How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

[wgl333]

Re: How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

I bought my boat, 1995 Wellcraft in January in Upstate NY....not much chance for water trial unless it was a skating boat. I am the 3rd owner, the 2nd owner had EVERY piece of paper for work done by both himself and original owner, winter service, spring service, etc. Was able to view the boat and electronics, but obviously not the engine/drive. Had an immediate sense the guy I bought it from took great pride in his care as he made it a point to show me everything he had done, things he thought he would do had he not been selling, little blemishes, etc. Splashed the boat in late April and other than having to replace the stereo (simply a sound quality issue) and stern nav light, the boat has performed like a champ!

 

[dsiekman]

Re: How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

Contrary to moron belief, this is not an "upgrade".

Great line. Might have to borrow that one!

 

[Knot Waiting]

Re: How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

Fortunately the worst I got burned was on my shoulders because I forgot sunscreen and it was very hot out that day, lol. In all seriousness though it could happen to anyone. Even the most knowledgeable person can overlook something. On top of that, parts just fail, its the nature of the beast. Some rigs are better than others but no rig is immune from problems. Boat ownership follows the old boy scout code: Be Prepared (too, ahhh... spend money).

 

[dsiekman]

Re: How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

Don't mind me, I'm just going to vent a little here... Maybe it'll be therapeutic.

I feel your pain.

I'm the new owner of a 03 Princecraft Deckboat. Purchased from a used Auto/Boat dealer that has been in business 20+ years.

Very similar thing happened to me. I went back to a marina where I had previously purchased a boat. I have gotten to know these guys pretty well. They were brokering the boat in my sig. I asked them to have one of their techs go through the boat and make a list of everything that needed to be fixed. I explained that I was perfectly willing to pay for the work ABOVE AND BEYOND the cost of the boat. I just wanted to be sure everything was in as good a shape as possible so as not to deal with stupid crap all summer. They came up with a fairly short list to which I added a full service on the drives and oil and filter changes. Let's see...oil and filters were NOT changed. The oil was black and a quart low. Someone had written "55 hours" on the back of the filters...boat had 160 hours on the engines. I suspect that the drives were not serviced either as this winter I had the joy of rebuilding both of them due to water intrusion. If I hadn't gotten such a "good deal" (yeah, right), things would have been much uglier. As it was, I provided pictures of the old filters to the marina owner along with the explanation of why I would NOT be paying for the services they supposedly performed.

My issue in this case is that I still don't necessarily believe the owner and service manager tried to screw me. I think one of their techs was screwing them. The parts had been charged on the invoice and were evidently pulled from inventory...they didn't just vanish. My guess is some lazy *** took a nap on my boat while he was supposed to be working on it and resold the parts on the side.

 

[jmarty10]

Re: How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

I bought my first boat on ebay. Didnt even see it. I actually paid the guy $40 to deliver it to my driveway with a cracked block?? Fortunately it was external and leaked right into the bilge and didnt cause any damage to other parts. After several runs on the dirty river I think the crack got clogged from all the crap in the river becasue it stopped leaking into the bilge. I had to tune it up and put a new alternator on it. Marine mechanic said it ran like a top and it did for two years. My kids still laugh at how much of a piece of crap boat was but it gave us hours of enjoyment. Fix it up and go boating.

 

[JimS123]

Re: How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

The dealer offered exceptional pricing, an outstanding trade-in allowance and financing that was less than I was earning on my CD, so why pay cash! We worked with the factory on some special options and color arrangements and all was well. My old boat was the down payment. The factory said 4 week delivery time. I turned the old boat in right away (it was Fall and was going into storage anyway).

2 days later my old boat was sold (it was a cherry - I often regretted selling it). 4 weeks later my first payment coupon was due, but no boat. Come to find out the order was never officially put in. The dealer gave me a check to cover the first payment, but it bounced. A call to the factory showed they finally DID order it and it was shipped, but to a dealer in Boston (no delivery charge cause it was an open space on the truck).

But all ended well. The 2nd check was good. The dealer went and picked it up on a yard trailer, then transferred it to my new one. I got it home and in the garage just hours before a major blizard came.

The next Spring for the 10 hour checkup and a few accessories, the bill came to over $300. When i picked up the boat, the service dept. was closed and there was no billl, so the dealer said just give him $20 cash and we'd be even.....LOL.

Never went back to them again. The next winter they sold a boat in the showroom and offered "free winter storage". The problem was they sold the same boat 48 times, sometimes taking in used ones and refinancing as well. None of the old loans were paid off and most of the old boats were resold. Turned out the dealer was a runner for the **** and the place was really a money laundering store, not a marina. Last I heard, he was a resident in Attica!

The rest of the story is that I hve owned that boat for 27 years now, and it was the best purchase i ever made!

 

[paultjohnson]

Re: How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

On the flip side, i bought my 86 Thundercraft in 1990, 4 yrs old but hadn't been in the water for 2 yrs cuz the owner bought jet skis and enjoyed them more [ so he said]. He said he paid 13k for it. Sold it to me for $5500.00, with SS prop, 8 pfds water skis, cover, and had added a stereo. First alignment check, found out it needed a coupler, $300.00 part and labor, hasnt been in the shop again untill this year for upper bearing in drive, just another $300. Ive done several impellers, bellows and shift cable, but that's all its needed. Still have 180 lbs comp on 5 holes 172 on the 6th. been a great boat. I am big on preventative maintenance, proper warm up etc. I think it pays off. I think i could still get at least $3500. for it 20+ yrs later...