Why do people call a broker when they buy a boat again? Oh yea, now I remember!

Well, the boat was used and somebody had to put those hours on it. The wire was proably pulled by the prior owner who wanted the trade-in value. The dealer could have read the computers and reported 75 hours. They instead disclosed the actual hours knowing that it was going to cost them.

Depends on how the extra 120 hours were put on the boat; like slow cruiseing or a lot of WOT.

"if it checked out ok", meaning it did have the hours on it that they claimed.

If not, hell yeah, I would be pissed and would take action!

Even if he got two new motors, what about the drives? Gimbel's? Was it Salt or Fresh? Was it flushed every time, How about stress on the hull? An extra 120 hours of questions. I have seen drives get swapped off inventory boats and used on another boat for a race, then get put back on the inventory boat. How about the owner of a dealership disconnect the Hour meters right in front of me, put four hours on the boat for a commercial shoot, hit another boat (Yes Hit another boat, HARD!) Get Boarded by the Navy Scratching the other side, Re-painting the boat, hooking the hour meters back up and selling it as new. That was just one boat on the lot. The others all had similar stories. Two complete re-paints in one year, Many drive swaps, Most had hour meters pulled, and just about every Sea Trail took the boat to full power within the first .01hours of the engine ever being started. I don't care if its new or used, ALWAYS get a survey! There are dealers out there that do take care of there inventory boats. But some don't. Most people don't have time to check out every dealership. That is why when buying a new boat
1. Always have someone other than the dealers mechanic inspect the boat and pull the codes off the engines
2. Run the Drive, Gimbel, and engine serial numbers through Merc and the Manufacturer to make sure they all match (Yes even if the boat has 0 hours)
3. Survey, Always get a survey (Even on 0 hour boats)
4. Get hours on meters and engines in writing from the dealer, that way if this happens you can give him his high hour boat back.
If you are buying a Pre Owned boat get a Broker (Buyers Brokers will not charge, they get paid buy the seller and that cost is usually factored into the asking price of the boat already)
Your broker should be able to supply you with Surveyors, Mechanics, and all of the proper documentation to assist you in buying a boat. Dealers hate it when you walk in with your broker!!! And get a Broker that specializes in High performance if that is what you are buying. Buying a boat is supposed to be fun, remember?

In reality, engine hours do not mean very much. The number of hours should not be used in itself as a determining factor of the condition of the engines. A boat with 80 hrs and 1 oil change is much worse of than a boat with 200 with the oil changed every 10 hrs and run rather easily. If a boat has to have the ignition on to play the radio will run up the hour meter and the engines are not running. I would have the dealer do a leakdown test and go from there.

I took my boat in for service to Maveric Marine this particular time, when I went to pick it up the guy informed me that my hour meter was a couple of hours ahead of the motors and said I must have left the key on at some point. He got the info from the computer and said I should know for future reference...

I see 3 options:

a) return the boat for a full refund
b) have dealer throw in a full powertrain warranty for 2 additional years (60 hrs/year sounds about right).
c) new motors and drives

Boats have no disclosure regulations regarding true hours or miles, etc. For this reason it is not REQUIRED of the dealer to disclose. The Merc computers keep track of the hours, though, and it would serve them no purpose to attempt a coverup at this point cause it is so easy to get somebody else to plug in and get the hours..

Did the dealer know the true hours? I dunno. He's a dealer and has access to a Merc scan tool, so I'm guessing he did (regardless of whether it was a trade or not).

A lawsuit will go NOWHERE on this boat. The buyer had full opportunity to get the boat surveyed and the computers scanned himself before he purchased. I'd think the dealer would be more open to a discussion regarding warranty or refund than the other options...

I agree that a 200 hour boat is very different than a 80 hour boat. But who had the book that can tell us what the price difference really is? That's where the arguments will start flying...

My Formula had the hour meter dicsonnected when I bought it in 1991. Difference is, that I saw it, knew it, and paid a discounted demo price for the boat instead of a 4-hour price (boat had appx 25 hrs on it).


Good luck.

see what kind of compensation they offer your buddy then ask for ALOT more.

its a buyers market right now.
they probably dont want the boat back.
if nothing else , they should give your buddy the amount of commision if it was a brokered boat.

if they play hardball a call from a lawyer might get them motivated.

best of luck.

Thats a tuff one...I would give it back, but Im sure by now he's attached to it.