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Use boat buying...your take?


martho

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I put this here as I could not find a better forum for it.

This is hypothetical, so there are not specific sellers or buyers.

Would you look at a 10 year old boat with 250 hours on it?

Would you say it was hardly used and the engine is the most important part?

Would you say 10 years old is 10 years old regardless of the parts?

Curious as to how you would approach a 10 year old boat for sale.

If you wouldn't even consider it as it is too old, tell the crew that, too.

Edited by martho
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I put this here as I could not find a better forum for it.

This is hypothetical, so there are not specific sellers or buyers.

Would you look at a 10 year old boat with 250 hours on it?

Would you say it was hardly used and the engine is the most important part?

Would you say 10 years old is 10 years old regardless of the parts?

Curious as to how you would approach a 10 year old boat for sale.

If you wouldn't even consider it as it is too old, tell the crew that, too.

I wouldn't say that 25hrs/year is really all that uncommon. Many people only get their boats out for a couple times a year, and lots of that time could be floating.

I'd want to see some service records - just like any boat.

The 10years really is evident in the condition of the boat. A 10yr old boat could really be beat, and that is what is most important.

When it is all said and done, there have been quite a few improvments in features and boat design in 10yrs, so no matter what condition it is in, it is still 10yrs old

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The first thing you need to look at is the manufacture.

Malibu - no problem.

Bayliner - maybe?

After that, I would take the boat to the dealer you trust and have them do a complete marine survey on it.

Make your price and decision based on this approach and you should have a fair approach to the deal.

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Interesting question. My dad has a thing about buying older things that appear to be good values with little use. Being an automotive engineering person, I can tell you that I am constantly fixing those older engines for him due to lack of use. Things like corrosion in mechanical components. Fuel delivery problem etc... Styles are generally outdated and things like vinyl are age sensitive.

I believe engines are meant to be used and I would choose a newer boat with more hours on it before I would choose an older boat with low hours. Especially here in the North Country because you know the boat sits for 5-6 months out of every year.

My 2 cents....

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Another consideration is where and how it was kept.

Did they put 250 hours on it in the first 3 years and it hasn't been used in seven?

Was it kept in a garage with the dust cover on or was it left outside with a tarp over it?

I agree that service records are very important.

If the boat looks good and is checked out by a mechanic, I see no reason not to buy it. It is 10 years old but it would be a great first ski/wake boat for someone who can't afford or doesn't want a new one.

I think most of us would rather own a 10 year old Bu/MC/CC that a brand new Bayliner.

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In 2000 I purchased a 10 year old boat, a 1990 Malibu Skier. I was just getting back in to skiing after multi-year layoff and was also slowly getting my wife into the sport.

When I started looking I was looking at Mastercrafts because that's what I grew up skiing behind. Looked at at least 20 of them all in different stages of showing wear.

After months of looking trying to find the right boat for me I was lucky and found the Skier. Hour gauge stated 127 hours and it looked like it. Excellent condition, no rot, no rips in the upholstry, no gel coat damage or fading, etc. The guy kept it covered in the garage and hardly ever used it after the first few years. A minor tuneup on the engine and it was extremely solid boat.

So to answer your question, yes, I would definitely buy a 10 year old boat if it was in excellent shape and it filled the need I have, which in my case it did, an entry level tournament ski boat.

Now... my wife says it was the worst thing we ever bought because things kind of snowballed from that point on... had to join a private site, buy a newer boat (2001 Response LX, also used from a promo guy), build a lake, buy a lot on a ski lake, build a house on the lake, etc. But she loves every minute of it!

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After months of looking trying to find the right boat for me I was lucky and found the Skier.  Hour gauge stated 127 hours and it looked like it.  Excellent condition, no rot, no rips in the upholstry, no gel coat damage or fading, etc.  The guy kept it covered in the garage and hardly ever used it after the first few years.  A minor tuneup on the engine and it was extremely solid boat.

So to answer your question, yes, I would definitely buy a 10 year old boat if it was in excellent shape and it filled the need I have, which in my case it did, an entry level tournament ski boat.

Sounds like mine except :( my boat only has 110 hours.

I hope someone is interested in it next spring........or now. :)

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In 2000 I purchased a 10 year old boat, a 1990 Malibu Skier.  I was just getting back in to skiing after multi-year layoff and was also slowly getting my wife into the sport.

When I started looking I was looking at Mastercrafts because that's what I grew up skiing behind.  Looked at at least 20 of them all in different stages of showing wear.

After months of looking trying to find the right boat for me I was lucky and found the Skier.  Hour gauge stated 127 hours and it looked like it.  Excellent condition, no rot, no rips in the upholstry, no gel coat damage or fading, etc.  The guy kept it covered in the garage and hardly ever used it after the first few years.  A minor tuneup on the engine and it was extremely solid boat.

So to answer your question, yes, I would definitely buy a 10 year old boat if it was in excellent shape and it filled the need I have, which in my case it did, an entry level tournament ski boat.

Now...  my wife says it was the worst thing we ever bought because things kind of snowballed from that point on...   had to join a private site, buy a newer boat (2001 Response LX, also used from a promo guy), build a lake, buy a lot on a ski lake, build a house on the lake, etc.  But she loves every minute of it!

That sounds horrible how do you live w/ yourself Crazy.gif

We considered used when were looking but decided new was best for us as it fit our needs better. Older boats usually mean more maintenance and harder to find parts sometimes.

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That sounds horrible how do you live w/ yourself Crazy.gif

We considered used when were looking but decided new was for us as it fit our needs better. Older boats usually mean more maintenance and harder to find parts sometimes.

I'll have to tell you about Redwood Horrors... er I mean Redwood Shores sometime... Blowup.gif

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Would you look at a 10 year old boat with 250 hours on it?

Yes, absolutely.

Would you say it was hardly used and the engine is the most important part?

No I wouldn't. How it was used & cared for makes the difference.

Would you say 10 years old is 10 years old regardless of the parts?

Absolutely not.

Curious as to how you would approach a 10 year old boat for sale.

As with any used car, boat or motorcycle, how it's been treated over its lifetime will show itself in both the overall appearance & condition as well as details. How the people keep their other stuff is a clue as well - we have a few people that live in our neighborhood that we wouldn't mind buying anything from. They keep all of their stuff including their house & yard in really nice shape. I've found that one of the best ways to get to know a vehicle (at least from an appearance standpoint) is to wash & wax it, maybe not realistic when looking at boats, but it works nonetheless.

One other thing to keep in mind is that some older boats (like the Skier mentioned above) are a lot less complicated & thus have less to maintain & go wrong.

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I would have no problem whatsoever with it. We bought a 10 year old barefoot nautique with similar hours (a while back). We had it for several years, and hundreds and hundreds of hours without any major problems. We did an annual tuneup and thats it. The boat is now more than 23 years old, all mechanicals original, and the owner reports nothing but good things.

Is it best for things to be run once a month? Sure, but low hours don't bother me a bit.

10 years old is NOT 10 years old. A trailered/garaged boat ages WAYYY slower than an uncovered boat hanging in a boathouse.

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I would not pay as much attention to the age of the boat as I would the way it has been stored and kept up. Engine hours would be secondary to overall condition in my opinion.

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A couple years ago I was trying to sell our '94 MC 190 with 895 hrs on it. I was worried that potential buyers would shy away from the boat because of that. The boat itself was in pristine condition, the gel coat still had the "wet" look and carpet and upholstry were in great condition. I knew that if a potential buyer came to the lake and drove/skied it all that stuff would go away.

I was methodic about changing oil and fluids and keeping it up mechanically but I didn't ever keep any records and I thought that would hurt me as well.

As it turned out the first person to come out to the boat bought it and I had two others waiting in the wings to buy it had that deal fallen through.

The things that I think matter to selling a boat are:

reputation of manufacture

cleanliness of boat

appearance of boat

performance of boat

hours

I agree with the notion that I would rather have a newer boat with more hours. I think that motors that sit around most of the time don't last as long as they would have if they had been run regularly.

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We considered used when were looking but decided new was for us as it fit our needs better.

I think she'll go for used this time around Whistling.gif

Now you're trying to stir the pot Tongue.gif

Well I think Stewart has a point, the price of new V-Drives is pretty high, better to get a lightly used one Tease2.gif

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We considered used when were looking but decided new was for us as it fit our needs better.

I think she'll go for used this time around Whistling.gif

Now you're trying to stir the pot Tongue.gif

Well I think Stewart has a point, the price of new V-Drives is pretty high, better to get a lightly used one Tease2.gif

I've been told that no one buys DD's anymore...so I'll just have to keep mine as I can't afford two boats like Eddy. Plus I'd have to get a bigger truck to pull it...wait that wouldn't be too bad Crazy.gif

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I owned a 100 year old boat once that was in better shape than a 50 year old boat I had, ....than again, I had a 30 year old boat that was a lot worse off than the 70 year old boat I traded it for. long story short; don't get hung up on the age, it usualy takes up to ten years just to get the bugs worked out.

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I owned a 100 year old boat once that was in better shape than a 50 year old boat I had, ....than again, I had a 30 year old boat that was a lot worse off than the 70 year old boat I traded it for. long story short; don't get hung up on the age, it usualy takes up to ten years just to get the bugs worked out.

Holy $hit you're old.

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I owned a 100 year old boat once that was in better shape than a 50 year old boat I had, ....than again, I had a 30 year old boat that was a lot worse off than the 70 year old boat I traded it for. long story short; don't get hung up on the age, it usualy takes up to ten years just to get the bugs worked out.

Holy $hit you're old.

:) Actualy the 100 year old boat is now 130 years old and still sailin, but than, only about 20% of the wood is original.

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