Re: New to forum, buying a used boat.
That's just awful. It's one thing to place a misleading ad on Craigslist. Maybe you're even too lazy to take more recent pics, ok I get it. But to let a guy drive that far to come see it when you KNOW the ad wasn't a true representation? That's practically criminal. :mad-new:
I agree completely. I've been shopping the the same area as the OP for years now. I've bought 2 boats for myself and found another for an out of town friend. Most recently, I was shopping for a friend and looked at 5 or 6 boats before we found one. we were also shopping in the fall when there seemed like less buyers to compete with.
We were shopping in the 5000+/- range like you. Having some previous knowledge of what to look for and were to look helped and really came from practice more than anything. What I found was people, generally speaking, have no idea what their boat is worth or what may or may not be wrong with it. Every boat I looked at had issues of some kind, so don't be disappointed by this. Pretty much every one had some rot and or some interior issues due to age or just from being used. Rear bench's were often bad from people climbing over the seats for water sports or perhaps the result of an ambitious mouse looking for a nest. One day looking at one of the nicer boats we found, I was checking around the motor, I dropped my flashlight into the bilge which had a bit of water in it. When I pulled my hand out with the wet flashlight to find a bunch of motor oil. Seller said the guy who changed the oil said there may be some down there. FAIL. How could I accept that excuse? How could he allow me to find that in this "mint condition" boat????
I have more similar stories but you know how they end. We finally decided on a boat that, despite needing a few repairs, had the least amount of rot of the bunch I had looked at, and with the best condition interior. My buddy had to put some money into it initially but has had good luck ever since.
So, my advice it this. don't be discouraged by what you find when you look at a boat that has been misrepresented by the seller. Be encourage that you have been able to pass on the boat because of your reseach and knowedge gained here and in your own experience.
I think this time of year is the worst time for boat shopping, and the sellers are priced high, often ready to hold out for the best offer until the middle of summer when they will start to want to unload the boat before fall. You can't water test the boat now either which puts you at a disadvantage. All this said, get the cash in hand and go out and look. You must be ready to pounce on the good deal because it won't be there long. Don't put much faith in the sellers. They don't seem to know what the heck they've got to begin with.
Good luck!!
