thinking of buying a 1998 Wellcraft

Hi
My husband and i are looking to purchase our first boat. we have 2 boys, 9 and 13 and will use this primarily for towing and wakeboarding. i have been looking at many boats and came across this Wellcraft 20 foot open bow with a waketower that looks very nice. I am not familiar with wellcraft and would like some advice on the brand. It has a volvo penta 5.0 motor and volvo cobra sx outdrive.
What is the general feeling about the Wellcraft brand
thanks for your help
Tracey

Re: thinking of buying a 1998 Wellcraft

We have many member's here with Wellcraft boats.

Welcome to iboats!

Since this is your first boat and your location is not listed......... buy yourself some insurance and have the boat professionally checked out. The investment in a good check of the boat may save you TON's of money in the future. It does have a good motor and good drive unit .............. the maintenance history is fairly important.

Re: thinking of buying a 1998 Wellcraft

Try to find out if it is actually an Excel boat. I think Wellcraft had them in this time period. If so there is some info on the Welllcraft website. You may be able to find a sell sheet with specs.

Re: thinking of buying a 1998 Wellcraft

I haven't had a Wellcraft myself, but I haven't heard bad things about this maker, and my impression is that they are in the upper tier of quality builders. You should be able to get the VIN off the transom, upper part of the port side. With that you can look at the Wellcraft site, as suggested. I really like this size boat (mine is a 20 foot Sea Ray bowrider). It's a great size for 4-6 people to spend a day on the water, and the 5.0 should give plenty of power. Volvo-Penta is the Lexus of I/O drives. A little more expensive to fix something when it finally goes wrong, but a great reputation for quality and performance. If you give us more info on what year, how many hours on the engine/drive, and where you are, people on this site can give you more recommendations about price and quality of this particular boat. If you don't know boats, the suggestion to have a knowledgeable surveyor look it over is very good. And get a "sea trial" where you and your husband drive the boat and put it through fast starts, stability at speed, etc.

Re: thinking of buying a 1998 Wellcraft

they have the reputation of a top tier boat here, too (like whaler and grady) and I have never heard a complaint. They tend to be on the heavy side for their size (or so I've heard) which is a function of being sturdy and well fitted out.

Re: thinking of buying a 1998 Wellcraft

Wellcrafts are good boats, but remember that it has 13 years of unknown use (hopefully not abuse). Check it over carefully and preferably have it surveyed by a pro.

Re: thinking of buying a 1998 Wellcraft

I own/have owned two. Wellcrafts are well made boats, but once you get into the used boat market the manufacturer has far less to do with the quality than the care the boat has received. I've seen Wellcrafts that look great, and others that look like garbage because they weren't cared for.

Re: thinking of buying a 1998 Wellcraft

I have owned one--They are quality- heavy built--BUT just like any boat it is all about how it was maintained.
Pay the $150 or so for a professional survey-test drive yourself. if something is not right find out what $$ to make it right.
there are alot of quality boats for sale-don't buy unless you are positive it is in good running condition.