I've had my 200 since spring, it was my go to reel when in the surf(litteraly) I also put it on my eel boat rod. I can't decide whether or not I should send it in. I do want to protect my investment but I can picture them opening the reel to find ZERO wrong with it and taking my $. whats your take?

Tony.. I would send it in... I may be wrong about this, but I think it violates the warranty if it is not serviced yearly.

-Dave

They do need to be serviced. It looses a little bit of oil everytime you crank the handle. Eventually it will run dry. I service mine at home. It is pretty easy after you have taken it apart the first time.

But isn't it only a year warranty anyway?

-spence

The warrantee is 1 year if not serviced yearly then if it is serviced yearly then it is for life. It contradicts it's self. but that's how I understand it

I have a friend who has 5 VS's he sends them in every year and they have NEVER charged him for parts. Another guy I know skipped a year and then sent his in and got a pretty ugly bill :lasso: for parts + the usual service fee.

Sell it and buy a Saltiga... :devil:

Basically it's a gamble not sending it in. It could work out great; you fish hard and use the reel for 5 years and spend nothing in maintenance, and when you eventually send it in it only costs you maybe $100. Cheaper then $36.95 every year. DZ's VS went a decade or so before needing anything. But he took a pretty good hit when it finally went in. It still worked out in his favor. Or in year 2 you could have some bad luck, need a bunch of parts, and get screwed.

If it's leaking, send it in. If it's making noise, send it in. If it's healthy it could go years without issue. Just weigh it all out and go with what works for you. If you've got bad luck you might want to send it in. ;)

If you bought it new in the box send it in.

If not they're pretty simple to service yourself. Mac showed me, Take the handle off, sideplate big bolt, then one bolt at the bottom of the shaft. strip clean and fill.

Once you have it opened and cleaned, what do you fill it with.

Once you have it opened and cleaned, what do you fill it with.

Castrol 90wt gear oil and Lubriplate 130 AA grease. Rich Smith did a great how too over on Tim's site.

Send it in for proper service. You spend that kind of coin on a reel you have to keep it maintained. Also, if the company stood behind their product, it should not cost you much at all, if anything.... If you ran it over with your truck that is one thing, but if you only used it as it was intended, then there should not be much of a bill.

send it in. I always hear about people getting big repair bills on their VS, never happened to me. I have a original 200 from years back and every year when it comes back from service it has a laundry list of things that were replaced and a big bag of old parts in the box with it. Never cost me more than the yearly service fee. :wiggle:

Is the VS warrenty only good for the orginal owner? I am thinking of trying one out and there seem to be a lot of used ones around but if the warrenty is non-transferable that could make a difference.