Boat pick up gone wrong...

SavinRaven

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Sep 16, 2021
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So I had purchased a boat during the off-season from a marina when it was shrink wrapped with the understanding if it wasnt sea worthy i wouldnt be purchasing it and theyd give my money back (all contractual) . I explained i wanted something with good transom and engine no soft spots and id be looking at all this and more... (basically giving me free reign to cancel the transaction if I didn't like it) from pics it looked good if no great.. to good to be true... When i went today to test drive it and see it and all its glory while it was out of wrap and out of winterization it was in rougher shape then originally led to believe from pics. I did see it wrapped but the interior was rough more tears and such that i couldnt see then. (Okay no big deal) I can handle that part we do some upholstery work on the past and for what I was paying to it's still a good deal... about 5k under what it should be being sold for. Profesional interior on this boat would be about 3500.

I felt back and transom where the hole is for the gimbal housing and its wet??? Not soggy not soft... but just a bit wet... kind of let down because i had brought my moisture tester. Couldnt even use it since they soaked it in there testing of the boat they explain..

Rewind a bit: they called me Monday said they put it in the water and it had a leak in the bellows. So they replaced the bellows. Now it's water tight... so they say..

The transom still seemed to be good not soft but a little wet from when they put it in to test it the day before.. i did the knock test since moisture meter was a no go i didnt find anything. Decking seemed good just needed a good cleaning.

Going on: I ask the kid putting the boat in not to start it till I get down there because I wanted to start it. When we got down there he was trying to start it and getting no turn over. We walk up and I say. I wanted to start it? He said well it's not going to start. I ask about the choke and bla bla bla. It's literally a bad carb is what it appeared to be to me and to him. It was flooded but after waiting still wouldnt go... Oh well he killed the batteries trying to start it after 20 minutes... both of them........

In turn they wrote me a check for the total I paid and I left as the contract was stated... (thank god)

They called me back a few hours later telling me they'd replace the carb with a new one and deliver it.

I said no I'd still want to drive it. And they can deliver it but I want a 90 days guarantee on mechanical parts...

They said they'd run it up the chain. I wouldn't be so upset but it was 3 hr drive and we have now been there and back 3 times to go through this once in the truck to pick it up at about 80$ in fuel. Do you think I'm being fair to the marina? Also they had just had it started a few hours before we got there... so now I have a few concerns..


Could it be anything other then the carb?
It's the 2001 mariah diablo 4.3 listed in my signature.
 

Lou C

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Nov 10, 2002
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This sounds like there are a number of ways this can go bad, I know the used boat market is crazy right now but given that the boat is 21 years old, you didn't really have an opportunity to inspect it which is the how people get in trouble with older boats. Leaky bellows = corroded gimble bearing and u joints, and if left like that long enough, could be a driveshaft corroded onto the gimble bearing and a horror show of a job to remove the drive. I would walk. Been there done it once was enough for me. Any boat I buy in the future will be close to new. Just can't be bothered with paying good money for other people's under maintained boats and half azzed repairs.
 

SavinRaven

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Sep 16, 2021
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They informed me they'd give me one year parts no labor warranty once it was fixed. They are doing everything right which is why I almost want to purchase it.. but idk..
 

SavinRaven

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This sounds like there are a number of ways this can go bad, I know the used boat market is crazy right now but given that the boat is 21 years old, you didn't really have an opportunity to inspect it which is the how people get in trouble with older boats. Leaky bellows = corroded gimble bearing and u joints, and if left like that long enough, could be a driveshaft corroded onto the gimble bearing and a horror show of a job to remove the drive. I would walk. Been there done it once was enough for me. Any boat I buy in the future will be close to new. Just can't be bothered with paying good money for other people's under maintained boats and half azzed repairs.
Even after getting the 1 year parts warranty and also they did the bellows. I inspected all passed my inspection.
 

Lou C

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well depending on the nature of the repairs needed, labor can be 2-3 times the cost of the parts...so are they saying, they cover parts and labor, or only parts? any wood rot repairs, the labor time goes into the stratosphere, those things take forever.
 

Lou C

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Even after getting the 1 year parts warranty and also they did the bellows. I inspected all passed my inspection.
but did they check/replace gimble bearing and ujoints, may be OK maybe not all depends on how long water was in there.
 

SavinRaven

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well depending on the nature of the repairs needed, labor can be 2-3 times the cost of the parts...so are they saying, they cover parts and labor, or only parts? any wood rot repairs, the labor time goes into the stratosphere, those things take forever.
I agree I tried to ask for 90 days parts and labor.. they wouldn't bite instead offered one year parts... no wood rot. Hull is on me. At the end of the day if your not familiar it's a mariah they made exceptionally good hulls I did my due diligence as well looking today and no issues other then it was wet but it was explained. Nothing soft.
 

SavinRaven

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Take big steps in rapid succession , out of their yard.-----Many eager buyers taking home junk these days.-------Shop for something better !
Oh God the guy selling Coosa is back. Lol jk thanks for your input.
 

tpenfield

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Move on . . . the boat lost its 'shine' when they took the shrink wrap off and you saw it without the rose colored glasses. It was down hill from there.
 

SavinRaven

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I do not sell Coosa !!-----I just suggest that folks wanting to do a project do the job right !------Many folks don't have time to do the job right the first time.----But they always find time to do it twice !!
You also imply that Coosa and any other product but wood is the only way.. if you have 40 years left in a boat then sure... but who here has 40-60 years left in the boat that they own?
 

SavinRaven

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If you haven't followed my threads but live near northern Ohio I can show you two boats I have redone with wood cores and wood.. they will both last 30+ years I am confident without using the products you suggest that cost 5x the amount as I mentioned in a previous post it's about craftsmanship. You don't have it buy synthetic materials to build a good boat wood is just fine if used properly.
 

racerone

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Dec 28, 2013
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Relative to the amount of time / labor involved the extra pennies for the composite material is not worth talking about.-----Water has a way of destroying wood.----I want the grandson to say.-----" This boat goes 75 miles per hour.----Grandpa fixed it so it will never rot again"
 
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SavinRaven

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Sep 16, 2021
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keep looking, wet transom means the stringers are not too far behind. Mariah was an OK brand. not great, not bottom feeder, just OK
It wasn't soaked it was just wet. And just the very inside. Not entirely sure what to make of the whole thing.
 

T/O

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Mar 6, 2017
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I'm a little bias but I loved my 2001 Mariah Shabah 182 very well made boat I think the Diablo is basically the same boat with a few less bells and whistles. Just to give you a price point I sold mine in July 2021 for $7500.00 and it needed the sundeck and rear bench seat redone. Went to a pontoon. One thing to check is if the mercruiser has the one piece exhaust manifolds, one of mine cracked and let water into the oil when I had it repaired they put in a 2 piece design, I was told the one piece was prone to crackingIMG_20200703_172915(1).jpg
 
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