Feel bad

N

nipper

God
Well, I sold my 1986 Formula F-2 Sunsport cuddy a few weeks ago to a nice guy. I thoroughly explained to him that the boat had not been used for 4 years, but that I drained out all the old gas, changed the oil in the motor and the lower unit, she fired up and ran well on the hose, but that he should take it to a mechanic for a thorough inspection. I said this particularly because the temperature gauge was not working but engine was not getting hot on the hose/flush muffs.

I got a text message yesterday saying "just to let you know the engine failed on our second trip out." I clearly sold it as is, with full disclosure, but I still feel bad for the guy. I am betting he did NOT have it inspected by a mechanic.
 
Don't feel bad, in the boat game everyone knows the rules......if they don't they will soon enough. I would never have called the previous owner back to let them know bad news unless it was "hey my mechanic found where you tried to hide a cracked block with paint", or whatever.

Heck, even when you buy something new it can always break down.
 
You did nothing wrong and should dismiss it.

too bad for him.

Stuff happens, you never know. That's why it's not a good idea to sell to family\friends.

(even though I bought my V20 off my brother-in-law and then sold my sailboat to my son in law)...

rkc
 
Im with them Nipper, you did the right thing and "sold it as a running but had set up and needed looking at boat".


if he had had it looked at something should have come up.
 
He was loving you after that first trip........

Who knows? He may have done something wrong or he may not have. Boats and motors definitely subscribe to Murphy's law. Ask anybody who had their brand new etec blow up over a computer issue. I think that happened lumberslinger?

I always get a chuckle when somebody says, "I want a brand new boat so I will not have to worry about liability with the motor, hull etc." Sad truth is people have all kinds of problems with brand new boats/motors - they just pay more for the problems. My buddy's brand new 22' CC nearly sank not long after he had it, had more water in the fuel tank than gas and had the wrong prop and would barely plane off with 2 people in it.

Bottom line - that dude bought the boat from you. You did not hold a gun to his head and was up front with him. I would feel bad too if I were you but that is the way the ball bounces.
 
You told him to have a tec check it out...HE chose not to...I agree...pretty cheesy of him to send you a text...I know you would rather it not have happened this way, but this was not your fault...
 
send him a text back asking what mechanic checked it out for him? Odds are, he probably ran the pump dry and burned up the impeller, ran it anyway and toasted the motor. Contrary to the adds in the magazines, not everyone has what it takes to own a boat
 
well its happen to me im a mechanic i inpected a boat for my dad few years ago. Done all the checks comp water pressure all was good
Secound time we took her out with 5 people onboard a con rod let go
all secound hand engines r ticking time bombs same with cars. This why im rebuilding my 3.7 so i no what ive got
what happen to your buyer we call it here STIFF sh-t
 
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Long story short. Sold my Mako to a guy in Georgia, when he hooked up to her the trailer was way low at the tongue. I told him thats how it was when I towed her from Tallahassee and I had a flat within a half hour...I corrected the problem and made it 14 more hours with no issues.

Well he didnt take my advice and the trailer crapped on him somewhere along the way and it cost him just shy of $1000 to get home( I dont know what all failed...bearings and tires were just couple years old)

I felt really bad, but then again I warned him.....

No telling what this guy did, or didnt do....dont loose sleep over it, you didnt knowingly sell the boat with a time-bomb engine, you ran it on the hose for him and even recommended him to take it to a mechanic...

If I were him I dont think I would have even told you unless I was trying to get some info on the engine
 
Caveat emptor...or something like that.

He didn't say how the engine failed. He could have tried to start it in gear, left the lanyard disconnected, run out of gas, run the batteries down, who knows. I'll bet 10 cents he didn't have a mechanic check anything over. around here it takes weeks for a decent mechanic to get to your boat they are so swamped with business. He probably was itching to get out on the water.
I sold a project boat to a guy that I told needed a transom. I even showed him how it would flex by rocking on the engine. He came back *****ing that his buddy said the back of the boat was weak and needed to be fixed before hanging his motor on it. I said yeah man that's what needing a transom means. His reply was that he didn't think it was that big of a deal.

Most people shouldn't own boats.
 
I'm with the other guys, you told him he needed it to be checked out and ran it for him. Thats all you can do! It was probably something he did in the first place. Don' feel bad, most sellers wouldn't have told him anything. When I bought my V, I paid $1000.00 for it and the owner said it sat up for two years, found out it sat for five years and the transom was all rotted out. After I rebuilt it all, motor, gimble, outdrive, transom and stringers, I posted pics in the gallery and called him so he could see the work I had done. He called back and was glad it had turned out so nice. We're both happy!
 
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