Looking to purchase family boat

[Bhebert449]

I am in the market to purchase a used boat. We are a family of 4 with 2 kids ages 12 and 15. We live in southeast Texas and have ready access to freshwater rivers and lakes. I have owned a small center console in the past. Used for fishing local saltwater lakes.

I am looking for something to take the family out on weekends and vacations for cruising, skiing and tubing. I think a bow rider makes the most sense. My budget is $10-$15k. In searching local listings there are several 20’ bow riders in this price range. Some models I have seen are Sea Ray, Tahoe and Baja.

recommendations? What is the annual cost of ownership? I will likely have to rent a storage space.

 

[tpenfield]

:welcome: to iBoats

Go for a 24 footer . . . kids bring friends and you will have a 'head' compartment for when nature calls.

SeaRay, Cobalt, Formula, Regal, Chris-craft would be good brands to look at. . . there are a few others.

I would tend to stay away from Tahoe, Bayliner, Larson, maybe even Baja; kind of low end. . . I've considered Baja a bit spartan.

Your budget will tend to put you into older boats, so plan on an annual maintenance cost of about 20% of your purchase cost. ($2-3k ish) plus storage. If you can do your own maintenance and repairs, then you will be able to manage it better. If not, brace yourself.

A Marine surveyor (inspection) would be a good idea as a pre-purchase contingency in case there are any show-stoppers.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I agree with Ted, buy on the bigger side

stay away from any boat with OMC anything, ford power, or any soft bits in the floor

dont buy anything that sat outside for any length of time

at the top of the forum is a sticky on buying a used boat and what to look for. read it thru at least 4-5 times

always go out on a sea trial. if the owner of the boat doesnt want to take you out. walk away

if the owner of the boat can not show you paperwork with proof of ownership..... walk away.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Keep in mind that if you have kids in their teens, they will want to bring a friend or two, or they likely will quickly get bored with boating, so I'd plan to have capacity for at least 6 or 7 people. A 20' will work, but it will be pretty tight when you have coolers, beach bags, skis/towables/wakeboards and all the assorted and sundry thing things people bring with them. If you can swing for a 22', you'll find yourselves feeling a lot less cramped.

Our kids love the bowrider. Everyone wants to sit up front!

Storage costs will be determined largely by local prices on units, so keep that in mind when you get replies to that part of your question. As for maintenance costs, it's the rare year I don't spend at least $400-$600 for winterizing (I do it myself), maintenance and repair, and I often spend considerably more. I say an average would be about $1000 per year. That does not include gas burned while out boating, by the way. Don't forget you'll need insurance and, depending on how Texas manages them, registration for the boat and/or trailer.

Not a cheap pastime, but it sure is fun!

 

[Bhebert449]

Thanks for the feedback. I am pretty handy with a wrench. I have a classic car that I have done a lot of repairs and improvements to so hopefully I can do my own maintenance.

most of the boats I am looking at are equipped with Mercruiser 4.3 - 5.0 in board. What is the typically annual maintenance? Change engine and lower unit oil?

 

[Scott Danforth]

go to sites such as http://boatinfo.no/lib/library.html# and look up the recommended maintenance for various V6 or V8 installations

fluid changes - engine oil and gear oil - usually 50 hours or annually
pull the drive for gimbal and u-joint inspection and to verify alignment - annually
periodic replacement of raw water impeller/pump and the bellows - these rubber bits do not care if you use the boat or not, their life is determined by the fact that they are rubber and have a finite usable life on this planet.
winterization, summerization
fuel system maintenance (filter, fuel quality, etc) - usually 100 hours or annually
upholstery and soft surface mantenance - usually weekly
hull maintenance - usually twice a season
trailer maintenance - usually annually

"typical maintenance".... will vary slightly from boat to boat and location to location
if you do the work yourself:
expect $300-$500 a year on fluids, incidentals, parts, etc
expect about $150-$300 on cleaners/conditioners/wax/etc

Typical repairs..... face it sometimes things go awry
I estimate about $300-$500 a year replacing items or repairing items like not putting a VHF antenna down for a bridge :facepalm:
having a bimini top cover disappear out the boat somewhere on the water
a bilge pump that fails (usually requires pulling the engine to get to it)
a trailer bearing goes south, or a brake actuator starts failing...

typical insurance - about $30-$80 a month depending on your insurance company and your record with them

typical storage - many open un-covered yard storage is usually $1/ft or more. if you want covered storage, $50-$100 a month or more. if you get a storage unit, about $65-$150 a month or more..... all depending on your location

then there is fuel burn. your motor will burn 0.4# of fuel per HP commanded per hour.

boats get at best 2 miles per gallon at steady state running. rough weather, wind, currents, water sports, etc. all will take more fuel...... expect to spend $50-$150 in fuel per typical outing.

Typically I put between $50 and $75 each outing on my SeaRay and I put between $100 and $150 each outing on my current boat.

I try to get out on average 25-30 times a year to make owning a boat worth while. I should be spending more fuel than maintenance and insurance in order to justify owning the boat.

 

[Bhebert449]

This is great information. Are the Mercruiser engines pretty reliable? I know they have been making them a long time and are very common.


In reading the checklist for purchasing a used boat. How well the boat was cared for is more important than the manufacturer. If a boat has been stored indoors and gently used what is considered low hours. I found a 2007 Sea Ray 205 sport listed for $16k obo I may go look at. It has the 4.3 Mercruiser, monster tow rack and has been garage kept its entire life according to the owner. It looks very clean in the pics.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Mercruiser used to buy GM engines and marinize them just like everyone else. now since 2016, they cast their own V6 and V8's using a bunch of GM parts. reliability is proportional to maintenance

yes, condition is king

a boat that is used an average amount is 50 hours per year. so for a 14 year old boat like the 2007 (2021's are coming out) expect to have 700 hours on it. dont worry, the motor will go more than 4500 hours with proper maintenance (or die with as little as 5 hours without maintenance)

low hours is anything that averages 25 hours per year, or about 350 hours on a 14 year old boat

anything with less hours than that most likely sat. for example, the people that find a 20 year old boat with less than 50 hours on it means the boat was used for 2 years, then sat neglected for 17 prior to them determining a bunch of things were wrong with it from sitting and then needing to sell it.

 

[Bhebert449]

Is $16k a good price for a 2007 Sea Ray 205 sport? Is NADA a good barometer to use?

 

[tpenfield]

For about $30/month your can sign up for Bucvalu.com and get an additional market value indicator, which is better than NADA. (then cancel when you are done) I typically look at both NADA and BUC when I'm in 'shopping' mode.

Also if you look at the prices of same/similar boats, typically the lowest prices (range) are where the boats sell. I always tell people to keep in mind is that the boats that you see listed on advertising sights are the ones that have not sold . . .

 

[Texasmark]

When the 4 kids were old enough to enjoy water sports, we boated on Texas lakes, up to 89k surface acres. Seems the wind always blew here. We would look for a quiet cove for water sports usually due to the waves in open water...usually but not always, the norm.

I bought a new 1972 18' Caravelle Tri-Hull. It was a bow rider with side by side, back to back, fold down seats and stern jump seats adjacent to a covered storage space between them where the Inboard/Outboard versions had the engine mounted. The boat was heavy and had a deep V center hull with normal depth sponsons. The weight and the deep V hull, dead rise at the stern, made for smooth riding as compared to it's predecessor that lasted one season, a tri-hull also, but shallow V, flat across the transom and light weight.

A 125 HP Johnson V4 provided plenty of power for the family to enjoy our outings. The 125 provided plenty of power for me on single slalom and kids on 2. I found that 35 mph was tops for me....hurt too bad when you fell off, and the 125 was more than capable of that fully loaded with family and gear.

In retrospect, a Monohull, deep V, not available at the time but are now, bow rider, in the 18-20' range with a 150 hp outboard would do a family of 4 nicely....not too big (on land) and not too small on the water. The side by side back to back seating
arrangement with jump seats at the stern would work out great. Ski storage in the floor (deck) is a plus and really desirable....I didn't have it but saw how useful it was in boats that did.....otherwise the skis were always in your way. Bimini top or some sort of top is VERY desirable. I prefer the ones with the slide rails such that you slide it forward for use and when not in use you can slide it aft and it stores just in front of the engine, behind the jump seats....nice and tidy, out of the way.

If you do a lot of cruising, just above planing speed (20-25 mph) a 4 bladed SS prop or "trim tabs" mounted to the transom will help you to maintain easily controlled boat speed and attitude. The 4 blade will also give you a dazzling hole shot if you want a fast hole shot with your water ski!

Had loads of fun over the 7 years we owned the boat and wouldn't trade it for anything.

Good luck and "fudge" on your dedicated price limit....Money you spend is gone forever. What you bought with that money is what stays with you and is what matters. (Author......me!)

 

[Bhebert449]

I have been speaking with the owner of a 2007 Sea Ray listed for sale close to where I live. He told me he had the engine replaced at an authorized Mercruiser shop. It essentially has a brand new engine with a 1 year warranty. Should I be concerned? Seems it would be a positive. The boat appears very clean and after speaking with him was very well maintained. He is asking $16k but would probably take less.

 

[tpenfield]

If the engine was just recently replaced :noidea: . . . The main concern about a 'new' engine is that the engine is un-proven at that point. I would rather buy a boat that had a newer engine but had proven itself for a couple of seasons.

Not sure if that is the situation you are looking at. Warranties are fairly meaningless. . . trying to get an issue resolved under a warranty is often an uphill battle.

 

[Bhebert449]

I plan to give it a good run through including a sea test. I can also speak to the shop where the work was done. I’m not certain but I believe he used it after the engine was replaced.

 

[Scott Danforth]

verify with the dealer that the owner had the motor replaced at that the warranty is transferable. it may not be. if its is not, keep in mind, any issues you would have to pay vs being covered.

I would like to know what killed the motor on a 2007 boat in the first place. the only think I know is lack of maintenance, either lack of cooling system maintenance and it overheated, or lack of exhaust manifold maintenance (salt water especially ) and the motor hydrolocked.

 

[Bhebert449]

Yes I will ask those questions. He told me it was running rough before he had the engine replaced. It seemed odd to me that it was not repairable. He said it was around $6k in repair costs.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I would want to know what was done. a new bobtail would have been over $12k

sounds like a re-man, using all the original accessories, including exhaust.

 

[Scott06]

The sea ray 205 sport is perfect for what you are looking to do. I have slightly older version the 200 sport works great for our family and a few friends. If it has the 4.3 I would make sure it is the 220 hp mpi not the 190 hp carb version. I have a 5.0 upgraded with a 4 bbl carb about 240 hp , nice to have when loaded down and towing skiers or wakeboarders.

 

[Texasmark]

It seems you are leaning toward I/O propulsion.

I had one I/O in my 60+ years of boating. All the rest were outboards.....for several reasons:

With today's fuel injected 4 stroke engines and the attributes/benefits of an OB vs I/O you, you may be missing out on a better way to power your boat. For one, outboards are thoroughly corrosion protected. I/O engines aren't. Over time, it takes it's toll.

Another is accessibility. OBs are out of the boat where you can stand on the ground to service. I/Os you have to get up into the boat. Working alone this is a PIA.

OBs can be seen from the helm as to which way they are pointing and how much trim you have (even with a trim gauge it's iffy...matters in some situations. I/Os you can't see if the the outdrive in the water or out...when trailering....when the outdrive may be accidentally left down and the skeg is grinding off on the pavement...for one.....realizing large boats having a lot of freeboard, one can't see the engine position over the bow from the rear view mirror in the towing vehicle.

I/O-s way at least half again as much as a comparable OB. People love to sit in the jump seats at the stern. That extra weight takes extra power and devices to get the stern up and keep it up under most operating conditions.

And then there is safety. The OB is outboard...everything is out in the open. I/Os are inside the hull and even with blowers, which are required to operate prior to engine starting, or after refueling, there is an added risk of fire. Servicing of the engine is easy with the OB being accessible from the ground. I/Os you have to crawl down inside the boat to change the oil, filter...always a messy operation, to name a couple.

These are some of he reasons I powered as stated over the years.

Ducking the Boo Birds on this one as I know you are coming....grin.

 

[tpenfield]

Outboards are becoming 'a thing' for all of the reasons stated. The biggest challenge right now is that many of the manufacturers have only recently changed to outboards and therefore the supply in the used market is pretty limited, unless you are looking at center consoles or dual console boats.