Buying a used boat this time of year

Hello –

I have been looking for a older(10-14 years old) fish n ski boat. Just curious what people do this time of the year? Can’t test drive it on a lake? Hard to run it off muffs and a garden hose!? Just trust the seller :). Just hate to buy a boat with a motor that doesn’t work!

Curious on your thoughts!

Thanks – Chad

Go to the river.

The dealership I bought used from gave me a reasonable offer. I could return it a week after walleye opener if it did not preform like I wanted. After that I had a 60 day partial warranty. I bought the boat in February and opener is in may.

Compression test will tell you a lot about engine wear. But ultimately, best to find a place were you can drop it in. Even if its just getting the motor in enough to test shifting and how it runs. Lake MI is open down here…..

A compression test / leak down test would tell you a lot if you aren’t able to run it… I think a lot of it depends too on the motor you’re looking at; if you’re looking at something that’s had issues in the past (3 cylinder Johnson 70 HP for instance) vs something that’s been pretty bullet proof (Yamaha 4 strokes / etc) and you’re getting a heck of a price on it, it might be worth a little risk in the spring when it’s typically a dealer / seller season vs the fall when people are trying to move boats

IMO, this is a good time of year to buy because guys are trying to move rigs because the wife said a new boat is a no-no until the old one gets gone. Sellers are motivated and offers will be few and far between until the snow melts, so you can get a deal.

The thing is that if you wait for CrazyTime from about the first of April to mid-June, you’re going to pay top dollar and the best rigs disappear in seconds. You’ll learn real fast to cringe at the words, “Sorry, I godda guy commin’ out already.”

Everything depends on your ability to assess condition and your tolerance for risk. No doubt about it, there’s both risks and rewards to buying this time of year.

Bottom line is you ARE taking a chance by buying without being able to water test a boat. Compression testing and firing it up on the hose only tells you that the engine runs, there’s a lot of other things it won’t tell you.

I’ve gotten deals for sure in the off season. I’ve also gotten burned by one POS seller that forgot to mention that the boat was a huge leaker.

IMO the thing to do is to look at “What’s the worst case scenario?” Even in the case of the leaking boat, I bought it at a beat down enough price that even with an expensive repair, I still came out even with what I would have paid had I bought the boat in the summer. I got that rig for $1000 under the normal summer market value, but then I had to turn around and fix it. It’s a raw deal, but I accept that if I’m going to gamble, I’m going to occasionally lose.

But I’ve made up for that by getting some fantastic deals. I bought a 15 HP outboard from a guy who thought it was sized. I suspected it was just “ring sticking” from sitting too long, so I took a chance at a very low price. 15 minutes and 10 shots of Deep Creep in each cylinder, and I had her unstuck. 20 minutes later she was in the test tank running.

Grouse

Chad,
I can’t imagine that any local Boat dealership won’t have a garden hose, set of muffs and a floor drain, and would let you back the rig in and test-fire it for a reasonable fee.

C’mon, you wouldn’t buy a used truck or car without starting it, would you?

HRG

I would not buy a used boat this time of year from a stranger. Period.

I had a post on another site a while back when I was looking, and majority of them said bring it to a mechanic to have it checked out, if the seller wasn’t willing to work with you on that, then walk away or don’t bother going to look at it.

I ended up waiting until the lakes thawed out to buy so I was able to water test.

Last boat we sold was in the winter and the guy just took my word for it that it ran good. Of coarse I wouldn’t lie to someone about that, but not everyone is truthful.

I just sold my skeeter tonight and it’s all pending a trip to pool 2 on Saturday for a test drive. Sold it for $26k I would never refuse someone a test drive on an investment of that size! Obviously it depends on where you live and how far away open water is from you.