transom and motor ripped off of pontoon

[oldjeep]

Re: transom and motor ripped off of pontoon

That hurts my feelins. I won't tell the old girl you said that.

LOL - It should be fine for normal use, but I can easily see it getting shreded off if the motor hit a rock at 15MPH

 

[lncoop]

Re: transom and motor ripped off of pontoon

LOL - It should be fine for normal use, but I can easily see it getting shreded off if the motor hit a rock at 15MPH

Well in that case I better keep the admiral out of the helm. You should see what she can do to a dock!

 

[Todd4]

Re: transom and motor ripped off of pontoon

That hurts my feelins. I won't tell the old girl you said that.

"Girl, them sure is some small washers ya got there"....

 

[treker]

Re: transom and motor ripped off of pontoon

Well in that case I better keep the admiral out of the helm. You should see what she can do to a dock!

I wouldn't tell the Admrial that while your at it

 

[lncoop]

Re: transom and motor ripped off of pontoon

I wouldn't tell the Admrial that while your at it

Don't have to. The vice admiral will never let her live it down. "Hey Mom, remember that time........"

 

[pontoon_in_rocks]

Re: transom and motor ripped off of pontoon

5. Call your insurance agent. It's extremely unlikely, but maybe your homeowner's has some sort of provision for something like this. Doesn't cost anything to ask

As Incoop said check with them, I found out after the fact that my homeowners would have paid for the damages caused by my daughter when there was a fire at the college apartment. But had already paid out the 9K, and really didn't want a claim on my insurance. But getting back to your problem, do you know how deep the water was where you ran into the rocks( 5 feet out of channel isn't far), was this an obstruction that should have been marked? Did you opt out of the insurance that is somtimes provided when you rent? I think that the rental agency is entitled to have the pontoon repaired but not with a new motor, that motor has been in service 13 years, depreciation has to come into play. If they haven't had to do any major work that motor was paid for sometime back. Oh by the way welcome, I think we may have to pull your Cadet rating though

I called homeowners. They would have covered if the boat was less than 14ft and less than 20hp i think. This boat was 27ft and 115hp.

Tide was going out, but at the time it was all submerged. Maybe 2 ft deep. Not too sure. By the time they came and got us, the rocks were breaking the surface (some rocks were taller than others). They didn't offer any insurance.

I'm not worthy of cadet :-(

 

[WaterDR]

Re: transom and motor ripped off of pontoon

Ouch! I feel badly for you. Sorry to hear about the insurance. I think you are stuck on this one paying for the repairs to the boat, plus the price of a replacement motor. You could even face loss of rental income too.

A new motor will cost about $11k assuming it is a four stroke. If it is a 1999, I am only guessing that it might be about $7500, but that is just a WAG. I see 40's that old going for $2500. Hopefully they will work with you.

I wonder if the rental company has incurance.

 

[5150abf]

Re: transom and motor ripped off of pontoon

Depends how the agreement is worded, if you rented a 1999 car and wrecked it you certainly wouldn't have to buy them a 2012 to replace it, you would owe the damages to the car they had.

I would really question the condition of the transom, if you truley ripped this off the boat there is no way it was correct and in good working order, bend it, that I could see that but ripping it off the boat, not so much.

It may be a money well spent to find a lawyer to look over the agreement and tell you what your options are, a lawyer wrote it so only a lawyer can translate it.

You do owe them for the damages but a new motor for a 13 year old one, come on man.

 

[Silly Seville]

Re: transom and motor ripped off of pontoon

You really REALLY need to contact a lawyer ASAP! This could get wildly out of hand if you do not have legal counsel on how to proceed. I'm serious. If you don't want a court ordered judgment (lien) against your house or cars, you better act now.

 

[Rancherlee]

Re: transom and motor ripped off of pontoon

I'd personally look up the Blue Book value of the engine and the cost of the transom repair and offer them that, if they don't accept then lawyer up! Used engine prices are high in my area and even then a Used 99' 115hp 4 stroke isn't going to fetch more than 5000$, even with LOW hours and pristine condition. A Rental, high hour, abused, salt water 115hp 4 stroke is worth more in parts than it is as a complete engine and wouldn't fetch more than 3000$ on the open market. and as others have stated, at 15mph the engines hydraulic relief valve SHOULD have allowed the engine kicked up only possibly cracking the lower unit, not rip the transom off so the rental outfit probably has some fault also.

 

[pontoon_in_rocks]

Re: transom and motor ripped off of pontoon

I'd personally look up the Blue Book value of the engine and the cost of the transom repair and offer them that, if they don't accept then lawyer up! Used engine prices are high in my area and even then a Used 99' 115hp 4 stroke isn't going to fetch more than 5000$, even with LOW hours and pristine condition. A Rental, high hour, abused, salt water 115hp 4 stroke is worth more in parts than it is as a complete engine and wouldn't fetch more than 3000$ on the open market. and as others have stated, at 15mph the engines hydraulic relief valve SHOULD have allowed the engine kicked up only possibly cracking the lower unit, not rip the transom off so the rental outfit probably has some fault also.

Thank you for the reference to look in blue book. I looked up the NADA value and that puts it at $2,200 (salt water could reduce that 10-15% if not properly maintained as well) and i am sure its a high hour abused rental so that would be even less. They said they have a welder who does cheap work and it would cost $750 to fix the transom.

I have gotten an attorney. So we'll see what happens now.

 

[lncoop]

Re: transom and motor ripped off of pontoon

Thank you for the reference to look in blue book. I looked up the NADA value and that puts it at $2,200 (salt water could reduce that 10-15% if not properly maintained as well) and i am sure its a high hour abused rental so that would be even less. They said they have a welder who does cheap work and it would cost $750 to fix the transom.

I have gotten an attorney. So we'll see what happens now.

Good. Let us know how it goes. We're just all glad you didn't come on here looking for us to absolve you from responsibility. You just want things to be fair. Good luck.

 

[BobGinCO]

Re: transom and motor ripped off of pontoon

A new motor will cost about $11k assuming it is a four stroke. If it is a 1999, I am only guessing that it might be about $7500, but that is just a WAG.

Odd, my 2012 4-stroke Merc 115 only cost $7,500...

 

[Jlawsen]

Re: transom and motor ripped off of pontoon

Thank you for the reference to look in blue book. I looked up the NADA value and that puts it at $2,200 (salt water could reduce that 10-15% if not properly maintained as well) and i am sure its a high hour abused rental so that would be even less. They said they have a welder who does cheap work and it would cost $750 to fix the transom.

I have gotten an atourney. So we'll see what happens now.

Smart move at this point. The atourney will work to keep things in balance. You have to think of rental outfits as investors. They invested their money in the vessel with the intention of receiving a return. That's what business is all about. At the moment, they are unable to receive a return from their investment which is a loss to them. The cause of the loss was you and they have every right to expect to recover their losses on that investment from you.

Your atourney will be able to calculate a fair rate of return and the cost of the repairs to return the asset to a state that will allow that return to continue. This is what you will owe when it all washes out. When it does, no one will be allowed to further argue the final said amount and you can put it behind you and move on.

 

[B-Dozer]

Re: transom and motor ripped off of pontoon

Lawyer up!

 

[a1nowell]

Re: transom and motor ripped off of pontoon

Check to see if you might be covered by your homeowners insurance liability coverage. If so turn it over to their adjuster.

 

[lakegeorge]

Re: transom and motor ripped off of pontoon

So i am not a boater. I have been a passenger many times, driven a couple. We rented a pontoon this past weekend and on the way back i went about 5 feet out of the channel so i wouldn't swamp a sailboat and I ran into rocks. The collision managed to pull the transom of the bottom. I was going about 14mph at the time. Does this sound right? The rental company wants me to pay for a whole new motor and transom repair (since the motor laying in the saltwater). I know i am responsible for some damages since it was my fault for hitting the rocks (i should have just slowed down and gone by them but hindsight is 20/20), but i don't know about a whole brand new engine (the existing one was a '99), especially if the transom wasn't properly attached. But like I said in the beginning, I don't know too much about boats, it just feels weird.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thank you

Take the advice of several others and see a Lawyer. If they didn't offer you insurance then it's on them and not you. What kind of company rents out anything and doesn't offer Ins?
I don't think you owe them one dime and I'll bet the Lawyer tells you the same thing.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: transom and motor ripped off of pontoon

If they didn't offer you insurance then it's on them and not you. What kind of company rents out anything and doesn't offer Ins?
I don't think you owe them one dime and I'll bet the Lawyer tells you the same thing.

Seriously - if someone doesn't offer you insurance on something you rent then it is their fault if you wreck it?

And to the OP - sounds like a good course of action, hopefully you can get a reasonable repair/use amount out of the deal and move on.

 

[WaterDR]

Re: transom and motor ripped off of pontoon

Take the advice of several others and see a Lawyer. If they didn't offer you insurance then it's on them and not you. What kind of company rents out anything and doesn't offer Ins?
I don't think you owe them one dime and I'll bet the Lawyer tells you the same thing.

I would be willing to bet that no lawyer would say that.

 

[IslandManMitch]

Re: transom and motor ripped off of pontoon

I would be willing to bet that no lawyer would say that.

Hum, I've seen lawyers say some really stupid things for a dollar.