Buying a Boat Long Distance

Well. My experience was a bit different. I have boat knowledge and requested many very specific digital pictures of area's of concern. Hired my own surveyor for structural matters and another for mechanical testing and evaluation. Never did a site inspection. Purchased my boat from Lake of Ozarks and shipped to upstate NY with no surprises. I guess I was lucky because I got exactly what I thought we would be getting. Phew !!
 
Bill Z said:
Well. My experience was a bit different. I have boat knowledge and requested many very specific digital pictures of area's of concern. Hired my own surveyor for structural matters and another for mechanical testing and evaluation. Never did a site inspection. Purchased my boat from Lake of Ozarks and shipped to upstate NY with no surprises. I guess I was lucky because I got exactly what I thought we would be getting. Phew !!
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A LOTO boat "usually" has a lot less surprises than a Florida boat. Generally covered slips, half season of boating, used for day cruising. There are a lot of nice boats in that area.
 
Flying down Thursday to meet the surveyor (Steve Berlin) and inspect the boat. Thanks again to everyone who chimed in. I hope I have good news to report after Thursday.
 
Well, the gel coat is a little off color but not bad, the vinyl seats are all in good shape, and the interior is totally fine. The canvas tops and the snap in carpets are in great shape. There are some small things like an ill-fitting latch and a piston hinge that need to be replaced. The floor drain is pitted from the salt water. I already knew it needed a new coat of bottom paint. The overall appearance of the boat is pretty good. Steve Berlin did the survey and sea test and unfortunately the boat needs about $12,000 worth of mechanical and related fixes. The engines aren't pulling together, the RPM's won't go over about 3500. The boat goes about 31MPH at 3200 RPM and about 34 when you open her up. The hot water heater is rusted through and the generator is laboring. The manifolds need to be replaced and the engines need to be tuned. The spotlight won't rotate in all directions. The boat has already been discounted down to $35,000 and the seller has already replaced the exhaust risers and fixed some issues with the rudder that were turned up on the survey he ordered.

The broker says the seller wants to see the estimates and will consider discounting the price further, but I'm not real hopeful. It's going to cost about $2200 to ship the boat, another $1500 or so to get the bottom painted and we put $1500 into the flight down and the survey. We can't afford to go over $40,000.
 
thanks to Frank, Carver and everyone else that got me going in the right direction about approaching this situation. I have learned a lot.


ktcanuck, thank you so much for recommending Steve. Like you said, he does a great job. :smt038
 
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Max Power said:
Well, the gel coat is a little off color but not bad, the vinyl seats are all in good shape, and the interior is totally fine. The canvas tops and the snap in carpets are in great shape. There are some small things like an ill-fitting latch and a piston hinge that need to be replaced. The floor drain is pitted from the salt water. I already knew it needed a new coat of bottom paint. The overall appearance of the boat is pretty good. Steve Berlin did the survey and sea test and unfortunately the boat needs about $12,000 worth of mechanical and related fixes. The engines aren't pulling together, the RPM's won't go over about 3500. The boat goes about 31MPH at 3200 RPM and about 34 when you open her up. The hot water heater is rusted through and the generator is laboring. The manifolds need to be replaced and the engines need to be tuned. The spotlight won't rotate in all directions. The boat has already been discounted down to $35,000 and the seller has already replaced the exhaust risers and fixed some issues with the rudder that were turned up on the survey he ordered.

The broker says the seller wants to see the estimates and will consider discounting the price further, but I'm not real hopeful. It's going to cost about $2200 to ship the boat, another $1500 or so to get the bottom painted and we put $1500 into the flight down and the survey. We can't afford to go over $40,000.
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Oh no. Sorry to hear you had a survey go bad. That has to be the most disappointing thing about buying a used boat. My purchase is also conditional on a survey and a sea trial. Hopefully in the next week or so.
 
I know you are getting the boat for a good price, but if I were you, I would try to get a fresh water boat closer to you.... If you look, you may find a very good deal on a 330 in your area... Shipping a boat can be complecated, and it is costly. Any even is you you replace the things you know are wrong, there maybe other unknown problems...
 
We have been looking at boats such as SR, Regal and ProLine for around 12 months now. We are buying long distance - from near Sydney in Australia. I am negotiating on the fourth vessel we have had an interest in. Three of them went to survey, as is this last (current) one. I am using surveyors that I independently find, research and talk to to act as my eyes and ears.

When I find a boat that has passed all my requirements, including a pre-purchase survey, mech inspection and satisfactory maintenance records I will fly over a give a final buyers inspection prior to settling. These are all contingencies written into the agreements. I also only use licensed brokers to act on my behalf.

My track record in picking boats hasn't been good as they have all failed my requirements (hoping 4th time lucky). But when spending approximate $30,000 on shipping I am not picking just any boat. So far I have found the way a boat is advertised and described is heavily influenced by the integrity of the broker and the inspection (or rejection) process sorts out the professionals from the pretenders.

I plan on writing a detailed account of our exploits when successful so hopefully others can benefit from our experience. By the way, the current hopeful is a 330DA with 7.4L v-drives.

The info on this site and the experience of others has been invaluable.

At the moment the only advice I have to offer is (1) never buy without a full survey, (2) never skimp on the mechanical inspection, (3) keep your wallet open, (4) there is a degree of gambling involved so never chase your losses as you'll only lose more, (5) if you cannot afford the inspections then you will not be able to afford the boat which you didn't have inspected.
 
Well, the broker works at Marine Max and had Marine Max estimate the repairs. The total estimates came back higher than what the marine surveyor had indicated and I am thinking that Marine Max isn't a super economical place to get the repairs done. The Seller is willing to discount the price of the boat to cover some of the repairs. I have sent the survey to Bradenton Beach Marina for an estimate but am not sure how good or expensive they are.

Does anyone have any recommendations for getting boat repairs done in the Venice Florida area? The repairs needed are exhaust manifolds, extensive re-sand and bottom paint, engine tune-ups and one carb rebuild.
 
My suggestion is to buy a boat closer to home that you can touch, feel, smell, walk on, and have serviced by the same people who will end up servicing the boat normally. Maybe look into a Regal or similar sized boat if you cannot find the pricing you are looking for here. Chances are a boat with that much maintenance related problems will have some more to uncover as well in my experience. Then the great deal you got in Florida doesn't sound so great.
 
Well . . . . we went ahead and bought the boat at a discount and had it shipped to Chicago. Fortunately the repairs have all come in lower than what we budgeted but the boat still isn't in the water because we are waiting on a couple parts. I've visited the boat and she's really nice. Chicago weather has been lousy so I haven't minded the wait, but I am itching to take her out. Thanks to everyone for all the advice and help!
 
Max,

Thank you for posting this experiance. I am also in Chicago and we have finally decided on which boat we want ( 320-340 Sundancer ). I found a 340 in Florida which I know needs some work, now I am trying to put together the survey, transportation, and a Chicago area marina to rebuild an engine.

May I ask who you used for transport and who is doing your work in the Chicago area?

Best regards, Harry
 
Having just bought a boat in Michigan I am surprised that boaters in the Great Lakes area are going to Florida to purchase a new (to them) boat. I found an incredible number of top quality always fresh water used boats in Michigan and Wisconsin in the 34 to 39 foot range (both private and broker sales). Admittedly I was looking specifically at 1990-1994 Sundancers but the 1991 350 Sundancer that I purchased from the original owner was in beautiful shape and came complete with a custom made trailer while all of the other ones were also worthy of consideration.
 
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