This may be a bit of a rant but I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that there is something seriously wrong with many boat owners when it comes to maintenance. Cases in point:
Boat 1 - 2002 24' VIP Mercruiser 350 Alpha I drive purchased from the dealer as "certified preowned" with 103 hours no survey. Second week of boat ownership it wouldn't start even with a jump. Problem plugs fouled, distrbutor cap corroded and battery needed replacement. Dealer repaired/replaced all at his cost.
Boat 2 - 1999 28' Mariah Z280 Mercruiser 7.4L Bravo III drive 308 hours purchased preowned from dealer with a hull survey. Survey showed cockpit radio and gas gauge didn't work. Dealer would not repair/replace either item because they spent too much buffing and waxing the boat. When I traded this boat in on the Sea Ray 320, the trade check revealed a worn coupler that I had to replace to get my trade accepted. Mercruiser manual clearly stated that alignment should have be check at least every 100 hours which meant 3 times during the boat's life.
2006 Sea Ray 320 - Twin 6.2L engines V drives with 55 hours brokered with a hull survey and sea trial that showed no obvious mechanical problems but eisenglass needed to be replaced. Dealer had maintenance history on boat and previous owner was "meticulous" about maintenance and money was no problem. I compiled a list maintenance items from each of the manuals that came with the boat and presented it to the Service Manager to compare with what had been done to the boat to date. After checking, he said the generator had never been serviced, it was due for a transmission fluid change and suggested that I might want to change the antifreeze since it had been 4 years. I agreed to all but the antifreeze but also insisted that shaft alignment be checked for both engines and that they change the impeller on the generator. It turned out both plugs were fouled on the generator so it was a miracle that it even started during the sea trial and the port engine was out of alignment.
I can perhaps attribute the problems with the first two boats to the previous owners being cheap but in the case of the Sea Ray this was not the case. What struck me immediately after reading the manuals was that the generator was a very high maintenance piece of equipment yet this guy hadn't touched it in 4 years. Shaft alignment was another one. The labor was $360 which I am sure is a fraction of what it would cost to replace one or both shafts let alone repair potential transmission damage.
I am new to boating but I can read so what's the problem here with the rest of the boating community? Do folks naively buy boats thinking they are like cars that only have to be serviced every couple of years i.e. clueless? Or is it a case that boat owners grossly underestimate what it costs to properly maintain a boat and realize that they can't afford it ergo cheap? If boat ownership years are anything like dog years, I may be approaching my teens with bad boating experiences to date, some unquestionalbly due to my own cluelessness but the rest were not.:huh:
Boat 1 - 2002 24' VIP Mercruiser 350 Alpha I drive purchased from the dealer as "certified preowned" with 103 hours no survey. Second week of boat ownership it wouldn't start even with a jump. Problem plugs fouled, distrbutor cap corroded and battery needed replacement. Dealer repaired/replaced all at his cost.
Boat 2 - 1999 28' Mariah Z280 Mercruiser 7.4L Bravo III drive 308 hours purchased preowned from dealer with a hull survey. Survey showed cockpit radio and gas gauge didn't work. Dealer would not repair/replace either item because they spent too much buffing and waxing the boat. When I traded this boat in on the Sea Ray 320, the trade check revealed a worn coupler that I had to replace to get my trade accepted. Mercruiser manual clearly stated that alignment should have be check at least every 100 hours which meant 3 times during the boat's life.
2006 Sea Ray 320 - Twin 6.2L engines V drives with 55 hours brokered with a hull survey and sea trial that showed no obvious mechanical problems but eisenglass needed to be replaced. Dealer had maintenance history on boat and previous owner was "meticulous" about maintenance and money was no problem. I compiled a list maintenance items from each of the manuals that came with the boat and presented it to the Service Manager to compare with what had been done to the boat to date. After checking, he said the generator had never been serviced, it was due for a transmission fluid change and suggested that I might want to change the antifreeze since it had been 4 years. I agreed to all but the antifreeze but also insisted that shaft alignment be checked for both engines and that they change the impeller on the generator. It turned out both plugs were fouled on the generator so it was a miracle that it even started during the sea trial and the port engine was out of alignment.
I can perhaps attribute the problems with the first two boats to the previous owners being cheap but in the case of the Sea Ray this was not the case. What struck me immediately after reading the manuals was that the generator was a very high maintenance piece of equipment yet this guy hadn't touched it in 4 years. Shaft alignment was another one. The labor was $360 which I am sure is a fraction of what it would cost to replace one or both shafts let alone repair potential transmission damage.
I am new to boating but I can read so what's the problem here with the rest of the boating community? Do folks naively buy boats thinking they are like cars that only have to be serviced every couple of years i.e. clueless? Or is it a case that boat owners grossly underestimate what it costs to properly maintain a boat and realize that they can't afford it ergo cheap? If boat ownership years are anything like dog years, I may be approaching my teens with bad boating experiences to date, some unquestionalbly due to my own cluelessness but the rest were not.:huh:
