1978 Wellcraft Scarab- JUNK JUNK JUNK - DO NOT BUY OR BID
#1
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Thread Starter
1978 Wellcraft Scarab- JUNK JUNK JUNK - DO NOT BUY OR BID
This guy has this boat for sale on Ebay. I was the high bidder on his auction. The seller said that "He doesnt sell garbage" yet this boat is a POS. I wasted my time driving from Detroit to St Louis to get this and was completely duped by the seller into thinking it was a good boat. The boat is complete junk and should go to the scrap pile. Read my comments after his claims
I used a moisture meter on the transom and saw 80% moisture in the transom. I also used a small hammer to sound the hull and transom and 90% of the transom is hollow and the hull is chipped and cracking everywhere. You can push in on the inner transom because it is delaminating so bad. You can see the transom flex when you pull up and down on the drives. The transom is so rotten that all the gelcoat is spider cracked everywhere. The forward bulkhead in the bilge is rotten.
1. Comes with trailer which has 6 new tires and wheel bearings repackaged.- The seller admitted that he only greased the bearing with a grease gun, they were not repacked and the boat doesn't sit on the trailer correctly. The boat is sitting on only two bunks. even though it has 4 bunks and the angle of the bunks is wrong for this hull
2. The motors and outdrives have been rebuilt- He has no receipts to prove any of this.
3. This boat was recently in the water and tested out great- his videos dont show him actually running the boat. The shifters are misadjusted and one drive wont go into forward and the other wont go into reverse.
4. This boat is well taken care of with plenty of life- This is the biggest lie. For a boat that is well taken care of why is all the cockpit upholstery rotten, the gelcoat on the hull bottom has multiple huge chips. There is a poorly performed repair to one of the lifting strakes.
5-This boat is available for testing before the auction end I do have some video- This boat wont pass any water test, it cant go into gear and the port engine has a miss from a bad riser gasket or a bad head gasket.
6- This is a 40 yr old boat and shows wear on the interior and passenger seat needs repair but works. - Both front seats are rotten. My foot went thru the back seat bottom when I stood on it. All the staples on the upholstery are rotten and rusty and coming apart.
7- This boat has been stored inside and has always been in fresh water.- This boat was maybe stored inside before he got it 10 years ago but not it just sits outside collecting water.
8- The boat has 2 350 engines both are rebuilt with one engine having 300 hrs and the other with 250 hrs.- Again he has no receipts to prove any of this.
9- This boat was recently in the water and is water ready I can provide video of you contact me.- It is not water ready, the transom is completely rotten, the out-drives are misadjusted, some of the dash gauges have water in then from the boat sitting out in the rain, the port engine has milky oil. the trim tabs don't work.
10- Both out-drives have been redone within the last 300 hrs along with new impellers.- the U-joint bellow on the port engine is cracked and again no receipts to prove any of it.
11- Oil change ,batteries and tune up recently done. - Milky oil in both engine. The port engine starts hard and wont idle properly, the batteries are from last year.
12- All lights work trim tabs and horn is a little funny sounding but works.- the trim tabs dont work at all,
I have a Wellcraft and know the bad spots on these boats and of all the boats I have seen over the years this one is complete and utter GARBAGE. I fear the if you actually took this out in some good waves, the transom would break off after you fell back after the seat gave way.
I used a moisture meter on the transom and saw 80% moisture in the transom. I also used a small hammer to sound the hull and transom and 90% of the transom is hollow and the hull is chipped and cracking everywhere. You can push in on the inner transom because it is delaminating so bad. You can see the transom flex when you pull up and down on the drives. The transom is so rotten that all the gelcoat is spider cracked everywhere. The forward bulkhead in the bilge is rotten.
1. Comes with trailer which has 6 new tires and wheel bearings repackaged.- The seller admitted that he only greased the bearing with a grease gun, they were not repacked and the boat doesn't sit on the trailer correctly. The boat is sitting on only two bunks. even though it has 4 bunks and the angle of the bunks is wrong for this hull
2. The motors and outdrives have been rebuilt- He has no receipts to prove any of this.
3. This boat was recently in the water and tested out great- his videos dont show him actually running the boat. The shifters are misadjusted and one drive wont go into forward and the other wont go into reverse.
4. This boat is well taken care of with plenty of life- This is the biggest lie. For a boat that is well taken care of why is all the cockpit upholstery rotten, the gelcoat on the hull bottom has multiple huge chips. There is a poorly performed repair to one of the lifting strakes.
5-This boat is available for testing before the auction end I do have some video- This boat wont pass any water test, it cant go into gear and the port engine has a miss from a bad riser gasket or a bad head gasket.
6- This is a 40 yr old boat and shows wear on the interior and passenger seat needs repair but works. - Both front seats are rotten. My foot went thru the back seat bottom when I stood on it. All the staples on the upholstery are rotten and rusty and coming apart.
7- This boat has been stored inside and has always been in fresh water.- This boat was maybe stored inside before he got it 10 years ago but not it just sits outside collecting water.
8- The boat has 2 350 engines both are rebuilt with one engine having 300 hrs and the other with 250 hrs.- Again he has no receipts to prove any of this.
9- This boat was recently in the water and is water ready I can provide video of you contact me.- It is not water ready, the transom is completely rotten, the out-drives are misadjusted, some of the dash gauges have water in then from the boat sitting out in the rain, the port engine has milky oil. the trim tabs don't work.
10- Both out-drives have been redone within the last 300 hrs along with new impellers.- the U-joint bellow on the port engine is cracked and again no receipts to prove any of it.
11- Oil change ,batteries and tune up recently done. - Milky oil in both engine. The port engine starts hard and wont idle properly, the batteries are from last year.
12- All lights work trim tabs and horn is a little funny sounding but works.- the trim tabs dont work at all,
I have a Wellcraft and know the bad spots on these boats and of all the boats I have seen over the years this one is complete and utter GARBAGE. I fear the if you actually took this out in some good waves, the transom would break off after you fell back after the seat gave way.
#2
Were doomed!
Charter Member
So how did the seller react to your review of the boat when you got there?
__________________
-Wally
Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy horsepower. And I've never seen a sad person hauling a$$!
-Wally
Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy horsepower. And I've never seen a sad person hauling a$$!
#3
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Thread Starter
I told him that there was no way this was water ready. One drive would not go into forward, the other would not go into reverse and the front bucket seats and back seat were completely rotten. The transom was completely shot. I told him about it and all he was concerned with was he was out his seller fees. I called Ebay to let them them know this boat was very unsafe and was a danger for anybody who bought it.
The following 3 users liked this post by phragle:
87CigCafe (01-26-2024), bajaholic (07-04-2024), BONDO10 (06-13-2018), convincor (07-10-2018), endeavour32 (12-13-2018), FASTTIMES (06-13-2018), Gimme Fuel (06-26-2018), glassdave (06-26-2018), Knot 4 Me (06-27-2018), Orange Crush (06-04-2024), SB (06-08-2018), THACAMAROKID69 (06-11-2018), thirdchildhood (06-09-2018), tmmii (06-09-2018)
#6
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Thread Starter
Phragle- you are 100% correct. Unfortunately for most people they dont know how bad these boats can be. I knew going in that the transom would/ could be soft and stringers bad. The thing that irritates me is this clown said it was water ready and ready for any test and that he didnt sell junk. I asked him specifically about the condition of the cockpit upholstery and the hull bottom and engines and he swore up and down that everything was mint. I was so irritated with it that I actually called Ebay and talked to them to let them know that this boat was a safety concern and that someone could die on it when the boat sank.
#8
Neno the mind boggler
VIP Member
white wall tires?? . . . when the hell was the last time anyone made white wall tires lol . . . . on a trailer yet . . . . that alone would have set off some warning buzzers in my head
a rebuilt engine with 250 hrs is no longer rebuilt . . . its an engine thats been warn out . . . twice
Bummer Pat hope you got your money back (if any tendered)
a rebuilt engine with 250 hrs is no longer rebuilt . . . its an engine thats been warn out . . . twice
Bummer Pat hope you got your money back (if any tendered)
__________________
Throttles- Cleveland Construction 377 Talon
08 OPA Class 1 National Champion
08 Class 1 Geico Triple Crown Champion
08 OPA High Points Champion
10 OPA Class 1 National Champion ( happy now Ed! )
Throttles- Cleveland Construction 377 Talon
08 OPA Class 1 National Champion
08 Class 1 Geico Triple Crown Champion
08 OPA High Points Champion
10 OPA Class 1 National Champion ( happy now Ed! )
Last edited by glassdave; 06-26-2018 at 06:03 PM.