Looking at a 232..
 

This is my first post as a member of OSO. Please forgive me if I am not following proper protocol. I've owned smaller Jet Boats (mostly Sea Doo) in the past and figured it was time to move on to something that I can get 3-4 passengers on it comfortably and maybe take a nap in the stabbin' cabin.

I have had my eyes on a couple boats recently. Originally was interested in a 90s 24 Outlaw, later on I found a pristine (appearance) condition 1998 232 Performance. As part of due diligence I took it for a sea trial and found it to handle mid-30ft cruiser wakes well. Owner claims to rarely use the tabs and it comes onto plane quickly with minor bow rise. Top speed with full fuel and two passengers (estimated people weight 500pounds) was 50mph on gauge @ 4600RPM on gauge (slightly trimmed, I wasn't driving or I would have brought it up a bit more).

About the boat:
7.4 MPI
600ish hours on the hour meter, owner claims that his mechanic left the key on this spring during de-winterization which ran up approximately 120 hours
Bravo 1 (1.5 gear ratio, one year old - new style graphics, 1 year old, owner claims it was $7500 in all)
4-blade prop in terrific condition (20 or 21p aluminum I think?) - comes with two additional props (one stainless, both 3-blade) with higher pitch. One of the spares looks a bit chewed on. Didn't look too closely.
Single-ram Trim Tabs
Newer radio, alpine speakers
Matched paint trailer in great condition
All original vinyl, no tears or loose seams and no fade
Drop-out bolsters
Dual batteries with switch
Faded/yellowed glove box hatch
Brand new boat/trailer cover, has snaps for cockpit/mooring cover but is missing
Very smooth hull - smooth center line I'm pretty sure if it was rarely ever beached. No signs of fiberglass repair.
Bilge/engine compartment vents on side of boat (plastic) showing UV-fade
Transom, motor mounts appear to be strong - motor doesn't vibrate or cause any flex when underway
Steering at the wheel has approximate 10-degree slop and the owner claims his mechanic has looked into it and short of adding hydraulic steering is functionally normal. Doesn't seem to be as much of an issue on plane.

Anyway, I'm prepared to make an offer on this boat as the fiberglass appears to be in remarkable condition for its age. Is there anything that anyone can suggest I inspect before making this deal happen?

Check hop around on the floor in a few spots to make sure there are no soft spots.
Trim the engine down, stand on the cav plate on the drive and bounce on it a couple times...should be no movement of the transom assembly (checking for soft transom).
The steering is pretty normal on an older bravo boat with no external hydro steering
Pick up on the drive and wiggle it around to check for slop in the hinge pins
Have his mechanic scan the engine for you to verify his claim of 480ish hours. The ecu will only log hours that the engine is running, unlike the hour-meter at the helm.
Did it take on any water during the sea trial? If so, it could be coming from a multitude of places, some more expensive to fix than others.

Those are a few off the top of my head.

Thanks for your response.

Bilge was as dry after we put it back on the trailer after an hour of running or so - a little residual oil that was there from the oil change as the oil filter is mounted facing down. Figured if I were selling a boat I'd have cleaned all of that up before showing it to anyone. I didn't pull up the carpet but it seemed like there was a slight soft spot where the fuel tank access panel is, or whatever that access is between the captain and co-pilot's bolster seats. Not a large amount of flex, might be normal for a 300-pound guy like me.

I'm sending my mechanic there tonight to look at the drive and strength of the transom. I don't think he'll bring a scan tool and even though I shouldn't trust the owner about this (and he says I don't have to) I'm leaning in his favor.

I would make sure he takes a scan tool for sure. The ol' 7.4 truck motor will run great a long time with regular maintenance and NO MODS.

The bulkheads and stringers at the transom need to be checked close for signs of wet/rot. Pull the stainless vents out of the cabin floor and have a look see in there for trapped water. That's a potential BIG PROBLEM and a costly one.

The deck plate between the bolsters (tank inspection/access) will flex especially if you're 300 pounds but the rest should be firm.Great boats for what they are. Good luck man.

Going on 3 years in our 232 and we love it. It's been a great boat for Lk. St. Clair even though it can get rough here and there. I'm happy to share thoughts on other specifics as well...

I don't have any vents in the floor of the cuddy, however the step comes up by removing 4 screws (they are hidden within the carpet, tap to find them). Our 6.2 gets to 58mph GPS with a 22p 4-blade or 21p 3-blade.

With the right prop, speeds will be in the upper 50 range.

What year is yours? Which exhaust? What do you do for a cover?

2002

Silent choice exhaust. (non-switchable)

Have a cockpit cover that snaps down over the windshield. And until last weekend had a trailering cover. It came loose, tore, and the ratchet strap chipped up the swim platform. Not sure I'd recommend that type of cover, but I'm not sure if it was operator error. Both require a single pole in the center of the cockpit.

I picked up the 232 last night. Did a complete wash on her right after this, but it's a pretty clean boat already. Probably will need new carpet eventually, here's a photo with the former owner's registration numbers blurred: http://i.imgur.com/VYZLCgY.jpg

Very nice, I like those graphics a lot. Where will you be boating?

Thanks! I'm a huge fan of the rare all-red 232 but I find the purple to be okay. Doesn't exactly match the cobalt blue G5-size fenders I bought (4 of them is probably overkill!) but it'll do.
Western basin Lake Erie. Out of Bolles Harbor, mostly. Might take it up to my old college stomping grounds on the Muskegon River for Hot Boat Weekend but I can't see myself getting into all that mess and still having fun but then again I might want to let loose and toss some beads.

I'm probably going to get a bimini top w/eisenglass added if I can have that for under a grand. Former owner just warrantied the generic trailer cover so I'll have a ratty one and a brand new one but it's a slight pain to put on solo due to the elasticity with it.

It has a digital Lowrance depthfinder that I believe is factory - seems that I need to figure out the proper button presses as the previous owner said he could never figure it out. Apart from that I'm thinking of adding either a mounted VHF or a GPS chartplotter, there's not a ton of room and I hate to drill into fiberglass so who knows.

We boat in Lake St. Clair, there's a really good group we run with check out the Lake St. Clair Run .com We are considering hot boat weekend this year as well.

The Bimini might not be the best at speed, but I've only had experience with them on cruiser type boats. There are day shades that might be a good option as well if you are only looking to get out of the sun.

I think my depth finder is the same, but I've never needed to go through the buttons. It seems to be right on for depths and I know the lake well enough to know when to keep an eye on it. I went with a handheld VHF from west marine and iSailGPS on my iphone, both avoided drilling holes and work really well for me.

Hope to see you out on the lake one day.

It's only a matter of time until I head past the Detroit River and into the 6th Great Lake. It's spending its first night at the dock tonight because I plan on watching the fireworks off of Sterling State Park tomorrow night.

Just spent two days out on it - I'm satisfied with my purchase. RPM meter kinda freaks out from time to time, happened twice so far and it reads super high but a couple taps to the dash seems to fix it. Stray ground I suppose.

Depth finder also occasionally freaks out and loses its ability. Might be related to the stray ground or something. Didn't feel a transducer when I had it beached - might be a thru-hull?

After consideration I don't think a bimini top is worth it. I definitely want to get a cockpit or mooring cover made and the stock prop looked at as it's slightly been chewed on - maybe an 1/8th of an inch on a fin or so.

My Tach does a funny dance now and then too. It doesn't always come down to zero, but with a couple taps it goes to normal. I figured something mechanical was sticking and it needed a rebuild. Didn't really consider a ground.

Depth sounder is a thru hull in the engine compartment.

I've run a 22p Apollo 4-blade and really like it, same top speeds as the 21p 3-blade.

Go behind the tach and turn the cyl rotary switch a few times back and forth thru the different settings and then leave back on 8. See if that works.

Alright. RPM gauge is fixed now. Kind of a trying to pull the dash out until I looked in the cabin at that neat access panel - thank you mold designer(s).

Took it out last night after filling up 38 gallons into it, and it kinda bogged at WOT though there were 2ft rolling waves - my first action is going to replace the fuel filter and put in fuel injector cleaner, thinking about attaching an external 6.5gal tank I have around so I don't have to treat all 74 gallons. I've read that my alternatives are pulling the injectors and inspecting the screens for buildup, checking the plugs, and checking the fuel pressure. It topped out at barely 40 which seems disgraceful but I wasn't throwing down throttle recklessly due to the seas.

I'd replace both fuel filter and fuel water separator as a start. I had a hesitation issue our first season, turned out to be cap and rotor.