First time boat buyer guidelines

[worldcat lemon]

You are right that not all surveyors and brokers are crooked. It is too bad the marine industry can't weed out the trash to keep buyers from running across those who are crooked.

If I had run across you before my purchase I would have had you look my boat over, and I know your feelings about my survey, and I appreciate you reviewing it.

I have friends who are volvo techs, and one who is a boat builder and they were shocked by my story, so I am sure those I encountered are not the norm, hopefully this economic recession will eliminate brokers and companies who are worse than used car salesmen by the law of natural selection. Already seeing it in the pacific northwest!

[frankypettolina]

No doubt about it, the business slowly gets rid of the garbage. The problem is there is always more behind it! Oh well, I hope you find a good rig to head out and harass some fish on.

If there is ever anything i can do for you let me know.

[jawz12]

No doubt about it, the business slowly gets rid of the garbage. The problem is there is always more behind it! Oh well, I hope you find a good rig to head out and harass some fish on.

If there is ever anything i can do for you let me know.

sad fact there franky,real sad...but,there's good and bad in any biz...

[worldcat lemon]

No doubt about it, the business slowly gets rid of the garbage. The problem is there is always more behind it! Oh well, I hope you find a good rig to head out and harass some fish on.

If there is ever anything i can do for you let me know.

Thanks Frank. I am gonna pay my 2 kids' college tuition in 2 lump sums then I can start working on a boat. I was thinking about building my own aluminum cat in a 31' range, with a small walk around cabin, but i don't think my wife would let me put that much time in on it. She wants to start fishing again this year.

Back to the grind!

[worldcat lemon]

First time boat buyers guide
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Rabbitfish,
You bet! I will share my thoughts on boat buying, especially if you are going to drop a substantial amount of money. Here are 21 points off the top of my head, others have given great advice on earlier posts to my thread but these are mine:

When buying a boat:
1-Never believe what the seller tells you, even if they are a distributor/broker for the manufacturer, regardless of how many hours are on the boat( Not even on new boat). Also, do not believe the testimonials you read on-line or on the manufacturers websites, ask to have testimonials of people who were not satisfied with their boat and call them.

2- National Marine Manufacturing Association(NMMA) "Certification" is a scam so do not place any value on that. Manufacturers pay NMMA membership fees, NMMA pays their inspector to review their members boats, and the manufacturer is given "certification" because it met ABYC and USCG standards....wink, wink. If it was legit how did Tim Pitts from NMMA miss this thing? Don't believe the hype from the manufacturer either. A non NMMA boat manufacturer told me the reason he is not a member is because it is a scam...his words.

3-if a broker will not let you personally talk to the owner then walk away from the deal....period.

4-never take a recommendation for a surveyor from the dealer/ broker, especially if the surveyor contacts you, and walk away if the dealer/broker only gives you one name. It is likely a scam. Run don't walk.

5-Always take your own mechanic and have him assess the boat even before the survey, that way you can see if the surveyor misses things,especially things that have been covered up with paint.

6-If you are told it is like new, it probably isn't even close. If you go to look at it and it takes a week to fix the like new boat? Walk away and don't look back.

7- Get the service records before you fly across town or country before looking at it. If you are told they will be sent certified mail after the sale....walk away. If you find ANY damage that has been hidden or not disclosed to you then the deal is a scam...run.

8- If the owner/broker claims the boat has just been serviced or worked on make them show RECEIPTS for parts, not shop invoices for repairs( invoices can be fraudulently created to appear work has been done).

9- If any major repairs are being done ask to see it being done. If they won't let you see it...walk.

10- If you buy a boat and trailer as a package be sure to make them weigh both together at a certified scale to check compatibility. DO NOT RELY ON MANUFACTURES WEIGHT NUMBERS. My boat is 4000lbs heavier than W.C's NADA reported weight.

11-If the sales person tells you the surveyor you hired taught them everything they know about boat sales, you better run. It is a scam of giant proportions.

12- If the broker says they will detail the boat, make sure it is at their cost, or you should hire your own person to detail it. Brokers tend to be cheapskates and will hire lowball detailers and sometimes the work is shabby.

13- Have an attorney look at the manufacturers warranty on the boat to know what it really covers. You will know what the engine manuf. covers, it is pretty standard. If it is a worthless warranty like W.C's then have your attorney negotiate different contract terms. If the manufacturer will not bend, which they probably won't, I would look for a different boat or find one cheap enough you can rebuild it and still have a good deal.

14- Get the service records from the manufacturer. Get the engine history on the motors from the engine manufacturer.

15- Have your mechanic get any recall/service bulletins on the engines and major components.

16- Have your mechanic talk to the mechanic that serviced the boat. If your mechanic smell a rat, drop your cheese and go look somewhere else.

17- Run the boat out as many miles as you would if you were going fishing on your regular grounds and run it fairly hard to see if anything craps out, maybe even fish it.

18- I also would contact BBB's and state Attorney Generals for any complaints against the manufacturer, the broker and the shop that serviced the boat, especially if you are travelling from out of state.

19- Contact the manufacturer for a list of names and phone numbers of people who own the specific model you are looking at and call alot of them. If the manufacturer will not provide that info then get on-line and find someone close who is selling one and go test drive it, look at it, or at least call them and ask what problems they have had. Expect to only get partial truth.

20- Always go into a boat deal with the mindset that everyone involved is a LIAR. Then go about trying to prove you are wrong about them. If you get a gut feeling that something isn't quite right you need to listen to your instincts. Walk away.

21- Always carry "full coverage insurance", and make sure the policy you buy covers any damage caused by a manufacturers defect. Most good policies will cover resulting damage but not the defect itself. This could save you $10's of thousands of dollars.

Unless you have unlimited funds I would encourage you to take every precaution to keep from being burned by unscrupulous people because unfortunately they are more common than the honest guy/gal.

It is better to be fishing with the boat you thought you bought, than to be stuck in the bilge trying to get your boat to evolve from a pile of sea slime to a fishing machine.

Good luck!

[Tenacious]

Very good tips, thanks for sharing!!!