RotaryRacer
Lieutenant
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2004
- Messages
- 1,361
There is a lot of talk on the forum here about how it is a buyers market. I have been saying it myself. I do think it is true, but I haven't see a lot of strong evidence to support the claim all summer.
This may turn into a bit of a rant and I apologize for that in advance.
This spring I was working on my project boat diligently and trying to get it ready to use this summer. I had good intentions and thought it would be doable. As soon as I got to the heavy work of removing the wood from the transom and started to struggle with it my interest started to wane. As it got hotter outside donning the Tyvek suit and fighting with fiberglass laced perfectly solid wood in the transom became less and less desirable.
It didn't take me long to come up with the notion that maybe I should buy another inexpensive boat. This would allow me to use a boat this summer and keep my family happy while I slowly finished the other boat.
I knew exactly what I wanted...16-18 foot, open bow, v-hull, outboard of modest power (<100hp OMC preferred) and power trim.
So I set a budget of $2k-2.5K. I looked high low for a decent boat in this price range. There are a lot of boats in this prce range. However, I couldn't find one that was even worth looking at in person. I sent many, many e-mails made several phone calls on various boats and didn't find any that were worth the effort to even look at. I may have stopped to look at few along the side of the road but I didn't make any special trips.
So I upped my budget to $3k. Now I started to find some ok boats.
I found a really nice Forester w/70hp Evinrude about 100 miles from my house on craigslist. I exchanged numerous e-mails and a couple of phone calls with the seller. He is a nice guy. I couldn't get over to see it until a Saturday. So, on Friday I got cash from the bank and had the day planned on Saturday to go look at the boat do a water trial and likely drive home pulling the new boat. Friday evening I got an e-mail simply stating that he took a deposit on the boat and he considered it sold. I was disappointed but I can't blame the guy. Who knows maybe the boat wasn't that nice anyways.
So I kept looking. I took some drives to look at junk. Of course now I'm not waiting for a time when it is convenient I am going as soon as I can. I don't want another one to slip away.
I did a 128 mi round trip after work one evening to look at a POS mid 80s Chris Craft with a 140 Johnson that was supposed to be in "Excellent Condition". Soft floor, awefull wiring, dirty, poorly sealed transom holes...just a bad boat, unsafe for use. The guy started at $3200 on craigslist and after a couple of weeks came down to $2800 it was at that point that I took the drive to see it for myself. It is amazing how much you can't see in pictures...even what I thought were pretty good pictures.
Next I took a 140 mi round trip with the family on a Saturday to look at an 86 Starcraft aluminum runabout that was in "near perfect" condition. Softish floor, scratched and dented sides, aweful dock rash, pitted motor....a useable boat but no where near perfect. I had talked to the guy before I went and we agreed that if I wanted the boat I could buy it with a check that day. I didn't buy it but, I may have if he cut $500 off his asking price. I didn't make an offer but I gave him the opportunity to sell the boat. He wasn't interested.
Keep looking...every waking moment at the computer trying different keywords in craigslist, boattrader, iboats etc.
Just before the 4th of July I sold my RX-7 (I have no rotarys anymore) so my budget got a little boost but I kept looking for boats under $4k.
I stopped to look a late 80s 17' Larson with a 70 HP Johnson. It was nice enough, but not great. It had some pretty signicant scratches and there was a hint of softness in the floor. You could see where a cover leaked and let water sit on the floor for some period of time. It also seemed under powered for the size and weight of the boat.
Next hit was a 93 Wellcraft Excel with an 85 HP Yamaha. It was a 77 mi round trip to look what was said to be a "like new" boat. This boat actually was the best that I have looked at. However, it did have some issues. The bilge was disgusting. It was covered in this oily, moldy, musty film that reaked. The seats and carpet were above average. The floor was solid. However, just that day they had friends on the boat that poked 3-4 holes in the seats being careless. I made a reasonable offer below his asking price and he refused.
Sorry this is dragging on so long.
I started looking in the $5k price range last week.
Last Thursday I took a 250 mile round trip drive after work to look at a 94 Four Winns with a 90 HP Johnson. This boat looked ok in pictures. The seller knew very little about boats. As it turns out when he bought the boat 4 years ago he got a bum deal. The floors were rotted bad, one of the stringers had a couple of 2x4s screwed to it to keep the floor supported. The boat was just neglected. It looks like it sat with water in it for long periods of time. Too bad because the hull, upholstery and motor were all pretty nice....testimate that the boat was pretty well made with good quality materials. I had a really nice conversation with the seller about the economy the auto market and life in general. A great guy who will probably be fixing up the boat so the next buyer isn't stuck with it.
In the meantime my wife got interested enough in this search that she started making calls. She called on a boat 275 miles away and we started making plans to go see it this past weekend....we were going to make a family adventure out of it....then I had to be the reasonable one and say we would be nuts to dive that far, get our hopes up about a boat we didn't know anything about, being sold by a guy we had barely talked to.
So, after that there was some serious re-evaluation of my priorities. On Saturday I went out to work on the old boat. Tyvek suit check, safety glasses check, leather gloves check, chisel, pry bars, hammers, various other enemies of wood check. I worked for an hour and got about 3 more pounds worth of wood out of the transom. Sweating, inching and tired I retreated back to the house and started scouring the internet for another boat.
So, I found a 2001 Four Winns 170 Horizon w/90 Johnson about 140 miles from my house. The asking price was about 4 times my original budget. You only live once, I guess. So the rest of the day Saturday was spent thinking about this boat. It was at a dealer and I thought about calling but I resisted. I thought I needed to think through it and sleep on it before I event placed the call. They open at 11 Sunday..I'll wait until then and call right when they open to make a plan to go see it and buy it if it was everything I made it out to be in my head. So, I called. The boat sold 2 days ago....sorry. DANG IT!!!???!!!!!
I am still looking for a boat. I know exactly what I want now.
1997-2003 Four Winns 17' or 18' outboard.
If I could tell the class what I did for summer vacation I would have to say I tried to find a boat to buy...I found several...looked at a lot of junk and didn't get to buy any. UGH.
Buyers Market? I'm not convinced anymore.
This may turn into a bit of a rant and I apologize for that in advance.
This spring I was working on my project boat diligently and trying to get it ready to use this summer. I had good intentions and thought it would be doable. As soon as I got to the heavy work of removing the wood from the transom and started to struggle with it my interest started to wane. As it got hotter outside donning the Tyvek suit and fighting with fiberglass laced perfectly solid wood in the transom became less and less desirable.
It didn't take me long to come up with the notion that maybe I should buy another inexpensive boat. This would allow me to use a boat this summer and keep my family happy while I slowly finished the other boat.
I knew exactly what I wanted...16-18 foot, open bow, v-hull, outboard of modest power (<100hp OMC preferred) and power trim.
So I set a budget of $2k-2.5K. I looked high low for a decent boat in this price range. There are a lot of boats in this prce range. However, I couldn't find one that was even worth looking at in person. I sent many, many e-mails made several phone calls on various boats and didn't find any that were worth the effort to even look at. I may have stopped to look at few along the side of the road but I didn't make any special trips.
So I upped my budget to $3k. Now I started to find some ok boats.
I found a really nice Forester w/70hp Evinrude about 100 miles from my house on craigslist. I exchanged numerous e-mails and a couple of phone calls with the seller. He is a nice guy. I couldn't get over to see it until a Saturday. So, on Friday I got cash from the bank and had the day planned on Saturday to go look at the boat do a water trial and likely drive home pulling the new boat. Friday evening I got an e-mail simply stating that he took a deposit on the boat and he considered it sold. I was disappointed but I can't blame the guy. Who knows maybe the boat wasn't that nice anyways.
So I kept looking. I took some drives to look at junk. Of course now I'm not waiting for a time when it is convenient I am going as soon as I can. I don't want another one to slip away.
I did a 128 mi round trip after work one evening to look at a POS mid 80s Chris Craft with a 140 Johnson that was supposed to be in "Excellent Condition". Soft floor, awefull wiring, dirty, poorly sealed transom holes...just a bad boat, unsafe for use. The guy started at $3200 on craigslist and after a couple of weeks came down to $2800 it was at that point that I took the drive to see it for myself. It is amazing how much you can't see in pictures...even what I thought were pretty good pictures.
Next I took a 140 mi round trip with the family on a Saturday to look at an 86 Starcraft aluminum runabout that was in "near perfect" condition. Softish floor, scratched and dented sides, aweful dock rash, pitted motor....a useable boat but no where near perfect. I had talked to the guy before I went and we agreed that if I wanted the boat I could buy it with a check that day. I didn't buy it but, I may have if he cut $500 off his asking price. I didn't make an offer but I gave him the opportunity to sell the boat. He wasn't interested.
Keep looking...every waking moment at the computer trying different keywords in craigslist, boattrader, iboats etc.
Just before the 4th of July I sold my RX-7 (I have no rotarys anymore) so my budget got a little boost but I kept looking for boats under $4k.
I stopped to look a late 80s 17' Larson with a 70 HP Johnson. It was nice enough, but not great. It had some pretty signicant scratches and there was a hint of softness in the floor. You could see where a cover leaked and let water sit on the floor for some period of time. It also seemed under powered for the size and weight of the boat.
Next hit was a 93 Wellcraft Excel with an 85 HP Yamaha. It was a 77 mi round trip to look what was said to be a "like new" boat. This boat actually was the best that I have looked at. However, it did have some issues. The bilge was disgusting. It was covered in this oily, moldy, musty film that reaked. The seats and carpet were above average. The floor was solid. However, just that day they had friends on the boat that poked 3-4 holes in the seats being careless. I made a reasonable offer below his asking price and he refused.
Sorry this is dragging on so long.
I started looking in the $5k price range last week.
Last Thursday I took a 250 mile round trip drive after work to look at a 94 Four Winns with a 90 HP Johnson. This boat looked ok in pictures. The seller knew very little about boats. As it turns out when he bought the boat 4 years ago he got a bum deal. The floors were rotted bad, one of the stringers had a couple of 2x4s screwed to it to keep the floor supported. The boat was just neglected. It looks like it sat with water in it for long periods of time. Too bad because the hull, upholstery and motor were all pretty nice....testimate that the boat was pretty well made with good quality materials. I had a really nice conversation with the seller about the economy the auto market and life in general. A great guy who will probably be fixing up the boat so the next buyer isn't stuck with it.
In the meantime my wife got interested enough in this search that she started making calls. She called on a boat 275 miles away and we started making plans to go see it this past weekend....we were going to make a family adventure out of it....then I had to be the reasonable one and say we would be nuts to dive that far, get our hopes up about a boat we didn't know anything about, being sold by a guy we had barely talked to.
So, after that there was some serious re-evaluation of my priorities. On Saturday I went out to work on the old boat. Tyvek suit check, safety glasses check, leather gloves check, chisel, pry bars, hammers, various other enemies of wood check. I worked for an hour and got about 3 more pounds worth of wood out of the transom. Sweating, inching and tired I retreated back to the house and started scouring the internet for another boat.
So, I found a 2001 Four Winns 170 Horizon w/90 Johnson about 140 miles from my house. The asking price was about 4 times my original budget. You only live once, I guess. So the rest of the day Saturday was spent thinking about this boat. It was at a dealer and I thought about calling but I resisted. I thought I needed to think through it and sleep on it before I event placed the call. They open at 11 Sunday..I'll wait until then and call right when they open to make a plan to go see it and buy it if it was everything I made it out to be in my head. So, I called. The boat sold 2 days ago....sorry. DANG IT!!!???!!!!!
I am still looking for a boat. I know exactly what I want now.
1997-2003 Four Winns 17' or 18' outboard.
If I could tell the class what I did for summer vacation I would have to say I tried to find a boat to buy...I found several...looked at a lot of junk and didn't get to buy any. UGH.
Buyers Market? I'm not convinced anymore.
