gigem
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 71
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Inspected this boat yesterday, and made a deal with the seller pending the results of an evaluation by the service department of the dealership that sold the boat to him when new.
The seller and his girlfriend were very nice people, but extremely inexperienced boat owners! This was his first boat, had it for two years. He seemed to be very dependent on his "friends" who were more knowledgeable about boat than him. That seemed a little odd.
The boat seems to be in good condition, but in need of a cleaning. Here were my main concerns:
1. Boat has been stored in the water (freshwater lake) for two years. Not on a lift. I assume that the bottoms of the pontoons are covered in growth.
2. Boat topped out at maybe 25 mph. Couldn't get to 5000 RPM's. Seller said boat hit upper 30's when new, and he feels that growth on pontoons is the issue... maybe... How fast should this boat with SPS and 150 Yamaha be? 38 ish?
3. He said he hit the prop on something at some point, and broke it. Prop was replaced. I am concerned about lower unit damage, and if the prop was replaced with the correct unit. Wrong prop and/or growth on pontoons could contribute to poor performance. What prop should be on this boat?
4. Aftermarket stereo was installed. He was quite proud of it. LED's in speakers, subwoofer under console, separate amp, etc. Overkill for me. Biggest concern is quality of work done to install. In the pictures in the link, you can see the board the "friends" mounted in front of batteries to support amp. Amateur install...
5. Floor covering on deck was dirty. I am assuming that a good scrubbing and power washing will get this clean. Seats were not bad, good shape and not too dirty.
So this was not the "dream scenario" of a boat fanatic who took meticulous care of a boat, selling it cheap. But I think it can work for us. I do like the layout of the boat. No idea why he had the movable seat section blocking the door to the bow of the boat, makes no sense to me. But easy to move to the location in front of the port side door.
I met with the service department at the dealership where he bought the boat when new, and they are going to do the evaluation that they do for used boats that they sell. It will cost me $500 to get that evaluation done. Assuming that everything checks out (or is fixable, with a corresponding reduction in price), I will buy the boat. I will then pay dealer to do 100 hour service on motor, and clean the pontoons.
Regarding cleaning the pontoons... the seller said he was going to get the marina to "power wash" them. The dealership said that power washing would not get it done, they needed to be acid washed. They want almost $1000 for that service. Any opinions on this? Could I just hit them with a power washer myself, or do I need to spend a grand for acid wash? Seller says that dealership put Sharkhide on pontoons when new, I'm sure it's long gone...
The seller and his girlfriend were very nice people, but extremely inexperienced boat owners! This was his first boat, had it for two years. He seemed to be very dependent on his "friends" who were more knowledgeable about boat than him. That seemed a little odd.
The boat seems to be in good condition, but in need of a cleaning. Here were my main concerns:
1. Boat has been stored in the water (freshwater lake) for two years. Not on a lift. I assume that the bottoms of the pontoons are covered in growth.
2. Boat topped out at maybe 25 mph. Couldn't get to 5000 RPM's. Seller said boat hit upper 30's when new, and he feels that growth on pontoons is the issue... maybe... How fast should this boat with SPS and 150 Yamaha be? 38 ish?
3. He said he hit the prop on something at some point, and broke it. Prop was replaced. I am concerned about lower unit damage, and if the prop was replaced with the correct unit. Wrong prop and/or growth on pontoons could contribute to poor performance. What prop should be on this boat?
4. Aftermarket stereo was installed. He was quite proud of it. LED's in speakers, subwoofer under console, separate amp, etc. Overkill for me. Biggest concern is quality of work done to install. In the pictures in the link, you can see the board the "friends" mounted in front of batteries to support amp. Amateur install...
5. Floor covering on deck was dirty. I am assuming that a good scrubbing and power washing will get this clean. Seats were not bad, good shape and not too dirty.
So this was not the "dream scenario" of a boat fanatic who took meticulous care of a boat, selling it cheap. But I think it can work for us. I do like the layout of the boat. No idea why he had the movable seat section blocking the door to the bow of the boat, makes no sense to me. But easy to move to the location in front of the port side door.
I met with the service department at the dealership where he bought the boat when new, and they are going to do the evaluation that they do for used boats that they sell. It will cost me $500 to get that evaluation done. Assuming that everything checks out (or is fixable, with a corresponding reduction in price), I will buy the boat. I will then pay dealer to do 100 hour service on motor, and clean the pontoons.
Regarding cleaning the pontoons... the seller said he was going to get the marina to "power wash" them. The dealership said that power washing would not get it done, they needed to be acid washed. They want almost $1000 for that service. Any opinions on this? Could I just hit them with a power washer myself, or do I need to spend a grand for acid wash? Seller says that dealership put Sharkhide on pontoons when new, I'm sure it's long gone...