Just buy a boat already....

[F14CRAZY]

Re: Just buy a boat already....

I would also disagree...I would much rather have a bad engine and good stringers, etc rather than a good motor and bad stringers.

Or just do what I did and get a Chris Craft with pure glass stringers

 

[coreybv]

Re: Just buy a boat already....

A large part of this discussion depends on how much work the buyer is capable of doing himself.

Quick story: When I bought my first boat, I didn't know how I/O cooling systems worked. I learned fast. It had a bad impeller and my first time out it overheated. BAD. Blown head gasket and warped head. Called around and getting it repaired by a marine mechanic was going to be anywhere from $1000 to $2000 depending on which shop I took it too.

I bought a head gasket for around $50 bucks, spend $35 to have a machine shop plane the head, and was back on the water for under $100. (I already owned a good torque wrench). Took a Saturday to fix, including the trip to the machine shop.

So, if you're a decent shade-tree mechanic, you're going to have wildly different repair costs than someone that will be dropping the boat off at a dealer for those same repairs.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Just buy a boat already....

there's a time/value aspect of the old boat/cheap boat and DYI other than your time doing the fixing, and that's loss of time on the water due to repairs (which is why, if you must have old boats, have three, so one will be running).

Let's say you live up north and have children in school so your boating season is Memorial Day-Labor Day plus a few weeks on the shoulders, and you are a "weekend family boater." That's about 18 weekends. Scratch 6 due to other obligations, 12 weekends=24 boat days. Knock off 6 for rain/wind. 18 boat days. (It never rains on the weekends when you wouldn't be boating anyway--that a law of nature).

You find a problem Friday night while prepping, cancel the trip, Take it to the mechanic, wait two weeks. Now you have 14 boat days left--but if you have an old boat, it will happen again during the summer.
Or fix it yuorself, but being busy, it may take you a week or two to diagnose, get parts (order online?) get around to fixing, consult iboats, fix again, test.

Worse, arrive at the lake, encounter problem, cancel trip, return home--too late to get the parts to fix it this weekend. Maybe two weekends from now you'll be back at the lake--oops, that's your parent's anniversary picnic, or when you are helping daughter move, whatever.

So 14 boat days out of 365; 2 weeks out of 52. Get your annual cost to own and run, add $800/year repairs, divide the purchase price by 5 (my guess is avg life of used boat is 5 years before you sell it. OK maybe 10.) If it's $4000, it costs you $2000 a week to boat.

Now you might risk $2000 to go to Disneyworld b/c it isn't likely it will be "broke down" when you get there (Hurricanes?) Little risk of wasting your money, and there's trip insurance. Buy a better boat, and you help cover the risk that your annual investment will not be wasted. As much.

So when someone considers buying an old cheap v reliable expensive, they have to take a good hard look at how "break down tolerant" their boating style is. A boat down for a couple weeks is effectively down for the year for many people. Also why you get them running early.

 

[wutevvvver]

Re: Just buy a boat already....

Amen to that

 

[wutevvvver]

Re: Just buy a boat already....

A large part of this discussion depends on how much work the buyer is capable of doing himself.

Quick story: When I bought my first boat, I didn't know how I/O cooling systems worked. I learned fast. It had a bad impeller and my first time out it overheated. BAD. Blown head gasket and warped head. Called around and getting it repaired by a marine mechanic was going to be anywhere from $1000 to $2000 depending on which shop I took it too.

I bought a head gasket for around $50 bucks, spend $35 to have a machine shop plane the head, and was back on the water for under $100. (I already owned a good torque wrench). Took a Saturday to fix, including the trip to the machine shop.

So, if you're a decent shade-tree mechanic, you're going to have wildly different repair costs than someone that will be dropping the boat off at a dealer for those same repairs.

Unless it's an Evinrude and requires $25,000 worth of special tools.......LMAO!!!!!!!!!!

 

[coreybv]

Re: Just buy a boat already....

Unless it's an Evinrude and requires $25,000 worth of special tools.......LMAO!!!!!!!!!!

Good point. I was thinking more of I/O's, which anyone who does automotive work can handle no problem and with very few extra tools.

This is the main reason that I, personally, stick with I/O's rather than outboards. Already having the tools and knowledge to do my own repairs outweighs the advantages that an outboard might have. For me, anyway.

 

[Inside Trader]

Re: Just buy a boat already....

Know where your coming from. Just parked my Double Eagle 185 last night. Took me 8 months to find it. I spent good money and still found a couple of things. At the end of the day I just had to make a choice.

My kids are getting older and I think engaging them in the maintenance part is good. This is the video game generation. Teaching them to look after stuff and do repairs is a long lost skill. Also,boating involves a lot of patience to be prepared and safe. I think all of these things are skills kids don't learn.

My point is boating requires time and patience because you will always have issues.

And yes there is a lot of garbage on Craigslist. I looked at a 25k Campion Explorer 542 that was 6 years old. Owner said "excellent shape". That boat was in worse shape then some 25 year old boats.

My deciding factor was how it was run and looked after.

 

[BonairII]

Re: Just buy a boat already....

A large part of this discussion depends on how much work the buyer is capable of doing himself.

Quick story: When I bought my first boat, I didn't know how I/O cooling systems worked. I learned fast. It had a bad impeller and my first time out it overheated. BAD. Blown head gasket and warped head. Called around and getting it repaired by a marine mechanic was going to be anywhere from $1000 to $2000 depending on which shop I took it too.

I bought a head gasket for around $50 bucks, spend $35 to have a machine shop plane the head, and was back on the water for under $100. (I already owned a good torque wrench). Took a Saturday to fix, including the trip to the machine shop.

So, if you're a decent shade-tree mechanic, you're going to have wildly different repair costs than someone that will be dropping the boat off at a dealer for those same repairs.

With the wealth of information on the web(and here at iboats), it still amazes me at how many people spend big bucks to have a mechanic fix relatively simple things that could have been done by the owner with a little time/patience.

 

[tswiczko]

Re: Just buy a boat already....

I really want a set of cup holders that can be switched to chill the beer in between drinks or keep your coffie warm on cold nights.

Do they really make these?

If they do, I know what I'm saving up for. It will be my next big purchase.

p.s. I hate my cup holders too, they are always dropping my drink .(Going to google cup holders now)