Grady White Anybody?

[SaltyBlood]

:facepalm: It comes with a big ole headache!!

If you followed my buying thread, http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=530712 , you will know that I went through a lot of boats trying to find the best buy for my budget. I thought I had made a good decision and received a lot of positive feedback, but unfortunately, she has some hidden issues.

I originally took it in to get some f-glass work done (Thanks hurricane Irene!) and asked the mechanic to take a look at the steering cable, etc. to see if the loose steering could be fixed and when he went to raise/lower the motor the tilt stopped working. (Now, it did this to me before taking it in, just the once. It ran for a second before "catching" and raising the motor) After further inspection, I need a new power and trim assembly. Oh boy!!

So......f-glass work: $ 380 (I had planned for this, so OK)

they were able to find a used rebuilt assembly for 750ish, plus labor, i am looking at 1k easy.....

So if I were to go through with the repair, I would be looking at a $1400 + bill! And I haven't even got it in the water yet!!

AAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!

The main point of this thread is to rant......

The second point is to ask advice.......

Do I cut my losses and walk away? (I only paid $2,200 for the dang thing!) Then possibly buy a small aluminum fishing boat with a new motor to get us out fishing this season!

Or do I buck up and take it like a man, pay the bill, and hope nothing else goes wrong??


thanks fellas!!

Salty

 

[sschefer]

Re: Grady White Anybody?

Is this your first 1400.00 expense? Fix it and open a bank account for the boat. Every experienced boat owner has a special account for boat repairs. We always keep a couple of grand in it just in case.

Seriously, 1400.00 isn't bad if that's all you need to get a 2200.00 boat on the water in safe condition.

 

[jdlough]

Re: Grady White Anybody?

Do NOT cut your losses.

You have a great shell of a boat, that needs it's first $1000. You could throw another 3 or 4 thousand at this, and still be out ahead of what the boat is worth.

Whatever great expense you spend now turns that part into a new boat.

 

[kirayotaka]

Re: Grady White Anybody?

id keep her.

 

[JoLin]

Re: Grady White Anybody?

You either pay the money up front in the purchase, or pay it after purchase. Regardless, you pay.

I read part of your linked thread, but it's longer than I want to read through. I'm sure, however, you were forewarned that your budget was pretty low, and that you could expect to uncover issues of the type you describe above. Only you can answer what the best course of action is. I will say, though, that if you have storm damage and inoperative PT&T, you'll have a tough time selling it right now.

Soooo.... make your decision now about what you'll do after it's fixed (keep or sell), complete the immediate repairs and stick with what you decided.

My .02

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Grady White Anybody?

my sister bought an almost new grady, spending more on the up-front to get better reliability. They just spent $800 on a PTT wiring/switch/motor problem. Me, I spent $800 for a lower unit that should not have needed replacing. It's what boats do. Your "problems" are normal.

 

[Philster]

Re: Grady White Anybody?

The common theme that developed was that your budget presented a darn near impossible scenario to go boating without shelling out money for repairs. Once you dive in, you have to make some repairs! The question is: Is this, apparently, the extent of the work needed?

If you gave her a good mechanical inspection that covers everything, you make the repairs. You do NOT make the repairs if you don't know, reasonably anyway, if there are other issues not yet identified.

You need still need cash reserves to boat, even after this initial repair. I hope this works out for you.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Grady White Anybody?

I think the issue is perhaps needing a better understanding of the cost of boats and boating. A lower priced boat is not much cheaper than higher priced boats, because of the needed repairs. Boats continually need repairs.

the amount of money that you are describing does not seem that unusual. If you think that it is too much, then, yes you may want to consider down sizing. The repair needs will still be there, but hopefully, the bills will be smaller.

 

[sschefer]

Re: Grady White Anybody?

Agree with all.. Many of us look at boating as a passion and loose sight of the fact that there's a very good reason why they're classified as luxury items with the exception of commercial use vessels. That pretty much sums it up in my opinion and is the reason why iBoats exist. We have the passion and we want both but a lot of times the cost is not something we consider thoroughly. A lot of us get hit between the eyes with the hard cold facts and some of us take on the challenge of learning how to take some of the cost out of the equation by learning to maintain our own boats. Others just complain and whine and blame others for their own poor planning and decision making. Sorry, that's a little rough but as far as I concerned, it's the truth.

 

[JB]

Re: Grady White Anybody?

You don't tell us anything about your boat except what is wrong with it and what you paid. If we want to read 221 posts we might get some idea.

Grady White has a well-earned rep as a first class boat. Your experience proves that even a GW can be neglected and abused into a junk barge. She deserved much better.

If you invest in curing the effects of her previous experience you can have the first class boat she was when new; or you can abandon her in favor of a tinny. Your choice.

 

[sschefer]

Re: Grady White Anybody?

Perfect JB except I don't know if I can handle another 221 post about someone buying a 14' tinny. LOL..

 

[SaltyBlood]

Re: Grady White Anybody?

Alright fellas, I thank you all for your responses. I got what I was looking for......

I understand these expenses come up and I think I was just having a moment of frustration or doubt, whatever you call it, I am new to this and still learning. I received some excellent advice when purchasing this vessel and I think I did make the best decision possible. I did not intend to make my o/p to come off as blame, that was not the my intent.

The Grady is in great shape, inside and out. Teak could use some love and maybe wouldn't hurt to rewire the boat and bring it more up to date. But overall, a very solid vessel.

My goal was to find a diamond in the rough, so to speak. There are so many junk boats out there at dirt cheap prices, I was looking to find a good platform to start our power boating hobby. With that being said, I think I did well.

Sure, I was frustrated after receiving that call from the marina. Maybe I was too anxious to get into the water, I don't know. But after much thought and discussion with the family, it looks like we are going to go on with the repairs and keep our chins up and eyes on the horizon. We know there will be broken parts, bills, bills, and bills. But this is something that we all love to do and we want to continue with boat ownership.

And no, I really didn't expect anybody to read that other post all the way through. It was huge!

Thanks again for your feedback fellas!

 

[shrew]

Re: Grady White Anybody?

Don't look at how much you paid in relation to how much the repairs are. Boating is expensive and stuff needs to repaired and replaced. UInfortunately, while not always the case the less you spend on the boat (more accurately the better the 'deal' on the boat) the more repairs are likely to come. Will this be the last? I doubt it, though none of us has a crystal ball. In all honesty, what your describing is really NOT that expensive. Not by a long shot. Unfortunately boating is not for the faint of wallet.

I'll drop a grand each spring before the boat even hits the water.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Grady White Anybody?

You're still solidly in "diamond in the rough" territory. These are normal expenses when you don't DIY. Fiberglass work is always hella-expensive no matter what's being worked on. Some time spent calling around to various outboard salvage yards probably could have saved you a bunch of money on the trim unit. We're a long friggin' way from "cut your losses". Any older well used boat is going to need some repairs before or after a couple trips on the water to get the bugs worked out. I ran a 1973 Johnson for 5 seasons without issues after some initial major $$$ invested in repairs, and I'm now on my third season with my 1981 Evinrude which runs like a top after some major $$$ invested season 1.

 

[oldsub86]

Re: Grady White Anybody?

You might also want to learn a bit more about boats and check some of the stuff yourself if you don't like paying the marina.
My son's boat had issues with the tilt and trim. Relay contacts needed cleaning. Nothing wrong with the rest of it.

Randy