We own a 2006 Chaparral 350 Signature. We cruise Lake Michigan and have enjoyed the boat..., up until now. Ever since we purchased the boat, I would find excessive water intrusion in the mid-ship bilge as well as the engine bilge. I have been using a 6-gallon wet-vac to pull out water each week we go to our boat. With no exaggeration, I can pull out 15 gallons of water from the midship bilge, and another 10 to 15 gallons of water from the engine compartment bilge.
I complained to both our dealer as well as Chaparral. In fact, on one winter drive to Florida my wife and I stopped in at the factory. We met with Dan Osbourne. At that time, I mentioned the excess water intrusion. He simply encouraged us to work with our dealer, which we did. Our dealer kept the boat, in water, for a few days and periodically checked water levels. He reported that he found nothing out of the ordinary. So, after receiving no assistance from either source, I just figured I would have to live with it. I really did not know where the water was coming from. I sealed everything topside I could think of.
This season we discovered that our starboard strut was leaking inside the engine room. We scheduled service at our dealer. The strut was repaired and the inside was cleaned up. However, water continued to leak in.
As you all know, the idiotic design of a bilge pump and a float switch is ridiculous. For water to raise the float high enough to turn on the pump, it has to be 4 inches or so. Then the pump goes on, but as it shuts off a gallon runs back into the midship bilge.
For the engine room..., the pump and float is mounted to the stern of the center section between the engines, close to the drain plug. This area is higher than the center section of the engine room. So the water really has to be very high before activating the float..., probably 6 to 8 inches. This is absolutely stupid! Since that area is flat, 6 to 8 inches can mean 10 gallons of water!
So our dealer fixed the strut, and as I stated, water continue to leak in. they pulled the boat out and put it back in repair. after some serious inspection, they found 8 additional sources of water leaks. Each thru hull fitting and sensor was leaking. The sealant on the exterior portion was poorly applied and the retaining ring on the inside was barely grabbed a few threads in order to tighten. All because of negligence of Chapparal.
Perhaps the guys that built our boat had a bad weekend and it was built on a Monday. Remember the adage about buying a car on that was made on a Monday or Friday..., terrible quality.
Well, this is our boat. With all of the leaks finally fixed, water was still seeping into the midship bilge. The dealer finally concluded that the hull core was saturated and the water was seeking an outlet, the midship bilge area.
Insurance will not cover factor defects, which all of this is. I have already paid $6K for the strut repair and a few other odds and ends. But now, with the hull core saturated, I am looking at $10K to $15K for a repair.
This is a perfect example of bad Chaparral Quality control. No wonder they abandoned the cruiser market. They could not make them right.
My wife and I are both pretty upset with this situation.
Thanks Chaparral, for building a crappy boat! And thanks for not offering any assistance whatsoever!
I complained to both our dealer as well as Chaparral. In fact, on one winter drive to Florida my wife and I stopped in at the factory. We met with Dan Osbourne. At that time, I mentioned the excess water intrusion. He simply encouraged us to work with our dealer, which we did. Our dealer kept the boat, in water, for a few days and periodically checked water levels. He reported that he found nothing out of the ordinary. So, after receiving no assistance from either source, I just figured I would have to live with it. I really did not know where the water was coming from. I sealed everything topside I could think of.
This season we discovered that our starboard strut was leaking inside the engine room. We scheduled service at our dealer. The strut was repaired and the inside was cleaned up. However, water continued to leak in.
As you all know, the idiotic design of a bilge pump and a float switch is ridiculous. For water to raise the float high enough to turn on the pump, it has to be 4 inches or so. Then the pump goes on, but as it shuts off a gallon runs back into the midship bilge.
For the engine room..., the pump and float is mounted to the stern of the center section between the engines, close to the drain plug. This area is higher than the center section of the engine room. So the water really has to be very high before activating the float..., probably 6 to 8 inches. This is absolutely stupid! Since that area is flat, 6 to 8 inches can mean 10 gallons of water!
So our dealer fixed the strut, and as I stated, water continue to leak in. they pulled the boat out and put it back in repair. after some serious inspection, they found 8 additional sources of water leaks. Each thru hull fitting and sensor was leaking. The sealant on the exterior portion was poorly applied and the retaining ring on the inside was barely grabbed a few threads in order to tighten. All because of negligence of Chapparal.
Perhaps the guys that built our boat had a bad weekend and it was built on a Monday. Remember the adage about buying a car on that was made on a Monday or Friday..., terrible quality.
Well, this is our boat. With all of the leaks finally fixed, water was still seeping into the midship bilge. The dealer finally concluded that the hull core was saturated and the water was seeking an outlet, the midship bilge area.
Insurance will not cover factor defects, which all of this is. I have already paid $6K for the strut repair and a few other odds and ends. But now, with the hull core saturated, I am looking at $10K to $15K for a repair.
This is a perfect example of bad Chaparral Quality control. No wonder they abandoned the cruiser market. They could not make them right.
My wife and I are both pretty upset with this situation.
Thanks Chaparral, for building a crappy boat! And thanks for not offering any assistance whatsoever!
