Starcraft Rear-Ended

[crkranz]

My dad got re-ended pulling his boat home from the lake a couple days ago. 1988 18' StarCraft SFM. He was sitting at the stop light and a girl (probably texting) ran into him. He finally got everything running perfect and ran down to the lake to test it before a planned fishing trip to the river.

Visible Damage-
-bent the prop
-broke some of the lower unit housing off and the skag (cosmetic)
-mangled the 'arm' of the trailer that the bow rests against and holds the winch
-bent in the transom area between the rear transom braces, don't think it broke the transom wood, but the channel supporting it pretty good is definitely bent
-you can also see ripples in the side of the boat at the rivets, from what I assume happened as the force was transferred through the hull to the tongue of the trailer.

It will be interesting to see what the insurance adjuster will do. The hull isn't wrecked, but isn't completely repairable either, and certainly wouldn't be worth hiring a shop to fix. Also hard to guess what the impact did to the internal of the motor. The motor was just rebuilt and doesn't have 10hrs on it yet.

 

[rheagler]

Re: Starcraft Rear-Ended

Wow. That's a bummer.

 

[barato2]

Re: Starcraft Rear-Ended

bummer for the tin. glad for your dad that he had all that progressive deformation to protect him...Starcrafts are easier to replace than spines!

 

[barato2]

Re: Starcraft Rear-Ended

more thoughts. the ins will prolly claim the boat is totaled and offer you $200 for the hull. you may need to be ready to prove value of a restored SC is way over that, even if it ain't worth quite what we have into it.

 

[N1265]

Re: Starcraft Rear-Ended

If the hull isn't completely repairable ( and if the sides are bowed I doubt it is ) then the boat should be totaled. I doubt there was any serious damage to the motor itself but the motor mounts should be inspected.

that lower unit should be replaced. ( or at the very least, that skag welded back on and the unit taken apart and inspected internally )

Also, It appears from the picture that the lower unit housing is cracked...

 

[geneseo1911]

Re: Starcraft Rear-Ended

That makes me very sad, and very angry. Pretty much my worst nightmare, boat-wise.

My Dad was very nearly killed last summer by a woman who was screwing with her phone. Completely destroyed the beautiful original 1968 JD 4020 he was driving. She was doing 70 when she hit him, snapped the axle clean off the transmission.

I swear that the average human IQ has dropped 25% in the last 50 years.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: Starcraft Rear-Ended

Oh man, that's no good! Did he have separate boat insurance or is home/auto covering this?

 

[barato2]

Re: Starcraft Rear-Ended

uh, i would HOPE that the insurance of the person who rear ended him would be covering it.....

 

[djpeters]

Re: Starcraft Rear-Ended

uh, i would HOPE that the insurance of the person who rear ended him would be covering it.....

Well, I think Jas made that comment because us here in Michigan have "no-fault" insurance. Doesn't matter who is at fault, the damaged vehicles policy has to cover it. Sometimes if your lucky, and you have a good agent, they will go after the others insurance for the deductible portion.

Huge bummer on that boat. Glad he wasn't hurt, and hope he makes out OK.

That's one thing that would suck big time for any of us who put years of time into these boats. Even if your insured well....it doesn't do anything for the time spent.....

 

[barato2]

Re: Starcraft Rear-Ended

ohh, hadn't thought of that. nothing like making the cautious folk pay for the stupidity and carelessness of the others......:facepalm:

i'm trying to figure out what we all can do to help. seems like there has got to be some way to prove the value of dad's boat is more than whatever lowball figure they'll pitch.

 

[airshot]

Re: Starcraft Rear-Ended

ohh, hadn't thought of that. nothing like making the cautious folk pay for the stupidity and carelessness of the others......:facepalm:

i'm trying to figure out what we all can do to help. seems like there has got to be some way to prove the value of dad's boat is more than whatever lowball figure they'll pitch.

Well we can if someone on here can attest to being a starcraft historian and willing to give a written appraisal on the current market value of his boat. Had a similar thing happen a number of years back when I was a gunsmith, a fellow had his gun damaged in shipment and because I was the last one to work on it I was able to give him an appraisal value of his rifle which was considerably higher than the lowball figure the ins came up with. It will be up to the ins company to prove his appraisal incorrect. If they really give him problems I would start to develop some serious back pain.

 

[bob johnson]

Re: Starcraft Rear-Ended

we need to quickly hide the CL starcraft thread!!!! we dont want the adjuster to see what these things go for sometimes!!!!!!!!


bob

 

[crkranz]

Re: Starcraft Rear-Ended

I don't think the hull is scrap if someone wanted to fix the transom. The sides aren't bowed or anything major that I can tell, but they apparently did flex pretty good and it could never be fixed to preaccident condition. The ladies insurance will cover it, but I'm guessing it will be a fight and they will try and total it for less than it is replaceable for.

Oh, and he said the hyd. tilt leaks down now. This was going to be the motor I was going to get and put on my 16ft I'm fixing up.

 

[bob johnson]

Re: Starcraft Rear-Ended

this is what youll get maybe......if it totalled!!NOT including the motor

1988 Starcraft Co SFM 180 Standard Equipment, Boat Value, Boat Price & Craft Specs | NADAguides


bob

 

[roscoe]

Re: Starcraft Rear-Ended

Hydraulics took a huge hit for sure.

Probably bent the prop shaft enough that it will not run true.

 

[barato2]

Re: Starcraft Rear-Ended

yeah, i'd plan on another motor for your boat. just too many things inside get messed up with a hit like that took....and the motor was the "point man" for the rest of it

 

[crkranz]

Re: Starcraft Rear-Ended

yeah, i'd plan on another motor for your boat. just too many things inside get messed up with a hit like that took....and the motor was the "point man" for the rest of it

Thing is that the powerhead is almost new. If I'm patient I could probably find deals on a lower unit if this one is shelled. I am hoping that it is just the seals in the hyd unit and they aren't to terribly difficult to repair. 90HP 90's Merc in good shape aren't cheap from what I've seen.

 

[barato2]

Re: Starcraft Rear-Ended

hopefully you can use it. but given the impact that it took....how many foot-lbs of energy was that? i'd look closely at the hydraulic rams, mount bracket, etc.

actually, the fact that it was bolted to an aluminum boat that flexes slightly as opposed to a more rigid glasser probably saved your motor from worse damage than it would have had.

 

[crkranz]

Re: Starcraft Rear-Ended

So their insurance company tells my dad to go get some repair quotes. The boat is not economically repairable nor is there a shop around that wants to waste their time quoting work they know they will never get. Regardless, he is going to haul it over to a dealer and see what they say. I think the insurance company be force to try and total it out. The fight will be over how much he will settle for. I looked at every boat on craigslist in a 500 mile radius and I haven't found a boat for less than $6k that I would have traded even up for it. 89 18ft starcraft w/ new rebuilt 90hp merc.

 

[crkranz]

Re: Starcraft Rear-Ended

Shop estimate was $12k to fix boat, motor and trailer. :laugh: