rrstl3
Cadet
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2015
- Messages
- 25
I wanted to offer a cautionary tale about my recent experience buying from a seller on eBay. I won't use the dealers name, because my purpose here isn't retribution. I want to offer a few of the hard learned (and expensive) lessons I've learned in the past couple of months.
As a prelude, I often boated as a kid. Many members of my extended family had bass boats and runabouts. During the summer I have fond memories of my time on the water. In the back of my mind, I've always wanted to share the experience with my kids.
Fast forward many years. My family and I recently moved to the Lake Tahoe, Nevada area, so I decided it was time to pull the trigger and buy a boat. Being a man of modest means, I decided a used boat was the route I would choose. My family and I discussed the type, size and general capabilities we wanted from our new (to us) craft. We decided on a cuddy cabin, 22'-26' with a small block Chevy for ease of repair and ability to find parts. We began searching eBay, finally deciding to bid on a 2004 Chaparral 215 SSi. She looked great in the pictures. I called the dealer, who said he had taken the boat out the previous weekend, she ran great and was ready to provide all the summer fun we could handle. We bought her.
The next weekend, I drove from Lake Tahoe to Los Angeles to pick her up. My first warning SHOULD have been the omission of scratches on the hull from pictures posted in the listing, but nothing earth shattering. The cabin wasn't really as represented either, but not bad. The dealer started her up, and it started quickly and idled smoothly while on the hose. Nothing was quite as good as it appeared in the listing, but I was excited and the kids couldn't wait. The dealer said he had just inflated the tires, greased the spindles and we should be ready to roll. We were off. It's about 550 miles back to Tahoe.
Since then, here are the lessons I've learned when I purchase my NEXT boat:
Lesson 1. Take tools with you when you purchase a boat. Check the trailer - YOURSELF - before heading out. After driving the 550 miles, imagine my surprise when I turned into my driveway and one of the wheels fell off. I breathed a sigh of relief when I considered the wheel COULD have fallen off in LA traffic, damaging other cars or injuring someone. As it was, I only had to block my street for 2 hours while I went to get replacement parts and do the repairs.
Cost of lesson: 1 tire, 1 wheel, 1 hub, 5 wheel studs and nuts. $260
Lesson 2. INSIST on taking the boat on the water for a trial. If the sellers refuses, find another. My dealer assured me the boat ran great, and my list of woes continues to grow.
Cost of lesson 2: Accumulating.
Lesson 3. Once you get your new boat home, go over everything... again. Once I arrived home, the kids were excited, the wife was excited and I succumbed to the pressure and took her to Pyramid Lake, Nevada for a short trial. We were away from the dock about 7 miles when the boast died. Literally dead in the water. I raised the engine cover to find a broken alternator belt. Had I checked the belts, I would have surely noticed it was in need of replacement. As a side note, with a dead battery the trim motor doesn't work, something I realized after dragging the skeg 10-12 feet.
Cost of Lesson 3: $150 to the nice guy who towed us in. He tried to refuse, but I insisted. Skeg un-repaired, but not damaged badly.
Lesson 4. If you lack knowledge about boats, or if you're buying a boat away from home, pay someone who IS knowledgeable to go over it for seaworthy-ness. I took her home, replaced the belt, looked over everything and headed out again the next day. 10 minutes into the trip, we were greeted by an ear-splitting buzzer. None of us had any idea what the issue was, so we slowed down until we discovered the temperature gauge was indicating she was over-heating. We limped her back to the ramp, and my wife held her in waist deep water, like a dog on a leash, until I could get her back on the trailer. This is when I became acquainted with the i-boats forum, which has been very helpful and informative in trying to identify the issue and repair her.
Cost of Lesson 4: New impeller, circulation pump, exhaust manifolds, heat risers, thermostat, thermostat housing and a ton of hoses. $1950
Lesson 5. If you're having trouble repairing your boat, swallow your pride and take it to a professional for repair. As an engineer, I often over-estimate my mechanical ability. After having replaced all of the items in lesson 4, I figured my problem had to be a temperature sending unit. After all, everything else is new, right? We were on the lake again, and my 11 year old son begged to drive. It had been doing well, so I handed over the helm. I assumed if she started to over-heat, the soul stealingly loud buzzer would alert anyone within a four mile radius we had a problem. No such luck. As we were motoring across the lake, the head gasket blew, water entered the cylinder, the piston hit the water and ... BAM!! The rod went through the block.
Cost of Lesson 5: ANOTHER tow to the boat ramp, plus a replacement Chevy 350, likely from Marine Engines 4 Less. $5650+labor (lesson 5 learned.)
I hope this long winded explanation may help another neophyte boater avoid some of the troubles I've had. The strange part about the experience has been... We're hooked! We've loved the short bursts of fun we've had on the boat. Our time on the water - away from iphones, ipads, computers, video games and so forth - has been amazing. In the times in which we live, it's rare I get the chance to sit peacefully with my kids (11, 15, 21) and listen to them talk and see them enjoying the sun and surf. We will be back.
As a prelude, I often boated as a kid. Many members of my extended family had bass boats and runabouts. During the summer I have fond memories of my time on the water. In the back of my mind, I've always wanted to share the experience with my kids.
Fast forward many years. My family and I recently moved to the Lake Tahoe, Nevada area, so I decided it was time to pull the trigger and buy a boat. Being a man of modest means, I decided a used boat was the route I would choose. My family and I discussed the type, size and general capabilities we wanted from our new (to us) craft. We decided on a cuddy cabin, 22'-26' with a small block Chevy for ease of repair and ability to find parts. We began searching eBay, finally deciding to bid on a 2004 Chaparral 215 SSi. She looked great in the pictures. I called the dealer, who said he had taken the boat out the previous weekend, she ran great and was ready to provide all the summer fun we could handle. We bought her.
The next weekend, I drove from Lake Tahoe to Los Angeles to pick her up. My first warning SHOULD have been the omission of scratches on the hull from pictures posted in the listing, but nothing earth shattering. The cabin wasn't really as represented either, but not bad. The dealer started her up, and it started quickly and idled smoothly while on the hose. Nothing was quite as good as it appeared in the listing, but I was excited and the kids couldn't wait. The dealer said he had just inflated the tires, greased the spindles and we should be ready to roll. We were off. It's about 550 miles back to Tahoe.
Since then, here are the lessons I've learned when I purchase my NEXT boat:
Lesson 1. Take tools with you when you purchase a boat. Check the trailer - YOURSELF - before heading out. After driving the 550 miles, imagine my surprise when I turned into my driveway and one of the wheels fell off. I breathed a sigh of relief when I considered the wheel COULD have fallen off in LA traffic, damaging other cars or injuring someone. As it was, I only had to block my street for 2 hours while I went to get replacement parts and do the repairs.
Cost of lesson: 1 tire, 1 wheel, 1 hub, 5 wheel studs and nuts. $260
Lesson 2. INSIST on taking the boat on the water for a trial. If the sellers refuses, find another. My dealer assured me the boat ran great, and my list of woes continues to grow.
Cost of lesson 2: Accumulating.
Lesson 3. Once you get your new boat home, go over everything... again. Once I arrived home, the kids were excited, the wife was excited and I succumbed to the pressure and took her to Pyramid Lake, Nevada for a short trial. We were away from the dock about 7 miles when the boast died. Literally dead in the water. I raised the engine cover to find a broken alternator belt. Had I checked the belts, I would have surely noticed it was in need of replacement. As a side note, with a dead battery the trim motor doesn't work, something I realized after dragging the skeg 10-12 feet.
Cost of Lesson 3: $150 to the nice guy who towed us in. He tried to refuse, but I insisted. Skeg un-repaired, but not damaged badly.
Lesson 4. If you lack knowledge about boats, or if you're buying a boat away from home, pay someone who IS knowledgeable to go over it for seaworthy-ness. I took her home, replaced the belt, looked over everything and headed out again the next day. 10 minutes into the trip, we were greeted by an ear-splitting buzzer. None of us had any idea what the issue was, so we slowed down until we discovered the temperature gauge was indicating she was over-heating. We limped her back to the ramp, and my wife held her in waist deep water, like a dog on a leash, until I could get her back on the trailer. This is when I became acquainted with the i-boats forum, which has been very helpful and informative in trying to identify the issue and repair her.
Cost of Lesson 4: New impeller, circulation pump, exhaust manifolds, heat risers, thermostat, thermostat housing and a ton of hoses. $1950
Lesson 5. If you're having trouble repairing your boat, swallow your pride and take it to a professional for repair. As an engineer, I often over-estimate my mechanical ability. After having replaced all of the items in lesson 4, I figured my problem had to be a temperature sending unit. After all, everything else is new, right? We were on the lake again, and my 11 year old son begged to drive. It had been doing well, so I handed over the helm. I assumed if she started to over-heat, the soul stealingly loud buzzer would alert anyone within a four mile radius we had a problem. No such luck. As we were motoring across the lake, the head gasket blew, water entered the cylinder, the piston hit the water and ... BAM!! The rod went through the block.
Cost of Lesson 5: ANOTHER tow to the boat ramp, plus a replacement Chevy 350, likely from Marine Engines 4 Less. $5650+labor (lesson 5 learned.)
I hope this long winded explanation may help another neophyte boater avoid some of the troubles I've had. The strange part about the experience has been... We're hooked! We've loved the short bursts of fun we've had on the boat. Our time on the water - away from iphones, ipads, computers, video games and so forth - has been amazing. In the times in which we live, it's rare I get the chance to sit peacefully with my kids (11, 15, 21) and listen to them talk and see them enjoying the sun and surf. We will be back.
