I could really use some help for my next boat purchase

Hey guys, I am in the market for a bowrider under $6000. I recently found a 1998 20.5' Bayliner with a 5.0 for $4900. The problem is I have not seen the boat yet and the owner says there is a small soft spot on the floor in the bow area. I already asked him if I can drill samples from the stringers, transom and floor. Is there anything else I can look for? Is this a good price? Any other suggestions/tips would be much appreciated.

This is what it says in his ad:

Good condition, second owner, owned since 2000. Serviced annually. Recently replaced Carb, plugs, wires, powersteering lines, flywheel, alternator, starter and gimblebaring. Many extras included.

I would add a picture but I do not know how. Thanks guys!

Re: I could really use some help for my next boat purchase

I would have stopped at the word Bayliner. A 16 year old one with a soft floor seems about $1500 - $2000 over priced.

Re: I could really use some help for my next boat purchase

Older Bayliners are notorious for rot, and this one has it. I would run, unless I wanted a winter project of taking her do bare hull and starting a rebuild from there up. But then it is way overpriced.

Re: I could really use some help for my next boat purchase

I wish I could afford better but it seems like everything in my price range is similar to this boat.

Re: I could really use some help for my next boat purchase

x3. You don't want a boat with rot....anywhere. Walk away, there are always others! Look for brands in their late 90's with no wood - Chris Craft, Caravelle, Cobalt...do some searches -http://forums.iboats.com/boat-topics-questions-not-engine-topics/who-makes-100-fiberglass-bowrider-512258.html - and you'll find lots of threads with reliable listings.

Depending on your area I see late 90's boats like the ones above for $5,000 to $6,000 with no rot....

Re: I could really use some help for my next boat purchase

What year bayliners are not prone to rot?

Re: I could really use some help for my next boat purchase

boybadone said:

What year bayliners are not prone to rot?

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2015? 2016? who knows........they all use wood and if not taken care of will rot.

I'm sure I'll offend some people with this post, but Bayliners are entry level boats. It's not that they are bad, but they are economical, priced competitively and are made with cheaper (not cheap mind you) materials - wood being one of them. My buddy has a 2012 and I've been around his quite a bit - lots of wood and carpeting which traps moisture. A few years of damp conditions and lack of protection and that wood is toast. If you take care of them they'll last a lifetime but often times people don't. If you want to pay more then you will get up into Sea Ray, Caravelle, Cobalt, Chris Craft and other higher end lines which are often made with synthetic materials and not wood.
Again, I'd look for something with an all fiberglass interior and deck

Re: I could really use some help for my next boat purchase

I didn't realize any pleasure boats made prior to 2000 were wood free.

Re: I could really use some help for my next boat purchase

As the others have said, be careful with the Bayliners and similar low-end boats. The wood is not that well encapsulated so water gets there in a hurry. The soft spot the the current owner spoke of is probably signs of water penetration and rot. You could assume that other parts of the boat are following close behind. Sorry to say.

Maybe see what you can get in some other brands. Looks for boats with a full fiberglass cockpit liner, rather than carpet over wood.

Re: I could really use some help for my next boat purchase

I have been actively searching the nj Craigslist for months now and I am having a hard time finding boats that are not prone to rot. It also seems like a lot of these boats have been used in salt water but that is probably a result of my location (central jersey).

Re: I could really use some help for my next boat purchase

If i do find a boat with a liner is it possible to check the wood underneath. The wood floor below can still rot, correct?

Re: I could really use some help for my next boat purchase

Realistically, if you're looking at boats in the sub$6000 range, I can't see how you'll be able avoid boats that contain some wood... you'll probably be looking at boats from the mid-90s era or slightly later, and those two factors in combination (wood+age) mean you will have to be very vigilant about looking for rot. Any visible rot - esp. in the deck - almost always is indicative of bigger problems below (bad stringers and bulkheads, bad transom).

To help yourself learn what to look for (and avoid) read some of the restoration threads (mine is linked in my signature) of boats similar to what you're looking at. Most of these threads start out with "I bought a 20' 1996 Brand X boat and found I was getting water in the bilge and I had a very small soft spot in the deck. When I peeled back the carpet, I found...." (you can guess the rest).

Besides bringing along a friend who knows boats, or hiring a surveyor to go over a prospective purchase, you're often on your own to ferret out these problems before you buy, so doing some reading is a good idea.

As a buyer in your price range, your goal is to get lucky and find that prized boat that has been well cared for, is in fairly good shape, and it is ready for a new buyer. The Fall is a pretty good time to be looking, as people wanting to sell will be hoping to avoid the costs of winterizing and storing a boat. But take if from someone who bought a boat and then immediately had to spend an entire winter rebuilding it, you want to increase your chances of finding that good boat and not bringing home a project.

Good luck and we are here to help!

Jim

Re: I could really use some help for my next boat purchase

There shouldn't be wood under the fully lined late 90's boats. Guys selling off boats from the 90's are usually passing off their problems (motor/outdrive/decking) but some boats have been taken care of and haven't gone full on rotten yet. Just know if you get one your on borrowed time with it before it has to be passed on or repaired. Same goes for a car from the 90's, they drive old, smell old and need work too. If you can, like has been said find a boat without wood decks and stringers, that will be best. A late 90's model with a wood deck but synthetic stringers would be a good choice too if your into replacing the decking yourself down the road.

I recently bought a 87 Chris Craft as a parts donor boat. The guy was so proud of this boat, he spent 2k redoing the interior probably, said it's been stored inside, it's awesome and ready to go out and have fun on the lake. All BS... I looked it over, it was rotten to the core, silicone around the hull and gimbal mount. Drive flexes out 3/8" with me pushing down on it. Ripped in half exhaust bellows. Spider webs of gelcoat cracks all around the transom keyhole. Soft spot in floor. A complete wreck and not even close to being seaworthy. It towed like a cement truck behind me, water logged foam and all that. Some poor schlub could have put his family in that thing and been in serious peril.

Happy boat hunting!

Re: I could really use some help for my next boat purchase

Sometimes you need to drive 4-5 hours, to find boats that fit your needs and budget.
Look in areas where saltwater use was unlikely, away from huge bodies of water, and in less densely populated areas.


Widen your search into PA.

Re: I could really use some help for my next boat purchase

I bought my Formula 242SS in Northfield NJ . . . lots of salt water boats in NJ . . . and now lots of hurricane Sandy boats too

You might have to search more inland to get a boat that has been run in fresh water.

I searched a 500 mile radius to find my current boat . . . finally found one in Lake Winnipesaukee, NH.

Re: I could really use some help for my next boat purchase

Thank you so much for the great info guys. I am not completely helpless when it comes to boats but I am not familiar with the construction process of specific brands and I have never owned a boat with a stern drive. Can anyone recommend boat brands that have synthetics decks, stringers and or transoms in my price range? I would love to find a wood free boat but I truly doubt that is withing reach for me.

Re: I could really use some help for my next boat purchase

boybadone said:

What year bayliners are not prone to rot?

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Our friends have a 2008 Bayliner bowrider with hardly any wood in it. They are rather abusive when it comes to leaving it out in the rain and snow and so far it isn't showing any signs of rot. However, even a Bayliner of this vintage will be more than 6K. The older Sea Rays seem to be very solid and well built boats and they look really nice too. Things like upholstery and gel gloss can be fixed up as you go but I would avoid anything with soft spots anywhere. Usually if there is rot that you can see it means there is rot that you can't see,,,,, YET. You'll have to travel to a fresh water area to find any number of good older boats. We just travelled 300 miles to buy our latest boat from Roosavelt Lake but it was worth it. Everything we looked at in Vancouver was rotten and needed a lot of work. Salt water is rough on boats. We ended up with a 1989 24' boat that had been used in fresh water only and had never been moored. Other than upholstery it's like new. Keep looking and don't give up. It took us months to find our current boat and we viewed 16 other ones before we found it. That's a lot of time and miles considering most of them were 200 to 300 mikes away. Good luck.

Re: I could really use some help for my next boat purchase

None, there was a thread recently about a 2012 with a wet transom.

boybadone said:

What year bayliners are not prone to rot?

Click to expand...

Re: I could really use some help for my next boat purchase

I do not think that a $5K budget will get you into a wood-free boat as most wood-free boats are fairly new . . . Triton and Southport boats come to mind as wood free.

Many boats have synthetic stringers, but wood elsewhere, such as the transom and the bulkheads, but still may be above $5K . . .

Re: I could really use some help for my next boat purchase

I know its not the norm, but I got a $4,500 1999 Chris Craft with no wood at all. Keep looking and you'll find something