Buying a used boat question?
 

I have been having a issue with sellers lately not taking pictures of all the scratches, gouges, cracks, and all the bad stuff in general. Of course it is always "I never noticed that" or "I must have missed that", etc... Wether it is the person is misrepresenting or they really never noticed is beside the point. My question is what do most of you do when buying a boat. Do you just try to get as many pictures as possible or do you try to get a video? I know I could ask on here and see if someone could go look at it, but then you have the whole everyone's 10 is different so on so forth. Basically what is the best way to get a feel for the boats general condition before showing up to view, hiring surveyors, etc. I do know the owner not being a s&@"bag has a lot to do with it too!!!!

Hire a surveyor and have a chat with them first (if it's a long way away). Or just go see it myself.

I guess I'm trying to figure out how to find out that it's a pos before I drive 12+ hours, instead of having to go there and find out its a pos! Has anyone ever tried Skype or FaceTime? I feel the problem is the seller is ethier trying to not take pictures of the bad spots, doesn't understand how particular I am so thinks its a used boat who cares, or they really don't see or know the imperfections. Also I understand I am buying a used boat and it will have imperfections I just want to see them before hand. It's gotten to the point now where I go look at boats and it's just pure entertainment. The typical convo, pictures, make a deal hasn't been working for me...

Video isn't going to show much as far as scratches. Tell the seller that you live to far away to take a trip to view the boat and that you want pics from multiple angles of every side of the boat, trailer and interior. Be specific and ask for pics of Everything possible, if the seller is hesitant than you know why and move on

I picked up my boat out of Colorado which was about 16 hours from where I live. I asked for pics of everything and without any hesitation or questioning the seller went to his garage and took about 80 pics for me. Sent them right over and all went well after that, made the decision to make a trip to get it a lot easier. The guy even offered to meet me half way on his dime which was very nice. Saved me an extra day and probably cost him around $500 in fuel and a hotel.

I tell them I want hi res full size pics of everything when I'm shopping. Some people understand this and some don't.
When I have sold I have taken a lot of hi res pics and then have asked the seller if they want any additional pics of anything specific.

Pictures are just so deceiving, eyes are the only real way to see it all!!

Figure if they say its nice, assume that its 20% worse MINIMAL... same as other things like cars, up north with rust... some peoples idea of clean rust free and mine are always 2 different things...

I ask for as many pictures as possible and I normally can judge off them, ask for all sides and BILGE, the cleanliness of a bilge really tells you how it was kept...

I'm with ya
 

...or how's this. Last night I called on a boat listed for sale. Guy says, "yep its still for sale". I say I'd like to see some pics. After checking out pics I say I'd like to come see it. He tells me ok in April he can get the keys to the building that it's being stored in...

.....what?

You list your boat for sale but have no access to it?

April? Please......

I don't get it....or this...

560 miles (8+ hrs) to see a boat that was " the nicest 25 yr old boat you'll ever see. This thing is mint. Please do yourelf the favor before you walk and check it out. Not a mark on it. You will not be disappointed!"
The deck had been repainted years ago and was peeling with fish eyes and dirt in the paint. Gray vinyl was turning yellow. Scratches and crappy repairs everywhere. Bolsters in cabin were falling off thier mounting hardware. And a large gouge in the bow glass that I saw in pic he insisted wasn't there. He said it must just be a flaw in the pic...sure enough there it was.

What a tool!
What happened to cleaning up your item to sell and disclosing any flaws then pricing it according to it's condition?

Ask the same questions ten different ways, lots o pics, tell him to get detailed pics, . your i's and cross your t's hope for the best thats all you can do,

+1 hope for the best.

You answered your own question in your first post. One guys 10 can be another guys 1. You could be picky like me and point out chit the owner has never seen. In my biz I see it day in and day out. Today I quoted a guy $800 on a repair job on an new Lambo, said he couldn't afford it and would live with the damage Yet I have other clients that won't drive with a scratch in their Ferrari. Quality standards are different for everyone....

Hold on... A guy had a brand new Lambo but couldn't afford $800?

thats what I was thinking... wtf

The older the boat, the more "blemishes" one might expect and still receive a "good" condition by a seller.
Determine if this is a boat enthusist who is moving up or if it is someone getting out. Moving up will usually be a little better represented than getting out, inherited, etc.

I agree detailed pics, expect the condition to be worse than represented.
Any spots of concern as for more detailed pics. Upload a short running video to youtube. If you are really serious and they balk, express this concern and ask wouldnt they have the boat ready to go and run if you were to show up on their doorstep with money? Any balk, consider this another heavy discount off negotitated price.

I have bought two boats with at a distance conversations. I knew the exact model I was looking for so there was no problem with deciding it was not "right".
Based on pics, video and conversation, we came to a general price agreement with the understanding there may be additional concession if significant flaws are found.

Here is the big point, both boats we agreed to meet half way for a water test. This helps to make sure you dont go a distance to only find out the trailer is in such poor shape it cant safely move. Owner knows it better start and run good. Both parties have skin in the game and are motivated to complete the transaction.

One bought for the negotitated price; one $500 less. Cash on one, Bank loan check plus wiggle cash on the other.

I bought a boat sight unseen based on a couple pics and a conversation with the seller, i had the motors surveyed prior to the sale. I got a great deal on the price but the boat was a little worse than I expected, really just a lot of little stuff and a real good cleaning/waxing. In the end I am very happy with my purchase. I think it's all about being realistic on the price, if your getting a smoking deal the boat may not be perfect, if your payimg top dollar than you should expect perfection.

Yeah I don't get it either. Car broke-boat broke, if ya cant fix it ya can't afford it...

I agree with you guys, but also think that you can get almost anywhere in the country with a $300 plane ticket nowadays, so if you are that interested take the day or two and go set your own eyes on it. Its not like a car and you have hundreds of the same to chose from, most likely you have your search narrowed down to a couple if you are serious. From the sellers side of things, if the guy wont come see it, he is just tooting your horn.

I recently sold a '96 27' Donzi for my parents. We're not talking a ton of money here.

Some of the demands from long distance potential buyers were a pain in the arse. Lots of measurements, certain pic angles, I need a picture of the bimini top up, etc, etc. I was happy to do it at first. But there were a ton of tire kickers and it got really old running down to the marina, uncovering and jumping through hoops just to hear they weren't really interested.

The first person who saw the boat in person bought it.

I say if you're going to be extremely anal, find a friend, hire someone or make the trip to lay eyes on it.

I would ask straight out if there are any scratches or flaws however small they may be. Very few used boats are going to be truly "like new". Mine has a couple of scratches that you would never notice if you didn't know about them. Tell the seller that a few minor flaws isn't going to be a deal breaker but you need to know about them before you go further with the deal. Hopefully the seller will be straight about disclosing minor flaws.

I think you hit the nail on the head. I guess I will just keep doing what I am doing until I find the right one. Yes I am looking at used boats and I do expect there to be blemishes of some sort, but I want to buy a boat from someone who has taken the time to take care of a boat the way I would. Like everyone has said pictures can only show so much and can not compare to a set of eyes!

again, just be patient, people tend to take great care of these old formula's they are out there just wait you will find it, sometimes searching for the "right" one can be tiring, but the payoff is huge,

I'm right there with ya, T-RAV. I'm bankn on 88242LS's patience theory.