Can anyone recommend a boat history site to use?

[vetplus40]

I have ran across an 04 Baja 20 Outlaw that is in mint condition. No sun fade on the gelcoat, no upholstery tears, no scratches or scrapes on the hull, no nothing. The current owner has had the boat for two years and says the boat is original. I have never seen a boat this old look this good. Not to mention only 209 hours.
That said, can anyone recommend a good boat check site? Thanks

 

[Scott Danforth]

the owner probably properly maintained the boat, washed and wiped it down after every use and kept it in the garage.

 

[vetplus40]

Could very well may be true. The current owner has only owned the boat for two years so there is a lot of unknown history. That said, for a hull of that age to have ZERO blemishes of any kind is simply amazing to me.
I went ahead and did a Boatcheck check and it turned up no issues. That said, the search results came back so quickly that it almost seemed superficial in a way.

 

[JoLin]

I used Boatcheck once. Useless

 

[Scott Danforth]

one thing to remember, most checking sites, even carfax dont list much for vehicles. there is less for boats and other hobby craft.

 

[wahlejim]

The way all of these "check" sites work is they search a national database for insurance companies to see what kind of claims have been filed for the VIN or HIN. If there are no claims for that HIN, no incidents were reported. If you pulled the HIN directly off the transom of the boat, I don't see an issue. That would be a lot of effort to go through to cover up an incident, re-stamping a HIN. To me it sounds like you found a gem. If you are looking for piece of mind, get a boat survey done.

 

[vetplus40]

Thanks for the replies.

 

[roscoe]

Sounds like it was owned by sangerwaker.

 

[Tassie 1]

209 hrs ÷ 14 yrs is only around 14 hrs a year as well so if that is correct really hasn't had much use,
not necessarily a good thing,
probably been kept in a shed all it's life too,
think someone may have already said that

 

[MTboatguy]

Unless he is asking top dollar for it, I would probably have to normal checks done on it and again if reasonable buy it. There are a lot of boats out there that get very little use, once they buy it and the kids get older, the boats get parked. Last year a buddy of mine gave his 1999 Four Winns to his cousin because once the kids grew up, it never hit the water again, but it was maintained, it was clean and it was like a new boat, it had a little over 200 hours on it, I knew that boat very well because a good portion of those hours I was in the boat with him fishing.

We all think we are going to use them a lot when we get them but circumstances change and many of them sit in the garage, fortunately with my buddies boat, he took it in once a year and they did the maintenance on it and then he put it back in the garage.

Stranger things happen than finding a gem of a boat.

 

[vetplus40]

Unless he is asking top dollar for it, I would probably have to normal checks done on it and again if reasonable buy it. There are a lot of boats out there that get very little use, once they buy it and the kids get older, the boats get parked. Last year a buddy of mine gave his 1999 Four Winns to his cousin because once the kids grew up, it never hit the water again, but it was maintained, it was clean and it was like a new boat, it had a little over 200 hours on it, I knew that boat very well because a good portion of those hours I was in the boat with him fishing.

We all think we are going to use them a lot when we get them but circumstances change and many of them sit in the garage, fortunately with my buddies boat, he took it in once a year and they did the maintenance on it and then he put it back in the garage.

Stranger things happen than finding a gem of a boat.

Typically, my luck does not run in that direction, so I become super cautious when I find "gems"...….