I think I bought a lemon...

If you use the same terminology as you do for a car, I think I bought a lemon. I thought it was a good purchase. 1985 Supra Sunsport, new interior, rebuilt engine with about 900 hrs, wakebaord tower for $8700. Well I've had it for about 5 weeks now and the last time we were out the engine was dragging. Still running, but it was working way too hard. So I took it into the shop, hoping maybe a tuneup will fix it--maybe it will..they haven't called me about the engine yet. But they did call to tell me I had severe damage to the nose and it will have to be taken into a fiberglass shop to repair and reattach the hull to the deck. I saw the damage when I bought it, but it looked pretty minimal. I didn't realize the hull was actually separated from the deck. Has anybody had to have this type of repair done? It sound expensive. I'm not overly concerned because I still think the overall boat was priced okay, but its having to explain to the wife that we have to spend $X more when she reluctantly agreed to buy the boat in the first place... I guess this is more of a venting post, but if you have any positive enlightenment to the situation then I'm listening.

I think the term 'lemon' only applies to new vehicles, and with those, only if they have been in for the same repairs four or more times and the problem is still occuring. I think unfortunately you may have bought a poorly taken care of boat, that's all.
The glass work sounds very expensive. If I were in your situation, personally I'd try to sell the boat for what I paid for it and find a boat that doesnt need extensive repairs. If the repair needed doesnt look that major you may be able to go this route. I know it's kind of shady, but it will probably save you a lot of $$ in the long run. Hopefully the engine doesnt need major work too...

-Steve

Is the 900 hours on the rebuilt engine, or does the 900 hours cover the original plus the rebuilt?

If the boat has 900 hours on a rebuilt engine it clearly indicates that the boat was used a lot. That isn't a bad thing but it does add some context to the use and care of the boat. If the hours are total for the boat then it equates to about 80 hours a year, which is fairly light use. If the hours are only on the rebuilt engine then hours per year would be much higher, indicating a boat that has been used regularly.

Likewise, the seats being replaced could be because they wore out along with the engine, or the boat could have been left out in the weather and the seats rotted.

The damage to the bow could have been from a single unfortunate accident. I would expect damage to that area to be primarily cosmetic, it shouldn't effect the integrity of the hull. Fixing it right could be really expensive, requiring that the deck be completly removed, the hull and deck repaired individually and then remounted. Perhaps if you posted a picture we could comment on it better?

I wouldn't jump to any conclusions before you find out what is going on with the engine. You said you had the boat for 5 weeks, had you used it a few times? Did the engine run okay at first?

I had to have my hull re-attached to the top deck after someone backed into while in storage. I think the total repair cost was less than $1,000. There was extra labor involved in my repair because they had to cut holes to get between the hull and the interior glass near the bow. I have some pictures somewhere, ill post tonight if i can find them. Depending on the way the boat was built it may or may not be an expensive fix, and it depends on what you consider expensive. When i first heard seperated Hull i was thinking thousands, not hundreds. Hope it helps, sorry to hear about the bad luck.

maybe you might wanna get a second opinion on the deck repair before you spend any $$$...it couldnt hurt. You never know, mabye its not as bad as the repair place thinks or wants you to think.

I'll get some pics when I get the boat back from the shop.

Geoff, yes please send pics of your damage if you've got'em...it maybe it could give me an idea of what to expect for the damage to my boat. If mine is less than $1000 then I'll still feel okay...as long as the engine is fine. A decent boat ready to ride for under 10k is fine by me.

Rod, the 900 is on the rebuild (about 1500 total boat hours).

Explain what you mean by the engine "dragging"? Does it smoke?

This is a good example of why it is always recommended to have used boats looked over by someone mechanical.

Jeremy:
Sorry i guess i dont have the pictures i was thinking of any more. Not sure it would have shown much other than a few scratches, and then the hole they cut in the inner hull to get to inside of the hull/topdeck to re-bond it.
I dont think its as bas as it sounds, i think any hard blunt hit on a hull has the ability to seperate the 2, then they have to go in and re-"weld" the two peices back together with glass. On mine you cant tell anything was ever wrong.

The fiberglass work on the nose shouldn't be too expensive. Are the stringers & floor ok? Old Supras are notorious for stringer rot.