When purchasing a preowned power boat; what should you be more aware of?

Question

First time power boat owner so wil buy a used one; what should I be aware of in a used boat

Answer 1

the----- engine start it and listen

the transom -------is it sturdy

the deck ------- does it move

smells,-------

do you smell gas

is it clean

Answer 2

in addition to the above:

if it's an outboard or stern drive (I/O) motor, ask the owner to start the engine for you.  If he does so without supplying water to the lower unit, walk away -- this motor has been abused.  It only  takes about 30 seconds of dry running to ruin a water pump impeller.

at a minimum, do a compression test on the engine.  if the lowest cylinder isn't within 5% of the highest, walk away.

if you are in a state where boats are titled, and the owner says he doesn't have a title but will give you a bill of sale, walk away.

Answer 3

Here is what I would check in general:

Inspect the hull for any damage.

Inspect all instrumentation and electrical components (lights, horn, pump, etc)

Look at the trailer and make sure that the lights and eveything function.

Test the engine - preferably a test drive.

The best thing that you could do is bring some one with you that knows what to look for as there is a lot more that I would look at if I were considering buying a boat.

Answer 4

Also, look inside the boat wherever possible and check for water damage in places that should be dry. Water will get in most places at some point, but you don't want a sponge.

Inspect the hardware (thru-hulls, rod holders, seat bases, stanchion bases... just everything) and see if it's bedded well. This is an indication of how well the boat was maintained. A tremendous amount of damage can occur inside a boat that has poorly installed/bedded hardware. This is much more of an issue with wooden boats than glass or metal ones.

Answer 5

You need to determine what kind of boat you want and what you will be using it for first.

You think that is obvious but here's a little story for you.

I wanted a small boat for fishing.  The wife wanted one for the whole family to go out on.   We got a 19 foot long, 8 foot wide, deck boat.

The whole family went out on it once.  It was almost too big to trailer down the street and it had cup holders instead of rod holders.  So fishing from it was very difficult.

The first winter of having it she complained every time a payment came around because I hadn't taken it out that month.

In other words, pick a type of boat you will actually use, otherwise it is a waste of money.

Next you look for soft spots in the hull, whether the motor had been ran in salt water, checking the deck for soft spots, looking for rust on the trailer, checking the hubs on the trailer and the tires.  What kind of gas does the motor take, straight gas or oil and gas mix.   Check the batteries and listen to the motor run and make sure water is passing through the motor for the cooling.  Listen to it change from forward to reverse to check for excessive grinding noise.   Just normal mechanical and structural problems.

Answer 6

first thing i look at is the hull on it,if the hull in the center is real rough that means the boat has been ran ashore a few times or has been dragged over some rough ground or been bottomed out and that's hard on them,a good boat owner wont take his or her boat in shallow enough water to drag them,then look over the engine and interior and make sure all the lights work on it,if it has electrical problems that can be really expensive to straiten out,then ask to put it in the water,if its a good boat they will allow you to test ride it,if it has any problems be careful ,a boat that has been mistreated can cost a lot to get back in good shape,good luck with it.