Deferred Maintenance on 1st Used Purchase ??

[crqflier]

Do you do routine maintenance and keep records?

As I've been looking around I've noticed that the boats I'm looking at have little to no maintenance history. Specifically, I'm looking at 18-22 foot bowriders with 4.3l to 5.7l merc or volvo engines, 5-10 years old, and 50-150 hours. All the boats I've looked at are visually really clean. But when I ask about maintenance, the answers have almost always been limited to oil changes or break/fix.

For a 5-10 year old machine, I guess I would have expected gear oil, impellers, hoses, belts, plugs, seals, and various other wear and time based routine maintenance. Am I missing something? Is it normal to not do those items routinely? Or am I just finding owners who neglected the maintenance?

I'll be getting an inspection done on whatever I finally decide to buy - but I'm wondering if no routine maintenance should be a show stopper because i'll be due for a couple grand in "make up" maintenance.

 

[zbnutcase]

Re: Deferred Maintenance on 1st Used Purchase ??

People are horrible at routine maintenance on their CARS, let alone on something that usually gets used 6-12 times a year!

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: Deferred Maintenance on 1st Used Purchase ??

One 17 footer 3.0 merc I bought came with the entire history file. All work done, invoices from a marina that was ripping the guy off huge, and everything else - even fuel receipts for about 10 years.

I kept no records before age 40. I could actually remember everything that I had done. Now, I keep a log.

 

[crqflier]

Re: Deferred Maintenance on 1st Used Purchase ??

People are horrible at routine maintenance on their CARS, let alone on something that usually gets used 6-12 times a year!

Ugh. That's what I'm finding. I really don't want to negotiate a price, pay $500 for an inspection, only to find a couple grand in "obvious" deferred maint. Over time I plan to do the maint myself. But having never owned or worked on a boat, my guess is I'll be paying someone for initial stuff.

 

[paultjohnson]

Re: Deferred Maintenance on 1st Used Purchase ??

Ugh. That's what I'm finding. I really don't want to negotiate a price, pay $500 for an inspection, only to find a couple grand in "obvious" deferred maint. Over time I plan to do the maint myself. But having never owned or worked on a boat, my guess is I'll be paying someone for initial stuff.

The best money I spent on my boat was paying someone in the know to SHOW ME how to do the initial stuff . And how to wintetrize and all that. Get a good manual. So much great info also on line!

 

[Adirondack]

Re: Deferred Maintenance on 1st Used Purchase ??

Many boats are poorly maintained. Folks throw them in the water a couple times a year, run the heck out of them, and forget them till the next year. The old saying "rode hard and put away wet". It will be the rare boat where you find documented regular maintainance from a pro. The tally will shock you. A do it yourself'er may keep parts receipts, but generally won't document the routine procedures. I suppose I should, but don't. I just do everything every year, and most of the materials aren't boat specific so it just comes off my automotive shelf.

When you purchase a used boat, as long as it runs well at that time, just figure in the cost of a full going thru. Including water pump impeller. If it's on the water and you can get a test ride all the better. Many problems caused by poor maintainence are very evident during a short cruise. At the very least have it started on muffs. Listen for the same type sounds you would listen for when buying a car. Observe the engine running, looking for water coming from places it shouldn't. Observe all helm gages for normal readings. Look at the oil on the dipstick checking to be sure it's not water contaminated. If equipt with a gear lube reseroir make sure it's filled to level, and not contaminated. If no reservoir pull the vent plug on the drive to check the same. Make sure the trim system works in both directions, and trailer mode. Helm turns smooth and easy. Shift and throttle operate smoothly. That's just the drive system.

Another big concern with used boats is wood rot. Most boats seats, cushions, and other "creature comforts" are wood. Check things like seat bases covered or in contact with carpet. I have seen some boats that look pretty good, but underneath had some pretty rotted wood. If constantly in a wet environment wood can rot in a very short time.



Like buying a used car. There is no way to see into the future. You can only buy what is now.

 

[egclassic]

Re: Deferred Maintenance on 1st Used Purchase ??

I do all the routine maintenance on all of my vehicles myself, and I definitely keep a log. I created a simple Excel spread sheet for each vehicle. I usually do not keep the receipts for stuff like oil and filters, only for larger ($$) items, but I do track the cost of the oil and stuff on the sheet.
I know, anybody can make up a quick "fake" log when it comes time to sell something if you don't have receipts to back it up.

 

[crqflier]

Re: Deferred Maintenance on 1st Used Purchase ??

Thanks for the perspective. I guess I'm surprised that regardless of whether records were kept, none of the boat owners have claimed any maintenance other than oil changes and break/fix. Almost as if to say, "hey, it's great, i've done nothing in ten years except change the oil" - which, since they are selling I guess is good news for them...

 

[sethjon]

Re: Deferred Maintenance on 1st Used Purchase ??

Do you do routine maintenance and keep records?

As I've been looking around I've noticed that the boats I'm looking at have little to no maintenance history. Specifically, I'm looking at 18-22 foot bowriders with 4.3l to 5.7l merc or volvo engines, 5-10 years old, and 50-150 hours. All the boats I've looked at are visually really clean. But when I ask about maintenance, the answers have almost always been limited to oil changes or break/fix.

For a 5-10 year old machine, I guess I would have expected gear oil, impellers, hoses, belts, plugs, seals, and various other wear and time based routine maintenance. Am I missing something? Is it normal to not do those items routinely? Or am I just finding owners who neglected the maintenance?

I'll be getting an inspection done on whatever I finally decide to buy - but I'm wondering if no routine maintenance should be a show stopper because i'll be due for a couple grand in "make up" maintenance.

Sounds like the people you ahve talked to don't know what they have done. An impeller will only go 2-3 yrs if you don't change it so they all have done a few times. They also would have had to do OD maintenance or it would have failed. Bottom line is most people are probably no better than they are with their car. When you find a real clean boat you'll be able to tell if it was abusued.

 

[6meter]

Re: Deferred Maintenance on 1st Used Purchase ??

Always do my own maintenance and repairs and have kept zero records. Plus the fact that I never planned on selling the boat when I bought it new 24 yrs ago.

 

[jkust]

Re: Deferred Maintenance on 1st Used Purchase ??

When the boats are only say 5 years old it is easy to just call the dealership where the maintainance was performed during the warranty period. When I bought my Chaparral it was just past the engine break in hours and I simply called the local Chap dealer and got the records consisting of oil changes/fluids and winterizations plus a replaced winch rope. Now that I will do the full 100 hour maintainance this fall, that is where I'd be concerned if I bought used and it wasn't performed. The 100 hour maintainance involves a lot of replacing parts that are probably just fine but done preventatively so easy to skip if you are short sighted or short of funds. On an older boat I suppose it'd be a bonus to have records but on a newer boat I'd expect it.

 

[convergent]

Re: Deferred Maintenance on 1st Used Purchase ??

You buy something used there is a risk... the older it is, the more risk you take. I have bought two used boats this year and neither came with maintenance records. In discussions with the sellers, they told me what they had done for maintenance and given the conversations, I believe what they told me. If someone is talking like they know what they are doing, and they've had the boat for years, then they have probably done it. To me, its the whole package you put together... visible condition, how they are storing it, how they are taking care of it, how they are talking about the history. You have to put it all together and make a judgement call on whether they are credible or not. In both cases I had a mechanic look things over, but I only paid $140, not $500 for that service. Just because someone took it into a marina to have all their maintenance done doesn't mean they've overall cared for the boat properly. A person who's doing their own stuff may be much more aware about how to operate and care for the boat better, but have no records. Its all about assessing the risk based on the information available.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Deferred Maintenance on 1st Used Purchase ??

I could give a rats butt about past history. Past history tells you nothing about the condition of the motor today.

What does changing the oil regualry have on the fact that the timing chain is about to let go or it has a bad lifter?
I get a better idea of the condition of the boat by looking in the bilge, looking at the inside of the oil cap, and running a compresion test than any amount of history could ever tell me. If I find fresh oil in the motor or the lower unit in the middle of the season that turns me off to the boat very quickly.

 

[BF]

Re: Deferred Maintenance on 1st Used Purchase ??

It's easier if you just assume there has been little or no maintenance done no matter what they say (unless documented). When I bought an I/O boat and the previous owner told me they hadn't done anything in 5 years except oil changes. I bought it anyway, but knew I'd be pullling the lower unit (I/O) to do water pump, prob replace gimbal bearng and grease/replace the U-joints. I appreciated knowing up front that stuff had been neglected. I've also bought OB's where they said they replaced the impeller 2 seasons ago, and had only a handful of hours on it since. I checked anyway after buying it, and the impeller was obviously many years old and falling apart. Maybe the seller was telling me what he thought I wanted to hear, or maybe it was an honest mistake... he owned several OBs, so maybe he got mixed up (?). So, whenever I buy a new boat or motor, I always go through it anyway, no matter what the claimed history is. Doubley so with respect to trailers and whether the bearings have been inspected and greased. I always ask, and usually they are adamant they were repacked not long ago, but really it doesn't matter what the answer is, b/c I'll be pulling the bearings off for inspection greasing as soon as it gets home anyway. That's how I know that many people don't know that there are inner bearings in addition to the outer ones that you see when you knock off the dust cap.
I've bought more than one trailer where the outer bearings had received an annual smudge of grease, but the inner ones had obviously not been looked at since the trailer was new!

Just assume that the previous owner doesn't know how to maintain anything, and you won't be disappointed.

 

[superpop]

Re: Deferred Maintenance on 1st Used Purchase ??

BF is dead on, the boat I have now only had 30 or so hours on it when I purchased it and the owner had just spent 800 bucks on a tune up and 20 hour service, and I have the receipt. But guess what, even though the receipt had a fuel filter on it, when I spun the old one off last year to replace it, it was obvious that the filter had never been replaced. I am guessing the plugs and other items were not touched either. O well, I just did a complete service myself and now I know it is all set. The only way to predict what your costs are going to be from year to year is to start with a known baseline, if you service everything yourself then you have a good baseline and can go from there. And I would learn how to do the maint yourself, it is not very hard and will save you a ton of cash plus you will know it is done right and not half assed.

Kind of a funny story but on my last boat I told the buyer to go to this sight and search by my user name and he could pretty much see all of the work I put into that boat just by looking at the few hundred posts I posted with questions on how to fix just about everything on the boat.

 

[JimS123]

Re: Deferred Maintenance on 1st Used Purchase ??

My boat is 26 years old and I bought it new. I have a ship's log and its kept in the boat's glove department. It's a big one. I can tell you the date every service was done to the boat, and what the engine hours were at the time. I can also tell you every single time the boat was launched, where it was launched, who came along, what the water temperature was and how the fish were biting.

I do 90% of my own maintenance, but every 5 or 6 years I call in a trusted mechanic to go thru the boat in case I missed something.

Doing your own maintenance is fine, but without the log how do you know when to do it? Some things I do based on hours, and others based on years. My memory aint that good.

When I bought the boat, it was done with much research and many years of boating. My intention was to never sell it. When I die, I'm sure my sons will get a premium price for it just because of the documentation. Then again, if they don't, not my worry...LOL.