Mariah Shabah major advice needed (sad story)

Cappy · 08-11-2019, 06:00 PM

I think this is my first post here and not a happy one.

I made a huge mistake.

My wife was really wanting a boat. I had a boat on Lake St. Clair for years but grew tired of the sun fun and massive drinking and me being the only one that would drive it while my buddies would supply the libations. I really was not too excited about getting another boat where I would be in charge of trailering it, putting it in the water and driving and docking. I love being on the water, just grew very tired of the constant expense and hassle of owning a boat. So we have been boat free the last 5 year.

Anyway, she finally broke me down when she found a supper clean looking 1994 21 foot Shabah with a trailer. The owner said he hardly used it. We did a test drive but no boat survey. I figured we could pop it in a bunch of Michigan lakes and have some summer fun. It drove very well on the water so we paid $7000 for it and took it home.

The trailer was in great condition but the tires were rotted and we had a blow out 20 miles from the seller and 5 miles from home. Major mess as the spare was also rotted and immediately blew out when we put it on and let the jack down.

So we towed in on the blown spare wheel very slowly down the highway to a Friends yard that was about 1.5 miles away. We got 3 new tires and then got it home a few days later. I insisted we take it to a marina and have the trailer safety checked and the boat checked over as I did not want to take it out and be stranded because of some minor fixable problem.

Turns out, the trailer was fine but water was in the oil, they checked the seals, they were fine but they are now saying the engine block is cracked and it needs a whole new engine, exhaust and whatever else to get it up and running. All for the price of $5800.

So now we are wondering what to do. Sell the boat off for parts and recover some money, or put a new engine in it and have a like new boat - or something else? It seems the boat has good bones so a new engine it would be like new.

We have the money to get the engine but don't want to chase good money after bad if the advice I get here is "don't do it!".

The seller won't answer phone or texts. My wife says she wants to drive it back and park it in front of his house and be done with it. I am leaning toward a new engine next season so at least we get a boat out of it. It seems there are no great answers.

Should we throw money at this boat so we have a boat next year? We would get the new engine next year because this summer is comping to a close. The marina repair guys say we don't need to winterize it because the engine needs to go. So next early April we would take it into a major marina for repairs if we go this route.

I am open to any and all suggestions.

***mikeyt*** · 08-11-2019, 11:20 PM

You will probably never get your money back if you put another $6k into a new engine and.... while you are replacing the engine you may as well do the gimbal bearing etc for the outdrive and replace the trim/tilt gauge wiring if your gauge isn't working (like most others). Check the steering cables and shift cables too while you are at it. At least if you do spend the $$ it should be reliable for a few years.

Cappy · 08-12-2019, 12:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeyt

You will probably never get your money back if you put another $6k into a new engine and.... while you are replacing the engine you may as well do the gimbal bearing etc for the outdrive and replace the trim/tilt gauge wiring if your gauge isn't working (like most others). Check the steering cables and shift cables too while you are at it. At least if you do spend the $$ it should be reliable for a few years.

At this point, not looking to get money back after repair, but maybe replacing engine and the items you suggest will at least not let the original $7000 go to complete waste.

Another thought is selling the boat to someone that would do the repairs. Say $3000 +$6000 so for $9k total they would have a like new boat.

TN_Diablo · 08-19-2019, 06:01 PM

All this is very disappointing. But it also sounds like maybe the dealer is just taking the easy and expensive (for you) path forward. I am always a little suspicious of a repair facility who's response is replace the most expensive thing in it. A little more investigation might be worth it but in my case I would do that on my own for free and maybe you are not inclined. I'd start with a compression test then some dis-assembly.

Can you elaborate on how they determined the engine needs to come out? Water in the oil sounds bad, but did they change the oil? Maybe it's a lost cause or maybe it just needs a head gasket or manifolds. Another dealer might suggest a different approach.

Back to the previous owner... maybe they know they let it freeze and crack the block or head(s). Maybe the sterndrive has been similarly abused and not cared for? I imagine these are some of the usual reasons boats loose value so fast because there can be so many unknowns. Boats are never going to give you any return other than fun on the water.

You have to judge the cost. A rebuilt or used motor may be an option and that or new could mean you have one thing NOT to concern yourself with for a long time. But I'd want to be sure the drive checks out with oil in good condition and pump replaced also before dropping in new motor. And I want to verify that most everything else works and I'm at least happy with the level of additional repairs.

Buyer beware applies and you have no obligation to give it away if you choose to sell it. The next guy might be happy to get a bargain and be willing to dive into an engine repair or even upgrade. I used to live in Michigan and imagine still lots of folks who can't wait to put a bigger V8 in anything and everything.

Cappy · 08-19-2019, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TN_Diablo

All this is very disappointing. But it also sounds like maybe the dealer is just taking the easy and expensive (for you) path forward. I am always a little suspicious of a repair facility who's response is replace the most expensive thing in it. A little more investigation might be worth it but in my case I would do that on my own for free and maybe you are not inclined. I'd start with a compression test then some dis-assembly.

Can you elaborate on how they determined the engine needs to come out? Water in the oil sounds bad, but did they change the oil? Maybe it's a lost cause or maybe it just needs a head gasket or manifolds. Another dealer might suggest a different approach.

We will store it for the winter and take it into another marina for a second opinion next spring. The pulled the engine up and checked the gaskets and apparently ok. They say a cracked engine block but not sure if they saw the crack.

A mess. We may put a new engine or sell it for parts I guess. Depends on financial situation net year. I just don't want to put more money after bad. Was so happy boat free because it is always something with a boat, especially and old boat.

TN_Diablo · 08-20-2019, 07:57 PM

To be honest the only 'old' things I trust are 'my' old things. I'm usually wary of others used stuff but I've acquired many good used things as well.
What I trust the most is my wife of 30+ years but she was not used and I wouldn't dare to be calling her old

In this case it might be best to do what makes her most happy. It might be getting this fixed over the winter so you can enjoy next summer. But you might check around and see if another marina or facility will give you a much better price to replace the long block and manifolds if that makes sense. I suggest that because it sounds like on a test drive it ran well? A thorough job on the motor with a flush of all fluids in the drive and hydraulics could mean a trouble free boat for a few years to come. Just don't let her see the bill

JonTerry5 · 05-04-2020, 01:15 PM

Hey guys new member in the group. Sadly, I am having a near similar experience as mentioned above but my initial investment was far less. I purchased a 1993 Shabah (still trying to figure out the actual model) last Monday. I was told and felt it was a "light" project boat. Light as in: carb, fuel pump, filter, etc. After working on it for the week I was getting no where and figured I would take it to a boat mechanic. Dropped it off yesterday. Purchased a new starter and solenoid for him to install (as my weeks worth of work burnt the starter). Got a call last night with this diagnosis: either a blown head gasket or a crack in the block most likely from not winterizing the boat. Can anyone give me a true answer on how to tell the difference to know what direction to go. He told me he can get into the top end and see if the head gasket is blown but then I am in a full day/ two days with his labor or he could have just about that same labor with someone helping pulling the motor and installing new. He is saying there is water in cylinders 7 and 8 and that is usually the sign of a cracked block but its usually in the front cylinders if its blown head. I told him to get some pricing together on throwing a crate into it (rebuilt/ new) so I have a budget to work off of but not sure what direction is the smartest money spent. Any help would be appreciated.

Cappy · 05-04-2020, 02:29 PM

We ended up taking the boat to Wonder Marina in December. They checked and said engine block was not cracked like the first marina said but the engine did need a complete rebuild. They had it over the winter did the rebuild and we have it back. Before we start using it we will take it back to them for a water test as the could only test with a hose.

Total cost of rebuild was about $4800.

Anyway, hopefully it works like new, with the lockdown, we are looking forward to some family fun on the lakes.

So our $7000 used boat ended up costing about $12k.

I wonder what would we would have gotten if we bought a $12K used boat instead of $7k. I guess any used boat unless one gets extremely lucking is going to cost few thousand extra to get it in tip top shape.