Looking to buy my first boat - yikes!!!!

[Cat Marine Guy]

Ok, been boating all my life, have friends with boats ( I know, I know), but am thinking about our own first boat and I found one that could be it. She's a 1999 290 Sundancer. Twin 5.0 Bravo's, A/C, 4.5 gen, camper canvas, fairly loaded electronics, tan dash. It's in a slip and on a boat lift at our local lake, low hours.

We are looking at it on Saturday.

What should I be looking for? What can I expect with a 12 year old boat that is in good shape cosmetically?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[skolbe]

The canvas can be worn at this point, along with carpet. The gelcoat if well maintained should have a good shine. The mechanical portion is hard to judge. Understand how well the boat has been maintained, listen for clues. The drives being serviced along with impellers being replaced on a regular basis. Good luck - and post picture if you buy it and get a survey.

 

[mwph]

First, Welcome to CSR. Some of the guys that frequent this site are very well versed in all areas of boating. You have found what I think is an invaluable resource.

As for the boat you are looking at, I'll stay away from details but suggest that if an area of the boat needs attention, don't just blow it off & think "I'll replace that soon". Price out Canvas & Eisenglass. Is the bottom painted? Price that out too. Recent service records do two things in my opinion. They give you an idea of how well the boat was maintained & they shine a light on the cost of doing so.

As always, get a survey.
Make sure the boat will fit your desired use.
Read everything you can here on CSR.

Again, welcome & good luck!

 

[WannaBSeaRayOwners]

We just went through the exact thing you are, and without this site I think we'd still be trying to figure out what to get! We ended up with a 280 rather than the 290, but we looked at a few of those and that's a beautiful boat. And, the 5.0L BIII setup is fantastic!

We looked at a couple dozen boats. Things that were always "tells" for us on the overall care a person took of a boat are just the obvious: If the bilge was nasty, it moved down on the list. Sounds funny, but if the seal around the refrigerator door is nasty, might be a sign of how it was taken care of. Like somebody said, the shine on the fiber glass... And of course, the survey (preferrably not done by somebody referred by the broker/seller).

Oh, and my favorite advice, which I think came from somebody here, is there's just a feeling you get when you get on a boat that tells you it's meant to be. Good luck!