How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

[jallen100]

I bought my boat off of Craigslist. I spoke with the guy several times so he knows that its a 4 hour drive each way for me. "Oh the boat is in mint condition blah blah blah, if you get here and dont like it then you dont buy it". I have to say the boat was in awesome shape, new floor, new interior ect ect. He tells me how well he took care of the boat and how he tuned it up at the end of last season. I didnt do a lake trial but he did fire it up for me and it sounded great. So now that I am taking it out more and more the problems are surfacing. Here is whats going on so far.

Bad Gimble bearing
Bad U Joint Bellows
Bad steering cables
battery keeps draining, I am assuming from the joke of a wiring job on the cd player. I have to unhook the batt every time I shut the boat off. Gonna need to install a master kill switch and fix the bad wiring job on the stereo.
I think the bilge pump went out. I'm not for sure because the boat does not take on any water so I have not had to use it yet. When he flipped the switch it worked. I tried it the other day and nothing. Im not sure if it only works when its under water or not and yes I know not to run them dry. It was a 1 second on/off test
Fuel gauge works when it decides to
Dealing with a stalling issue now, that I am investigating this weekend

Thats all I can think of off the top of my head. I guess it could have been much worse but it kills me how people try to pass stuff off as in perfect condition when its not

 

[sw33ttooth]

Re: How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

what type of engine is it omc, merc? if its omc and its stalling most likely its your ESA easy fix if it just needs to be reset. sucks when stuff happens like that. when i bought my four winns last year it was a 3 hour drive 1 way get there with cash, test drive it then he tells me the tittle is in california with his brother................you stupid mother @$^#%#!!! now i take a 3 hour drive home and wait 3-4 days and take another 6 hour drive to pick it up. hope it all works out for ya if not i will be patroling the forums awaiting your questions.

 

[cheejudo]

Re: How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

thats not too bad.. my entire trailer wheel fell off after i put the boat in the water and pulled off the ramp i can only thank god that it didnt fall off on the highway

 

[mphy98]

Re: How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

I have not ever been burned on a boat. I am very careful before buying. Even the latest tinny, I spoke with the marina before hand and knew exactly what I was getting. Homework prevents headaches.

 

[jallen100]

Re: How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

what type of engine is it omc, merc? if its omc and its stalling most likely its your ESA easy fix if it just needs to be reset. sucks when stuff happens like that. when i bought my four winns last year it was a 3 hour drive 1 way get there with cash, test drive it then he tells me the tittle is in california with his brother................you stupid mother @$^#%#!!! now i take a 3 hour drive home and wait 3-4 days and take another 6 hour drive to pick it up. hope it all works out for ya if not i will be patroling the forums awaiting your questions.

Its a merc. The thing that gets me the most is that the guy would not budge on the price because "Everything was perfect and the boat didnt need anything". HA HA Year right. I would have been ok if he would have worked with me on the price a little. I spent 500 getting the gimble bearing and u joint bellows replaced. I am gonna do the rest of the repairs myself. I hoenstly think it just needs a tune up and that will fix the stalling issues. I believe the idle may be a tad low as well. We shall see . Maybe its just me but it seems like everytime I take it out I find something that needs replaced or that I wanna change and or fix.

 

[jallen100]

Re: How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

thats not too bad.. my entire trailer wheel fell off after i put the boat in the water and pulled off the ramp i can only thank god that it didnt fall off on the highway

Holy Crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Sixmark]

Re: How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

thats not too bad.. my entire trailer wheel fell off after i put the boat in the water and pulled off the ramp i can only thank god that it didnt fall off on the highway

Did you check the wheel bearing, lug nuts, etc. Before you took it out?

that falls on you just as much as the previous owner.

 

[2300max]

Re: How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

I know the feeling....The guy I bought my boat from said everything was good to go trailer was great so and so on. Well I found the brakes were shot and some other things were broken. I always factor in the " I really don't believe you" and budget from there when it comes to buying used, it keeps me sane.

 

[sw33ttooth]

Re: How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

Maybe its just me but it seems like everytime I take it out I find something that needs replaced or that I wanna change and or fix.

well guess what boat stands for? Bring Out Another Thousand. i have the same issue every time i go out i want to clean this and clean that... i let my 5 year old nefew drive threw the channel while i clean the windshield. well i watch for the other boats but if he can keep it some what away from everything i dont care. i have some ocd issues and unelss the white seats are pure white they arnt clean enough if theres 1 spot on it i must reclean them.

 

[Bob's Garage]

Re: How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

You have more than an OCD issue, letting your 5 yr. old nephew drive, glad you live in Michigan!!

Most of us have had issues with buying used boats but heck, you can have issues when you buy new. I know from experience and it hurts just as much if not more when it is new and the dealer and manufacturer have folded their tents.

 

[Beefer]

Re: How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

How long have you had the boat? Some of the problems you listed may not have been known by the seller, and are only now starting to rear their ugly head. Things like bellow can easily go unnoticed, during a season, and then the following year they are more noticeable. The issue with the wiring should have been apparent at the time you looked at purchasing the boat, so I'll go with 'buyer's inspection oversight' on that. How did he turn off the engine when you were there? Bilge pumps fail, just like light bulbs. Works today, not working tomorrow. As long as the engine runs, and the hull floats, you're way ahead of many CL boat buyers out there.... Happy Boating!

 

[southkogs]

Re: How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

I think it depends on the deal. I bought a used boat that was in good shape (really excellent shape) but with a transmission issue. It had some other problems too that I knew I'd have to address, but the price was WAAAYY below my budget to buy. I did critical repairs last year - used the boat - picked up on the non-criticals this year - and will hopefully have everything wrapped up at the end of the month (doing the "shade tree" stuff myself in my spare time). Even if I have to do a $500 repair this year, I'll still be under my original purchase budget (probably including fuel!) with a VERY nice boat.

Obviously it goes boat by boat, but I don't think I could wind up with the same deal purchasing at the top of my budget with what I was seeing on the market.

It also helps to get used to workin' on 'em.

 

[jallen100]

Re: How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

How long have you had the boat? Some of the problems you listed may not have been known by the seller, and are only now starting to rear their ugly head. Things like bellow can easily go unnoticed, during a season, and then the following year they are more noticeable. The issue with the wiring should have been apparent at the time you looked at purchasing the boat, so I'll go with 'buyer's inspection oversight' on that. How did he turn off the engine when you were there? Bilge pumps fail, just like light bulbs. Works today, not working tomorrow. As long as the engine runs, and the hull floats, you're way ahead of many CL boat buyers out there.... Happy Boating!

It is a 91 and I bought it in Feb of this year. I noticed most of the issues on the first time out. The bad gimble bearing sounded like a rod knocking in the motor and the steering was so fricken hard it was not even funny. The bellow was only noticed because the drive had to be pulled for the Gimble bearing and it was full of water. I honestly didnt even look at the wiring until I started looking for the source of my battery drain, (my fault on that one). Someone along the way had restored the boat and obviously they just didnt like wiring or didnt know how. Overall the boat is super clean and there are just minor issues but all I asked was for him to be up front with me. He had to have known about some of these issues.

 

[lipinski]

Re: How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

Don't mind me, I'm just going to vent a little here... Maybe it'll be therapeutic.

I feel your pain.

I'm the new owner of a 03 Princecraft Deckboat. Purchased from a used Auto/Boat dealer that has been in business 20+ years. He had videos of it running online, tons of pics, etc. Thing sounded great when running. Few minor problem noticeable - few seat tears, broken docking light, etc. the used stuff I'd expect

According to the dealer, this boat was "Full serviced and ready for the water".

Because of the distance between us, he met me halfway, and I purchased the boat without having it in the water. Ironically, I figured buying from a dealer with 20+ yrs is better than "some guy" on Craigslist. (I was mistaken...)

Put boat in water, ran good, etc. Docked it and noticed the bilge pump kicking on every 10-15 min. Took to marina, they said shift bellows seemed bad. Also, the flame arrestor was not secured to the top of the carb, plus battery kept dying. $1400 for shift bellows, shift cable, battery, and new carb (yes - broken mount on carb and Merc will only sell the entire carb for $700).

Three weeks later, get boat back, put in water. Bilge still kicking on every 10-15 min. Pull it out and notice significant water coming out of keel cap holes. Long story short, tore boat apart and found there was a 8-10" crack in the aluminum hull that someone covered with bondo, painted, and put keel bumper over. Turns out it was not one crack, but many, and cost $1800 for a welder to repair.

Boat back in water (still needing cosmetic cleanup from weld job), and now bilge kicks on every 6-8 hours, and battery seems to drain itself in about 2-3 days (probably not possible from bilge, see this thread. Since I have flooring removed, I can tell it's not any of the welding - that's holding good, so the leak is somewhere in the stern.

Here I am, 5 weeks after purchasing a boat that was "fully serviced and ready for the water", and my boat is on the trailer with every piece of furniture removed, 75% of the decking removed, countless hours of messing with this thing and hauling it around town for repairs, now I'm waiting on my order of marine tex, and trying to figure out the battery problem myself. $3200 thus far and probably a few more hundred to go. "Bring Out Another Thousand" - ya got that right.

Many lessons learned on this one... Trying to learn from my mistakes, and hoping I'll get to enjoy at least half the summer on the water.

Told my wife, this is to the point of comical. It will make a good story for the lakeside bonfires (maybe not till next year, though)

 

[jayhanig]

Re: How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

Don't feel too bad; I did the same as you. Everybody warned me but I'm stubborn. At least your boat keeps the ocean out which is more than mine could do on its first trip (now repaired). I still have one final issue with a stiff transmission but I think I've finally cleared up most of its shortcomings over the last 8 months. Mine came with a long list of "repairs" that had been done before it was sold... repairs that I now believe were done in the previous owner's dreams.

If you stay the course you'll end up with a boat.

Knowing what I know now I'd never buy a boat I hadn't had demonstrated on the water first. That's no guarantee but it's better than the crap shoot of picking one based on its appearance and how it sounds on the muffs.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

Found out my 90HP outboard had 140HP carbs on it. Contrary to moron belief, this is not an "upgrade".

 

[haley]

Re: How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

I arrange with the seller to have a mechanic look it over and tune it up. If the mechanic reports back with concerns I pay the bill and walk away. Seller has a free tune up, I avoid a huge headache. I have done this twice. The third time was the charm - great boat, as mechanically sound as the mechanic could determine.

When I sold my 1st sailboat, a 14' West Wight Potter, the seller paid for a Yacht Surveyor. Sounds like overkill but this guy found things wrong that I was unaware of. I was pleased that the seller was making an informed decision. I did not budge on the price but threw in free delivery (Roch NY -> Hartford CT). I was not trying to scam him, just did not know about some of the issues.

When I sold 2nd sailboat, 18' Precision, I took the usual boat selling photographs but also made a point out of photographing any deficiencies. The guy that bought it came in from 8 hours away but there were no surprises when he picked it up (also no chances of last minute haggling).

I love the new boat, but will eventually sell it. When I do I want to take advantage of YouTube. Plenty of photos but a video of it running as well. Preferably on the water illustrating that it runs well and is a boat load of fun.

Sounds like I'm a softy but I have yet to sell a boat for less than what I paid for it! This may be a sailboat thing (less mechanical stuff to go wrong) but the current boat was a steal and I think eventually I can hold my record.

PS With all of that said, on the Sea Trial with me at the helm we dinged the prop so my "new" boat has had its share of shop time as well!

 

[ezmobee]

Re: How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

I love the new boat, but will eventually sell it. When I do I want to take advantage of YouTube. Plenty of photos but a video of it running as well. Preferably on the water illustrating that it runs well and is a boat load of fun.

In my opinion video in your ad is money in the friggin' bank. Think about how much that sets your boat above all those "ran great when I last used it (2 years ago)" ads you see.

 

[emoney]

Re: How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

2 things; a)Never, ever, under any circumstances buy a boat without a sea trial unless you're prepared for issues that need resolved. b)Some of these issues the PO may have not known about. I know you guys up north have seasonal use of your boats and if everything was working correctly when he put it up for the winter, then what he told you was what he actually believed.

No reason to take up for the guy, but just thought it might ease the pain. At this point, it's all mute anyway so fix the few boo-boos and enjoy the heck out of her. Blazing down the water you'll never remember a bad thing.

And, for what it's worth, I've never bought anything used that I didn't assume there was something wrong with. Folks usually don't get rid of things that are in perfect condition, even if they've convinced themselve they have. Most recent boat I bought, the guy actually believed it was in great condition. I assume he didn't realize that he'd drilled all the way through the hull when he installed the cooler seat brackets with 2" screws:facepalm:

 

[Ron-O]

Re: How did you get burned on your boat purchase????

I don't think I was burned on my boat at all. Nothing wrong when I bought it. The previous owner was going through a divorce and I got it cheap... Mine is more of being too OCD about my boat and wanting it perfect at all times.... Let see.. new radio, bottom paint, dual battery setup, new impeller and water pump, carb rebuilt, better prop, new mooring cover, plus a ton of other stuff. The guy at the boat shop just shakes his head when I bring the boat in to be checked. He keeps telling me just drive it, it's fine..... Like my neighbor says "It's going to make someone a nice boat when you sell it."