OLd boat ? new motor? Your opinion? How approach seller?

[edwardh1]

moved see 4th post below

 

[oops!]

Re: OLd boat ? new motor? Your opinion? How approach seller?

hi bud...lets get this moved to the general boating....

but imho a 99 is not that old.

find out what he is asking......offer 50% and there is your start of negotiations.

 

[NSBCraig]

Re: OLd boat ? new motor? Your opinion? How approach seller?

NO it is not madness to put a new motor on an old boat!

That's about the coolest thing about an outboard- you can change it!

Madness is buying a Bayliner!

 

[edwardh1]

Re: OLd boat ? new motor? Your opinion? How approach seller?

Thanks Admiral, but where did you move the topic to, or do I move it?
Thanks

 

[edwardh1]

OLd boat ? new motor? Your opinion? How approach seller?

This is one of these hard to decide "is it a good deal questions", and I do not have anyone to help me. I am trying to buy a 17 or 18 ft dual console fibreglass type boat. Boat makers quit with the 17s about 3 years ago cause they get lot more money for the 18s.

I found a 1999 sea ray fiberglass 180 dual console boat, 2nd owner bought when 2 years old, looks good as it looks like always stored under a house since 2003, good gloss, good trailer, bimini, full cover , still good cushions , sturdy boat, the right size for my family. Being sold by someone who has med condition and are not using it. They do not have it listed anywhere.

Boat has a 115 Merc, 2 stroke I think and engine is of course 12 seasons old. I do not like or want the old engine as I do not think I can trust it. The seller says they paid $2500 this year or last year for repairs and have been slow to say what that was for, part of it was for "unstick frozen steering" (not run in a long time?) , 2 new trailer tires, and winterizing the engine. Seems like that would not be $2500. work Done at a boat place but not at a dealer.

Seems the risk with the old motor is that one bad gear case problem or a broken piston ring and its not worth fixing. So I guess the engine was not run for a long time and maybe they had some problems with it? NADA book is 6500-7400 with engine and 5100-5700 without engine.
I priced a new Yamaha 115 4 stroke- with new prop, controls, gage set, etc up to 8 hrs install labor and tax was $11000, IS it madness to put a new expensive engine on an older boat? I can buy a new bayliner 18, trailer, with a Merc 90 outboard 4 stroke for $19000. sea hunt - $25000 key west some more but have Yamaha engines.

. My guess is the mechanic told them it will give the same problems again in a few years if you do not use it.
So what do I offer these people? As I dont want their old engine, but to them its a fine engine I think. If pay too much and add a new engine Maybe I should just get a new rig??

 

[Mel Taylor]

Re: OLd boat ? new motor? Your opinion? How approach seller?

I can't speak to the value of the boat, or the wisdom of buying it, but I do a lot of buying items and reselling them on Craigslist. Occasionally I buy something for use in a rental property.

When a seller is vague about anything, that raises a red flag and more often than not, I walk away from the deal. I believe he (or she) is usually hiding something and is trying to cover their butt. So that if the buyer comes back complaining about a problem they can either say they didn't know about it or that they mentioned it to him.

Almost every time I've ignored the red flags I've come out the loser.

Case in point: I went to buy a used kitchen stove for one of my rentals. Seller casually mentioned that he and his wife seldom used the oven. He made some mention of having it worked on. I missed both red flags. I did check to see that the oven lit properly and bought it.

Got it installed, lit the pilot lights and everything looked good. Decided to check the oven for temperature accuracy. Oven came on, stayed on for about three minutes and went out.

Repair parts would have cost more than the value of the stove. Needless to say, I took my lumps and bought a new stove.

All I'm saying is be very careful. Sellers are usually vague for a reason

 

[JB]

Re: OLd boat ? new motor? Your opinion? How approach seller?

I have moved you here, Ed. This is where we discuss boat topics.

I think it depends on the boat. I have put new outboards on several Boston Whalers but I would hesitate to do it on any but a premium quality boat in very good to excellent condition.

Examples: 1980 Johnny 70 (new) on a 1966 BW Sakonnet 16.
2001 Suzuki DF70 (new) on a 1981 BW Montauk 17.

Most boats do not age as well as BWs and putting several thousand bux worth of engine on a $500 boat just doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: OLd boat ? new motor? Your opinion? How approach seller?

oops you deleted the base information. Aer we talking about an aluminum jon or a closed cabin?

condition is always more important than age. Better brands tend to stay in better condition, likewise the fewer features, the less to go wrong.
So you might be satisfied with an old hull with little or no electronics, guages, etc.

Around here, the people who repower old boats are the ones who have owned the old hull for a long time and therefore know first hand the age issues. So if you are buying an old/new rig, you have to really know the seller, or buy basic and cheap so you can't get hurt.

You also have to assess the age factor from salt air (or worse, a sinking) on the hardware and electrical. It's different in Arizona!

 

[ezmobee]

Re: OLd boat ? new motor? Your opinion? How approach seller?

I think you are way too afraid of an old outboard. My last boat had a '73 Johnson on it. After being thoroughly gone over by a mechanic, it gave me 5 years of trouble-free service. My current boat has an '81 Evinrude on it. It actually ran pretty decent after basically being dragged out a field where it sat for years. It had now also been thoroughly been gone over by a mechanic, runs fantastic, and I expect many years of good service from it.

Tough to put a value on that boat without seeing it but I'd say somewhere between $4k and $8k. A 180 with an outboard is tough to find. Should move well with a 115.

 

[edwardh1]

Re: OLd boat ? new motor? Your opinion? How approach seller?

we offered 6
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