What to look out for when buying a used boat

[Jonald]

Top of the evening to ya.

 

I’m buying my first boat soon and it looks like used is the way to go. I wanted to know what things to look out for when buying a used boat and some info of warranties. Looking for  Red flags for the most part.

My price range is around $20k and looking for a Ranger RT178 or something around that size and similar available options. Open to other brands. Want a boat that is no more than 5 years old is still has warranty.  I know tracker and ranger have a warranty that transfers to second owner and isn’t pro rated. Crestliner has a 10 year i think but isn’t transferred to second owner and is pro rated. Correct me if I’m wrong here. Anyone have experience dealing with warranty departments with these makes? 

 

I’ll most likely be buying from a dealer, do most dealers recondition trade ins to make sure they are in good shape and that everything works? Do they have to disclose if something is broken? Do most dealers allow you to do a test drive before purchase? 

 

I’ll probably be flying out to buy something and tow it back. I live in the New England so finding a good deal on a mod v is tough. My biggest fear is that I spend time finding something online, booking a flight spending all that money to travel just to find out it’s got issues or the dealer “forgot” to take a picture of the port side which has a massive dent in it.  
 

I  feel like a know a few of the basics. Don’t buy if:

The boat has ever sunk

Hasn’t run in years

excessive hull damage

 

 

So any tips from folks who have bought a boat or I guess not bought a boat out of state would help tremendously. 
 

Tight lines,

Nick

[Skunkmaster-k]

The first thing to check on is the title to the boat, motor and trailer. I had to find this out the hard way. 

[Deephaven]

The way boats are priced right now, IMO, you'd be better off going 10+ years old or getting a new one.  The market is awful and the beauty of a boat is they take a monstrous resale beating for 10 years and then functionally don't really decrease in value at all afterwards.  As for the warranty, the boat warranty is nearly pointless if you get a good boat but a warranty on the engine, trolling motor and electronics would be nice....sadly those are shorter and probably out of your 5 year window anyways.  So if you choose a 10 year old boat, the things to look at are: motor hours at what rpm, a full compression test, electrical inspection and a verification that everything is working.

[TnRiver46]

Compression gauge is cheap, might as well grab one and take it. When the boat is on the trailer, grab the leading edge of the lower unit and wiggle it, watch for play in the transom. It’s also always good to test drive , I’ve bought a couple motors that ran great in a barrel but bogged down pushing a boat. In a glass boat, just walk around it several times and look at everything really close. See if you can walk around (maybe lightly jump if the seller isn’t watching) on the floor of the boat, feeling for bad stringers or floor boards. You could also probably feel if stringers were bad on the test drive, not sure as I haven’t driven a glass boat much. See if everything looks really dry inside, not like there’s a constant drip coming from wet foam. Better yet find the foam and touch it if possible 

[Glenn]

Here's EVERYTHING you need to know - even the stuff you didn't know you needed to know - about buying a boat:

 

 

[Junk Fisherman]

Compression check and a leak down check on the motor are a must.  Definitely check the transom, lay on your back and look at the hull for any obvious issues.  Those are the big ones.  It would be great if you could take the boat on the lake and check all the pumps, electronics, trolling motor, ect...  You can do those things on the driveway but I would rather spend an hour on the lake.  And if I bought a used boat I would immediately repack the trailer bearings or have it done by your local shop.  

 

Realize that spring is the worst time to buy a boat.  If you see something you want, move fast.  If it is priced competitively, it probably won't last the weekend.  I would be checking Craigslist in a couple hundred mile radius and be ready to go as soon as you see something you want.  Good luck.     

[Jonald]

2 hours ago, Junk Fisherman said:

Compression check and a leak down check on the motor are a must.  Definitely check the transom, lay on your back and look at the hull for any obvious issues.  Those are the big ones.  It would be great if you could take the boat on the lake and check all the pumps, electronics, trolling motor, ect...  You can do those things on the driveway but I would rather spend an hour on the lake.  And if I bought a used boat I would immediately repack the trailer bearings or have it done by your local shop.  

 

Realize that spring is the worst time to buy a boat.  If you see something you want, move fast.  If it is priced competitively, it probably won't last the weekend.  I would be checking Craigslist in a couple hundred mile radius and be ready to go as soon as you see something you want.  Good luck.     

Thanks for the tip. I’m in the market to buy this November. Hopefully the market won’t be as crazy

[AmmoGuy]

Waterlogged foam. 

[InfantryMP]

I like how I did my first boat purchase. 

 

I started with something a bit smaller (cheaper), that had a couple decent upgrades. I used that boat for a few years, with the only things I needed to fix were trailer lights, and a couple of new batteries. 

 

Once I was comfortable with boating, I upgraded. 

 

Here is what I would look for:

1. Obvious hull damage

2. Engine runs, and test drive if possible (or take a ride in it)

3. All the electronics are sound (pumps, switches, livewells)

4. Trailer is serviceable and not about to break down

 

With a 20K budget you should not be finding a ton of boats with floor issues etc. 

[dickenscpa]

When I read your post the first thing that came to mind was compression and leakdown.

 

If you check the transom  is secure and also if it's secure look to see if it has been repaired. There's different degrees of repair work depending on who did it. A lot of repairs look good on the lot and three months later start falling apart.

 

Outside of making sure you have a good solid transom, no waterlogged foam and you can tell by looking if it has excess water coming that has to be drained after each trip by the staining - most other nitpicky things on the boat are DIY stuff.

 

Personally I wouldn't be super concerned about the graphs and TM on a 5-10 yr old boat because I'd most likely switch them out anyway.

 

My main concern would be that motor. I'd rather pay for an extra plane ticket and take someone with me that knew motors than take a risk on getting a bad motor.

 

Around here you can have a $50k boat and if the motor goes you might as well buy another engine. A new Merc 150 4 stroke is about $15-16k. Where I'm at a super nice boat with no motor you can't hardly give it away. If you do sell it you took a major hit. It's hard to even get your hands on a new motor right now anyway.

[Jonald]

On 4/13/2022 at 7:26 AM, Junk Fisherman said:

Compression check and a leak down check on the motor are a must.  Definitely check the transom, lay on your back and look at the hull for any obvious issues.  Those are the big ones.  It would be great if you could take the boat on the lake and check all the pumps, electronics, trolling motor, ect...  You can do those things on the driveway but I would rather spend an hour on the lake.  And if I bought a used boat I would immediately repack the trailer bearings or have it done by your local shop.  

 

Realize that spring is the worst time to buy a boat.  If you see something you want, move fast.  If it is priced competitively, it probably won't last the weekend.  I would be checking Craigslist in a couple hundred mile radius and be ready to go as soon as you see something you want.  Good luck.     

Do I still need to do a leak down test and compression of the motor is newer? 2018. Will the dealer have that info? What’s a bad number? 

[MN Fisher]

Just now, Jonald said:

Do I still need to do a leak down test and compression of the motor is newer? 2018.

Age of the motor has no relation to it's condition. Something could have gone wrong at any time.

 

1 minute ago, Jonald said:

Will the dealer have that info?

He should...if he's an honest guy.

 

1 minute ago, Jonald said:

What’s a bad number? 

All depends on the manufacturer's specs.

[Jonald]

3 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Age of the motor has no relation to it's condition. Something could have gone wrong at any time.

 

He should...if he's an honest guy.

 

All depends on the manufacturer's specs.

Ok thank you for the info!

On 4/13/2022 at 11:16 AM, InfantryMP said:

I like how I did my first boat purchase. 

 

I started with something a bit smaller (cheaper), that had a couple decent upgrades. I used that boat for a few years, with the only things I needed to fix were trailer lights, and a couple of new batteries. 

 

Once I was comfortable with boating, I upgraded. 

 

Here is what I would look for:

1. Obvious hull damage

2. Engine runs, and test drive if possible (or take a ride in it)

3. All the electronics are sound (pumps, switches, livewells)

4. Trailer is serviceable and not about to break down

 

With a 20K budget you should not be finding a ton of boats with floor issues etc. 

so I’m looking to buy this winter and most waterways will be frozen. Any suggestions on how I can replicate a sea test without hitting the water?