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Buying a boat

Dumbass who doesn't know about boats Tue 26 Sep 2017 23:11:55 No.1109296 View View Reply Original Report

Quoted By: >>1109306 >>1109962 >>1112712

Lads, I want to buy a used 1988 citation boat for $1000. I know very little about boats but this price seems very low, and apparently the boat is seaworthy with a working motor. It has a trailer and new tires. Is this a stupid decision? What kind of questions should I ask the seller? I need some help here.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 26 Sep 2017 23:33:23 No.1109306 Report

Quoted By: >>1109336

>>1109296
>is this a stupid decision?
Potentially, especially since you know very little about boats.
>what kind of questions should I ask the seller?
1. Do you have a clean title to both the boat and trailer?
2. Has the engine ever been rebuilt, and if so at what hour mark?
3. Are you willing to let me get the engine professionally inspected?
4. How was it stored?
5. Any history of mechanical issues?

Inboard engines like that CAN last a very long time assuming halfway decent storage conditions and routine maintenance. However if it's fucked (even if it runs currently) they can be VERY expensive to fix and even more expensive to replace. Same deal with fiberglass hulls, which a quick google search seems to indicate all Citation boats have. If the clearcoat has been maintained it should be fine, but give it a VERY thorough look-over. If there's even a hint of bubbling, separation, or subsurface discoloration WALK THE FUCK AWAY.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 26 Sep 2017 23:42:06 No.1109311 Report

Quoted By: >>1109336

Professional mariner here. I would be extremely wary of anybody telling you the boat is seaworthy and has a good motor for only $1000, WITH the trailer. Chances are it's a piece of shit that he's tired of sinking money into and is trying to pass it off on someone else.

Find someone you know who does a lot of boating and go looking at boats with them. Obviously it depends on what size boat you're buying, but my advice for a 20' powerboat is to not spend less than about $5000-7000. Obviously you still need to look at the thing and hear it run, but at that price you can probably be sure that you're getting something with no major issues that runs well.

People who complain about boats being money pits are usually retards who have no idea how to take care of them. Boats also hold value very well, so if somebody is trying to sell something at a significantly reduced cost than its adjusted-for-inflation value, you need to be cautious.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 27 Sep 2017 00:04:57 No.1109336 Report

Quoted By: >>1109365 >>1109366

>>1109311
>>1109306
OP here, thank you. I'm not going to pass this up just yet, but I will be wary. Should I get a specialist to come along and give me a quote for how much repairs would cost? Also, this is more of a side question, but it seems like citation boats were made from 1987 to 1989. Is there anything specific about them that made people stop making them? Any issues that they were known for?

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 27 Sep 2017 00:57:17 No.1109365 Report

Quoted By: >>1109962

>>1109336
>Also, this is more of a side question, but it seems like citation boats were made from 1987 to 1989. Is there anything specific about them that made people stop making them?
Seems like the engines were really hit or miss, with a lot of people having troubles with them. Despite only being made 3 years they used engines from Ford, Chevy, Mercruiser, Volvo, and rumors say Dassault. No consensus to any one brand being particularly more troublesome than the others so if I had to guess they were buying "night shift" engines on the cheap from anybody with free man-hours, and as a result getting nonexistent QC.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 27 Sep 2017 00:58:40 No.1109366 Report

Quoted By:

>>1109336
Post pictures to give us solid mocking material.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 1231685116882.jpg, 405KiB, 1536x864

Anonymous Thu 28 Sep 2017 02:39:14 No.1109962 Report

Quoted By:

>>1109296
>>1109365
OP, just be aware that lots of I/O engines around this age are just about to have the exhaust manifolds rust through, if it hasn't been replaced it's likely to need it soon and it will run you around the cost of the boat, on top of that I'd just stay away from anything with a sterndrive generally, the seal between the drive and the hull can be iffy which leads too leakage and subsequent corrosion/rusting of the engine and it's a bitch to work on since its in a confined space.

If I were you I'd start out with a smaller outboard boat first to gain some experience since mistakes are way cheaper, you could probably get workable a setup in the 15-18ft range with an older 2-stroke engine for your budget, old 2-strokes are stupidly easy to work on if you have the smallest bit of mechanical sense about you and as long as you check for rot in the hull most fiberglass boats are pretty much bombproof, aluminum is good as well but as it ages it tends to fatigue.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 28 Sep 2017 21:24:09 No.1110413 Report

Quoted By: >>1110441

There are two happy days in a boat owner's life, the day they bought it and the day they sold it...

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 28 Sep 2017 22:00:18 No.1110441 Report

Quoted By:

>>1110413
>t. Woman who dislikes husband's expensive boating hobby

I may be a bit biased since I built my skiff, but I get a ton of enjoyment out of doing maintenance/upgrades/repairs, it's only those who pay others to work on their boats that think about things that way.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 03 Oct 2017 04:47:20 No.1112712 Report

Quoted By:

>>1109296
Any updates OP?

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