Well, we must be in that 2% that gets super lucky. Seems to be extremely rare after reading all of the horror stories on here!
We paid $250 to have the boat looked at by a pro tech and had the floor cut out where the repairs are to be made.
I'll spare all the irrelevant details but the transom is solid and we're told the stringers are dry and in fine condition. The engine needs a tune-up (new plugs, wires) but he said the MerCruiser 5.7L V8 runs well and has good compression.
We know the boat wasn't sitting abandoned somewhere because it had been in a hoist and fully covered when not in use. It was also stored indoors off-season at the same marina we bought it from. We know the brother-in-law of the guy who traded it in towards a new boat, and they were the original owners.
Someone above mentioned we probably paid $5-6k in our area but we paid way less than that as the marina sold it to us for a bit over trade-in with the agreement that we'd store it there over winter and rent a slip in 2014 (which we planned on doing anyhow). It had only been traded in a few days prior so they also said we'd have to pay for the tune-up, which is something they typically do before advertising a boat for resale. Not a big deal and they had already gone over the boat otherwise.
Quite obviously, the tech couldn't check the entire interior structure with only two 2' cuts but he felt confident considering how good everything looked at the stern.
The soft spots were under each jump seat and he thinks the wood rotted there specifically because A) that's where people would re-enter the boat or sit after swimming or tubing; and B) because the soft spots were right around the screws from where the seats were affixed to the decking.
The screws were rusted and he doesn't think sealant was used, or if it was, it just wore. He also said that the soft spots were in the exact same place on each side...same spot under each seat and progressively worse when you fanned out from the screw locations. Beyond that, he reported that rest of the floor was solid. No flexing, arcing, or soft spots, even around the ski locker.
Since we're looking at this as a 3-5 season boat, he recommended not tearing up the entire deck and said it should be fixable with marine-grade plywood at a cost of $300-$400 depending on who does the repair.
I'm not discounting all of the great advice given above, I'm just stating the condition of this particular boat. Had we not known a bit of the boat's history or gotten it at such a good price, the soft spot would have scared us off. But we felt it was worth a $250 gamble to have it looked at. Worst case, we'd be out $250, but we'd have saved ourselves a massive headache.
To others with a soft spot or two, it's not always doom and gloom. I'm sure it's probable, but it's not always the case. In our situation, I know we got lucky, and I'm so glad we made the initial investment for an inspection.
