Bayliner 1990, 1850 Capri (should I buy this?)

[vanionbb]

Hi,

I am pretty new here. I currently have a 16' 60's Larson with a 850 Mercury Tbolt Outboard. It has a chunk of diamond plate on the back (transom probably). It goes and is fun but the wife is a little scared of it, it is unstable in the water, and the seating is very limited, it is sort of smallish. I am thinking of selling it and upgrading to a better boat, with very limited cash. I like to fix things too, so this works for me.

I have a lead on a 1990 Bayliner Capri 1850. The price is less than $1000, but the previous owner (first owner), left the boat plug in and let it sit for 5 years. The boat filled up with water from rain, and the water was up to the bottom of the seat boxes presumably four years. The Upholstery is torn, the motor is a ??, the battery was dead and would not take a charge. Also the power tilt was run out of fluid or something, so it does not work.

There are soft spots in the floor. The ski storage compartment is rotted through next to the compartment opening. The floor rests on this "stringer?" The floor is mush in that area too, next to the captain seat.

Is there any reason I should consider this boat? It is probably technically better than my current boat. Should I make an offer on this boat?

 

[LippCJ7]

Re: Bayliner 1990, 1850 Capri (should I buy this?)

Your going to work your butt of getting it sea worthy, I'll bet your wife will be more scared on the bayliner in its current condition then what you have. I would say no way right now save your money and wait for something better to come along, if however rebuilding a boat from the bottom up is what you want then go for it. Letting water sit in a boat that long is not a very good sign at all.

 

[marktwainsonic]

Re: Bayliner 1990, 1850 Capri (should I buy this?)

Even if you were to decide this thing is worth saving, the price is way off.

I've seen plenty of operating boats for 1000-1500 bucks. That's not to say that they'd be a great decision either, but I could come up with an $750 boat that has more potential than what you've described.

They should pay you to haul it away, then you can decide if you want to invest the time and money into saving it.

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: Bayliner 1990, 1850 Capri (should I buy this?)

NO, walk away. I say this as a guy who has the exact boat. Mine is great, its dry and problem free. However ANY boat that has been left to this kind of treatment resulting in the sort of condition you described is an utter and complete 'walk away'.
Do yourself the biggest favour of the next year....find a different boat and this time, look for ownership treatment and resulting condition as the driving factor, rather than price attraction.
Good Luck
BP

 

[Fireman431]

Re: Bayliner 1990, 1850 Capri (should I buy this?)

I wouldn't walk away. I'd probably run. Waaayyyy too much work for the money and basically, it sounds like it's ready for the dump.

 

[mr 88]

Re: Bayliner 1990, 1850 Capri (should I buy this?)

Do not walk away from this "deal", run from it, Every stringer is going to be rotted, if in a freezing climate even worse. With all the time and money that you would have to pour into a marginal boat your wife will disown you. It is a buyer market at this time of the year, check out CraigsL Do not forget to check in nearby cities on that site.I am not a big fan of bayliner to begin with and this has Disaster written all over it.Be patient grasshopper, lowball the seller,be ready to walk away and you will be rewarded. Just check out the post above this....... " Wife" You did what.... and look what he got for under 800 it can be done you just gotta keep looking.

 

[vanionbb]

Re: Bayliner 1990, 1850 Capri (should I buy this?)

Thank you all for the advice, I will heed it.

Just for fun here is the link on Craigslist.

http://kpr.craigslist.org/boa/2045625462.html

My new question now is, what should I be looking for? I would like either a cuddy or an open bow. We are upgrading from a classic Larson '64 All American with an 85hp Merc outboard. Should I try to fix up the Larson, drop money into the Transom and Deck/stringers to get the boat in top shape, or should I sell and move to a different boat? We live on the Columbia river with a-lot of opportunities for boating, but we are afraid of driving too far from our home base (Kennewick) because the boat is old and we do not want to get stranded.

Thoughts?

 

[Friscoboater]

Re: Bayliner 1990, 1850 Capri (should I buy this?)

Run way from that one. Look for the better named boats around that year. I am partial to glastron, but there are others.

 

[Mark42]

Re: Bayliner 1990, 1850 Capri (should I buy this?)

Nope, not a good deal, even as a fixer up-er. Any boat that sat for years with water up to the seats because the plug was left in should be given away as a free boat. EVERYTHING under the floor will be rotten, rusted or seized.

Keep looking on Craigslist, there are plenty of good project boats out there.

 

[Robbabob]

Re: Bayliner 1990, 1850 Capri (should I buy this?)

Run Vanion, RUN!

 

[Limited-Time]

Re: Bayliner 1990, 1850 Capri (should I buy this?)

And an L-Drive to boot.

 

[SigSaurP229]

Re: Bayliner 1990, 1850 Capri (should I buy this?)

I am willing to take a risk. I have bought several dirt cheap done minor repairs and resold them. A Bayliner Capri is not going to be anymore stable in the water than what you currently have, and is one of the cheapest manufactured boats ever built. I would not even consider that for a project.

 

[NYBo]

Re: Bayliner 1990, 1850 Capri (should I buy this?)

And an L-Drive to boot.

My sentiments exactly. This is an absolute loser.

 

[Sixmark]

Re: Bayliner 1990, 1850 Capri (should I buy this?)

A well saturated Bayliner with a Force L Drive, it's like a rusted out Cadillac powered by a GM Quad 4....................lot's of work to get it to be structurally sound, and once you get it that way, it won't be running long.

 

[Biged007]

Re: Bayliner 1990, 1850 Capri (should I buy this?)

Rotten transom,rotten stringers, and if not rotted Ice split add in a Farce L drive hell I'd only charge him $100.00 to dispose of it.

 

[Biged007]

Re: Bayliner 1990, 1850 Capri (should I buy this?)

Now that we have well ^&% in your corn flakes I have looked at your local C list and was very surprised at the $$ your area demands.
But! you do have options.
Now I have a few questions?
1 how does the Merc run if it is in good shape you might want to hit the local marinas you would be amazed at the deals on good hulls with bad motors that can be had.
2 (upgrade?) Looks,size,horse power or all of the above if size is the main want I did see this one I'm guessing it's late 60's so about the same as your Larson but it is 18' and the Starflites range from 85 to 125 in horse power. Only saying it might be worth an email and some more pics.
lastly you have a long winter to look and are not in a rush.
once again if it were me I would be walking around the local Marinas you might be pleasantly surprised

http://kpr.craigslist.org/boa/2047920132.html
Good luck Ed