranked that bad boy up to 475 and those burgers crusted over nicely. Yet on Sunday I was able to slow cook that rib roast to perfection then sear/finish it just prior to putting it out to serve. The range of functions and flavors I get out of that thing is nothing short of amazing. And the ease of maintenance is amazing. Pull the plate, scrape it, shop vac the ashes and right back in business. Maint takes all of about 6 minutes
LMichaels
TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
I am going to bite my tongue here as either you've missed the point or you're after something else. In any case. I'm done rehashing what had been a very unpleasant situation for me a few years ago.as Weber clearly states on their webpage:
How Do I Find Replacement Parts For My Grill? | Burning Questions | Weber Grills
Many of our longtime Weber fans have grills that are 15, 20 even 30 years old and they are still going strong. Over the years various parts on these grills might nee...
specifically: "As a general rule, we do our best to keep replacement parts in stock up to 10 years after a grill has been discontinued but often times we carry parts for even longer than that."
you SHOULD vote with your wallet. there's nothing wrong with that. just stop lambasting a company that provided 10 years support. if you don't like the product, then move on and don't buy from them.
how long your grill lasts is tied to how often you use it and clean it. for heat, grease, cooling, and repeat over and over, 10 years is a long time for a grill to last. most go 12 years or more.
and we can all agree that the Summit gassers aren't worth $xxxxx new as they won't last much longer than 12-14 years. SO DON'T BUY ONE.
there are cars that will not be of much value over 100k miles. that's reality. and there are cars that hold their value well above 100k miles.
if i were to buy a gasser right now, i likely wouldn't buy a Weber. i'd seek 304SS or very similar. the one model that looks appealing is the Blaze grill. but i'm not buying a grill so it doesn't matter.
Steve Hoch
TVWBB Hall of Fame
Weber is no different than any other company that offers a variety of products, some are going to be better than others. I wouldn't buy a new Summit grill from them, but I certainly would buy a new Genesis before I purchased some off brand grill from Walmart, Sam's club, Costco or wherever. We certainly can't bash Weber for still being able to buy parts for thirty year old grills even if their support of the Summit line has been lacking.
Jon Tofte
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Steve,
I agree that we can't expect Weber to keep stocking all parts for grills from the 80s and 90s. I wish they would see a few key items like large drip trays as more likely to need replacement and try, but I get it. I don't think it is right that you can't get some parts for 300 series grills as I have heard (maybe not true).
However, if you put out a warranty for 15 years then you better have parts on hand to service that warranty for 15 years.
I agree with Larry that we have once again beat this one up enough. Time to move on.
I think the most basic aspect of this thread is to try to understand why +$2,000 flagship grills would have cheap painted steel in places highly prone to rust and porcelain plated steel fireboxes that are doomed to burn-through. It would have cost more - but not ridiculously more - to have made those parts out of 304 stainless. These Summits would have an entirely different reputation altogether had that been the way they were manufactured.
I agree that we can't expect Weber to keep stocking all parts for grills from the 80s and 90s. I wish they would see a few key items like large drip trays as more likely to need replacement and try, but I get it. I don't think it is right that you can't get some parts for 300 series grills as I have heard (maybe not true).
However, if you put out a warranty for 15 years then you better have parts on hand to service that warranty for 15 years.
I agree with Larry that we have once again beat this one up enough. Time to move on.
I think the most basic aspect of this thread is to try to understand why +$2,000 flagship grills would have cheap painted steel in places highly prone to rust and porcelain plated steel fireboxes that are doomed to burn-through. It would have cost more - but not ridiculously more - to have made those parts out of 304 stainless. These Summits would have an entirely different reputation altogether had that been the way they were manufactured.
Bruce
TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
Yah, when they mention parts for 30 year old grills, they are talking things like grates that were used on their grills as recently as the late 2000's.
as far as the steel cabinets that rust out so quick, I have to say that is just dumb to keep making grills with those same cabinets when 4-5 years in, they are already rusting out in a lot of grills. Even when they go to a new generation of grill, they continued to used the same basic design on the cabinets with seeming the same inferior metal. In fact, if they just replaced the bottom panel with stainless or sheet aluminum, the grills would remain serviceable for many more years than the have been.
OK, like others, I am done. I kicked an already dead horse and it wasn't even in my way.
as far as the steel cabinets that rust out so quick, I have to say that is just dumb to keep making grills with those same cabinets when 4-5 years in, they are already rusting out in a lot of grills. Even when they go to a new generation of grill, they continued to used the same basic design on the cabinets with seeming the same inferior metal. In fact, if they just replaced the bottom panel with stainless or sheet aluminum, the grills would remain serviceable for many more years than the have been.
OK, like others, I am done. I kicked an already dead horse and it wasn't even in my way.
LMichaels
TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
Right. Bottom line all I hoped for was if you sell me a product with XX year warranty and then tell me you cannot/will not support the product UNDER WARRANTY then you have let me down. And to make it worse leave the customer not only high and dry to have said product fixed under warranty but to not even offer a replacement product? Sorry that is bad juju. I realize finding things for something 30 years old is a "hobby" not a business decision.
And this is the end of what I will write on the subject. Other than to say I'm glad Jon has it now and is able to luv on it the way I got too discouraged to any more.
And this is the end of what I will write on the subject. Other than to say I'm glad Jon has it now and is able to luv on it the way I got too discouraged to any more.
Ken-Canada
New member
Looks like the Weber strategy on this is to keep their head down and hope the issue goes away.
It will go away - but so will a portion of their summit sales as word gets around from their loyalists and works it’s way through the dealer network.
They still have other great products, but I think the summit line is destined to struggle. Now, if they took a proactive stand and said ‘oops, seems we have an issue’ and supported those with these older units, that would probably preserve a lot of the sales volume. Ah well, it is what it is.
We bought a new bbq recently for our cottage, and opted for a different brand. I didn’t want to experience these issues on another grill. I prefer Weber, but I just don’t have confidence in the lineup right now.
It will go away - but so will a portion of their summit sales as word gets around from their loyalists and works it’s way through the dealer network.
They still have other great products, but I think the summit line is destined to struggle. Now, if they took a proactive stand and said ‘oops, seems we have an issue’ and supported those with these older units, that would probably preserve a lot of the sales volume. Ah well, it is what it is.
We bought a new bbq recently for our cottage, and opted for a different brand. I didn’t want to experience these issues on another grill. I prefer Weber, but I just don’t have confidence in the lineup right now.
Anyone heard rumors of a revamped Summit line from Weber? I'd love to see Weber catch up with the competition and offer a more robust design (how about going back to a full cast aluminum fire box!)
I rehabbed my 2008 vintage Summit S-470 last year with new burners (including new rotisserie burner) and flavorizer bars, so it's cooking well for now. But, the enameled fire box panels and other bits are going to fail again, despite being a new replacement from Weber just before the 10-year warranty expired in 2017. Despite being a Weber fan for decades, that Napoleon Prestige Pro sure looks good...
I rehabbed my 2008 vintage Summit S-470 last year with new burners (including new rotisserie burner) and flavorizer bars, so it's cooking well for now. But, the enameled fire box panels and other bits are going to fail again, despite being a new replacement from Weber just before the 10-year warranty expired in 2017. Despite being a Weber fan for decades, that Napoleon Prestige Pro sure looks good...
Jon Tofte
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
I am with you on that, Jose! I vote for less electronic gizmos (even though I know there will instead be more) and most importantly a design that will LAST. Use real 304 stainless for the frame and cabinetry (like the 2004-5 Summit Platinum) and, as you said, an all cast aluminum (adequately thick) firebox. It could be a big step up for Weber 
.
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