Greetings. As an experienced I/O boater, I am looking for thoughts concerning a recent find of a 2004 Outlaw 20.
This boat is said to be in original condition, but it looks almost too good to be true. No sun fading of the yellow paint. No cracks or tears in the upholstery of any kind. No scrapes, cuts or gouges in the hull anywhere. To be honest, it looks like a recent refurb, but the current owner (who has only had the boat for two years) says it is all original. Give his short ownership tenure, much of the boats history is unknown. That said, I have done a few Google searches and found several identically painted boats of the same year. The boat has 43 hours on the current hour meter that was replaced at the 200 hour mark. Are these meters known to fail so early?

At this point, I am both enamored and paranoid about this boat. It truly looks "too good to be true", yet I have no indication that the owner isn't being truthful. I maintain my 2014 Stingray in top condition, yet this 2004 looks every bit as new and clean as my boat is. I hate to pass on a great boat due to unfounded concerns, so I thought that I might ask what you folks think. It will be a day or two until I can test drive it, so I wanted to ask here in the interim.

Thanks

really past ownership and the work done doesn't really make a difference as long as it was done right. I have seen plenty 10-15 year old boats that look brand new. My 91 fountain looked better than most 5 year old boats on the water looked. Think you are looking to deep into it. The only way to verify and calm any concerns is to go look at it and do your due diligence.

Thanks for the response. I encountered a few scammers on Craigslist, so I am a bit leery now. I have just never encountered a 14 year old boat that looks like this one does. It really does fit the "too good to be true" category in many respects. That said, it was too late yesterday to test it so we are going to do that either today or tomorrow.
I did run a "Boatcheck" on it that came back good. That said, the search took so little time that I am unsure how thorough it was. It didn't return anything that was as thorough as a Carfax though.

Hour meters usually don't go bad, what engine is in it ? scan the ecm/pcm and see if it matches the 245 hours

usually scammers put a to good to be true price on things and usually are pretty easy to spot after a few message exchanges. I live up and north and really to only put 30-40 hours on a boat in a summer is pretty practical. Check it out and youll get a good sense of what is true and what isn't.

What engine is in it?

It is actually only 209 hours. That roughly calculates to 15 hours a year depending on whether you consider it a 13 or 14 year old boat (depending on when it was bought new). This is a boat in the Southeast where more water time is available due to the warmer weather. The hours seem oddly low to me, but the boat shows little signs of use.

I have the Techmate, but my adapters are for a PCM 09 with a Cat converter and a CAN bus. I would likely need an adapter to read this ECM/PCM.

QUOTE=soldier4402;4638230]usually scammers put a to good to be true price on things and usually are pretty easy to spot after a few message exchanges. I live up and north and really to only put 30-40 hours on a boat in a summer is pretty practical. Check it out and youll get a good sense of what is true and what isn't.[/QUOTE]

This isn't a "bargain" by any stretch. About 4k above "average" retail according to NADA. Apparently small Bajas change owners frequently. My guess is guy/gals always wanting something bigger.

I would say legit based off price and the fact you are able to meet in person. Frankly you never know the past, boat could have been a left over sold 2-3 years after built. first owner just didn't use it or even the second owner. Boats aren't like cars.

Yup. 2 boats like that (actually less hrs and more age) up for sale locally here recently. I knew them from new but missed when they went up for sale. One was a checkmate