Hello all, I'm new to this site but was hoping to get a little advice. I'm going down to NJ on Thursday to do a sea trial on a 1989 25' Donzi Ragazza. I went down and saw the boat in August with the intention of buying it then, but had some car trouble and couldn't swing the money at the time. The owner was willing to take a down payment ($500 towards asking price of $5000), and winterize and store it til we could do a sea trial in the spring. Overall, it was in great shape, with newly upholstered interior, new gas tank, and a new engine in 2009 with only 40 hours on it. The owner is an older guy who has a 2nd fishing boat as his primary boat, and he used to use the Donzi more when going out with the grand kids, who have since moved from the area. He had a big envelope full of receipts which he showed me with all the work and maintenance that's been done on the boat over the last few years, including the new engine. So all in all, seems like a great price on a great boat, the owner has been in touch multiple times since the Fall just to touch base and let me know how the boat was doing, so overall I trust the guy (as much as you can when buying a used anything). I have a friend who had a terrible experience with a used boat that looked good on the surface, but at the time didn't know what to look for and what specific questions to ask. This will also be my first experience with an I/O motor as well, I don't remember the exact make of the engine, but I spoke to the owner yesterday and he said he thinks its a "GM 260hp." I'm not too familiar w/inboards, not sure if that means its a Mercruiser? I have a call out to the marina where all the work was done and can hopefully update this post when I hear back. So if anyone has any thoughts or potential problems with this type of boat or motor I'd love to hear it, thanks!
-Zac
-Zac
