Dear Dr. Honda, Lou, et al. My husband and I bought a working 1998 Sportster 1800 in February and spent the spring getting it spiffed up. Dr. Honda's vinyl registrations numbers look super! But when it came time to get it out on the lake, it wouldn't start. We took it to a Seadoo dealer, who said the carb needle was stuck -- and also advised us that we needed a new throttle cable on the right engine pronto because the throttle was sticking open. We took the repaired boat out and had a blast. It was exactly the experience we hoped for when we bought it. We love the boat! The next weekend, we went out again, and everything started fine -- then the throttle on the left engine seemed to stick open and then it just died and wouldn't start again at all. In total, we had about 3 great hours on the water after the throttle repair.
We limped back to the launch on the right engine, loaded up the boat and took it back to the same Seadoo-certified mechanic. That was on Memorial Day. The next day, we got the news: It needed a new engine, which would cost $1,200 plus $800 for labor. And it would take 3-4 weeks to repair. What choice did we have?
Yesterday -- at least 10 days after authorizing the repair -- a girl from the shop called to say she needed a $750 deposit before ordering the engine. I didn't object to the deposit, but since no deposit was mentioned earlier, I asked if this meant the repair had been delayed. She said she didn't know, she was just supposed to call about getting the money. I authorized the deposit then sent an email asking whether the delay in getting the deposit meant a delay in the repair. A little while later the mechanic called and fired me as a customer because of the "tone" of my email. (It was a straightforward question about the schedule since the person who called me didn't know the answer. No demands, no accusations, no profanity!) He told us to come and get our boat off his lot, which we did as quickly as we could. I am still furious.
The manager has since acknowledged that the "main" reason for refusing to do the repair was because it was a time-consuming job at a busy time of year, and that the mechanic never should have agreed to do it. (Ah-ha. My email was just an excuse to undo their mistake.) Then she told me that the boat wasn't worth fixing and that we should buy a new one instead. Duh. If we could justify the cost of a new boat, we would not have bought a 1998 model! Now we have the boat back home, and we will certainly get a second and maybe a third opinion. But what do you guys think? If the entire engine does need to be replaced, is it not worth doing? And what price range would be fair? We bought the boat for cash, thank God, and don't have any debt to worry about. If it isn't worth repairing, what should we do with it? Does it have any value at all?
We limped back to the launch on the right engine, loaded up the boat and took it back to the same Seadoo-certified mechanic. That was on Memorial Day. The next day, we got the news: It needed a new engine, which would cost $1,200 plus $800 for labor. And it would take 3-4 weeks to repair. What choice did we have?
Yesterday -- at least 10 days after authorizing the repair -- a girl from the shop called to say she needed a $750 deposit before ordering the engine. I didn't object to the deposit, but since no deposit was mentioned earlier, I asked if this meant the repair had been delayed. She said she didn't know, she was just supposed to call about getting the money. I authorized the deposit then sent an email asking whether the delay in getting the deposit meant a delay in the repair. A little while later the mechanic called and fired me as a customer because of the "tone" of my email. (It was a straightforward question about the schedule since the person who called me didn't know the answer. No demands, no accusations, no profanity!) He told us to come and get our boat off his lot, which we did as quickly as we could. I am still furious.
The manager has since acknowledged that the "main" reason for refusing to do the repair was because it was a time-consuming job at a busy time of year, and that the mechanic never should have agreed to do it. (Ah-ha. My email was just an excuse to undo their mistake.) Then she told me that the boat wasn't worth fixing and that we should buy a new one instead. Duh. If we could justify the cost of a new boat, we would not have bought a 1998 model! Now we have the boat back home, and we will certainly get a second and maybe a third opinion. But what do you guys think? If the entire engine does need to be replaced, is it not worth doing? And what price range would be fair? We bought the boat for cash, thank God, and don't have any debt to worry about. If it isn't worth repairing, what should we do with it? Does it have any value at all?
I'm no mechanic at all, and my husband would feel comfortable rebuilding a Briggs & Stratton but not this boat engine. My brother might love the job, but I don't think he has time.
