Looked at a '86 Rinker today

[mike64]

First boat I've gotten a chance to look at since I started checking online- boats have been flying off Craigslist this season. This one was a little cheaper and older than some others I called on and they were already sold... seemed like a good deal for the money but I'm not so sure after seeing the steals in this post...
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=472643

Here's the ad on CList:
http://detroit.craigslist.org/okl/boa/2345049169.html
interior was in pretty good shape for the age, deck & transom seemed solid, engine sounded good, but I'm a OB guy so I need to do some more homework to know exactly what to check for mechanically. Any 80's Rinker I/O guys think this is a decent deal? I was tempted to put down a deposit but I didn't want to pull the trigger immediately on the first boat I looked at. Guy says he'll give me a water trial if the boat's not gone in the next couple days.

 

[kmarine]

Re: Looked at a '86 Rinker today

With older boats it is all about condition. It looks like the boat was garage kept. If you dont have any soft spots in the deck, oil is clean and boat does well on a sea trial it looks like a good deal to me. I would prefer an i/o boat over outboad especially with current fuel prices. This should be a economical boat to own if the previous owner maintained it.

 

[1980Galaxy]

Re: Looked at a '86 Rinker today

With older boats it is all about condition. It looks like the boat was garage kept. If you dont have any soft spots in the deck, oil is clean and boat does well on a sea trial it looks like a good deal to me.

+1.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Looked at a '86 Rinker today

Looks like a good one to me. Lucky too cuz a lot of that vintage Rinkers were OMC's. You gotta move fast on these type of deals so get on over there!

 

[mike64]

Re: Looked at a '86 Rinker today

Thanks guys!

I can't make an offer on it today because it's my wedding anniversary. We're not celebrating it until Saturday, but still, my wife wouldn't be too happy if I said "happy 9th, gotta run out and buy a boat now"

Fortunately, I called the guy and he said it's still a available and he'll give me a water trial tomorrow. Unfortunately, he said a couple other guys want a water trial too, so it may be a full boat...

Anyway, thanks to you guys I'm a lot less on the fence than I was yesterday. If the trial checks out I think I'll make an offer.