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Boat Test Drive

Good luck getting a test drive on a bay boat in Texas from April until June.... A good buddy bought one last year and out of about 10 people only one was willing to put the boat in the water. He would pass on going to look at a boat because they wouldn't put it in the water and he would check a few days later to see if they changed their mind and the boat would be sold! These were $12k ish boats, not high end, but not junk either and right in the range of can get a really good boat or a complete lemon so a test drive is a must.

I'm a firm believer in you need to test drive the boat.... A boat may run all day on muffs, that doesn't tell you that it doesn't tell you how it shifts FNR, how the trim holds the engine at speed, how often the bildge kicks on or anything.....
 
I bought my crestliner without a water test. I looked it over very thoroughly and ran it on rabbit ears. Thing was cherry and he had service records. The only thing that came up was he never replaced the engine coupler, I ended up getting it replaced just for peace of mind. The old one looked pretty shot
 
Grab the buyer and some beer and head out to the lake for half the day...sounds like a good excuse to go boating.
 
I like to go about 12 -15 mph making the biggest rollers you can. make a circle, speed up to 20 and cross your own wake. see how bad shit rattles and what falls apart. if the owner freaks out, you did it right.
 
Last used boat I purchased used was 10 years ago. Malibu wakeboard boat. Looked amazing, sounded amazing, almost paid cash in his driveway and took it.

Something told me to ask for a water test. I saw a weird reaction, semi hesitant, but he agreed. Put it in my buddy’s lake and it has no power.

Proceeds to tell me it’s never done this, blah, blah, blah.

I told him that it could be a simple carb, or something serious like low compression. Told him I would give him 50% of asking as is or I walk ($7500 instead of 15k). He took it.

I call a buddy that is a boat mechanic to try and track down some ignition components and a carb for it. Wanted to start there before any further digging

He realizes that I bought a boat that was in his shop for an estimate a couple weeks prior.
Tells me that the guy came in and wanted a price on a new engine installed because He diagnosed the engine and it has low compression. I start laughing and tell him that I already did a compression test and it’s great.

Dude thought engine was junk and was trying to fuck anyone that came along.

Come to find out, fuel filter was completely plugged and carb needed to be replaced.

I text him after I fixed it for around $400 and let him know it wasn’t compression, just a filter and a carb. Thanked him for his honesty and told him that my buddy at the boat shop said hi. His response- Fuck you!!:lmao::lmao:

Moral of the story, take a used boat for a test drive.
 
Rockbuggy84 said:
Last used boat I purchased used was 10 years ago. Malibu wakeboard boat. Looked amazing, sounded amazing, almost paid cash in his driveway and took it.

Something told me to ask for a water test. I saw a weird reaction, semi hesitant, but he agreed. Put it in my buddy’s lake and it has no power.

Proceeds to tell me it’s never done this, blah, blah, blah.

I told him that it could be a simple carb, or something serious like low compression. Told him I would give him 50% of asking as is or I walk ($7500 instead of 15k). He took it.

I call a buddy that is a boat mechanic to try and track down some ignition components and a carb for it. Wanted to start there before any further digging

He realizes that I bought a boat that was in his shop for an estimate a couple weeks prior.
Tells me that the guy came in and wanted a price on a new engine installed because He diagnosed the engine and it has low compression. I start laughing and tell him that I already did a compression test and it’s great.

Dude thought engine was junk and was trying to fuck anyone that came along.

Come to find out, fuel filter was completely plugged and carb needed to be replaced.

I text him after I fixed it for around $400 and let him know it wasn’t compression, just a filter and a carb. Thanked him for his honesty and told him that my buddy at the boat shop said hi. His response- Fuck you!!:lmao::lmao:

Moral of the story, take a used boat for a test drive.
Click to expand...

hell yes. nimrod couldn't replace a filter. great buy
 
We just pickup up a 30' Baja. Test drove it a week ago. Agreed on price and deal. Came back to pick it up and had 1 more test drive prior to signing paperwork.
 
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