Shoppin for my first boat, 18ft. open bow

[pimboden]

As I'm sure lots of folks do, I'm posting my first post here looking for advice. First of all I'm shopping for my first boat. It'll be a family boat I'm gonna share with two other familys. We're all firefighters, and we've worked out a good "share" plan. We all planned on spending 2,000 so that put us in the 6,000 dollar range. We've been looking at maxum, bayliner, and searay open bow, anything 18+ft. All about ten years old.

so I found this deal on craigslist, does it look good?

Good Condition Bayliner Capri Boat 18 ft 4 in w/Trailer and tow rack
New (not Rebuilt) 4.3L engine in 2004 w/ 10,000 in receipts
New lower unit in 2006 w/receipts
New battery, starter, alternator, gimbal bearing, u joints
upper gear housing seal in 2008 w/receipts
Open Bow/stereo/
Excellent for skiing/wakeboarding/tubing

 

[gcboat]

Re: Shoppin for my first boat, 18ft. open bow

That would of caught my attention as well. Being a cynical person I'd have a talk with the mechanic who did the work on her. I can pull up receipts for just about anything. See if he's a decent mechanic who has a shop. And I don't mean one under a tree either. Do your homework - it's a lot of money.
Deals like that come and go each and every day. With the economy the way it is right now you'd be on the right track to counter offer.
I'd hate for you guys to get burned, but it would equally pi$$ me of to think you lost a sweet boat.
My best of luck to you !!!

 

[garry454]

Re: Shoppin for my first boat, 18ft. open bow

What year is it? With all that work, it has to be quite old, or if it is newer, it was riden hard and put away wet quite often.

Keep an eye out, you can find a whole lot of boat for 6K nowadays.

Good luck!!