1994 chaparral 190 SLC

V

vipertblck

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Sep 25, 2012
Messages
205
searching for my first ever boat. posted a few times here before regarding questions and concerns in general, as well as input on a few boats I found. well found this one right by my house (see link) and went out with the guy. the bellow for the drive shaft looks good but the bellow for exhaust is completely missing and not even there. He said the sea impeller was changed about 2 years ago (so it's prolly due). Started and ran fine and got up and went, but no idea what compression is. Small spot in the bow seating area that was soft so he cut it out and replaced that wood in there. It's by no means a mint or excellent condition boat, I'd call it average/fair. Has been coming down in price and makes me wonder, even with these issues...would the thing be worth it for around $4000? It's got just under 600 hrs.

1994 Chaparral 190 SLC
 
JASinIL2006

JASinIL2006

Vice Admiral
Joined
Feb 10, 2012
Messages
5,541
Re: 1994 chaparral 190 SLC

For our area (I'm a bit downstate in Illinois from you, in the west-central part) that price would be in the ballpark for that type of boat. As much as I can tell from pictures, it looks nice, but I'd be a bit concerned about the soft spot... was it in the deck or somewhere else? A boat of that age is a prime candidate to start showing rot, and given how everything is carpeted (the ski locker, even the underside of the ski locker hatch), it might be hard to see. I would look VERY carefully at the transom and I would walk over every square inch of the deck in bare feet to feel for other soft spots.

Others here can advise about mechanical things to check, but I'd be looking very carefully at the wood in the boat for any signs of dampness/rot. I'd also put some weight on the outdrive to see if the transom flexes at all. An absence of flex doesn't guarantee the transom is OK, but the presence of any flex is a very bad sign.

Did he give any reason for the exhaust bellows being missing?
 
V

vipertblck

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Sep 25, 2012
Messages
205
Re: 1994 chaparral 190 SLC

Didn't say why the exhaust bellow was missing, just something I noticed. Also the rot he replaced was under the seat cover, which would be the part that the seat cover sits on, in the bow area of the boat right in front of the driver. The actual floor's only soft spot that he claimed and what I felt was the ski locker lid, which flexed a bit. How would I go about checking the transom? I glanced in there and all I could see was covered in fiberglass, minimal wood that was showing.

JASinIL2006 said:
For our area (I'm a bit downstate in Illinois from you, in the west-central part) that price would be in the ballpark for that type of boat. As much as I can tell from pictures, it looks nice, but I'd be a bit concerned about the soft spot... was it in the deck or somewhere else? A boat of that age is a prime candidate to start showing rot, and given how everything is carpeted (the ski locker, even the underside of the ski locker hatch), it might be hard to see. I would look VERY carefully at the transom and I would walk over every square inch of the deck in bare feet to feel for other soft spots.

Others here can advise about mechanical things to check, but I'd be looking very carefully at the wood in the boat for any signs of dampness/rot. I'd also put some weight on the outdrive to see if the transom flexes at all. An absence of flex doesn't guarantee the transom is OK, but the presence of any flex is a very bad sign.

Did he give any reason for the exhaust bellows being missing?
Click to expand...
 
JASinIL2006

JASinIL2006

Vice Admiral
Joined
Feb 10, 2012
Messages
5,541
Re: 1994 chaparral 190 SLC

Anytime. Just remember that you are now committed to posting pictures of whatever boat you end up in. Without pictures, it's just a rumor...

:)
 
J

jkust

Rear Admiral
Joined
Aug 2, 2008
Messages
4,942
Re: 1994 chaparral 190 SLC

My take on this is that I'd need to be 100% certain there is no hidden rot or saturated flotation foam. However you go about doing that. There have been literally countless threads like this over the years where it ends up being rotted unbeknownst to the buyer until they owned it and it turns into a project or worse a sunk cost. The pictures lead me to believe it is in otherwise acceptable shape with the downside being that awful blue color. For 4k I'd like to see a boat a few years newer but the busy season is fast approaching and things are going to start selling quickly regardless of what I think. Keep in mind the contemporary Vortec engines came out in 1996 so your 94 is going to have the old style engine.
 
r.j.dawg

r.j.dawg

Ensign
Joined
May 30, 2011
Messages
993
Re: 1994 chaparral 190 SLC

I think if it was my $4000 I would be hiring a marine surveyor to check it out. Around here they charge around $15 a foot.
 
Idlespeedonly

Idlespeedonly

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jun 30, 2011
Messages
779
Re: 1994 chaparral 190 SLC

I dont have much else to add other than seeing that he put all the blemish pictures in his ad instead of hiding them says something.
 
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