Looking for a boat, need advice

[grover738]

Hi all, first post. I live about 3 blocks from a marina, and I'm looking at picking up a used 18-21 ft. boat for running around on a 40 square mile lake. Skiing, tubing, cruising, a bit of fishing with my wife and three young boys.

My problem is that I usually really enjoy doing a bunch of research (I'm an engineer, I have to!) and shopping around, then finding a good deal. But I have no idea how to do this with boats. My bro in law suggested that I look for a certain motor, he suggested the Mercruiser 4.3L, good combination of power, efficiency, reliability and parts are cheap and plentiful. I like that approach, and I've been looking online.

My problem is that there are so many brands! I have no idea if there are brands to avoid, brands to look for, or maybe a brand you want to avoid before a certain time when their quality improved, etc. When I search 4.3 on craigslist, I get boats that would work for us from Bayliner, Four Winns, Glastron, Sea Ray, Monterey, Larson, Rinker, Ebtide, and Crownline. And I'm sure there are more.

I'm looking for something in the $5,000 - $12,000 range, so that means the boats I'm looking at will usually be from around 1995 to 2005 models.

I don't necessarily want to turn this into a brand war thread, but anyone have suggestions on a strategy?

 

[strokeoluck]

Re: Looking for a boat, need advice

I don't necessarily want to turn this into a brand war thread, but anyone have suggestions on a strategy?

Well, good luck with that!

There are plenty of threads on iboats that have answered this question. If you do a little searching you'll find them. But here's my response. We too were in a very similar situation as you and your family (we have many lakes nearby, but not many are 40 sq miles!). After asking around on iboats, asking friends, neighbors and relatives about various boat/brand/engine configurations - we decided on a used Bayliner with a 4.3L Mercruiser. Here's my reasoning:

- Bayliner: some guys will say it's a cheap boat because it's cheaply made, others will say it has a bad rap as a cheap boat because it's usually owned by first-time boaters that don't take great care of their boats. Regardless, it seems to generally be priced as a "starter" boat, so I figured if I could find one in good shape w/a good engine I'd be in good shape. We found a 2005 Bayliner 185 (purchased in winter of '08) that was in great condition.

- Engine: we went w/the 4.3L Mercruiser because a) it seems to be THE brand name in boating that most guys say is very reliable and is still produced (that's saying a lot in these recessionary times); and b) we bought the 4.3L because we knew we'd have up to 8 people on the boat and still wanted enough oomph to get tubers going, or get skiers out of the water. I had heard the 3.0L "might" struggle with that load. We love the 4.3L and it's not too hard on gas.

- Size: ours is 18' and it's ok. I wouldn't mind an extra foot or two for when we have 8 people on board, but for our first starter boat it works fine. And it fits great in our third garage stall.

- Price: we paid $9,000 for the boat, trailer and a nice hardwired Lowrance GPS system.

Good luck, and enjoy the feedback!

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Looking for a boat, need advice

read this: http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=300472

Buying a boat

1st you need to decide what you want to use it for, fishing, cruising, or water sports.

2nd how many people adults, children you want on board of the average outing.

3rd outboard, inboard-outboard, or inboard power plant.

4th Budget, what you want to pay, and what you are willing to pay, when you find
Exactly what you want.

You can hire a marine surveyor, to inspect the boat, or you can do it yourself.

You are mainly looking for soft spots in the deck, transom, cracks, all signs of a rotten, under frame. You walk all over the deck, that a mallot, or hammer with wooden handle, using handle, tap all over the transom, a shape rap is good solid base, a thud, is questionable base.

The motor should be clean, no spots where the paint is discolored, or pealing from heat, having run hot. (This part for outboard motors Compression should be atleast 100psi, and within 10% of each other,)
Spark on all cylinders, good pee stream, check lower unit for water in oil.

The overall condition of the boat will tell you a lot, as to how it has been maintained.
boat motor combo, A 30 year old may be in better condition, than a 3 year old.