Is this 2001 Sundancer a good price and buy?

[Kiteboarder85]

please take a look at this listing for me. I have other photos of the inside from the guy. Does this seem like a decent price? I know he will go a little lower.

 

[MonacoMike]

Kite, you are in a dangerous phase of your search if this is a vessel you really want to purchase. This forum is a knife and it cuts both ways. We had a member make a post similar to yours, others were helping and a boat was soon in negotiations, frequent updates made for a riveting thread. We all were having fun helping this member buy his boat. Except another member wanted the same type boat, was unaware of this particular one until the whole very public buying thread brought it to his attention. At one point both buyers thought the boat was theirs.

In the end the lurking member won the boat and hard feeling were in abundance. Now you know

MM

 

[MonacoMike]

This seems high particularly without a trailer. BUT, condition is king and varies greatly. You need to look at as many as you can to learn baselines of condition for your area.

Good luck,

MM

 

[Chris Nowell]

Mike, the prices out in your area are sooooooo much lower than they are here. We have a similar 260 in our area that the guy wants 40+ for,,,, without a trailer. There's an 'o6 out here at 56K too. That's why our last few boats were from Washington State. American folks seem to take better care of their boats from what we've seen also. I know that's one 'elluva generalization but, we've been buying boats in the USA market for about 7 years now and I would sooner drive the 400 kms to buy a Wa state boat than to have to fix up some of the neglected craft in this area. This particular boat looks to be in really good shape. The hours seem a bit low for a 12 or 13 year old vessel though. I think a browse through "Yachtworld" will give the OP an idea of what these boats are going for, as long as he keeps in mind that some are salt chuck boats and others are fresh water boats. I personally would wait for a suitable fresh water boat to come available if I was to buy another I/O boat. Also, if a person isn't planning on trailering I think it would be wise to consider something bigger and wider. The only reason we're still in the 8'6" beam category is for the towing factor.

 

[Chris Nowell]

Kite'

Startin' to sound like you're chompin' at the bit to find a suitable boat. Take yer time, they are always for sale somewhere. Look at as many as you can and "sleep on" the deal. Take a day or two to envision yourselves using the boat and don't complete until you've had at least one night's sleep. You'd be surprised at how different a deal can appear over your first cup of coffee at an early hour. Sorry I can't offer you any advice on the price. That boat would be gone in a minute at that price out here. Good luck.

 

[Chris Nowell]

This isn't too big of a surprise to anyone who is a honorary member of Possum Lodge, or has otherwise seen the "Red Green Show"

+1:thumbsup: We've seen more than one with duct tape holding some part of it together. It could be that we're more on top of listings that involve 400 kms of travelling too. If it's local we just jump in the truck and go. If it's a long way's away I usually ask for a specific series of pics, in HD if possible. I go as far as asking the seller to stick the camera under the engine to take a couple shots of "where the sun don't shine". It pays off, especially with "fresh water" boats that are for sale near the ocean, as in Vancouver or Seattle.

 

[Kiteboarder85]

We been looking a lot over the past 2 months. We have been looking at 2004 and newer but this happens to fall a little older so I was asking for help with the price. For the comment "200 hours seems low for its age". How is this negative? The owner is 87 years old and one owner.

 

[Nehalennia]

If you're going to get a 260DA, get the '99-'04. The layout and performance are, in my opinion, much better. These years are much more stable than the newer '05-'08 models. That ad show this as a pretty clean boat. The low hours can be only a detriment if it has not been maintained, even though it wasn't run much. I bought my '00 in '07 with 94 hours on it. Luckily it was a diamond in the rough and I've spent the last 7 1/2 years getting it as close to perfect as I can. My canvas is the only thing left to be done. I think with the lower hours that this boat has + it's a freshwater only boat will help. A trailer can be purchased for between new $7-$9k. It's hard to guage price on the boat without seeing it, but the if the pictures are good representations, then the value can be there. I'd just be a little lower without a trailer. I'd sell mine for $35,000 with our trailer......if it were for sale.

 

[bajturner]

American folks seem to take better care of their boats from what we've seen also.

Chris, I would recommend spending some time out here boating and looking at boats before making that kind of sweeping, devaluing statement! I don't know what goes on out West, but boats around here, the Great Lakes, and the St. Lawrence are typically very well cared for. Although I did buy both my Sea Rays from the U.S., it was to take advantage of price benefits that were the result of near parity in the currency exchange, and some markets that were regionally depressed. I had to pick through scores of boats in the U.S. to find good candidates when I could have much more easily found the same boat in as good a shape on my own dock. Just sayin'...

Now, Kite, Chris' advice on using Yachtworld to get an idea of what is a proper price is good. As a general rule of thumb, a lot of boats that are priced around the average will typically sell by around 10% less than the asking. I don't mean to ruffle the feathers of anyone who currently has their boat for sale on Yachtworld, but those are indeed the statistics. I personally wouldn't buy a boat that has a history in salt water and bring it to an area that is all fresh water. You can find a perfectly good salt water boat if you are diligent...the majority of boats in the world are in salt water, but it will likely make reselling it more difficult or you will take a financial hit. If you build that financial hit into the purchase to begin with, then maybe it can work out, however.

The low hours can be a detriment if the boat went though a period of low- or non-use that caused the owner to neglect it. In general, these vessels work and last better if they are used regularly and properly maintained.

 

[Chris Nowell]

Chris, I would recommend spending some time out here boating and looking at boats before making that kind of sweeping, devaluing statement! I don't know what goes on out West, but boats around here, the Great Lakes, and the St. Lawrence are typically very well cared for. Although I did buy both my Sea Rays from the U.S., it was to take advantage of price benefits that were the result of near parity in the currency exchange, and some markets that were regionally depressed. I had to pick through scores of boats in the U.S. to find good candidates when I could have much more easily found the same boat in as good a shape on my own dock. Just sayin'...
.

baj,

I guess I could have been more precise; The boats that we saw for sale here in the western part of British Columbia that were in our size and price range were ALL thrashed or sadly neglected. This wasn't meant to be a "sweeping and devaluing" statement, it's an observation. We have owned six boats in the last 12 or so years and we've had to travel south of the border to find all but one of them. There are lots of boats out here too that are loved and well cared for by their owners but none of them were ever for sale when we've been looking. I think a lot of it has to do with the type and or size of boats we've been interested in. There just isn't an abundance of small cruisers or cuddies to choose from around here.