Boat Crash

[newbassfisherman]

My son had an accident and caused some serious damage to my Ranger z520. The bottom suffered a lot of torn up surfaces. The motor mount is broken and obviously the lower unit is toast. Luckily no one was seriously injured and I have decent insurance.

my primary service provider wont be able to get to the boat for a while. I was wondering if any one has expereince with similar accidents, in particular with the damage to the motor lower and mid unit and if this kind of crash lends its self to rebuilding the mid and lower unit or just replacing the entire engine. I was contemplating repowering with a G2 given they have a great deal with 10 year warranty right now. The current Proxs250 has about 500 hours on it. any input would be appreciated.

[Migs]

Sorry to hear and see. Glad everybody is ok!

[champion204]

I hit a stump last fall and my gambler got totaled from insurance after 5 months and it was a transom, lower unit, prop,and trim unit. Best of luck.

[brolland]

I destroyed my lower unit last year. Merc 250hp Pro XS. Insurance repaired the fiberglass and replaced the lower unit. It was all covered less my deductible. State Farm

[WjColdWater]

Best of luck. Glad no one was injured! Let us know how your insurance handles it. May be a total.

[ericm]

Please post a "Graphic Warning" on your post. i just ate before I opened this and just about puked!

I think you have a really good idea about re-powering. There's a good chance you'll be chasing gremlins on that ProXS from now till doomsday. The fiberglass damage will be easily repaired by a good shop. no there.

[MSranger]

What happened? How fast and what did he it? Glad all are ok, boats can be repaired, people, not so much.

Robert

[LewStulePH.D.]

There was/is a boat dealer in Santa Rosa that would do work on bass boats. I can't remember the name but they did handle Rangers™

• I've been removed from Sonoma County for 14 years now so take that into account.

[TopgunZ521C]

Boats unlimited is your local Ranger dealer in petaluma

[snodogg]

All looks repairable to me, although maybe a total loss if transom suffered structural damage and (depends on what year model).

[LEN B]

I would call C&C in Modesto. They have a glass shop and do good work and a Ranger dealer.


Len

[NY Trooper]

Those look like some pretty hard licks. Glad everyone is safe and sound. That definitely could have been a lot worse.


Personally, I'd hope they would total it out for you and let you start fresh. As has already been said. Gremlins will be a constant aggravation going forward.

[snodogg]

^^^If repaired properly, why would there be gremlins?

I just dont get the whole "hope my boat/car/truck is totaled" mentality. Often times that will work against you financially. Reason insurance companies sell so many gap insurance policies.

[ericm]

^^^If repaired properly, why would there be gremlins?

I just dont get the whole "hope my boat/car/truck is totaled" mentality. Often times that will work against you financially. Reason insurance companies sell so many gap insurance policies.

Because many times there are hidden damages that don't surface until much later. I had brand new Chevy Siverado that was heavily (like $12,000.00 worth) damaged when a guy lost control in the Wheeling Tunnels in front of me and I broadsided him and pushed him about 50 yards. The guy had multiple dui's and was on limited insurance coverage. I fought to have the truck totaled but lost in the end. I kept it another two years and had an endless string of items go south, one of which (loss of power steering due to an undetected gouge in the high pressure line) almost caused me a serious accident. Then the head gasket went and the dealer indicated it was a result of the accident. This is just two of the many issues I had. Even the best repair garages can't catch all of these issues.

[NY Trooper]

^^^If repaired properly, why would there be gremlins?

I just dont get the whole "hope my boat/car/truck is totaled" mentality. Often times that will work against you financially. Reason insurance companies sell so many gap insurance policies.

As was just said.

Suffered a lightning strike to our home many years ago. For almost a year we kept losing appliances and electronics. Same is going to happen with the boat and motor sure as I’m typing this. Just an unfortunate fact of life. It doesn’t matter how good, how thorough or how meticulous the repairer is. Things are going to go wrong.

[snodogg]

We're comparing a lightning strike to a home and a $12K truck repair to the OP's boat? I will just respectfully disagree right now as we can't completely surmise the extent of the damage based on 4 photos.

I'm not saying underlying issues won't surface in every case, but in my experience of automotive collision repair the number of repaired vehicles that come back post repair are a very small fraction. Maybe I've been extremely lucky with all the repairable vehicles I've owned and driven and ownership of a boat that suffered similar damage, but I find it hard to believe I'm the only person who has owned things that have been fixed and did not experience a life of further issues.

It isn't always doom and gloom but if it bothers you that much sell it off or trade it in post repair and move on.

I wish the OP best of luck in getting back on water soon.

[LewStulePH.D.]

Boats unlimited is your local Ranger dealer in petaluma

What is the dealer on Santa Rosa Ave. this side of the head shop "The Mighty Quinn" Maybe it isn't a Ranger dealer. When I lived there a guy in our club ran aground at Lake Sonoma and the shop on Santa Rosa Ave. took care of it and even matched the paint scheme.. This is 30 years ago too. If there still open.

[jtracc]

I did similar damage to a small skeeter I had years ago. She was a total loss.

[newbassfisherman]

Thanks guys for the input. Hopefully the adjuster will be out later this week. I hope its not a total loss as I suspect it will end up costing me in the end. Its a great boat with no problems for the 4 years I have owned it and I'd end up spending more to replace it. If I decide to repower that would also cost me a good sum given the difference between a new motor and the value of the old motor rebuild. I'll have to see what they say. I would be surprised if the boat is a total loss as it didnt look like the transom was damaged. The jackplate seems fine but I didnt really do a full inspection. One think I dont want to take a chance on is a boat thats not 100 percent sound though.

thanks

[Matt1212]

Glad everybody is OK, but I'd be sick. Good luck with repair