Aluminum boat damaged in car accident - worth fixing?

[andrea819]

We recently purchased a used Princecraft 162 pro for $5000. Last weekend, my boyfriend got into a car accident on his way home from a fishing trip, and the boat sustained some damage. Unfortunately, we had not insured the boat...we weren't sure if it was worth it for the price of the boat...well apparently it would have been!

Anyways, here are some photos. The damage is on one side of the hull and most on the upper half. There a larger dent near the front, which I find the most worrying. There is also a scratch near the middle, and the entire rim of that side is wavy. Is this boat worth saving? The trailer is damaged but saveable - probably $500 of work to be done on it. The motor, a 50 HP evinrude, is in pretty good shape, just a few wires that would need to be changed. Is it worth putting money into this hull, or would it be wiser to just find a new boat?

http://s1373.photobucket.com/user/andrea8190/library/​

 

[java230]

Hard to tell from the pics, but it looks like it got whacked pretty good on the front. You own it, I would try to fix it if it were mine. Id put a porta power in there and see if I could get that rail straightened out some, and check very very carefully for small cracks.

 

[Expidia]

Fix the boat . . . upgrade the Boyfriend :lol: from those pictures that trailer is not the correct one for the boat (unless it is just sitting off kilter) With an oversized trailer it was an accident waiting to happen anyway.

Better he did this on the highway than on the water with "you" in the boat!

 

[jigngrub]

The first thing I'd do is start taking the boat interior apart to see what's damaged on the inside. Aluminum boats like that one disassemble easily with a screw gun and you can have it completely taken apart in about 4 hrs.

I've taken my Tracker apart twice and put it back together:




After the boat is taken apart you should be able to see any internal damage and see what it's going to take to fix it, and working on these aluminum boats is pretty easy even if you're just moderately mechanically inclined.

I'm saying that boat is probably fixable and worth the effort and money to repair it if you want to save it.

 

[Brian 26]

If it were me (read that as - almost no free time and a short boating season) I would bend that front right part back with a 2" ratchet strap, check for leaks and keep using the boat. Given it's age and market value if in good shape I do not think it's worth fixing back to original condition.