When you bought your boat did you take a test drive before you finalized the deal?

[TimBobCom]

Re: When you bought your boat did you take a test drive before you finalized the deal

I had an on-water test drive of my boat before I even made an offer. The previous owner stored the boat 1 mile from a lake and suggested I meet them on the ramp to see that boat and take it for a ride.

 

[NotQuik]

Re: When you bought your boat did you take a test drive before you finalized the deal

Exhaust bellows and trim switch needed replaced on mine so it wasn't quite water ready, did fine on the mufff's but that's not saying much. Luckily she did just fine once I got her in the water aside from needing to rebuild the carb and the secondaries not opening...if you can, water testing is always a great idea though.

 

[Walker3901]

Re: When you bought your boat did you take a test drive before you finalized the deal

Wow, I was surprised that 1/3 of boats were purchased without and kind of sea trial or test running of the motor.

I knew very little about boats when I bought mine so I sought advice on several message boards. I got a lot of good advice, with the most frequent advice being to never buy a boat without a sea trial. Some reccomended a survey as well. I paid a mechanic from a reputable shop that I chose and still did the seatrial. I'm still happy with the boat.

 

[Theta098]

Re: When you bought your boat did you take a test drive before you finalized the deal

I have bought multiple boats after hearing them run attached to a water hose, nd only gotten one bad deal. My current war eagle was gotten from an old man who lived on a salt water creek and used it for gigging and cast net throwing all of the time. It ran grea, but after a week int the water leaked 6-10 inches of water per day. I would feel horrible if I hadn't gotten a cheap enough price to have it tig welded and painted. From now on, I will always test them on the water and buy an es load kit. ( an entirly different story)

 

[tpenfield]

Re: When you bought your boat did you take a test drive before you finalized the deal

No I didnt take a test drive and man do I regret it.I just bought a 1984 19 ft beachcraft.When I took the boat out for the first time i had nothin but problems.I called the guy I bought it from and he told me there are all kinds of sensors in the engine.Every time I stopped the boat it wouldnt start back up again.So he told me everytime you stop you have to take the key out then when you put the key back in the ignition you have to prime something in the engine by pushing on the excelerator arm at least 3 times to start it is this true.He said theres sensors in the engine that prevent you from starting it if you dont follow these specific steps.

Wow . . . Was the "B.S." alarm going off in your mind when the guy was telling you all this fiction???

 

[gtochris]

Re: When you bought your boat did you take a test drive before you finalized the deal

It probably is a function of the purchase price and associated financial risk involved . . . boats under $5K tend to be bought/sold on faith rather than trial.

Thats my story.
I bought my boat on the advise of a friend who had been the mechanic for it and last put it away, he said it was solid and ran well, I knew with the age it would need the bellows/ gimble/ assorted tuneup items. Heck- It was shrink wrapped too! I simply peeked in a hole!
Had it been anymore or I was questioning the value I would have demanded a ride/ deeper inspection.

 

[Fl_Richard]

Re: When you bought your boat did you take a test drive before you finalized the deal

I bought the boat from the dealer who relieved it as a trade in. The day I looked at her there was another person coming to look behind me. The dealer provided compression numbers for her twins and maintenance records. She was stored in a boat storage building along with it's trailer. She was ten years old and had 600 hours on her and the dealer warrantied the motors to work.

Now anytime I buy something used whether from an individual or a dealership I assume it's going to have faults and require some personal investment of either time or money - sometimes both.

With that in mind :
The day I was to sea trial her it rained, SW Florida style rains, the sky was literally falling. Not a good day to test a boat or be on the water, so I took her home and never looked back.

 

[Quad82]

Re: When you bought your boat did you take a test drive before you finalized the deal

I voted no test only because I bought it from my brother. It is a 2001 16' Fisher and 60HP Merc that was only 3 years old. It had been on the water less than 20 times. Mostly by me. He had this boat, a FourWinds 245 and just signed a deal on a new Boston Whaler. He needed room in the garage and sold the Fisher to me for $1000! I am into repairing small outboards and have a dozen different Mercs in the barn. I have also made several fibergalss hydroplanes over the years. So I think I am confident enough on the mechanics. But I have never bought a new (large) boat, other than a 15' Rinker Bass boat back in 85. So I think it depends on it being new (under warrenty) used (well kept or needing work) or trashed and cheep. Lots of ifs, ands or buts in this poll.

 

[rogerwa]

Re: When you bought your boat did you take a test drive before you finalized the deal

First boat no.. Didn't know what I was doing. Turned out OK though. It was a marina work pontoon.

Second boat, yes - a run at the lake was done when we closed the deal - used private party

Third boat yes - They already had it in the water - pontoon from private party

Fourth boat - no - Aluminum fishing boat with 9.8hp merc. They didn't even get it running. That one I have sunk three times at the dock and it still runs great.

Fifth boat - a used jet ski - no - on this one the bottom fell out on our first outing due to the guy lying to me about his purchase only to find out he purchased it with a hole and repaired it with poly resin and not epoxy resin, which is required on yamaha hulls. $500 hull repair and then the engine seized a rod the next year due to water ingestion when the bottom fell out and I rebuilt it for around $600 - he was a dirtbag and put my family in danger. Water test would not have found issue as it took an hour and a half for the bottom to fall out.

Sixth and newest was my new pontoon - did not water test as it is warranteed and had it rigged myself after I picked it up. It was custom built to my needs. didn't need a water test.

So I agree with the poster that said it is conditional.

 

[cobra1476]

Re: When you bought your boat did you take a test drive before you finalized the deal

I'm just a dumb lucky guy (for now). No test of any sort here.

First boat last me 3yrs before selling it. Zero problems. I still see it on the lake once in a while. Bought it before the first snowstorm so no go on the test.

Second and current boat came 1400mi away. Didn't see it until the transporter got it to my house. lol! Again been using it non stop every weekend in the summer. No problems at all.

One thing, I don't have the luxury of getting is the information on how to operate everything on the boat. I kind of have to find everything out myself. Just little things, what switch turns what on, where things are located, even the correct way to start it. lol!

I have bought so many things out of state, and saved so much money, it's not even funny. Luckily none of them have been problems.

 

[gn85]

Re: When you bought your boat did you take a test drive before you finalized the deal

No, because the boat was having the prop seal replaced. The boat was a friend's boat, so that's why I bought it. If it were just the dealership (who I was not happy with at all), it would have never been a sale.

Now.. the first time I drove the boat, the Volvo fuel pump unit failed and I had to be towed in. That would have happened on the test drive, had I done a water test. Lesson learned.

In fairness, this boat had been baking in the Florida sun and the dealership did nothing to take care of it, so I know this year is getting everything back up to spec.

 

[torombolo]

Re: When you bought your boat did you take a test drive before you finalized the deal

yes & no as a first time owner I dont have the experience to notice anything malfuntion, maybe the obvies like noises, clanking, water in the bilge etc. but nothing technical so for me. It was just a joy ride since I was sold already on the boat. Although I have to say, I talked to the boat's mechanic and marina nighbor's plus the owner hand me a FAT file of recipts and maintenance record.

 

[Koops186]

Re: When you bought your boat did you take a test drive before you finalized the deal

Newest boat was owned by a retired school instructor...Since new back in good old '81. Spent about 2 hours going over reciepts and ran on muffs. Showed up the next day with cash in hand. P.O proceeded to assure me that if I had any concerns that I would always be welcome to call or show up for assistance. Then drove me to the BMV and got the title work done. Handshake and direct eye contact will always bring confidence to a private deal.

 

[Downforce6]

Re: When you bought your boat did you take a test drive before you finalized the deal

Test drove boat the day after first seeing it on Craigslist. I had no idea what I was doing and the owner took the time to show me everything, how to launch it, retrieve it. The whole nine yards. Not a single problem so far! (fingers crossed, knocking on wood, saying a little prayer, lol)

 

[salty87]

Re: When you bought your boat did you take a test drive before you finalized the deal

took a ride and had no idea what i was looking for. we left the slip, wakeboarded a bit, and got back safely. looking back it had rotten floors/stringers written all over it. still have it, rebuilt it from the hull up, and the best part...no payments!

 

[marauder11]

Re: When you bought your boat did you take a test drive before you finalized the deal

In my case i never would have know there was an issue with the carbs. Methenol was believed to be used as a gas winterizer. It ate carb siphon tubes and the motor ran but rough. I would have just thought it needed a tune up. A small cost to fix ($1500)but if you seen my daughters smiles flying down the lake worth every penny.

 

[coolbri70]

Re: When you bought your boat did you take a test drive before you finalized the deal

i would have been afraid the motor would fall off, the PO had a strap to keep it from bouncing:facepalm: but then i was looking for a project

 

[Bass Buster One]

Re: When you bought your boat did you take a test drive before you finalized the deal

I didn't see it quoted here, but forgive me if I'm repeating it, but,....the rule of thumb is:
"NEVER BUY A BOAT
UNTIL YOU SEE 'ER FLOAT!!"

 

[Slow Ride]

Re: When you bought your boat did you take a test drive before you finalized the deal

I'm going with the sea trial option.... every time! Perhaps a first time boat buyer with little or no experience could say he or she doesn't need to do this because they wouldnt know what to look for, but I'm having a hard time buying that excuse. TAKE SOMEONE WHO KNOW WITH YOU. Also, If your that new, sea trial several boats before you make a decision. Not all boats are equal. Two boats of similar size, construction and power could and usually do perform very differently. As an example, I live near and fish in the shallow bays of South Texas. The Blue Wave line of boats are very popular here. I had an instance where my boat (24ft champion bay boat) was in the shop unexpectedly and borrowed a friends boat for a trip which was planned months in advance with some out of town friends. Long story short, the boats are similar in layout, design, and both had 250 Yamaha engines, but the performance was not even close. I'm not pushing Champion or Knocking Blue Wave, but the Blue Wave was SLOW and ROUGH. We were soaking wet all day in light bay chop which I ran in regularly in the Champion. Point is, if you remove all the stickers etc. they look very similar and without something to compare with one could overlook a huge performance difference.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: When you bought your boat did you take a test drive before you finalized the deal

Lake tested it with the owner of the marina. Once I got it home I brought it to my mechanic who went over it too. The place where I bought it gave me a 30 day bumper to bumper warranty even tho it was 5 years old.