Would I be getting a good deal?

[RyanB]

A couple things to consider from my perspective.

Making a list of things that need to be addressed with the boat is a good idea. Make sure you include the trailer. Look at the DOT code on the tires. If they are older than 7 years old, they need to be replaced.

Ask when the last time the brakes & wheel bearings were serviced. If it has been more than a year, they need to be serviced now.

Use anything that needs to be addressed as justification for the lower price that you are offering.

I think you would be better off saving a few $$$$ for repairs that need to be made on the boat that you missed. Maybe you will get lucky and there won't be anything. But I wouldn't bank on it.

My initial offer on anything on Craigslist is at least 20% below what the asking price is. You can always go up in your offer. You can never go back down.

For insurance, you should be able to go to a site like progressive and get a quote before you buy. If the price of insurance determines if you can get the boat or not, you might be spending too much.

If the owner does his own maintenance, I would have him run through his procedures with you. Not sure if you de-summerize (I won't use the W word) in Phx, but seeing the procedures first hand will help in the future.

Good luck with whatever you decide. I hope it all works out for you.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[minshall40]

I think that's prolly a good idea is to make a list just so I don't forget anything.. The insurance was just so I get a ballpark not overly concerned just would like to be able to add a realitivly close number to my budget to know how much extra money il have each month is all. He said the tires were replaced last year so that's good. And as far as D-summerizing I'm not sure I know when I was younger we never did it out our boat

[racer808]

I think that's prolly a good idea is to make a list just so I don't forget anything.. The insurance was just so I get a ballpark not overly concerned just would like to be able to add a realitivly close number to my budget to know how much extra money il have each month is all. He said the tires were replaced last year so that's good. And as far as D-summerizing I'm not sure I know when I was younger we never did it out our boat

call skisafe, they were half the price that my normal insurance company was

[05hammerhead]

Im just gonna throw this out there...dont forget its going to cost you THOUSANDS of dollars in gas every year to surf....or wakeboard for that matter

Edited April 21, 2015 by 05hammerhead

[robbennett]

Im just gonna throw this out there...dont forget its going to cost you THOUSANDS of dollars in gas every year to surf....or wakeboard for that matter

Yeah make sure you only invite people who throw down for gas too.

[ibelonginprison]

Get the shirt that says "My boat doesn't run on 'thanks'"
Wear it often.
... then get new friends.

[Stevo]

http://www.8bitthis.com/gas-grass-or-a**-nobody-rides-for-free-jdm-t-shirt/

Or this shirt

[minshall40]

Ok, so I tested it today... It seemed to run ok but there was a little vibration but it was constant from what I remember.. So leads me to believe it's the prop that has some Knicks and dents... But my major concern was the last time it was services was 2009 at 573 hours it's now 2015 and it has 597 hours... That really scared me. I couldn't make the offer today I told them I was going to sleep on it and get back to them.. So not certain what to do and not sure if the vibration was normal it wasn't terrible just there.... Also what the the red light that comes on under the throttle? What's it indicate? It always went away once it was north of a certain rpm. What is it telling me?

[TexasTexas95]

That's your v-drive warning light I believe. It will go on and off at times I've noticed. If you are above 1200 RPM's and it stays on, then there is an issue with your v-drive fluid. If the light turns off above 1200 RPM's, you are good to go. That's on my 05 VLX though. Not sure what the range for your potential boat is though.

When I first got my boat last year, I noticed a slight vibration and even a slight cavitation feeling some times at certain RPM's. My prop looked ok I thought at a glance. It had a few dings in it but looked functional. Hell, I didn't know any better, it was my first real boat. Just to be sure, I took it to a place in town that refurbishes props and sells new ones. The guy laughed at me and said no wonder I was having issues, my prop was bent and full of dings. I bought a new one (bigger ) and they redid my prop for $100. So for $500 total, I now have two props. My boat never ever vibrates anymore and since the upgrade, it pulls like a horse. I'll bet your prop is a bit bent and unless you examine it closely, it's actually a little hard to tell in my opinion. Easy easy fix though.

Be warned though: not all props can be refurbished, apparently it doesn't take much to kill one?? Knowing that, I'd make sure he takes off at least another $400 in addition to your best low offer. If it's shot, it's gonna cost you around $3-$400. If not, you're gonna wait two weeks turnaround time to refurb it. Either way, you will lose some time or money.

Edited April 22, 2015 by TexasTexas95

[Pnwrider]

^^^ what he said. It's also understandable it wasn't serviced since it doesn't appear the boat was being used (20 hours over 6 years).

[minshall40]

Isn't that bad though that the oil has just sat? I mean any combustion engine needs to be run every once in a while right? Texas you made me feel a bit better about the vibration especially since that's the only thing I can imagine it to be, but still just a bit concerned about 6 years with realitivly no use

[Stevo]

Take it to a shop and have them go through it.

They guy that bought my 01' brought a boat mechanic with him to the lake test, and this guy went through everything on the boat and trailer. (3hrs )He found a few minor things that slipped passed me but put any major concerns the buyer had to rest, and we headed straight to the bank.

[racer808]

Being you're in such a dry hot climate I'd check all hoses, my bet is they're all dried up. However if not cracked I used 3m on mine and they look good as new, not sure the structural integrity of them but no cracks. You're fine on the sitting oil, just change it. If he's willing to take 22k I'd move forward with a shop doing a compression test and once over. These boats are more reliable and can take more abuse than you're thinking, I'm gonna say its probably fine but not worth his asking price. Was it stored indoors? Listen to your gut man, I almost ended up with two moombas cause my patience was out and I wanted a boat so bad but I just had a bad feeling and then I found mine and I knew it was the one.

[shawndoggy]

I drove 10 hours to buy a boat and showed up and got a bad feeling in my gut and drove home. Trust your instincts. (and at the same time, trust that it's a pretty simple machine that a reasonably handy owner can do a lot of the basic maintenance on without going to the dealer).

re the vibration: did you crawl under the boat? Does it look like it's ever hit anything? Evidence of being beached (hull scratches)?

I think I would have some concern about old fuel/old oil. I'd prolly dump a can of seafoam in the crank case and run it on the hose for a bit then change the oil, filter, fuel filter, plugs, plug wires, cap, rotor. That would give you a good baseline reset of most of the wear parts. I would also certainly expect to be replacing batteries in the near future. Factory ballast hose is also prone to dry rot/cracking, so that would be something you'd end up replacing sooner or later.

[minshall40]

Well I made a 20k dollar offer on the boat through text message since he did not answer his phone, still waiting on a response but if you ask me I think it's a more than fair offer. Would possibly be willing to go to 21k but I know as soon as I buy it I'm going to want to spend 400 getting it serviced. Still nervous about buying it taking it to service and them telling me it needs 4k dollars worth of stuff. But hopfully not and hopfully il be a boat owner soon.

[robbennett]

It shouldn't need 4k. I would recommend doing as much as you can yourself to familiarize yourself with the boat. It will save you thousands and is a lot more convenient. I can do my service work in the time and money it would take to take it somewhere.

[85 Barefoot]

I've seen some absolutely absurd service pricing on here recently but fortunately nothing will be 4k!

You can do the oil, plugs, impeller, fluids, filters (fuel), for parts under $150 and four hours max even if its your first rodeo. Certainly all the fluids and filters.

[saxton15]

To add to the wise information above, know that doing the work yourself will give you an immense amount of diagnostic knowledge in the future. When you are out in the middle of the lake and the boat won't fire up, you will be able to analyze what would be a simple fix rather than place a call.

[TexasTexas95]

I got quoted $300 for an oil change. And that's all they would do is change the oil. Screw that, I'm going to do it all myself and that includes all the above listed things. Oil, plugs, fluids, any filters, impeller. Then I'll be sure it got done correctly by someone who actually cares about the boat. Changing the oil and other simple things isn't magic and it's required often enough that everything has to be accessible with pretty simple tools. For $300 or the price of paying someone to service the boat, there are a ton of cool little tools you can get and use over and over again to service it again in the future.

[ibelonginprison]

What no one told me and I had to figure it out for myself:

When you buy a boat you don't become a boat owner... you become a boat mechanic.

[minshall40]

Well is there anywhere on here that help guide me to be able to do those things? I'd like to and am willing but don't want to get mid way through and realize it's not something I can complete.

[robbennett]

Right here. There was a recent thread about oil changes. Get a good oil extractor and some basic tools.

[robbennett]

http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index.php?/topic/54079-how-to-change-your-oil-monsoon-340/

[Deven]

It's a Chevy V8. If you can change the oil in a car, you can change it in boat.

You can find a manual in the resources section too.

Edited April 22, 2015 by Deven

[minshall40]

what weight do nada values hold? How accurate are they especially on older boats?