Is it standard practice to test drive boat and get a survey? (newbie buyer)

[BRICH1260]

I live in the Midwest also. I have bought a boat without an inspection or trial. I did have the engine started on muffs. I knew enough about what to look for. I was not hurt and ended up with a good purchase. I think you have to look at the total condition of the boat and the seller and his other possessions. Does he look like someone that takes care of his stuff or is his house and car and yard in disarray.

For the size boat you are buying, and money being spent you could do it without a sea trial and inspection. If you are not mechanically and boat inclined, take someone with you that is. Just be ready to accept that if something goes wrong after that you accepted that possibility.

 

[aladin_sane]

I sold my last boat late last summer to a very nervous first time boat buyer. I took him on three separate test drives. On the other hand, I just completed purchasing my new boat. I live in Iowa, the boat was in Wisconsin. I did have a complete inspection by a marine tech. I have not had the new boat on the water yet, but I am confident that all will be well once the ice is out.

 

[Maclin]

Even with a sea trial you will encounter problems later that maybe should have been apparent. My current boat had not been advertised yet, it was sea trialed by the broker, and was still wet from that trial the first time I saw it. I went for a ride a week or so later when the paperwork was ready. I got 6 trips out of it with no issues, then on the 7th trip the engine coupler spun. Still not sure what the history was on that, but just saying you have to be ready to absorb any and all costs from things that go bump in the night (or fail during the day).

 

[Blind Date]

For me it depends on the risk/what I'm spending. I drove to Cincinnati from Minneapolis to buy "Blind Date" 14 years ago. No way in he!! would I have dragged that home without a sea trial. Which is good because the sea trial is what sealed the deal for me.

The 1985 CVX18 is bought last November I didn't bother with a sea trial. Didn't pay that much for it & I trusted the guy that sold it to me enough that I almost didn't even bother to start it in the driveway. I have no worries that it will run like a champ when I pull it out of storage this spring.

 

[On Holiday]

We purchased our first boat from a marina during the winter (Sea Ray 180), no sea trial, had them store the boat for the remainder of the winter. Came spring they went through the how toos. We sold that boat about 10 years later in the winter. The new buyers just peaked over the sides and purchased the boat. I asked if they wanted to jump in and they didn't see the need to.

When looking at our 2nd boat we visited a marina and I requested a sea trial however they refused to sea trial the boat we wanted but would let us take a similar but different boat out. We left the dealer.

We purchased our second boat from a private sale, we met them at the water and did a 10 min sea trial. The boat was then placed back on the trailer and we negotiated a price. We came back the following week with the money as the bank had the title.

I would recommend a sea trial prior to agreeing to purchase a boat.

 

[pullin]

Even with a sea trial you will encounter problems later that maybe should have been apparent... I got 6 trips out of it with no issues, then on the 7th trip the engine coupler spun.

I would stress this as well. I had a fairly detailed sea trial on my Sea Ray 270 with a licensed surveyor. I think he did a very good job and was thorough. But as I mentioned in another thread, something big let go in my outdrive 100 hours later and it destroyed itself before I got back to the dock. A brand new Bravo 3 from Mercury ain't cheap. Always hold some in reserve for unexpected problems. If I had spent my entire boat-fund in the purchase, I'd be on the beach now.

If it matters, the survey and sea trial cost around $650 and took most of a day. It included a hull examination (with a mallet and some sort of moisture detector, and quite a lot of time on plane and high throttle settings. It also included an appraisal of current value, research into typical value (when sold new), buy/don't buy recommendation, and a list of all problems and faults. The original owner fixed some of the expensive problems, and I assumed responsibility for the rest.

Part of the reason I bought the boat was the owner's complete lack of concern in allowing us to test it on-water (he offered to take it out the first time I viewed it, before I'd contracted with a surveyor). I had passed on several earlier boats because the owners were hesitant to take it out.

 

[jkust]

I suppose at least this most recent purchase, the one where I really had to put some trust in the seller, we are in a massively different financial position than we were when we bought our first boat back more than a decade ago. We don't have financial limitations any longer so I can play the odds and if a boat ends up getting the best of me, i'm only concerned with time that the boat is not on our boat lift as time is far more important and hard to come by than money. Back ten years ago, it was the opposite and a lemon of a used boat meant something very different.