Cost to repair submerged boat?
 

Does anyone have experience with the cost of repairing a boat that has been submerged in shallow water? I would assume all electronics i.e guages, ecu, radio, ignition, etc. would need to be replaced. Would $5000 do it in most cases?

Was the engine running when it submerged? I would imagine there will be a lot of questions about getting the motor running again and following the proper steps to make sure you dry it out if it is still good.

Don't know for sure but lets assume for the discussion that the motor was not running.

Its not the fixing up part thats the big deal..Its the after or down the road stuff that will HAUNT you for years. Sometimes they are fine and sometimes they have gremlins the rest of there lives. Its like a cell ph getting wet,, you dry it out, it works fin for a while but then the moisture locked inside starts rusting stuff untill it shorts Itself out. If Its your boat that sunk all you can do is fix it as well as you can and keep it or sell it. if your thining of buying it think again. An older boat (cheaper) that runs everytime is better than a newer boat that HAUNTS you when you go out each time. Good luck man. Jet

Adam, I have no idea on the cost but I bet some of it would have to do with what boat you are working on. If it was a 1995 prostar it might not be much but if it was a 2006 X2 it might be alot more. The newer boats have such specialized components that they are probably harder to get and more expensive.

If you do take on the project and need a starter, alternator, pressure/temp senders/switches let me know. I should be able to find some of that stuff and it will be cheaper then buying from the dealer.

What kind of boat & features? ie; does it have Perfect Pass? EFI? Maliview? Throttle by wire? And how long was it under water?

I've never done it, but would imagine $2000 or $3000 could be easily spent getting an older inboard (ie; carb, no PP, etc) fixed up. More if it has wood in it & spent any length of time under water.

If it's a newer boat with a lot of features, all bets are off. $10k or more easily.

Thanks Brett! Luckily its not my 06 X2, but sader still I sold that boat 2 weeks ago :(

The boat in question is a 2007 XStar with the 8.1, perfect pass.

Salt Water or Fresh Water

Fresh water

i would say on a boat that new run like hell unless you can get it for nothing. you will be looking at 3-5 k just for interior alone. every seat will need new foam or it will mold from inside out. not to mention the mechanical stuff and all the wiring prob woul have to be replaced.

I was really hoping he was going to say an x80 hahaha

^haha

That would have been awesome... almost forgot about Lon.....
Sorry for the hijack. Please resume

Run and hide from it. Bad idea all the way. Submerged boats get water in the wiring harness between the copper and outside jacket. The voltage resistance will increase and it will get wire rot and have big problems down the road IMO.

I had a buddy that found an "awesome" deal on a boat that had filled up with water. The previous owner let it sit outside for a year with no cover on it and the plug in it. The boat wouldn't quite fit into the barn that it was stored in so it stuck out a little. This was a big barn and it caught a lot of rain. The owner noticed it was full of water and drained it. The boat worked fine. My buddy bought it, against my advice, and enjoyed it for about 6 months. Then the Hell started. It was one thing after another with the wiring. He lost a load of money and learned a lesson. I'm not saying that it is impossible but it should be done with caution.

If it's old enough to not be fuel infected and new enough to not have any wood, I might consider it if it was a steal. Engine should be no big deal to get going after submerged, if it's done quickly and it was not running when it sunk. Running when sunk means hydrolocked and possible piston/rod/bearing damage from that. If it was not running it's as simple as draining the dry it all out, change oil, run it to temp, change again, should be good. If the engine sat for some time with water in the cylinders or crankcase, more than a day, it'll need to be torn down and gone through. Any electronics will likely need replacing, same with upholstery/foam. I'd be more worried about the rest of the boat than the engine.

Probably not worth it, but if you can do most of this yourself, and there's no EFI, wood stringers, or wood floors, and you get a great price it could be worthwhile. Remember, you'd be buying it for the hull and anything that doesn't need replacing is a bonus!

What about buying with the intention of repowering the boat with a diesel?:cool:

I like that idea a lot. Be prepared to spend 15-20k on an engine alone.

for 3-5k for an 07 id jump on that boat all day long and twice on sunday. although I buy an sell boats. You guys would be suprised how easily most of those issues are fixed. and 3-5k for upholstry? are you kidding, i just had a complete 23' boat done stem to stearn all new foam and everything for 1400 bucks with 2 colors and marine grade foam and vinyl.

Iwill say this if you know boats, its a good deal. If you dont know boats and are not mechanically savy i would so stay away from a submerged boat. It is some work to get them back to life. It can be done but for a first boat or if are just new to boating in general. Id stay away.

07 aint gonna have wood stringers unless its a sanger. even so, wood stringers do not rot like you would think especially not from being submerged one time.

you could find a 5.9 or a 7.3 way cheaper than 15-20k. that would be awesome and you wouldnt need ballast haha

Andy as a guy that buys and sell boats you should know that you could no way replace an xstar interioer with original foam and skins for 1400 buck. There are lots of grades of foam and vinyl out there and that is prob why you got it done so cheap. I am sure you got a good deal. I would say for resale purposes most guys that are looking at an x star have prob done homework and would notice that interior had been replaced with non mastercraft material. That would prob lead a reasonable person to ask why. If it were me I would never buy a boat that had been sunk and a guy rebuilt in his driveway. I do not buy and sell boats so what would a boat like this bring if he rebuilt it and decided to sell it while disclosing the fact it had sunk.

Dave presents a good question:

Assuming the boat was done properly and had zero issues,

"what would a boat like this bring if he rebuilt it and decided to sell it while disclosing the fact it had sunk"?

Thoughts?

What about the motor parts starters alternators? When i had my accident 2 years ago all of that stuff was shot and all of the electric stuff was done. Then you have the internals on the motors that could be rusted and corroded. It was in saltwater though. I know when i was racing to get a race boat back in shape after a flip in freshwater was 20k and saltwater was 40k.

Years ago a friend sunk what was my first boat at is dock, it was a carburated ski supreme. It sunk in fresh water, was pickled the day it sunk, and the mechanic had it running the next day. New gauges and a few electrical components were installed and the boat ran like a top until I sold it 200 hours later. I had to remove the upholstery and dry the foam, I replaced the carpet because it was oily and I reinstalled a new stereo system. For the first 5 tanks of gas water kept filling the fuel filter/separator but once it cleared out I never had a problem. I think the boat actually ran better after the incident.

The insurance company wrote me a check after their representative looked at the boat and since those were my "poor" days so I decided to do a bunch of clean-up work myself (carpet, upholstery, stereo) to save some money. The insurance carrier was going to replace it all but I cleaned it up with no problems.

You never know.

heres a pic of my boat that got flooded in a storm. Boat was on the beach but didnt sink but completely filled up with water. Progessivetotaled the boat and paid me out the agreed value of 35k in 6 days. boat was a 03 Supra Launch SSV

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/...7228.513013680