Help Please!

[DelBel]

I recently sold my 05 Seadoo Speedster 200 and have been excited for a long time to jump into the Scarab boat market. After months of searching and lots of great advice from this forum i found a Scarab that fits the bill. Its a 2014 Scarab 215 Ho Impulse with twin 250's and 114 hours. It is for sale at a marina roughly 3 hours from my house. I went thru this boat very carefully and test drove the boat. Everything checks out. An agreement has been made and a deposit put down on the purchase. The purchase agreement states that the check engine light must be fixed (claims its a 02 sensor), a toggle switch must be repaired, the engines are to be winterized and a compression test must be performed to my satisfaction before finalizing the deal and delivery. The marina owner told me today that the boat is at the Scarab Dealer having the work done. I asked him permission to call the scarab dealer to obtain all the warranty and service records on the boat. His response was a sharp NO. He claims that is private and confidential info on the previous owner of the boat. RED FLAGS!! Now i'm worried he's hiding something.
How can i obtain the service history on this boat without the marinas permission? Will another Scarab dealer provide me that info or will Scarab Canada? I have the boats serial # on the purchase agreement. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Would you buy this boat without the service history?

 

[2kwik4u]

The previous owners name is private and confidential. Service history of the boat is not.

Call your local Scarab dealer, explain the situation that you are buying and want to do an independent verification of the service records, and give them the hull ID and see what they can do. I'm unsure if Scarab has the ability to do that or not, but it's worth a shot. Honestly, I wouldn't have even asked the marinas permission in the first place.

With a signed agreement, and deposit already handed over, your leverage is very low though. Hope it turns out well.

 

[captras]

If somebody is refusing to show you the service history they are hiding something! The marina can call the previous owner to clear it, but if they didn't cooperate I would tell them to pound sand!

 

[robert843]

I would just ask the servicing dealer for it. I have feeling though unless the servicing dealer did the work they probably won’t have access to what your looking for. I don’t think these powersports dealers are all linked together like a car dealer but I could be wrong (it for sure wouldn’t be the first time)

 

[Elio195HOI]

Any work on the boat is recorded and stored for all to see (Dealers) and service tickets. 2014 was not a great year for Scarab. Im sure tons of work has been done on the boat. By personal experience, that's not necessarily bad. I went thru hell with my 2014 HOI and once I found the right dealer to service it, i haven't had an issue in over a year besides O2 sensors which i hear there is a recall on now.

 

[merlinjet]

I would try your local dealer and see what he'll do, but chances are you may have to live with those red flags and hope for the best. With sales agreement and deposit in hand, this guy holds the cards now. Good luck!

 

[DelBel]

Thanks all for such quick replies! This truly is a great community of jet boat owners. I only have a deposit of $1,000 down to hold the boat, alot of money but obviously would be willing to walk away from it if the boat history points to this boat being a lemon. I have contacted my local Scarab dealer and he is willing to look into the service history for me. He has the serial # and i am waiting for his reply. I'll keep you all posted. Thanks again!

 

[Julian]

Not sure where you are, but deposits on vehicles are refundable by law in many states (NC for example). So I'd be getting those records if I were in your place if the deposit is recoverable.

 

[swatski]

@DelBel I agree with @Elio195HOI - he makes a very good point!
Given your sea trialed the boat and there is a clean title, if the purchase agreement requests are being met there is little left to uncover about the boat. Scarab 2014 were... not perfect as there was a learning curve.

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[Need A Vacation]

Hope it all works out!!!

Keep us posted!!!

And post pics if/when you do bring the 215 home!!!