A word of caution about repo boats

RollerCoastr said:
That's a tough lesson, but I'm glad to hear that you found a good boat eventually.

In situations like long-distance boat buying, forums like this one are invaluable. It's not unusual for someone online to volunteer to be your local eyes. There's even a possibility that you'll find someone who knows the boat already.

When someone asks about a boat in this area, I jump at the chance to take a look at it. It's fun, and someday I might need the favor to be returned.
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What Roller said!!!!!

I used to belong to the Yacht Club located right next door to the Liquidator. As a word for others considering, post this kind of stuff. I would have jumped at the chance to help a fellow CSR member and catch up with some old friends.
 
Vince_nj1 said:
Nice looking boat.. I didnt know they put 6.2s (stroked small block) in the 340. I thought they all had 7.4s (big blocks).
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I think the 6.2 engines with V-drives were standard. There were a number of 6.2 engine options including one with BIII's. The big block option was the 8.1 liter with V-drives or BIII's. Mercruiser hasn't used the 7.4 liter engine in a while.
 
timinfla2 said:
Yeah, I noticed that too - Interesting choice of a power package for the 340.
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I can see it in an I/O, but not with V-drives. That is, of course, unless you boat in nothing but no-wake zones - period.
 
Hampton said:
I can see it in an I/O, but not with V-drives. That is, of course, unless you boat in nothing but no-wake zones - period.
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Actually the standard engines in a lot of Sea Ray boats are a bit on the tiny side. Standard engines on my 330DA in 1999 were 5.7 (260 hp) small blocks with V drives. Same on the 340 for a couple of years. Then I lost track of the Sport Cruisers since my logical upgrade is to a Sport Yacht.

I asked my salesman about the little engines. He said that Sea Ray does that to bring the base price down a bit. None of the dealers he knows stocks the boat that way, but it allows SR to advertise a lower price. I guess it does bring in the bottom feeders who are, more likely, I bet, to have their boats repossessed.

Best regards,
Frank
 
Repo boats are not all bad. Many years ago I bought one in Richmond VA after doing due diligence. The boat was used for 3.5 seasons and sold for what I paid for it.

While I was in Richmond, I had a crab cake and it was the most unpleasant experience of the entire trip.
 
Many repo's I have looked at have been stripped. One guy even
took the kitchen sink, props, head, pumps, everything he could
physically remove. Youv'e gotta love it!
 
"While I was in Richmond, I had a crab cake and it was the most unpleasant experience of the entire trip."

Richmond is not known for their seafood. We have yet to find anywhere in the area where the seafood is even close to good.

Gotta get closer to the Bay for that.
 
Kurt, Sorry to hear of your frustration with National Liquidators. National Liquidators represents a great avenue for a novice buyer to purchase a boat at a often discounted price when compared to a retail transaction. If National has a boat that you like there is often no better deal to be found.

National Liquidators also works with a large number of marine dealers who often outbid a retail purchaser. Dealers usually can see through some small issues and look at the larger picture. The boat that you looked at was indeed bought by a dealer to be resold for a profit.

I am sure when price is considered, there is no better way to purchase a boat.
 
I live a few miles from NL in Lauderdale and drive infront of the place every week. I have a friend who is in fact a repo man for them. I can help a fellow CSR buddy get some photos, a quick visual opinion and a line up on several good surveyors.

NL is repo ing hundreds of boats a week, most hauled to Florida. They have rented every dock scrap of yard space in town to store them until they can get them written up and on the web. No matter what the human pitch says, these boats are for the most part neglected and in need of some immediate attention. When the repo guys grab a boat it comes without keys, manuals maintenance records etc. and probaly even missing necessary items for safe navigation and operation. Often the boat has been canibalized in some way. The boat is an unknown animal to NL. They are simply agents to lenders who want to recover as much as they can as fast as they can.

Within reason I can help a buddy from time to time as long as we come to some agreement to timing and services needed.

All this said, I would never buy a plane ticket on a distance purchase until I had the boat surveyed by a certified surveyor, examined a hundred detailed photos. And before I hired the surveyor, I would have an agreement that the owner/agents would adjust the price of the boat, including surveyor fees to reexamine after repairs, if the yard costs plus storage and deferred interest exceeded X $. That will shut off smooth talk and get things down to reality.

NL has to move boats and they are selling them out. But the asking price is never the taking price so be warned and deal hard.
 
"FKups"...how do you pronounce that ?
 
Just call NL and listen to what they say when they answer the phone...

If they don't announce themselves as "FKups", just ask for him (her?) the way that you think it should be pronounced.

Sales must be slow. They probably found this thread while googling themselves.
 
FKups said:
Kurt, Sorry to hear of your frustration with National Liquidators. National Liquidators represents a great avenue for a novice buyer to purchase a boat at a often discounted price when compared to a retail transaction. If National has a boat that you like there is often no better deal to be found.

National Liquidators also works with a large number of marine dealers who often outbid a retail purchaser. Dealers usually can see through some small issues and look at the larger picture. The boat that you looked at was indeed bought by a dealer to be resold for a profit.

I am sure when price is considered, there is no better way to purchase a boat.
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And I'm sure that FKups works for National Liquidators! If you re-read the original post, most would agree that these weren't "small issues". The "larger picture" is that your boat was completely misrepresented by your agent.
 
I also bought a Sea Ray from Lab Marine this winter. A 2008 280DA well-equiped. The list price was 90K but Bank of America took 60K for it and gave me 4.99% financing. Lab Marine did a really shitty job winterizing the boat (AKA, they just opened the pet cocks to let some water escape and poured some anti-freeze in the head). I paid my own mechanic to re-winterize and fix some other stuff too (barrier coat, new bottom paint, northstar m84). Anyway, I ran the engines for about 20 minutes each and every seems OK. My biggest advice would be to run the engines before you buy.

Anyway, I'm stoked for boating season! This is my first Sea Ray (upgrading from a Larson 213 Escape runabout). Just joined ClubSeaRay. If you guys are on Facebook and live in the DC/Annapolis/Baltmore region, join this group:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=46710668858
 
Thats a pretty nice discount!
 
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