I've been following you guys for a while and trust your judgements. I'm not sure if I want you to talk me into or out of this boat deal. <br /><br />I found a 23 foot Whaler Conquest 1999 model. It's one of the rarer I/O with a 5.7 Mercruiser and a Bravo 3 outdrive. It has been for sale for over a year and the price has come down to a point where I drove up to see it.<br /><br />The boat has been kept in the water (brakish on a tidal influence river) and there is no heat exchanger.<br />I wasn't with a salesmen but the local mechanic just showed me around.<br />It's clear the owner is not maintaining the boat. It was filthy and full of trash. The hull/deck was is descent shape along with all the topsides. Nothing fancy in the electronics package.<br /><br />Bilge has water in it and the mechanic told me they and recently put in a new starter. The owner had it out last Friday and it overheated. No body currently knows why, as the owner seemed to think that the mechanic had done something wrong to cause the overheating (doubtful). So now the mechanic is gun shy from touching the boat.<br /><br />Seems clear that this is not a boat that should be kept in the water but it has for 4 years. While it only has 250 hours on it I know you must flush these engines and outdrives all the time.<br />I still haven't seen it out of the water or had a test drive (guess we couldn't do that unless it wsn't overheating)<br /><br />A year ago they were asking 39,000. Now they are asking 30,000. Very cheap for a Conquest 23 but this a boat that has never been dry or properly maintained. The mechanic thinks the engine and outdrive will run fine (but for how long?) but frankly I wouldn't trust it. I'm not handy so I would have to turn it over to a mechanic for all those services. With a good cleaning ( I can do that myself) it looks like the hull etc would be fine. But that engine and outdrive? Who knows.<br />So whats the question? Am I asking for too much trouble? What are the considerations? Guess a compression check and a few coins to a mechanic to run over it. <br /><br />Also, I'm told a 3 month old survey says the outside of the aluminum fuel tank has pitting and should be replaced but it isn't leaking yet, it's just always in a half inch of water. Mechanic seemed to think water in bilge was from either washdown (can't pull a drain plug in the water) and that the in deck fish box was draining into the bilge(Whaler say it isn't so!)<br />Low ball 'em or go spend the money on a boat I have more confidence in? It's just hard to walk away from a nice walk around hull like that.<br /><br />Sorry about the rambling but it does look like a lot to consider to me.<br /><br />Thanks guys - CBR
