We bought our Scarab 255 and... (Read if you're thinking about buying a boat in southwest ohio)

[Scarab255]

I've been waiting to post this as I wanted to give the dealer a chance to make things right... they haven't, I wanted to put out a general warning to all of those who live near about what they might expect from this dealer. I also wanted to seek advice from the community on how to handle the situation.

We bought our 255 HO Limited from Searay of Cincinnati the Thursday before memorial day weekend on the agreement that we would do the water trial and take delivery the following Thursday. Over memorial day weekend, our sales person took our boat out on the ohio river. During the course of our boat being used without our permission it was damaged. We're talking pretty minor damage here. The fiberglass was cracked in a small area on the port side of the swim platform. But the fact remains that 1. the boat, that we had already technically signed the paperwork for, was used without our permission and 2. that it was damaged.

We weren't given any heads up before coming to pick up the boat. Literally, just before putting the boat in the water for the water trial, we were told what happened.... I know what you're going to say, we shouldn't have taken the boat, and it's true, we should not have. It's something that's eaten at me since. We paid for a brand new boat and got one with damaged fiberglass. We were extremely excited about getting it though, so when they told us they could easily fix the damage, we let it slide and ended up taking the boat. This was the first in a line of constant problems that we've had with the boat/dealer since. To keep this post somewhat short I'll just rapid fire them below. Keep in mind that each trip to drop off/pick up the boat is about 4 hours out of my day

>The fiberglass wasn't repaired correctly and had to be fixed again
>The band clamps on the exhaust boot were loose which caused the exhaust to become disconnected
>The service light came on and they told us it was the required oil chain (19 hours on boat)
>The service light wasn't reset after said oil change even though they charged $375 for it and assured me it was reset
>Soon after the boat went into limp mode because a high temp exhaust warning came on (same engine the exhaust blew off of). I had an auto mechanic on the boat. He said that a repair had been made to the wiring harness after the exhaust issue. He explained it to me... but all I can remember is that in his opinion it was a half ass repair which was probably causing it to throw a false code.

The boat has literally not been in need of repair since we bought it for more than an hour or two on the water....

All searay of Cincinnati does is apologize. I asked them for one thing. I wanted them to give me some options that they would commit to if I continued to have issues after the next round of repairs. They wouldn't even do that.

I'm not going to say don't buy a boat from them and that they have the worst all around customer support that I've ever dealt with, but after making this $75,000 purchase, I've had more grief than fun. I've probably spent equally as much time towing the boat to the dealer (or having the boat towed to a dock) than I have enjoying it. I hate inviting a group of friends out and having to end the day after an hour of two because the brand new boat is broke again.

 

[ScarabMike]

Unbelievable. The dealer issues continue with this brand. And Scarab sits by and does nothing.

 

[4x15mph]

Did you pay $375 for maintenance? Really, they let you pay after all of this?

Given the investment of $75K, can you do a lot of us a favor and involve some legal help? This seems very black & white.

 

[Scarab255]

I looked at potentially using the lemon laws. They're extremely vague though and from what I gather, it's almost impossible to win a case. They are more or less used to bring the other party to the table for resolution because the cost of litigation is so high. ie: the dealer could fight me on the lemon laws, and they'd probably win, but it would cost them $50k to litigate, so it's often in their best interest to settle.

 

[Glassman]

@Scarab255 , you wrote: "I'm not going to say don't buy a boat from them and that they have the worst all around customer support that I've ever dealt with"

You don't have to say it....I will - Those guys Suck A**!!

Sue 'em! The Lemon Laws DO work. My son in law and my best buddy had Ford roll over and throw money at them after they got an attorney and filed suit. And Ford doesn't usually do that. They have a bazillion lawyers to defend everything from the Pinto exploding to the tires blowing up on Explorers.

This is unbelievable, that they would hijack your boat...for what? A test drive? Or a Joy Ride?

Sue 'em. stop pussy footing around with these guys and let them know you mean business. They are a business, they don't care about you, they care about the almighty dollar. Hit them where it hurts. No judge worth his robe won't hand you back your money or the keys to a new boat.

I'm done. Thanks for listening to me rant.

 

[Pinhacker71]

I just bought a 2015 ho impulse from them. You've got me scared now. Almost at 10 hour mark and will need service next week. No place else to go around here. I hope your issues get resolved. The guy who showed me the boat seemed pretty clueless at the dealership.

 

[robbo3]

First, what kind of dealer takes a boat on a joy ride after it's been sold. That alone should have gotten someone fired and you compensated for it for your inconvenience. This is 100% on the dealer and not Scarab.

Second, Scarab should be involved if you're having continued roblems with the boat. I'm assuming that since they're new to this market that there should be some effort to extend goodwill to a customer that laid down some serious cash for their product.

Good luck.

 

[subysti]

Get a lawyer involved. Once that happens they will help because it show you're serious. Get rid of the boat and get a boat from a dealer that knows what they're doing. You should be out enjoying your boat not worrying about it. That's the whole reason I bought a brand new boat is I didn't want the troubles of a used boat and sounds like what you have, it's not used but you have the anxiety of a used boat.

 

[Scarab255]

The dealer, at my request, sent a tech to my house. He found a burned up exhaust sensor. We're probably out another weekend. We don't know if it's going to get fixed so we can't exactly plan an outing with friends anyway.

I sent another email to the sales person and to the president of the dealership this morning demanding that they commit to some options if the boat continues to have problems. Crickets is all I get.

 

[Hillt]

Call Scarab at 231.775.1351 and ask for specialist "Ralph". He helped me through some issues with my boat.

 

[luanders]

Ralph was the same guy that contacted me today and set up my boat going to the factory. Very helpful

 

[Ronnie]

Wow, I hate to read stories like this and hope you get it resolved to your satisfaction.

I had no idea that they cost so much.

Maybe it's just that only the negative stories so much attention but after reading about all of the problems with these first gen, first year (?) scarabs there is no way I'd buy one until 1. Scarab fixes the current and recurring problems with cavitation. 2. Trains their dealers/techs to diagnose and repair them properly. The boats look absolutely great but I don't need an expensive lawn ornament/trailer queen. My accountant would never let me hear the end of it.

I spoke to a guy once whose dealership sunk his jet boat while water testing it after doing some service on it. They slid it into a dock. When he went to pick it they told him what happended plus told him they were not going to pay for it out of pocket so he would have to file a claim against them and their insurer ended up coughing up the cash. Makes me wonder if you are better off because your boat isn't totaled.

Agsin good luck. I don't think I would be satisfied with anything less than a full refund or another boat.

 

[Scarab255]

The tech came back to my house on Saturday and fixed the exhaust sensor. Not sure what else they did as they didn't call or anything. The only way I knew is by opening up the hatch and looking.

I'm still worried that the exhaust sensor is a symptom and not the problem. A lot of the problems we've had seem like they could be caused by the exhaust overheating and manifesting in different ways. ie: the boot on the exhaust could have become disconnected because of heat, the melted wiring was because of heat, the sensor burning up was due to heat. Each time they fix something it just moves further down the exhaust system.

We didn't have any issues on Saturday. I purposely ran the boat a ton of different ways to see if I could get any problems to manifest. So far so good.

I did have a thought while out on the water. Could the issues be caused by cavitation in the port motor? the motor runs kind of erratically at certain RPM's. for example: at 4500 rpm the starboard motor runs consistently at 4500. The port motor will jump around 4200, to 5400. Could it be sucking in air through a bad seal which occasionally causes it to jump in rpm? If there is air/cavitation issues, could this be causing our exhaust issues. My thought is that if there's air in the pump, it's not sending water to the exhaust cooling boot. Thoughts?