What is your opinion of a "clean" boat?
 

so i got a text today telling me about how clean a boat was that is for sale right now. i almost pissed my pants. And to top it all off the sellers description is way worse than what you guys are beating up Phil for. lets hear some stories about "clean" boats. pics welcome.

I consider my Sonic a "clean" boat.

Has never been stored out doors, cleaned inside and out after every use, waxed once a month, and has no marks, tears, stains, or any other blemish type marks.


Any boat like that is "clean" in my book.

I don't know how to define "clean", but I know it when I see it.

I watched my mother in laws boat get beat to chit by my brother in law. He never covered it, spilled booze all over it, just chucked crap down in the cabin. The final straw was when he missed a marker and cleaned the entire bravo 3 off the bottom of the boat. She asked me to sell it after the insurance repair which I agreed to. I had the boat cleaned top to bottom, but you could still tell. I wrote an extremely honest ad and listed the boat in good condition and priced it accordingly. The couple who bought it thought it was the cleanest thing they ever saw. They were sure it was nearly brand new and couldn't believe the deal they were getting. Had it been me I would have looked at that boat and run.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I guess the same can be said for the descriptions.

Usually it's hard to describe a clean boat...untill you actually own a clean boat!

I'll even admit my current Checkmate isnt near as clean as my previous Scarab...both boats show well, get compliments and are kept indoors - my Scarab just aged really well and was "spot-less"

Mine [ATTACH=CONFIG]530205[/ATTACH]

here is a Time capsule cream puff original owner( which is a lie) side by side top gun that i looked at a few weeks ago after my deal fell through in florida. I was a nice guy and pointed out the things that would need attention even after we disagreed on price. not being a d!ck just giving him a heads up. he decided to start insulting my boat after i showed him some pics. kinda pissed me off. anyway one of the things i pointed out was the stb trim tab that was 1/4 inch away from the transom and i was spinning the washers on the bolts i said you might wanna have that transom looked at. he was insistant that the boat was perfect and spotless. here is a pic.. what ya think about the rust line running down the transom[ATTACH=CONFIG]530208[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]530209[/ATTACH]

Wow ....anything loose on the transom concerns me - some people just are set in the "my stuff is perfect" way of thinking regardless of reality.

in addition to this cream puff, the headliner was all stained from mold, all chrome was green corrosion, every piece of aluminum was bubbling or had no paint left on it (from bolsters bases to the platform). the bottom of the boat was covered in sea creatures, he had no idea what cu. in. the motors where or when they where rebuilt last. one had different heads on it. drives, tabs corroded, indicator cables were rotted right through. this list could go on and on and it was described as a time piece, cream puff with "as new" interior and paint lol. i was baffled to say the least

The seller and buyer need to seperate mechanical/physical condition from cosmetic condition and from bling factor during discussions. Stating you can eat off the engine is B.S. to me, anyone can clean an engine compartment but few can properly build and/or maintain the engines in that compartment. In an odd way a like new boat scares me as much as an older worn one.
ed

after numerous conversation and pictures I drove down to Homestead Florida 2 years ago to bring back a mint 38,,came back with a empty truck and a 900 fuel bill..

When I bought my last boat, I talked to some many owner that had "clean" boats and they were all super anal about their boats, etc. only to go look at boats covered in gouges down to glass, on boat was completely yellowed and the drives were corroding off, one the whole top deck was crazing and countless other stuff. Met of these boats looked fine in pictures. I ended up just not asking for pictures anymore. everyone's 10 is different...

Their is a lot to consider. Fist age of the boat. Then orignal, restored, updated etc. if orignal a older boat will show more wear then newer in most cases if taken care of. In regards to that more can slide when it's a older boat. Things age it's life. Now have seen some newer boats that were just left out to rot. Road hard and put up wet. I'll pass on that. Restored,rebuilt,updated etc. what's been done, how fare down was it take, pictures?, quality of work, who did the motors drives etc.

I consider clean to be 2 things.....

clean OEM boat that is very nice, not perfect.... is clean....

spotless boat like AMII when Jeremy sold it was as good as new showroom because there was expense spared...that's CLEAN.

I think mines clean but nowhere near perfect... never been restored at all, always been inside or full covered... its "clean" not MINT

I hate when people play dumb or hide things when selling and you make a trip for no reason, I deal with it all the time with Cobras I buy and sell, to me spotless is SPOTLESS no rust, others spotless is "well I don't see any" meaning they didn't open a door or look under the car.....

When you ask for certain pics and you do not get them, do not go see it....like asking for bulkhead pics on a 311 Formula, they are known for it so many boats are rotted and people don't say anything and waste time.if you know the normal issues on a boat and know what to ask or look for it isn't issue, like engines... a good set of bilge pics can tell a ton, rusty parts, hack wiring, oil all over RUN..

that's rust running down transom is NOT clean, maybe he meant he washed the boat as in CLEAN? lol

+1 Donzi Matt

one thing I've learned: pictures dont do it justice !

that's true both ways. you can have nice pictures and in reality boat is not as clean in person

but also a really really clean boat is not always easy to see how clean it is in pictures!

best is to go see for yourself in person!

Its no different in the muscle car arena, # 1 car is hard to find, its a 95 -100 point judged car, which you really don't want to drive, #5 beater, #4 daily driver, and so on. You cant believe how many guys think they have a #1 or #2 car and in reality its a high 4 to a low 3 car. JMO

This is clean, not a 10 but pretty tidy

Ken... your boat fits my definition of clean

http://www.offshoreonly.com/classifi...o59193-en.html

^^^^^^THIS^^^^^
as shown in these pics.

outdated for sure, but yes ! Clean !

agreed!

Easy....not dirty

and that's the correct use of clean. tying that word to structure, operating systems is wrong.

Those are VERY clean engines -

3pointstar

IMO you can tell 90% about a boat just looking at the bilge and outdrive -- If the bilge looks like a "cow gave birth" and the outdrive is beat to snot, prop dings, broken steg, I can almost guarantee that the rest of the boat stinks.

3pointstar

exactly!