I did the same thing looking at a scarab last year. Drove 450 miles last year to Green Bay, only to be to disappointed. Owner said it was mint. Total BS'er.... I turned left about 20 minutes after I was there...

Just to clear the air on my boat not up for a debate. My boat is 12 yrs old going on 13. What boat that age doesn't need a few things! I sent all the pics he wanted and answered all the questions he asked. Never once did we discuss specifics on gauges or switches or even the trailer.(have emails and texts to prove it) yes the fluid leaked out of the speedo(was leaking when I bought it) but still functions. Yes a volt meter is bad. Both of which I pointed out to him I didn't try to hide it. If he looked at the pics I sent him closely it shows this. The trim switch acted up this past weekend and I chose to tell him about it, I didn't have to. I use air freshener in the cabin because I like it to smell good nothing more.the water in bile is from washing it. I wash and wax the boat 2-4 times a week, don't know how he came up with it hadn't been washed in 2 weeks. As far as the trailer, I tow less than 1/4 mile. So to see a line leaking was a total surprise to me(again I pointed it out) and I said that's going to be a problem. Nothing more. It would have been fixed before he left, as it is fixed already. Finally the tv, my wife wanted to keep it so that's what was going to happen. No where in this deal was I misleading.

I did talk to 33 OUTLAWSST a few weeks back. I think he needs the better part of the summer to get his rig ready to roll. I let him know I didn't think I had enough patience to wait that long! He seemed like a straight shooter, however.

I'm heading to look at another rig this evening. The nice thing is this one has already been surveyed. As you can see from Elenor's post we must have been talking past each other during our text/email/phone calls. Ohh well, no regrets here. I've upped my budget since I don't think I can get the level of clean/functionality I want at the price I was looking at previously. I want my definition of "very clean, needs nothing" and not anybody else's.

I know the Toby (owner of the boat) and the boat. First Toby is very nice and honest guy. He is a true gentleman. Second that boat is his pride and joy, as many of our boats are. The boat is immaculate for a 12 year old boat. Next I love guys like you who can't afford to buy new but want the "best" deal on a used boat but want it to new. It's an absolute joke. I won't even deal with bottom feeders like that. I just tell you that this is not the item for you. So the items you mentioned total less than a few hundred dollars. Really?? I can pick apart a 1 year old boat let alone a 10 year old boat. If someone wasted my time and then came back on here in a public forum and talked this crap we would have a problem. You should a survey done on every boat you look at maybe before you drove 10 hrs each way. The fact you wanted to save the $500 on the surveyshoulddpeak volumes to the readers on this forum. Just saying. I will follow this thread as I am curious as to what you buy. Good luck I hope you find what you are looking for.

^^^ yep, two sides to every story................. and by the way WE didnt discuss time frames to get my 33 rigged, I told you I would not fund it, if you wanted it I need a deposit.

Well I can see this thread has gone down the vacu-flush crapper. No further value can be extracted.

Thanks again for the help, all. I hope Eleanor finds the right buyer for his boat. I'll be spending more than I originally planned but I too shall be on the water soon.

Nothing more to see here...

Hey, no harm no foul. You guys didn't communicate very well and both have gained some valuable experience in buying/selling. I see both sides clearly. No seller wants to pick his pride and joy to death especially trying to sell it. And a buyer would like to think he didn't have to ask the exact right questions to get full disclosure. It's easy to see how this kinda thing happens and therefore easy to address it moving forward.

A REALISTIC budget also comes into play. There are many lovingly owned 12-15 year old boats out there. They aren't the ones someone who's shopping on a budget (which is the reason they're looking at 12-15 year old boats) is going to be able to afford. "Used" means different things to different people...and there's a difference in "used" and "used UP". Good lookin out fellas.

I dunno. If I ask a seller "any issues?", then I expect to hear a list of things, no matter how small. I think transparency builds trust between a seller and buyer.

Also, when I wash my boat, no water collects in the bilge... And certainly not 1" of water.

So I would say Stee has some valid points.

Very good point, however I can also see forgetting to mention things that don't bother you or you have gotten used to. It's easy to get the wrong impression and then it's hard to recover past that. No point in trying to hurt each others feelings though. Good luck fellas.

Yes, I can see that also.