Pretty dumb question. Where do you all look for used boats?

[jimmwaller]

Title says it all! I really only check craigslist, but I'm not having luck looking for what I want. Part of the issue is that you can't really search in a wide area, the listings are all local.

Is there some better place to look for used boats? Will take all the websites or whatever I can get

I see lots of them on a google search, but I don't know which ones are reputable and/or worth my time! Seeing a lot of classified websites that either seem a little shady, or that just don't have a ton of listings.

THANKS!!

 

[Chryslerman123]

Try searching the next closest craigslist city to yours.

 

[Fun Times]

iboats happens to offer a boat listing!
http://boats.iboats.com/

What area do you live in and roughly what type of boat meets your interests?

 

[bruceb58]

Last boat(pontoon) was Craiglslist and boat before that was BoatTrader. I live in Los Angeles and drove to Arizona for the pontoon I bought.

 

[roscoe]

there are search engines that will search craigslist, and list the results stating with the closest, to the farthest, from your location.


http://www.searchtempest.com

 

[Scott Danforth]

there are craigslist sites for about 10 major cities in each state. you can either go directly to the site (small drop down window upper left corner of craigslist) or you can use searchtempest.

bought my SeaRay 3 states away on craigslist being advertized by Marine max. saved $5k over local

there is also Boat Trader, iboats, and other sale sites

 

[tpenfield]

+1 for iBoats.com listings . . .

CL has search parameters that can go up to 200 miles (if I recall)

+1 for search tempest as that searches the individual CL sites, based on your search radius.

boats.oodle.com can be useful, but a lot of the posting are old and inactive, but don't seem to go away.

If you are going in the higher price ranges, then Boat Trader dot com is a good resource as is yacht world dot com.

 

[SeaDooSam]

I use craigslist for everything, but be smart. If something is too good to be true, usually it's a scam. And if anyone says the word PayPal or check then run for the hills. I only do local Cash deals with CL

 

[Starcraft5834]

CL listings, it's free....... doesnt get better than that.. do your homework.. make sure owner actually has title in hand and look at it..... as Sam said, it's easy to sniff out scams... be patient.. use common sense..

 

[BWR1953]

Type this into Google and you'll get a bunch of craigslist nationwide search engines. Be sure to sort by date so that you don't get a bunch of expired listings.

search all of craigslist

 

[89retta]

Don't know where you live. But up here in Canada most people use Kijiji its format is way better then CL. And you can search wide areas for what you are looking for.

 

[Darrenmb]

I found my boat listed on offer up and on letgo, dont know how well they would work for a decent boat but i was searching project boats.
Being in central florida, the market is flooded with boats, went and looked a few on craigslist, but nothing met my needs or expectations.

Good luck with your search! Took me 8 months to find what i wanted

 

[gm280]

Just a thought. Unless you are talking high dollar boats, you most likely will get a boat that needs a lot of work. JMHO

 

[BRICH1260]

Boatrader.com

 

[roscoe]

You don't mention what type of boat you are looking for.

Looking for a bass boat, check the bass fishing websites.

Walleye boat, walleye central.com has many boats listed.

Water skiing boat, check the skiing club sites.

It seems just about every niche in boating has its own clubs, websites, and event sites.
Most of them have a classified section.

 

[GA_Boater]

One other way is driving around and keeping your eyes peeled, especially near water. A lot of sellers hang a for sale sign on a boat in the yard or driveway as their only form of advertising.

 

[jkust]

Having bought my current boat this year, I came to the conclusion that Craigslist is THE only place to find a private party boat. It's like nothing else exists as frustrating as it is. Any boat I found on a dedicated boat site was also on CL and many more used private party boats on CL that never see another site. I had downloaded a CL app and set up an alert for the parameters I was looking for. I also had a Searchtempest alert set up for nationwide searching and wouldn't you know it, the boat I wanted was 10 minutes from my house.

 

[drrpm]

In the Georgia/ South Carolina area we have the IWANTA. It seems to generally have higher grade sellers than Graigslist. There is a weekly print edition sold at local convenience stores and a website. I have used it to sell several cars and bought a canoe I found in it. I bought my boat used from a marina on Lake Murray. We have several used car lots on the way to Clarks Hill Lake (Thurmond for those in SC) that have boats on their lots.

 

[jimmwaller]

Thank you all for so many replies! Didn't expect so many different sites, but I will check them all out. More leads is better than fewer

Thanks again!

 

[gddavid]

Put the word out to friends and family what you are looking for and willing to spend. Word travels fast on social media and you might connect with the right person. Some of the best deals are never advertised. In my opinion the holy grail of used boat purchases is a boat in an estate that the family is just liquidating ASAP.

In 1988 my father bought a 10 year old Grady White from a neighbor that had been garage kept and only used 6-12 times for less than 1/2 book value. Shortly after my dad bought a similar sized boat in much worse shape, the neighbor stopped by and said "I wish I had known you were boat shopping because I would have sold you mine" so a year later we sold the rough boat and bought the Grady. The guy never bothered to advertise it.