SoCal Jet Boats
Discussion => The No Wake Zone => Topic started by: JesseJames on June 25, 2014, 05:21:34 PM
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I hope this is in the right are if not moderators please feel free to move or delete
I am kind of in a pickle after buying a jet boat recently from a guy named Ernie in Higland Ca.
I purchased the boat and trailer from him gave him his full asking price on the deal and headed home. We talked about everything that was done to it and that the engine only had 30 min runtime in the lake and it was fresh. For some reason I believed him and life was good. Took the boat and trailer to dmv registration went well. Got the tags and pinks no issues.
Took the boat to big bear and immediately had massive oil leak from intake manifold to top of block in the back near distributor. This is a 455 olds if anyone cares. He had told me there was a leak and that was what I was expecting.
Trailered it home bought new gasket and reinstalled. Changed engine oil and filter
Only ran boat for 25 min that day never above 3200 rpm.
Next lake trip one week later took the boat to same lake, ran for 5 min and started to puke water from valve cover breathers. Not good. Loaded back on trailer and went home.
Couple days later after I calmed down I started to inspect further.
1. Engine oil milky
2. Spark plugs looked ok
So I pulled the spark plugs and hooked to water hose on 1/4 turn open on hose. Water started pumping out of 5 and 7 plug holes. Not good at all
Pulled the engine and dis assembled.
I found
1. Broken piston rings on number 6 and severe gouging in cylinder wall
2. All bearing were spun including some connecting rod bearings
3. Block had rusty and pitted cylinder walls
4. All piston rings were junk and rusted like it had set for years with water in cylinders
I have it torn down and out to machine shop to hope it can be fixed so I can enjoy my summer.
I called him and he was very quick to say it was fresh and I messed it up. I really wish he would help make this right. However some inside info says this is not his first dirty transaction. It is my own stupidity that I trusted a mans word and work.
I do not want anyone else to go through what I am because of dishonesty
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Oh is this the Ernie I am thinking of? The CL guy in San berdo?
Sent from my SCH-I545 using SoCal Jet Boats mobile app
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Oh is this the Ernie I am thinking of? The CL guy in San berdo?
Sent from my SCH-I545 using SoCal Jet Boats mobile app
pretty sure it is he has good deals on parts but I would never buy anything complete as in a running boat. Parts wide he's had some good bad and ugly but at some of his prices I've gambled after inspection. Sorry to hear this happened and hope you get back on the water soon
Sent from my dirty buthole
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Oh is this the Ernie I am thinking of? The CL guy in San berdo?
Sent from my SCH-I545 using SoCal Jet Boats mobile app
Yes. That is how I found him. Seemed like a decent guy so I went with it
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I personally don't know Ernie ...never dealt with him....but I haven't heard anything good about him....but keep in mind not many people praise people on the internet. Its more common for people to report the bad things. I know it sucks but just take it as a loss and move on. There's not much you can do.
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Pretty much the same thing happened to me, besides the hull had a 4ft crack that was hidden by the bunk, motor blew up after an hour (fresh rebuild with reciept)
I look back and 100% my fault for not going on a test run first...
Sent with my Fingers
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i know theres a lot of things you CANT check when it comes to an inside of a motor... and usually sales are branded "AS-IS"... you gotta, GOTTA know what you're buying before you exchange money. once that money switches hands its a done deal and whatever happens happens... usually go for a test or at least run it on a trailer. do compression check, etc.
worst case you could take him to small claims over it, but most likely you're gonna lose.
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Pretty much the same thing happened to me, besides the hull had a 4ft crack that was hidden by the bunk, motor blew up after an hour (fresh rebuild with reciept)
I look back and 100% my fault for not going on a test run first...
Sent with my Fingers
Yep that's how I feel. It's not completely his fault just would have been nice to know it was a pile
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I personally don't know Ernie ...never dealt with him....but I haven't heard anything good about him....but keep in mind not many people praise people on the internet. Its more common for people to report the bad things. I know it sucks but just take it as a loss and move on. There's not much you can do.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using SoCal Jet Boats mobile app
I do have to move on. And I will. Just wanted to express my situation so maybe some one else will not have to learn the hard way like I did
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Get shit in writing... Been to small claims 3 times and won 3 times. If you have a witness to his bs story, take him to small claims with a certified mechanic estimate 3 times the amount up to 7500.
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Get shit in writing... Been to small claims 3 times and won 3 times. If you have a witness to his bs story, take him to small claims with a certified mechanic estimate 3 times the amount up to 7500.
$5k max between 2 individuals is the limit in CA no?
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7500 was the last time I went to small claims.
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Questions like these are better suited BEFORE purchasing a boat.
Sorry to hear about your luck.
I've dealt with him and his prices are on the high side in my opinion for the general condition of his stuff but he has everything so.....
-beerjet-
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There were no witnesses. I brought my son who is only 6 so he's not any help or can be. It was sold to me "as is". Just the as is was not what he said it was.
I was sold on a motor with only 1/2 hour run time on water. And I went with it.
I guess I had it coming. I'm from the south and a handshake and a mans word is more than anything.
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My personal compromise would be to split the bill for repair and I would handle the r&r for free.
It's all I could think of being fair
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If he sold you a running fresh rebuilt boat/motor as is... then you have grounds for court if it was as is broke and lied.
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I wouldn't trust Ernie any further than I could throw him. In my personal opinion he's crooked as hell. Looked at a boat he had about 6 years ago, had missing head bolts among other things. Seems worse than a "shade tree" mechanic
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Jesse .. out of curiousity, was it the crusader?
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Which boat is it? Maybe someone here knows the previous owner. You never know. Maybe the po sold it BECAUSE the motor was junk. The po could maybe help you in court. Btw, I took the owners word on my boat. The "new" engine was garbage too. When I called him, he told me where to go.
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Which boat is it? Maybe someone here knows the previous owner. You never know. Maybe the po sold it BECAUSE the motor was junk. The po could maybe help you in court. Btw, I took the owners word on my boat. The "new" engine was garbage too. When I called him, he told me where to go.
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This is the boat I bought. $5500 with trailer paid in large bills. Sold with a 1/2 hour lake run motor.
I will have pics up tomorrow of the damages I can visually see.
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He had that boat for sale for a long time on CL sorry to hear about the motor, hopefully ur able to find a good bow tie to replace I've seen a few for sale and iron man can hook u up all the rail kit and shit needed to convert. Good luck brotha!!!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using SoCal Jet Boats mobile app
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I've dealt with Ernie a couple times. Fucked me both times. I bought a drive shaft from him that was supposed to be a HD 1350 u-joint shaft. I gave the money to a friend of his I know because I couldn't get there and our mutual friend goes to his house regularly. He came back with a 1310 shaft in 2 pieces! The u-joints were powdered. I told him to take it back and get my money back, which he tried to do, but Ernie refused to reimburse his own friend for the shaft. I doubt he's going to give you any help. He's done this to too many people, so threats don't mean shit to him. The guy is as crooked as the day is long. Wish you would have posted before the purchase. Best to just move on and build yourself a quality motor.
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There are lots of 455 parts floating around this website right now, shouldn't be too expensive to put it back together long enough to last a summer or two but you will probably be money ahead to just start planning to do another motor the right way whether you decide to go BBC or Olds. Hell if you have to buy new mounts and drive maybe just really do it right and put in a 460 BBF.
There are a dozen stories just on this site about Ernie burning people. I wouldn't buy anything from the guy, especially a motor.
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On a positive note that is a good looking boat good luck with the motor
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using SoCal Jet Boats mobile app
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On a positive note that is a good looking boat good luck with the motor
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using SoCal Jet Boats mobile app
Exactly ! Looks to be a real eye catching float.
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Crooked Seller DO NOT BUY - $1 (Highland)
© craigslist - Map data © OpenStreetMap
(google map) (yahoo map)
ERNIE is his name. Sells boats and parts from Highland Ca. He is dishonest and a liar. Do not buy any boats or boat parts from him. He will sell you junk and blown engines. I learned the hard way.
Be careful
do NOT contact me with unsolicited services or offers
http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/boa/4567267506.html (http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/boa/4567267506.html)
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Crooked Seller DO NOT BUY - $1 (Highland)
© craigslist - Map data © OpenStreetMap
(google map) (yahoo map)
ERNIE is his name. Sells boats and parts from Highland Ca. He is dishonest and a liar. Do not buy any boats or boat parts from him. He will sell you junk and blown engines. I learned the hard way.
Be careful
do NOT contact me with unsolicited services or offers
http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/boa/4567267506.html (http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/boa/4567267506.html)
You selling the boat?
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I remember a couple years ago someone continuously flagged this guy's post for the same type of bullshit.he then started saying he was going to sue for harassment and that he was running a legit business and making bread crumbs to feed his mentally handicapped daughter. He try to rape people. I wanted a set of 460 valve cover and he wAntes 400 dollars for them.
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I called him for 4 point mounts and he wants 350!
Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using SoCal Jet Boats mobile app
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I remember a couple years ago someone continuously flagged this guy's post for the same type of bullshit.he then started saying he was going to sue for harassment and that he was running a legit business and making bread crumbs to feed his mentally handicapped daughter. He try to rape people. I wanted a set of 460 valve cover and he wAntes 400 dollars for them.
That was a different guy in Redlands. He was a real cook! I got my sleek craft from him after he gutted it.
Ernie is in San Bernardino and is just a thief.
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You selling the boat?
Yes. The engine is being built now and will leave the garage with a for sale sign in it. Everything I own is for sale. This boat no exception.
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It's so funny. He keeps flagging my bad posts on CL. However he will not return any calls, texts and such to help make this go away.
I am not the kind of guy that let's stuff slide on by. This is only the beginning
>:D
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Keep posting ur adds! More then once a day! Post pictures of the garbage engine and flag his adds!
Sent from my iPhone using SoCal Jet Boats
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I like your style! Keep banging the shit out of that prick!! Lord knows he's screwed enough people.
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Hell yeah. Flag away!
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anything ever come of this?
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anything ever come of this?
Hell no.
1. It's Craigslist.
2. You buy at your own risk.
-beerjet-
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My first craigslist boat was a pile! Took the sellers word on condition and found out stuff the hard way. I even went on a test run and just by the way they drove the boat, I should of steered away. It was an open bow 21 and after 30 min of easy run time, the motor let go. I paid 7K for it and put probably another 7K into it. It was a fun family boat after that but I did learn my craiglist lesson. I think the key is to hang out with alot of people and buy a boat that you are somewhat familiar with and know how its been treated! If I was in the market, I sure as hell would check here on scjb first before going to craigslist!