Advice on buying 1990 Sunbird Corsair 185

[Jason0352]

So I'm in the market for a boat and I have been scouring craigslist, ebay, and local boat shops. I seemed to have found my best bet so far on this 1990 Sunbird Corsair 185.

This wouldn't be my 1st boat; my friend and I bought a 1988 Renken last year for the summer and had a blast with it. Sold it in August since it was getting pretty bad on the interior and was starting to have carb issues. I'd like to think I'm not a total noob when it comes to boats, but really I am.

So I figured I would join these forums and ask for some advice on my next possible purchase. This Sunbird is being sold by the mechanic shop we stored our Renken at last season and these guys are ultra friendly and accommodating.

Me not really knowing the resale value or really any value boats are supposed to be worth have come to ask you guys your opinion on it. Would you pay $4000 for it? Also it's obo so I was going to offer them $3500.

Thanks alot.

Edit** http://arnoldsmarine.com/SunbirdCorsair.htm

 

[tburda]

Re: Advice on buying 1990 Sunbird Corsair 185

Wow, thats a sharp looking boat.

Heres the two downsides.

Sunbird and OMC are both out of business. Parts can be a pain. Not the worst but occasionally you might run into something very hard to find. I'm working on a sunbird 188 (the cuddy) and his is a very nice boat and not in even near that good of condition.

My personal opinion judging from the pics, 3500 seems like a fair price. Of course you have to consider hours, make sure the floors in good shape...you know, poke around for that usual stuff that can be a problem.

 

[BrandonHa]

Re: Advice on buying 1990 Sunbird Corsair 185

I have a 1991 Sunbird SeaCore 173 that I am working on. Doing pretty much a entire restore.

I cant speak to the mechanics of it because that is way out of my realm. But i can say that I dont blame the factory at all for my boat being water logged with a rotten transom. The previous owner(s?) put many holes in it here and there and did not remember to seal them back up.

That boat you are looking at looks really clean for being a 1990!

Some things that I have learned over the years. Your local market plays a HUGE part of the price of the boat. I have seen the Sunbird Seacore for sale in other states for as little as $1,500 and low blue book (without looking, dont hold me to this) is $1,200.

Here, hopefully this link works. I just used this 3rd party site to search all of the craigslist for "Sunbird Corsair". Maybe seeing all of the Corsairs for sale on CL will help.

http://craiglook.com/all.html?q=sunbird+Corsair

Our boat in not so great shape was $4,500. Try finding a decent center console for fishing in the greater Seattle area for less then $4,500. It just really wont happen. So the area he lived in (My dad when he bought the boat) really played the part in the heavy price tag.

I dont know if I am explaining my point very well. I guess if that link I posted works it will make sense

I am in absolute love with my Sunbird to tell you the truth. I know its not the same model but its built awesome. The actual construction of the boat and the way it handles is amazing to me.

I liked it enough to do the restore (In progress anyway) and have had no regrets.

Dont forget to check for soft spots! That being a lesson learned on my part

Hope it helps!