SLOWBRAH

Hey Gents,

I've had a few small and cheap lake boats with merc hardware. I'm ready to step up to a "real boat". I've found what I think to be a pretty good deal on 1998 Baja Boss 232. From pictures it appears to be in perfect shape, always dry stored, only 130 hrs on the MPI 454. Supposedly a $5K stereo system, trip tabs, and a good trailer (not sure the details). My concerns... the boat has obvioulsy sat at somepoint due to the really low hours... I know it was used a good bit last season.

1.) What hardware should I really pay attention to... concerning age?

2.) Can 4 Average Sized ppl sit in the back seat?

3.) What kind of fuel consumption am I looking at? 93 Octane?

4.) Any other general tips for this boat?

nailit

I might be able to answer a couple questions in general, but I had a 25ol and now a 33ol.

1. concerns: where is boat/where to you plan to boat. Saltwater ate my steel Eagle trailer inside a year and it wasnt' that bad when I got it. lil rust but rusted inside out! Get survey on Boat and look for rust on motor and especially under exhaust. definitely sea trial and/or get mechanical inspection.
2. only 3 adults could fit on my bench. 2 adults and 2 kids yes... my 33ol can barely fit 4 adults, but only if 2 couples, not 4 dudes :-)
3. 87 octane and usually about 1-1.5mpg is what I got from my 454 mag but cruising was 4k.. moot point really with a bbc. if this is going to be a deciding factor, get an outboard boat.
4. original vinyl?? if so, plan to replace it soon, either stitching will pop soon or possibly start cracking if hard already.

good luck, the color scheme looks good!! not dated like some of the late 90's.. covered my pink recently.

jetskidrewski

Hopefully I can be of some help as I just did this with a 232 last year. My 2002 had 80 hours when I bought it, so about the same level of usage. Bought mine from the original owner, never really sat just only used a few times each year. So far we love the boat, great for our use.

1.) One option here is to have a Mercury dealer scan the ECM, will tell you number of hours at what RPM. Helps verify age and how the boat was run. I also agree with sea trail and/or mech inspection.

2.) 'average' Europeans yes, 'average' Americans No. We have had 6 on the boat a number of times, but always couples. 5 is very comfortable, 6 starts to get tight with gear.

3.) I think I get about 3 MPG out of my 6.2L

4.) Definitly check for rot as it is a wood structure boat. Not really sure if there are any rot prone areas, but a general check is always good. Also blisters on the bottom where the boat sat on the trailer bunks.

kennyo

4 people will drive you nuts on that boat. I've got a 272 and hate when more than 3 are on it. If it hasn't been in salt and stored indoors you should be good. If it is really clean then they took care of mechanical s too more than likely.

bossmjb

Not trying to highjack your post... I have a nice clean 99 272 boss great colors,great condtion and always been in fresh water 454mag coming your way in a few weeks i could deliver it.. Let me know i can send you pictures if you interested... 400 hrs

SLOWBRAH

I went to look at the boat today. I've known the guy for a while. All of his stuff is immaculate... however, a friend of his used the boat this past season and didn't take care of it. It was a bit dirty. There were a few small things that weren't as they should be but this made me think twice.




Is this a common problem? I'm not totally scared off... but how bad does this usually get? The boat has been in dry storage it's whole life???!

Irishtornado

That isn't good as the deck structure is cracked and that bolster is bolted into the stringer. Answer your question no way will 4 people sit in the back seat of a 252 it's a 23' hull with a 8'4" beam. 454MPI won't require anymore than 87 octane. Great boat overall, but with that crack I'd be concerned with rot in stringers.