Aquasport 250 buy or not buy ?

[Phamous]

hi there

I am in the thoughts to buy my first boat and I have found a boat that I would like to have. for fishing and pleasure trips, but I would like to have your opinion and the pros and cons of buying a boat that cost half my "start a life away from home" budget, I am 22 years old.

The boat in question is an Aquasport 250 Ospray -01 imported from Florida says on the bow number (FL 1308 MC) to Sweden, With a Johnson 250 ocean pro 2 stroke (I think) outboard engine. I do not know how many hours it has, in the notice that says just what the boat is equipped with. for example, self-bailing, lots of rod holders, power trim and tilt, trim tabs, lights front / rear, bottom painted, fiberglass T-Top, Navigation lights

How is Aquasport to live with and I'd like to hear if any of you have owned or owns a Aquasport boat

In the pictures looks pretty dirty, the floor where there is non ski surface looks pretty bad too, how hard is it to clean such a surface to make it look sleek, and how much work is there in case the bilge and transom is rotten, I would like to know what's your impression and your thoughts. The price of the boat is 21 141 USD. ask if there is anything you want to know.

thanks in advance.

 

[Another retired guy]

Re: Aquasport 250 buy or not buy ?

Hi. What year is the boat? When buying a used boat, its condition and maintenance history is more important than the manufacturer. The price will be influenced mainly by the condition and partly by the manufacturers reputation. There are some "red flags" here - It has been imported (why?) ; you say it is dirty and looks worn (well used? Lack of maintenance? ) ; number of hours on motor - unknown ; maintenance history - unknown !!
If there is any rot in the transom and stringers, then walk away from it.
If you have no experience with boats, then have a marine surveyor inspect the boat.
Be very careful spending half of your "start life away from home" budget

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Aquasport 250 buy or not buy ?

A 12 yr. fiberglass boat, I'd have a reputable surveyor take a very close look at that boat before I bought it.

Boats are expensive to operate and maintain, and if you buy one with rot they become very expensive. The materials alone to fix a bad fiberglass boat are costly.

Boat motor parts and labor are also expensive.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Aquasport 250 buy or not buy ?

great boat. Unless someone left the plug in and let it fill with rain water in the bilge, you shouldn't have anything to worry about on the hull. Get the motor check out thoroughly.

don't worry about dirty decks. a boat like that is made to be left uncovered so a dirty surface is typical. It's rigged for open water use and made for salt water.

On a personal (to you) level: A 25' boat with a 250 is a big boat for a starter. It will use a lot of fuel (and oil if it's a two stroke) and will require a large vehicle if you are trailering it. It's going to take some time to get used to handling it. Price your insurance, registration (boat and trailer) and storage to be sure you can handle it. Could you handle a $1000 repair bill when something goes wrong? (it will). Can you fill the 120 gallon tank? Buy trailer tires and get the brakes redone? If you are going to leave it in the water, can you swing the $1500 to paint the bottom (at $200/gallon paint--what does antifouling paint cost there?

And do you have the fishing tackle? Priced that?

Also that's a great fishing machine but no shelter for cold weather fishing. If you are putting that much money in, you want to use it most of the year. Will that work?

Many boaters start in the 16-19' range, unless they are already experienced.

A large part of buying a used boat is trusting the seller. Your seller is advertising stuff that comes with every boat. He also says the bottom's been painted, and it hasn't, unless they put hull paint over top of anti-fouling, which is not a good thing. Beware.

 

[JEBar]

Re: Aquasport 250 buy or not buy ?

I believe the Ocean Pro series was produced from around '93 - '01 .... we have an '01 90 hp on our boat and it has delivered excellent service from day one .... from around '98 - '01 they used a FICHT ignition, there were significant problems with them in the early years .... there were service bulletins put out on upgrading the FICHT, if those were followed, a FICHT is still running after this amount of time would probably be OK

Jim

 

[Phamous]

Re: Aquasport 250 buy or not buy ?

to begin with, I would like to thank everyone who has responded.
The pictures I've attached are taken at two different times, the 3 first in the United States, and those last two are taken in Sweden,

Another retired guy: the ad says it's a 2001, probably the engine from the same year. I am only in the speculations to buy a boat so i have not not talked to the seller about the condition and maintenance history, I just based the condition of the images in this stage. how do I find out if it is rotten on such a boat where I can not check the inside of the transom? thanks for the reply

jigngrub: what does it cost to get a boat inspected by a surveyor?

Home Cookin ': your answer was a real eye-opener. In Sweden you do not register the boat, (vessels below 12 m (39 ft) and a width less than 4 m (13 ft) are called boats., The boats used for business purposes in different ways must be registered. They used for private use can be registered at the owner's request) insurance is a must in Sweden, Trailer, I will not use because that boat is too heavy to have on a trailer trailer, I will notwork because the boat is too heavy for the cars I have access to, so it will be lifted out of the water onto a truck and driven home, antifouling is directly converted, 0.66 Gallons is $ 148 (2.5 L - $ 148). Fishing stuff I already have, my main interest is fishing, I have to take all your views and thoughts with me to see if it is worth it or not, but a surveyor was a good idea to hire if it comes to the point where I want to buy the boat.

Thank you very much for your answers, with friendly greetings from Sweden