Major Issues with Zodiac

Joined
Jun 30, 2012
Messages
2
Hello,

I'm brand new to this forum and I'm darn glad I found it.

Here's my problem: I bought a used Zodiac Mark 2 GT (I believe) that's 13'9" and was an upgrade from my old 310S, or so I thought. The boat is old (mid-80's) but had only been used in fresh water in Minnesota before being brought to Seattle. I paid $1,000 for it.

1. It didn't leak any air when I filled it up to check it out from the guy selling. Since then it has become a leaking train wreck.

2. I took it into the one store that does repair in Seattle on inflatables with the instructions to "fix the leaks" after I had tried several times.

3. When I picked up the boat they charged me $1,000 and change and said it took ten hours of labor to put new patches on the cones, clean off my old gluing efforts, and drill holes and install the wheels.

4. Pretty expensive I thought but at least now it's completely dialed in and I don't have to mess with it anymore.

5. I go to use it today, fill it up with air, and each seam on the back cone is totally unglued, but the ones they fixed are rock solid. I'm in an emergency situation: I just drove 5 hours to a remote lake to fish. So I get a whole bunch of Aqua Seal and Super Glue and fix it, sort of. It still leaks but is definitely not sound enough to use in the Puget Sound with a 12 year old kid while salmon fishing and crabbing.

So this is my question: should I be able to take the boat back (I picked it up two weeks ago) and ask them why the seems were unglued or did they just come unglued in the last few weeks? Secondly, have I completely ruined it by using super glue and aqua seal to repair? The big bummer to me is that after looking at this site, I could have bought a brand new Zodiac that's 11'6" for a little more than $1,000. Anyway, I'm pretty bummed out and looking for advice. I have a feeling this boat could be a lemon or was just not checked out properly at the shop where I took it to be repaired. Thanks.
 

Peter_C

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jun 7, 2009
Messages
193
Re: Major Issues with Zodiac

Did the $1000 for the boat include a motor and trailer?

What fabric material is the boat made out of Hypalon or PVC?
 

TOHATSU GURU

Admiral
Joined
Jul 22, 2004
Messages
6,164
Re: Major Issues with Zodiac

It's an old boat, things fall apart and that's life. I am constantly telling people, that bring in boats with seam failures, to throw the things away, rather than repair them. Not because they can't be fixed, but because more seams will come apart tomorrow, next week or next month. That should have been made clear to you by the repair center before they did the repair on what had failed. They didn't and if I were you I would be ticked off. The super glue and aqua seal residue can be removed, but I would throw the boat in a dumpster and move on. Old PVC boats are a money pit and should be avoided like the plague.
 

Sea Rider

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Sep 20, 2008
Messages
12,345
Re: Major Issues with Zodiac

Welcome to the forums,

You should have posted here before buying to get a decent advise : stay away from that oldie, and not after you went for it, you have learned the hard and expensive way...

Happy Boating
 
Joined
Jun 30, 2012
Messages
2
Re: Major Issues with Zodiac

The boat did come with an Evinrude 15hp engine which is quite nice.

Funny: the boat is holding air this morning nicely but I worry about seams bursting while I'm using it (unless the super glue is actually awesome). Had we been in the water we would have been swimming, the whole boat went flat.
 

TOHATSU GURU

Admiral
Joined
Jul 22, 2004
Messages
6,164
Re: Major Issues with Zodiac

Super glue will not even work as an emergency adhesive. It can't take the pressure on an air holding seam.
 
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