need some quick help on long distance boat purchase

[silveraire]

My bro thinks he may have found his first boat. After boating with us for quite some years, he has decided to take the leap.

the boat in question is a 17ft 1983 sport craft adventurer. with a '83 merc(hp?) motor. the asking price is $2500.

Here are a few pics I have of the boat.

He has asked me to help him check this boat out, but the boat is almost 5 hours away from us. I would prefer to just get a survey done, but at almost $400, he would not prefer to pay the extra.

I have concacted the dealer, and got very simple anwsers from him(not all that helpful) No history on the boat. He asumes that the boat was kept inside most of its life due to their being very little fading on interior and virtually no oxidation on the gelcoat. No info on the motor(not even hp, lol) exept that it ran well last fall(thats what they all say) He says if we are serious about the boat, he will get the motor running and a compression check done(says it ran well in the fall, don't really need a check. lol).

I would assume that this is a low dollar sale, and worth little effort on the dealers part. If my bro didn't like the boat so much, and agreed, it suits his needs very well depending on condition, I would tell the dealer to kiss my....

well, enough of my runing on at the mouth. I have bought plenty of boats long distance, but they were all junk and basicly expected to barely float. This is new to me. What would you all do in this situation. What questions should I ask to get some real anwsers?

He is willing to put a deposit on the boat pending visual inspection and sea trial. Is there anything I can do other than drive the five hours and hope this thing is as described?

Any input is much apriciated,

thanks,
chad

 

[scoutabout]

Re: need some quick help on long distance boat purchase

Certainly a very clean-looking boat but without going out there and crawling all over it you could be missing something big.

How are you planning to get it home? If you have to go anyway to pick it up, and your brother is serious about this one pending a check -- I'd just make a day of it and head on out.

I flew 1300 km, rented a truck, then drove for two hours to test the last boat I bought, then drove for two straight days to drag it home. Damn glad it wasn't crap! It all depends on the level of your interest (or as my wife said...insanity...obsession....some other unflattering things...).

Good luck and let us know the decision.

 

[45Auto]

Re: need some quick help on long distance boat purchase

Where's the boat at? I know myself and several other Iboats regulars have checked out boats for fellow Iboaters.

 

[scoutabout]

Re: need some quick help on long distance boat purchase

45's got a good suggestion there. And just as a follow-up, if you do decide to head out with the intention of bringing her home if she checks out, make sure that trailer is road worthy. I'd ask the wheel size and bring my own spare. Might even buy a lighting kit. As well, a tool kit with the usual stuff plus electrical tape, zip ties, grease gun, and simple electrical tester too.

 

[arks]

Re: need some quick help on long distance boat purchase

Pictures can't show everything, and -with no disrespect to anyone here- another persons opinion might not be the same as yours.

GO LOOK AT IT YOURSELF. It's the only definite way to know for sure what you're buying. Trust me, I've been there.
My current boat was an 11 hour drive away, so I took a weekend to check it out. It cost me gas plus one night in a hotel. After determining it was what I wanted, I hired a surveyor to do his thing the following week.
Granted, for a $2500 boat a survey might not make financial sense, but IMO it IS worth your time to check it out yourself.

 

[mphy98]

Re: need some quick help on long distance boat purchase

i would check this out very carefully, the first thing I noticed was the walmart seat pedestals, i have seen those rip out of the floors on rough days, you need a wide base to keep the seat steady. so if he went with the cheapest bases what else did he skimp on?

 

[ezmobee]

Re: need some quick help on long distance boat purchase

My opinion: $2500 is the absolute max that boat could be worth. For that price I would want rock solid deck, stringers, and transom and a running motor with excellent compression numbers. The outside of the hull and the trailer do look decent. My concern is with the interior. Obviously those pedastal seats are not original. So I wonder, were the original seats replaced with those in order to make room for fishing or was it because the originals rotted out. If they rotted out, what else rotted out?

Seeing the project boats on this forum has made me extremely wary of any fiberglass boat more than a couple years old. If this was an aluminum hull I'd mainly concern myself with the motor as replacing wood components in a tinny isn't too big or expensive a job.

Let us know where this boat is. As mentioned someone may be close to there and can check it out for you. Heck I see it has a PA reg and I'm in PA!

 

[silveraire]

Re: need some quick help on long distance boat purchase

Thanks all for the input. The boat is located at THE NAVIGATION COMPANY in Conneaut Lake, PA. wich is in northwestern pa. ezmobe, I'm located in lancaster. We are almost neibors. We spend most of the summer on lake clark on your side of the pond around long level.

I'm not sold on the boat or the trip yet. My bro on the other hand, wants to leave yesterday. I'm not a big fan of the replaced interior either. Best case is that it is set up for fishing. worse case is a potential nitemare(for me anyway, a rotten deck, stringers, or transome will be my job to fix)

I also just found out that the boat is 16ft, not 17. I told my bro that I would offer around $1800 pending inspection and sea trial. Judging the condition w/o the right info. and three pics is almost impossable.

still looking for input. keep the great help coming

thanks,
chad

P.S. It's amazing how objective you can stay when the boat is not for you. No exitement to cloud your judgement. It's kinda nice.

 

[scoutabout]

Re: need some quick help on long distance boat purchase

Yup -- you're doing him a great service as the impartial bystander. It's just way too easy to get emotionally attached when it's going to be your own boat. So keep his feet on the ground, go over it carefully, and certainly don't offer anywhere near that asking price.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: need some quick help on long distance boat purchase

LOOK! You are in lancaster. Boats are like women and starfish--plenty of 'em and always another one around. You are so close to Chesapeake, Maryland, Jersey, and Delaware, not to mention eastern PA.

Look for something closer. Don't get hung up on a long distance boat. There are THOUSANDS to choose from right here within two hours of you. If you can't find something to love right here, then something is wrong with you.

Google The Salty Dog Jersey and Maryland editions, and the Boat Shopper.

Now, of course, I will admit I drove 5 hours up to Williamsport to buy a 200 dollar engine--but I am crazy.

PS> Some nice stuff recently on Craigslist in Lanc, Hbg, Reading, and Philly.

 

[H8tank]

Re: need some quick help on long distance boat purchase

That looks like a $1200 boat, $2500 is crazy money.

 

[silveraire]

Re: need some quick help on long distance boat purchase

well, my bro got more pics from the dealer this morning. The motor is a 90hp and looks like you could eat off of it. It's been either well taken care of, or steam cleaned and repainted with new decals(which is possable). There were pics of two back to back lounge seats that look like originals to the boat. They were almost perfect. Now we have to find out if they are included with the boat.

A few pics of the interior and the gelcoat looks pretty nice also. I will have to get my bro to email me the pics and post them for you all to see. original floor and transome with no soft spots or flexing(dealers words)

The big kicker now is that the price is firm. My bro offered him $1800 cash and he flat out refused. Dealer said a boat this nice is worth the price. So it $2500 or nothing.

I will try to get the pics from my bro and post them soon.

thanks,
chad

 

[ezmobee]

Re: need some quick help on long distance boat purchase

Well it is well powered for a 16'. I'm sure it would be a nice boat. Like you though, I just can't stomach the price. For that price it should have a gorgeous interior and it doesn't. And to shlep all the way out to western PA...ugh. I hope he's been checking the Baltimore and Philly Craigslists as well since there are a ton of boats on those. I posted a link in dockside chat to this site http://crazedlist.org/ that I found that lets you search multiple CL's at once.

I boat primarily at Lake Clarke now also. Send me a PM. I'm always looking for another fishing/crusing around buddy.

 

[Edko]

Re: need some quick help on long distance boat purchase

That seems like alot for that, even minty fresh. Should buy more locally imo.

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: need some quick help on long distance boat purchase

Its easy to get burned the first time. For sure at that price I would want to see service records and maybe talk to the previous owner since its from a dealer trade in. If the dealer cant prove it has low hours and not in need of ANY service I would run away. I would want something alot newer for that much money considering the amount of repos there are and soon will be. Now if you can get it for 7 or 8 hundred I wouldnt even demand a ride or wanta hear it run. But as others have said you got to make 100% sure there is no rot anywhere on the inside frame. Shinny paint down mean much when you have to start swimming for shore..