what shoul be the max number of hours on a new boat delivered?

[buckshot25]

Hi,

I'm hoping some of you more experienced boaters can help me with this. I bought a new boat over the winter and took delivery this week. When I took possession it had 11 hours on the motor already. It's a 2012 so the explanation was that it had a number of test drives. 11 hours seems excessive to me. Can anyone tell me whether there is a point when a new boat becomes a demo or whether this number of hours is normal or not?
The boat is a Chris Craft and was bought from a reputable dealer. On top of the hours there were several issues: the trim only works in neutral, the oil pressure guage is not working correctly and the "herritage trim" teak needs to be touched up. the dealer has promised to take care of these defficincies.

Any thoughts or comments will be greatly appreciated.

best regards

 

[spoilsofwar]

Re: what shoul be the max number of hours on a new boat delivered?

The most important question is, did you know the boat was being demo'ed, or not?

11 hours seems like a lot for a new boat... It also seems like about 20 test drives. If this was not disclosed to you prior to you buying it, that seems pretty shady.

My new boat had something like .2 hours on the hourmeter when I received it, but it came straight from the factory.

 

[buckshot25]

Re: what shoul be the max number of hours on a new boat delivered?

no it was not disclosed. I knew it was in inventory from the previous season but never thought to ask if it had any hours on it because I always thought that test drives on boats only happened when there was a committment to buy (ie deposit on the purchase). I was obviously wrong.

 

[spoilsofwar]

Re: what shoul be the max number of hours on a new boat delivered?

Being a new Chris-Craft, I am betting that is one expensive (and beautiful) boat... A sea trial in one of those is due to be longer then on a bayliner; its a much bigger financial commitment. So, its plausible all 11 hours came from testing and then sea trials... but I would still bet some of it came from dealership "extracurricular activities."

If the other issues you listed are corrected, I would let the hours go. 11 hours is nothing in the grand scheme of things, and you probably should have done your due diligence prior to signing on the line. I wont argue that the dealership should have disclosed the use up front, but since the boat was physically located at the dealership you could have easily inspected it and looked at the hourmeter yourself. Maybe you can wrangle some free service out of the dealership in exchange for dropping the subject.

Also, I have no idea if there is an actual line at which a boat goes from being a new boat to a demo boat.

 

[rallyart]

Re: what shoul be the max number of hours on a new boat delivered?

Mine came with 0. However, if it's a demo the warranty would not start until the day you bought the boat so you might be getting a new boat from that point of view. With 11 hours on it I think it was a demo boat, but that is very few hours for a demo.
I never test drove a boat with a deposit on contract that I had to do.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: what shoul be the max number of hours on a new boat delivered?

Welcome to iBoats . . .

It is something that you need to be aware of, kind of like buying a leftover car from a dealer . . . you need to see how many miles have been logged from test drives, etc.

Would you have not bought the boat knowing beforehand if it had 11 hours?

 

[Lurch77]

Re: what shoul be the max number of hours on a new boat delivered?

11 Hours, failed trim, dinged up trim work, gauges not working right. That's not a new boat. You got a used boat. Pay used price. Besides that you need to watch for things like engine warranty. With the engine on my boat, the computer logs RPM, throttle setting, etc. If the break in period recommendations are not followed the manufacturer can deny warranty. In the event of an engine failure during warranty, they can request the computer be sent to them for verification.

That last part can be fact. The rest of it is just my opinion. If they didn't discount the boat, I would not have bought it.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: what shoul be the max number of hours on a new boat delivered?

11 hours is nothing. "new" means never titled and the warranty starts when the title is issued. And since boats, like cars, have hundreds of part5s, it's not unusual that a couplke things need fixing.
Maybe they took it to an in-water boat show? we have those around here all the time.
I'd rather have one that's been run a little and run by a dealer.
Let it go.

 

[Lurch77]

Re: what shoul be the max number of hours on a new boat delivered?

"New" means never titled, legally. But that isn't what it means to everyone. It's a personal opinion. You'd be fine with it, others would not. The reason most car dealerships discount "demo" models is because people do not consider the car new anymore. Same for display items at stores, like televisions and such. I don't see why a boat shouldn't be the same. He should have got a discount because this boat was not as "new" as it could be. Especially considering it needs repairs. I've never bought a new car, motorcycle, or boat that needed repairs right off the bat.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: what shoul be the max number of hours on a new boat delivered?

Yup, the dealer really should have disclosed the hours on the boat and any relevant information . . . So shame on them.

the question now is more what to do about it, if anything.

my new car had an alignment problem right off the bat. . . Had to be fixed.

A few things wrong with a new boat is somewhat unusual for a Chris-Craft, it does happen. The fact that the boat has 11 hours on the engines clouds the issue regarding the things that are wrong with the boat. Is it a matter of the usage or were they not right from the factory?

 

[Slip Away]

Re: what shoul be the max number of hours on a new boat delivered?

Our "new" leftover 2011 had .04 hours on it at sea trial time. If the boat has never been titled, it's still considered new, despite the demo hours.
Dealer should be able to give you a few $'s off if he wants to sell the boat.

 

[briangcc]

Re: what shoul be the max number of hours on a new boat delivered?

Both my boats had 0 hours on them. Both were purchased (more correctly, ordered) new.

Yes the dealer should have disclosed it but the typical break in period for a new engine is around 10 hours so look at it this way....you no longer have to worry about a break in for the engine. Just make sure the fluids were changed before delivery as that's one of the service items to take care of once you finish break in. That and engine alignment on an I/O...

 

[H20Rat]

Re: what shoul be the max number of hours on a new boat delivered?

Make sure the hour gauge actually runs when the engine is running, and not just with the key set to on. Yep, I've seen more than one manufacturer rig a boat like that before.

 

[buckshot25]

Re: what shoul be the max number of hours on a new boat delivered?

Thank you very much for the replies. This is obviously an excellent forum with great contributors, which is a tremendous asset to someone like myself who knows very little.

I bought the boat here over the winter at the Toronto boat show. After 2 years of looking at boats on the water and reading reviews I had decided what I wanted and had been told that you could get good deals at the show, plus the dealer was located about 4 hours north of the city so I liked the idea of them coming to me. I'm thinking that this is where I went wrong? Or at least that an obvious question should have been how many hours does it have through sea trials etc.

From reading the replies above, it looks like if there was a fault it was my own, at least from a pure legal perspective. Being a believer in darwinism, as a first time boat buyer, I'll write it off as a learning experience I wanted the boat, so I was going to buy the boat regardless. If I could do it again, I would have bargained harder on the price. So it cost me a few bucks but life goes on and now it's time to start enjoying the boat.

Thanks again for all your help!

 

[agallant80]

Re: what shoul be the max number of hours on a new boat delivered?

I would think on a under 100K boat it is allot. Over 100K I would not think so. I know Marine Max in Wrightsville Beach, NC does cruises, they will take a new boat down to Wilmington, sometimes with a potential buyer on it. Its a 2 hour cruise each way pluse what ever run time there is docking or showing the customer how the boat works. The last time I saw this is was a new Searay 42 sundancer.

 

[crabby captain john]

Re: what shoul be the max number of hours on a new boat delivered?

The boats I bought factory rigged came with 0 - .2 hours. Those dealer rigged had 0 - .7......

 

[emilsr]

Re: what shoul be the max number of hours on a new boat delivered?

Make sure the hour gauge actually runs when the engine is running, and not just with the key set to on. Yep, I've seen more than one manufacturer rig a boat like that before.

Good point. A scan of the engine will show how many hours it's actually been run.

Our last "new" boat had 3 hours on the meter, but only .2 hours of run time.

If it was me I wouldn't be too concerned about the 11 hours IF I knew about it ahead of time. It's a shame they didn't make sure you understood that prior to purchase.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: what shoul be the max number of hours on a new boat delivered?

good point that it's already broken in for you, and by the dealer at that.

Maybe I'm used to 100 hours a year instead of 15. So to me it's like 50 miles on a new car; to others I guess it's like 1000.

I was involved in a situation once where someone wanted a certain truck, new, and right away; the dealer found one in an adjoining state and had it driven down, so the odometer said 450 miles. The buyer tried to walk (as always, it wasn't really because of the miles). It was a new truck with 450 miles; it was not a used truck. Although the dealer was legally right to enforce the contract, that's not good business and car dealers don't do so well in court anyway.

My hour meter is tied to the key, not the motor (outboard) so that's a good point to check. It's also easy for someone to leave a key on and rack up the hours.

Anyway, enjoy the boat and fagetaboutit.

 

[jkust]

Re: what shoul be the max number of hours on a new boat delivered?

A couple years back I had some warranty work done on my tow vehicle. They couldn't figure out the problem and so had the vehicle for about 3 months. In that time I had driven ever gm car and truck they made. Most has a couple hundred miles on the odometers and the point to my story was that they wanted me to return then before 2000 mile or they couldn't sell it as a new car any longer.

 

[Chris N]

Re: what shoul be the max number of hours on a new boat delivered?

Sounds like a few test drives and maybe the dealer GM used it for a weekend of binge boating last season. ANYTHING broken on a new purchase kind of takes the gloss off the deal, but I'm assuming you've already signed off and paid for it. You might want to get the dealership's service department to download the contents of the engine ecm just to confirm there's been no abusive use. They should have the software to do this if they're an authorized factory warranty facility. As far as damages go, keep on their butts until everything is fixed. I've seen some of the dealers around here try to put off warranty repair issues for two years!!! Give them the benefit of the doubt and see what happens. If the service writers can't resolve an issue in a timely manner then go to the service manager. If he can't resolve the issue, go to the owner of the dealership. If you still have no luck you have to go to the manufacturer to report your problems. Good luck.