2002 Glastron SX185

[Flysooner9]

2002 glastron 18ft fish and ski

Strongly considering this boat. Looked at it yesterday and it's about as clean as it looks. Boat has 58 hours on it. Was owned by an elderly couple who would just fish and cruise on it. List is 8700 seems like a fair price. Trailer is in good shape. May need tires soon but other then that looks great. Planning on lake testing it this weekend.

Opinions?

 

[dan02gt]

Re: 2002 Glastron SX185

It does look pretty clean, and the price looks OK. Pending the lake test I think it's a winner.

Ask about maintenance things like when the water pump impeller was replaced last, lower unit oil changed, bellows and manifolds replaced (if ever). That will give you an idea if you're going to need to do any maintenance in the near future.

 

[pckeen]

Re: 2002 Glastron SX185

$8700 for a boat with 58 hours strikes me as a great deal. A moderately used boat will have 40 hours put on it in a season. If you agree to buy it, make the agreement subject to a satisfactory inspection by a marine mechanic (which you would pay for). Get the mechanic to check over everything. Better to spend $100-$200 for an inspection, and get either: confirmation that you are getting a good deal (peace of mind), or confirmation that there are problems you were not aware of (in which case you won't get surprised two weeks later).

 

[Flysooner9]

Re: 2002 Glastron SX185

Yeah certainly planning on the inspection. Owners all ready agreed to it. Would it matter to do the inspection before or after the lake test?

 

[pckeen]

Re: 2002 Glastron SX185

Shouldn't matter - I would do the lake test first - that way you have some information to give to the inspector.

 

[redneck joe]

Re: 2002 Glastron SX185

see if the inspector can go on the lake test

 

[Brian 26]

Re: 2002 Glastron SX185

Yes that is a very good deal. however I do not know the Oklahoma market so everything I say pertains to the MN market. How on earth has that boat been sitting out there for a month?? Maybe his price was higher a month ago?? If I had that boat up here in the spring I would sell it for 13 or 14k. Assuming nothing is wrong with it of course.

Issues I see:
That is not a SX 185, they did not make one in 02, it's a GX 185 or a SX 195 (not a big deal either way)
That is not a fish and ski, it's just the standard ski model
His ad says "never used", I'm assuming he means figuratively?? Obviously it's been used.
Some of those had hour meters and some didn't so the "50 hours" stated may be an estimate - which of course holds much less weight than actual

In short, go buy that thing ASAP before someone else does.

 

[Flysooner9]

Re: 2002 Glastron SX185

It does have an hour meter. Total of 58 hours.

 

[crabby captain john]

Re: 2002 Glastron SX185

$8700 for a boat with 58 hours strikes me as a great deal. A moderately used boat will have 40 hours put on it in a season. If you agree to buy it, make the agreement subject to a satisfactory inspection by a marine mechanic (which you would pay for). Get the mechanic to check over everything. Better to spend $100-$200 for an inspection, and get either: confirmation that you are getting a good deal (peace of mind), or confirmation that there are problems you were not aware of (in which case you won't get surprised two weeks later).

Up north a moderately used boat may on put 40 hours a season but in temperate zones Here 100 hours a season is moderate for those that put them up for a couple cold months. Some of us use the boat all year. 70s this week and I'll be out. When I lived up north and trolled the Great Lakes 400 hours a season was not unusual. Here I run to the ocean and put 250 - 350 hours on every year. I'd be more concerned about a 12 year old boat with 50 hours than with 500. Motors sit and gaskets and rubber deteriorates. I would think this boat needs or soon will $1000 in maintenance. No reason to own a boat for 40 hours a season ~~ less expensive to charter.

 

[Flysooner9]

Re: 2002 Glastron SX185

Well heres an update for anyone wondering. Attempted a lake test this past weekend. Trim motor wasn't working and we also didn't seem to be getting water through the engine. So the Lake test never really started. Owner took the boat to a shop and had the water pump replaced. While changing the water pump they found a freeze plug had been pushed out. Replaced the freeze plug and ran it and found water in the oil within minutes. Sounds like they either didn't winterize or did a **** poor job of it. Most likely a cracked block their hands.

Its a real shame because the boat is beautiful otherwise. The shop quoted him 4k for a new block. He hasn't decided what he wants to do with it yet. My question is if the owner decided to still sell it at a greatly discounted price would it be worth it to still buy and have the block replaced ourselves?

 

[redneck joe]

Re: 2002 Glastron SX185

yes buy it if he drops price.


As i was riding with the new owners of our last boat from our slip to his, one of my transmissions went out. I dropped the price on the spot or offered to repair and renegotiate. He took the lower price.

 

[its_shaun12]

Re: 2002 Glastron SX185

That's too bad for everyone. Did the owner elaborate in regards to what happened with the motor? (i.e. did he admit to never having it winterized) or did he seem equally surprised that the block was cracked?

 

[pckeen]

Re: 2002 Glastron SX185

Ouch. I assume that $4k is the installed price?

You now have a boat that cannot be lake tested effectively, with an engine with unknown problems. It does make sense at a greatly discounted price but you should allow for the possibility of finding and fixing further problems once the block is replaced.

 

[Maclin]

Re: 2002 Glastron SX185

To find the right boat I think a person has to be ready to NOT buy one. On this one, just depends on your resources and state of mind as to what effort (less $, more pain) and/or expense (less pain, more $) you are prepared to go thru before you have a lake and fun ready boat. If they decide to fire sale it for $3000-$3500 you have some room if you have the wherewithal to get 'er done so to speak. I would think starting at $2500 would be accepable amount to start because you really do not know the extent of the "bad" here, though might seem low to the seller at first. The condition it is in is "their bad" and if they do not sell now it can only get into worse condition, so, who knows.

 

[Brian 26]

Re: 2002 Glastron SX185

The guy was way under priced for a running boat. If he's now going to offer you a $4k or more discount I'd say take it.