Buying in the Winter

[buckeyeboaternut]

I understand if no one has time to answer such a silly question on Christmas day.
I am looking at a 90' 2050 Bayliner with a 4.3L mercruiser motor and outdrive. We live in Ohio so obviously the boat has been winterized. I have inspected everything I could about the boat without starting it. It is in very nice shape with only 55 hours on it. But of course I cannot buy a boat without at least starting it and hearing it run. I dont suppose there is any safe way to go about this without having to re-winterize it when done? I would appreciate any suggestions. BTW the boat is $3850.00.

 

[FreeBeeTony]

Re: Buying in the Winter

We may be the only ones on here today.......noone is up in my house yet!

Only 55hrs on a 20yr old boat???

 

[jetmart]

Re: Buying in the Winter

You could buy it conditional upon a satisfactory run in the spring. Or buy it with a hold back until a run in the spring.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Buying in the Winter

only thing i can think of for buying in the winter is a yacht survey. i can think of no way to test the engine w/o rotating it too. which would mean re winterizing it i'd think.
have to agree with fbt on the hrs.... surely it must be wrong.. the way i get it hr meters can be deceiving anyways. a better way to test the engine is with a compression test...

We may be the only ones on here today

Merry Christmas guys. think i'll be here today dreaming of boating season while it's a blizzard outside right now... i got no where to go...

 

[yankeeflyer]

Re: Buying in the Winter

If the price is right...go for it.I've done it twice now,have'nt been burnt yet.Check work orders done on the boat,check with the marina that did the work.Then if you want dewinterize it,start it and rewinterize.

 

[Fl_Richard]

Re: Buying in the Winter

Re-winterizing is a small price to pay for the warm feeling of knowing you got a good deal on a boat and a motor with good compression.

 

[lprizman]

Re: Buying in the Winter

You could buy it conditional upon a satisfactory run in the spring. Or buy it with a hold back until a run in the spring.

Great advice.
No sea trial or survey no deal.
Merry Christmas all!!

 

[Tommyfmu]

Re: Buying in the Winter

Buckeye, exactly 1 year ago, Dec. 24th to be exact, in 10 degree weather I closed the deal on buying my 1999 Maxum 24 ft. I paid a marine mechanic $50. to come check out the whole boat. There was no way I was buying a boat without having all the systems checked out or you really don't know what's right or wrong. Sure, $3,850. but possibly needing a rebuilt motor and outdrive; $4k more right there.

My mechanic brought down his outdrive muffs, the owner got out his propane torch to unfreeze the hose from his house so we could get tap water to turn it over. IMHO it was the best $50. spent to ensure the major systems were all ok. There were a few things we just couldn't test like the windlass and head pump, but the engine, outdrive, trim tabs, and smaller stuff were all ok. The boat was only unwinterized for a few weeks, through a few freezing spells, but it made it ok. Once I bought it I had it towed to a marina and they winterized for me, although I didn't have it shrinkwrapped for the 4 months it would sit out at the marine because I have a mooring cover. Of course turned out to be a mistake because it snowed every other day for the entire 4 months, but no damage done nonetheless. Good luck!

 

[oops!]

Re: Buying in the Winter

hi ....welcome to i boats....merry christmas !

that is a lot of money for a 90 bayliner.

as far as re winterizing it....no big deal......just drain it and re fog it...

but you must run it or its a gamble

 

[mickjetblue]

Re: Buying in the Winter

Who, Who, Who!!!

I am wondering who is selling this boat - a dealer or a personal owner???

If it's from a dealer, I'd be a little more wary and want at least hear it run.
If it's from the owner, sometimes, right, sometimes, you can judge a person
by their mannerisms and how they talk about the boat. A lot can happen to
a boat in 20 years. How many other owners were there?



Good luck!

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: Buying in the Winter

That would have to be one immaculate boat for the price. Boats in Ohio do seem to sell for twice the amount of similar boats of the southern regions.
It would have to be one heck of a deal for me pull the trigger this time of year.

 

[Alpheus]

Re: Buying in the Winter

I the guy needs the money He will unwinterize it for you. I have to agree that 3800 bucks is a bit much for a 1990 Bayliner. I bought a 1991 2050 with a 5.0 three months ago for 600 bucks. The owner said it was running less than 2 months ago and just needed a headgasket. I am a pretty good judge of character, but I was all wrong in this case.

Got it home pulled the engine and here is hat I found

I put in a new engine (5.7) and sold it for 3 grand and it ran like a top.

 

[JoLin]

Re: Buying in the Winter

You could buy it conditional upon a satisfactory run in the spring. Or buy it with a hold back until a run in the spring.

+1

That's how I bought mine in December 2007. 10% deposit gave me first right of refusal in the Spring. If the boat passed survey and trial I was obligated to buy or lose my deposit. If it didn't we could renegotiate, or I could walk away and get the deposit back.

 

[Mr Happy]

Re: Buying in the Winter

3 years ago I did buy a boat a few days before Christmas. I bought the boat on the condition(dealer) that I would bring it back in the spring and they would attest that I did not run it since I bought it.

The boat would have a 30 day warranty from that date. I slip my boat so I put it in the lake around April 4th. I think I drove it 5 or 6 times during that 30 days.

About 10 days after the warranty period the alarms sounded. Pulled the boat and my marina said that the lower unit blew.

I took it to the dealer in hopes that they would give me a break. $1,800. Not.

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: Buying in the Winter

I know this for sure. NEVER, NEVER ,NEVER BUY AN ENGINE WITHOUT SEEING IT RUN. I dont care about receipts. I dont care what the seller says. I dont care about anything UNTILL I SEE IT RUN......... period.

 

[JoLin]

Re: Buying in the Winter

I know this for sure. NEVER, NEVER ,NEVER BUY AN ENGINE WITHOUT SEEING IT RUN. I dont care about receipts. I dont care what the seller says. I dont care about anything UNTILL I SEE IT RUN......... period.

And not just at idle speed, either. All that'll tell you is that it starts. That isn't worth much.

 

[arks]

Re: Buying in the Winter

FWIW, I sold a boat/ trailer in Feburary 5 years ago. The seller and I pre-determined a price 'dependant on a satisfactory inspection and sea-trial'.
He had to travel 4 hours to see the boat, so we arranged a day and time to come see it and go for a ride. I insisted on a 10% cash deposit before I would de-winterize. Long story short, he liked what he saw so we took the boat to the closest ramp (45 minutes away).

The day was cold and windy but we launched and went for a 45 minute boat ride. It was rough and SOOOO cold but hey, we had a good run and he bought it- with CASH. We went to a notary for the paperwork and temp tag, and he towed it home the same day. All in all, it was a good day.
And yes, I re-winterized before he left.

 

[buckeyeboaternut]

Re: Buying in the Winter

I appreciate all of your responses. You guys will no doubt be able to help me out when I do purchase a boat.Btw the boat is a 92 if that matters. I have been watching and looking for boats in 500 mile radius of central Ohio for about 9 months and I thoutht the price seemed OK. Someone suggested that Ohio boat prices are high. That seems to be correct. But I think I get the point. No run...No buy. I will keep you guys in the loop as to what happens.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Buying in the Winter

I bought my last boat in the dead of winter, but still, it had to run before I would buy it. Better yet, the buyer hadn't started it ahead of time, so it still had fogging oil in and was a pain to start. I expected that, having it turn over as soon as he hit the key would have made me more suspicious than anything else.

But, in this case it was a boat that doesn't have a water pump impeller (jet boat), so I was able to get away running it dry for 10 seconds without a problem.