Advice for buying and owning a boat

[GXPWeasel]

Wishing.
You have the prayers of me and my family as well.

I hope you are able to find a good boat for you and your family. A little extra bit here, from a guy who has a 4 year old, and several nephews that like to take boat rides. My daughter (4) is big on swimming, but doesn't necessarilly love to go tubing. If she does go, it's with an adult, and not very fast. So, this may be a good bit of info for you, in that you probably won't need any engine larger than a 75hp or even 60hp motor, as long as the boat isn't longer than 22 feet. If you're looking in the 18 foot range, those motors are plenty of power for your family right now. In 2-5 years, maybe they will want to go faster, but you can gain a TON of experience by then, just by being on the water.

Good luck to you.

[Wishing]

Thanks.

Any tips on checking out a motor on dry land? To be honest, if the Craigslist thing pans out and everything seems solid and it drives nicely, I think we want to do it and just replace the furniture. (How big a job is it to remove furniture and put the new stuff in?) BUT, if this guy flakes out on me or there are any problems I realized two of those boat trader boats are at the same shady car dealership. And they've been listed since last July (but still show on the lot's website). Which I think could be really good for us.

I have been reading through the rebuild threads. That looks so neat! (Not that I want to take it on right now, but still!)

[lakerunner]

Take a motor muff that hooks to water hose, a big screwdriver to pull bottom plug on lower unit. If possible pull plugs and shine a light to check cylinder walls to be sure rings haven't scuffed sides.
Fire it up and be sure it shifts easily. hopefully you can take a cruise to see how it handles, runs and steers. Make sure tilt and trim work and plenty of water coming from pee hole

[Bryden24shp]

Wishing, so sorry to hear the situation you are in. Truly hope things work for you and your family. Miracles do happen! Hope one is on its way to you...
Lets try to get you some help!

I'm not sure if we have any forum members that may live close to you. But, We can sure give a shout out and see if we can find someone to help you look your future boat over with you...
Can you drop us your zipcode, we can maybe find someone close by...

Guys, If anyone lives near Wishing or close to the boat they are looking at, can we make this happen?

[GXPWeasel]

Thanks.

Any tips on checking out a motor on dry land? To be honest, if the Craigslist thing pans out and everything seems solid and it drives nicely, I think we want to do it and just replace the furniture. (How big a job is it to remove furniture and put the new stuff in?)

Checking a motor on dry land... just get some of the $10 engine muffs from Walmart or somewhere, and hook it up that way. You can check how easily the motor turns over this way, and how quickly it fires up. You can also check the cooling (pee hole) and like previously said, you can check the lower unit lube this way as well. If the oil in the lower unit looks at all the color of peanut butter, and non-transparent, then it's got water in it. The lower unit oil should be mostly see-through, and be thicker than motor oil.

Pontoon furniture isn't too bad of a job, according to what I've seen. I've never replaced myself, but with a way to cut through rusted screws (dremmel tool, or side cutters) you should be pretty much set.

[Bamby]

Wishing, so sorry to hear the situation you are in. Truly hope things work for you and your family. Miracles do happen! Hope one is on its way to you...
Lets try to get you some help!

I'm not sure if we have any forum members that may live close to you. But, We can sure give a shout out and see if we can find someone to help you look your future boat over with you...
Can you drop us your zipcode, we can maybe find someone close by...

Guys, If anyone lives near Wishing or close to the boat they are looking at, can we make this happen?

Here's one listed that is close to you. But approach with caution because it seems to be to good of deal to be true, suspected scam.

2005 22 ft Tracker pontoon boat and trailer ! - $3500

[Wishing]

Yeah, that one is a scam. :/

Thank you for the advice on the motor. I'm in northwest Houston (77095) but the dealership that supposedly has the two boats is SW Houston. I am getting a little excited. If they have been sitting on a used car lot since last July I might really be able to get them down on price.

[justrfb]

I wish I lived in Houston... I would help in a flash. I am and will pray for you, your husband and your family.

Prayerfully,
Rich

[NonHyphenAmerican]

Wishing,
Given some of your particulars, I'd like to say this.

First off, you and your family are in my prayers.

I mean that and am not just saying it.

2nd off, to check a boat on dry land, the "Muffs" are indeed a good idea. They're like this: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Attwood-16205 ... 2/21036489

NEVER turn an outboard motor over and run it without water hooked up to it or you'll burn out the waterpump.

The car dealership you're looking at is one good place to start simply because, the boats are actually there, or else you can check that they're there. Also check out local Marina/Boat Repair Places.

Not a recommendation but merely an example, this Marina has this boat for sale.

http://boats.iboats.com/1996-premier-ma ... 87268.html

So there ARE toons out there in your price range, and I'll bet someone here that's close to you might come up with some ideas as well.

[NonHyphenAmerican]

http://boats.iboats.com/2001-crestliner ... 87880.html

http://boats.iboats.com/1997-crest-ii-d ... 84608.html

These are evidently at: http://www.dfwboats.com/ so I'd guess that they actually exist and aren't an internet scam.

[Wishing]

OK guys, tomorrow morning we are going to the car dealership and I want this one. http://www.boattrader.com/listing/2005- ... -101830447 I am going to try like heck to get it for $6K, but if we walk out with in under 7K including tax I think that would be good?

I need to to buy the muffs. I'll look into where I can get some quickly enough.

[Wishing]

Oh, say we go out and the motor doesn't work or sounds bad. How much would you offer for just the boat assuming you were going to buy a used motor? Knowing it's a used car dealership in a bad part of town where it has sat for a year.

[cwag911]

I must say, that's a nice lookin' toon. I don't know if you're going to get $2600 off though. Good luck.

[Bamaman]

You should have any used boat motor checked out by a qualified marine mechanic prior to the purchase.

They should also pressure and vacuum test the lower unit, as a set of seals is a $300 expenditure. Every used boat gets a new water pump impeller ($28 plus labor) whether it needs it or not. The trailer hubs also need to be disassembled, inspected and repacked on any used boat purchase.

You don't want any surprises. Life has dealt you enough surprises right now.

[Wishing]

I just don't know how that's possible. I will certainly take it to be checked out after it's bought.

I am trying to approach this as a situation where I pay a price for the boat, that if the motor craps out, I am OK replacing it.