Re: You Know The Saying "trailer is worth what you paid for the boat" **I Disagree**
Re: You Know The Saying "trailer is worth what you paid for the boat" **I Disagree**
I think I'd take the $250 and just stay away from that dealer from now on.
Even though it's not a replacement trailer, it still is 25% of what you paid, making that a $750 boat, even though there basically is no trailer with it. Go out and find a good used trailer on Craigslist, even if you have to junk an old boat to get one.
If you keep the old trailer, strip it down for its wheels and brake parts if they are still usable, maybe the folding tongue parts can also be salvaged? Then scrap the frame for what ever you can get. You can use what ever trailer you buy to haul the old frame to the junk yard.
While I don't think there's any doubt the dealer pulled a fast one here, it's still looks like your happy with that boat for the purchase price. Its all the talk of that trailer being roadworthy that's the problem but as a businessman, I really don't see the dealer taking a beating money wise to pony up a better trailer, chances are the one that was under it is already sold.
What I'd guess that happened went something like this: The dealer had that boat on a nice aluminum trailer, you expressed interest in the boat, someone else made an offer on the trailer but had no interest in the I/O powered boat but was willing to pay for the aluminum trailer. He sold the trailer for what it was worth, then had to put that boat onto any trailer he didn't value much so he could dump the boat cheap since it now was an older boat, with an I/O which now didn't have a matching trailer sitting on his lot. He most likely was looking at it as a way to kill two birds with one stone, he got rid of an older boat that needed some work, and got out from under a trailer that he couldn't sell with a good boat. In other words, he made his money by selling the trailer, not the boat.
I doubt he thought that trailer would ever flat out break, but I'm sure he knew it was far from perfect. I would bet he was thinking the same as everyone else here, that the trailer is only 4 years old and 'how rusty could it be'.
Chances are the salesman took some liberties as to how nice that trailer was, and quite frankly, may not be much of a judge of anything mechanically. I've been in and around car dealers my whole life, I can't remember meeting a single used car salesman that wouldn't at least stretch the truth a bit or one that really knew much about cars other than judging by outright appearance. Also, most dealers that I've been around who employ those type of salesmen usually are run by former salesmen.
I would bet that the dealer has a check sheet of sorts to justify a trailer's condition. It's more than likely nothing more than a sales tool. Most likely the dealer never even pulled a wheel on that trailer. I've been at car dealers where they pull one wheel, look at the tread, take a short test drive and if nothing falls off it passes with flying colors. Those in house inspection sheets aren't worth the paper they're written on. I've been the one inspecting a vehicle, listed long lists of what it needs only to be told to just fix the cosmetic stuff and bleed the brakes. I never signed off any unsafe vehicle, but most dealers just fill out one of those forms and sign a name to to anyhow, often it's not even a real employee.
Things like that is why I got away from working at car dealerships.
In many states there is a set amount where as a vehicle purchase is assumed to be AS-IS. Here I believe it's $2,499 and less. While this is certainly open to interpretation legally, it pretty much means you get what you pay for, regardless of any implied warranty.
I would also not have any problems with letting the name of that dealer be known once you get your $250 refund, I feel others should definitely know how they do business. If nothing else, it may affect how they treat the next guy, but I doubt it. They will just be glad you went away.
