Brett's_daddy

I do appreciate all the advice...i really do and am not trying to offend anyone. I'm just saying there is no way to test drive a boat up here...none, not unless you're buying from a lakeside boat dealer or something but most private sales in the interior of the state don't have easy access to water making a test drive unattainable...it is what it is, do I wish everyone had a lake or pond close by to take a test drive...absolutely but the reality is they don't so it's moot point. I will have to put my faith in the common man and in this case my fellow Vermonter that he is truthful and honest about his boat. I definitely will need to study the boating laws, I happen to be old enough that I'm grandfathered in and am not legally required to take a boating course but I think i will take it any way just because it's a smart thing to do. How many miles per gallon does a 40hp outboard get? Obviously I won't be going on a lake or pond large enough that I won't be able to see shore so i don't think getting lost on the water will be a problem. Thanks again for all the advice...I truly do appreciate it and welcome it and didn't mean to offend anybody but the whole test drive suggestion just isn't going to work for me in my location unfortunately :(.

Look, I do appreciate all of this advice but please stop with all the test drive suggestions...it just isn't going to happen up here! Most of these private sales aren't near a lake or pond so a test drive is really unfeasible. The best I'm going to be able to do is put a hose to the motor, compression test and check out electrical and floors/decks and transom. I'll look at the Starcraft tonight and hopefully it'll pan out. I am getting sick of looking for boats...I expected this to be a fun fishing adventure but it's turning into one headache after another as we either are a day too late looking at a boat and it's sold or when we do see the boat it's not what we're looking for. I know that I was really looking forward to fishing this season but this whole boat search has definitely put a damper on my enthusiasm :(.

It is fully wired for a bow mount trolling motor, the plug receptical is there in the stern and the first white compartment is up front is where the battery for the trolling motor would go and has all of the battery terminals wired up to there. I go to look at the Starcraft tonight. It has downriggers on it which I'm not sure I want but I'm sure they could be removed. I'll let you all know once i look at it. I know most of you say take a boat to the lake and test drive it but it's not that easy up here where i live and most sellers don't have easy access to a lake/pond making a test drive unfeasible :(.

That's what my wife is saying too...go with the newer motor but something is just drawing me to that Fisher, the boat is just in such good shape. I will look at the Starcraft tomorrow night but as you can see from the pics the edges of both front and rear decks are definitely worn and the side console is peeling and one pic shows the seats and they are all torn it looks like. I know, all of that stuff is considered cosmetic but it still adds up while the Fisher may not have as good a motor the boat itself appears to be in much better overall condition than the Starcraft. Decisions, decisions...lol.

The guy with the Fisher said $3500 is as low as he will go and if he can't get that he'll just keep it as he doesn't need to sell it. I'm thinking $3200 isn't too far from $3500 so he might take the cash.

Okay, I have two more boats for you fine folks to give your appreciated opinions on... This is a 1999 Starcraft Starfire 150 with a 2006 Mercury 40hp 2-stroke http://vermont.craigslist.org/boa/5543243176.html Here are some additional pics of the boat... This guy is asking $3500 but said he'd take $3000 if I wanted the boat. I'm thinking if i offered him $2800 cash he'd probably take it. This is the next boat, a 1997 Fisher Avenger 16ft. We actually went and looked at this in person and the boat is immaculate...VERY clean inside and out. All decks are solid (no spongy feeling anywhere), the motor started right up and ran well...a very nice boat!!! This is a video of the motor running. One thing I noticed is that it didn't pee a stream of water out of the top motor housing and looking at it there is no hole there for it to pee water out of...just those little vent type holes below the motor housing on the shaft...is this normal? It's a 1998 Force by Mercury 40hp 2-stroke motor. It's a manual trim motor. This gentleman is asking $3900 but would take $3500...I'm thinking of offering him $3200 cash if we decide this is the boat for us. What do you guys think?

I spoke to a local dealer as I'd like to take this boat over to have them check it out before I make a decision. I told him about the Force motor and he said that it sounds like one of the "newer" Force motors made in the mid-late 90's and especially since it says Made by Mercury on it which he said means it basically is a Mercury 2-stroke motor so would be one of the "good" Force motors.

The boat sold...just before we got there. yup, you heard right, just before we got there after a 2hr 45 minute drive. We contacted the seller just before we left as we knew he had another person supposedly coming to look at the boat and said look, according to our GPS we'll be down there just about the time of the other guy...we don't want an awkward situation, are you sure we should still come or should we wait until the next day. The seller told us to come. So the whole family continued on the road trip. My son had an upset tummy half way down so we had to stop so he could go to the bathroom but we finally make it down and when we pull in the yard there's another truck there with a couple of guys in it. We meet the seller and he shows us the boat anyway which we thought was kind of weird with the other guys right there but he went all through testing out the boat and showing us the features etc. and then he speaks with the other guys and gets a piece of paper and writes out a bill of sale. He then comes over to us and says well, these other guys came just before you did and they're buying the boat but I thank you for coming down...and this guy knew how far it was for us and we even asked if we should still come down noting we'd be there about the same time as the other perspective buyer and he told us to come anyway. Regardless, once seeing the boat in person I wasn't going to pay what he wanted. The seats were filthy (cosmetic which could be cleaned) and needed re-stapled, the trolling motor had the paint chipped completely off the bottom around the dome by the propeller, carpet was filthy (again, cosmetic so not that big of a deal) and when he ran the engine it didn't "pee" well, at idle there was no water coming out even though the hose was to it and he had to throttle up to get the water stream to go but the engine sounded like there was a skip. A blessing in disguise that we weren't the ones that bought it but a complete waste of an almost 3 hour drive down and back. Oh well, the search continues!!!

How do you test the compression on a motor? How do you turn a transom saver off? By water test I'm assuming you mean put a hose to the motor and run it? How much flex should the transom have? He says he has a brand new spare prop for it too.

NADA says that it has a 5'11" beam.

Looking it up it says that the boat has a 5'11" beam.

We don't have our own private boat mechanic willing to come with us on a moments notice for a 3 hour drive to check out a boat...that's just not feasible unless it's a local sale.

These are pics he sent me. Says the water stain is from leaving it in the lake house every summer but that it was winterized every year. Reason for selling is they sold the lake house and are moving away and needs to sell it in short order.

I just found this... http://boston.craigslist.org/nwb/boa/5541230712.html Looks like it has some hard water stains but that can be cleaned up if the rest of the boat is soldi. What do you think?

Isn't there a motor mod that you can do to a 9.9hp to get it up to 15hp?

But how many people will a 9.9 motor push around? I expect almost all the time I'll at least have my wife with me and most times my 5 year old son too.

I've found a really nice 1997 Fisher 16ft. v-hull boat with what looks like a very clean Force 40hp motor...it says "Force made by Mercury" right on it. It looks newer so I'm going to assume it's the same year as the boat, a 97'. This was on the side of the road...looks like an older man owns it. I've heard Force motors are junk but there seems to be a lot of boats out there with them on so I just wondered if it's a myth or factual how bad they supposedly are?

I don't know...just never have I guess.

We decided to give P-Line Flouroclear a try this season for trout fishing. Went with the 6lb. test as that is the lowest test our spinning reels specifications listed. Wish us luck!!!

$3000 is my upper limit.

We were going based on a boat we looked at at another dealership earlier...that guy had it on consignment for another customer and he had it listed at $3000 and when we asked him what was the best he could do on it he dropped the price down to $2600. It was the first boat we had looked at so didn't want to jump on it until we had seen something to compare it too though. That's why we thought we could dicker if the other guy had come down $400 from his asking price on a newer boat and that boat being on consignment even that this local dealer who owned his boat outright would have more wiggle room to strike a deal with.

The rude dealer actually was the one who re-did that Lund boat for the owner. He just re-did all of the flooring, put on the brand new expensive trolling motor, new seats etc. last year. That boat is solid and I'm sure would last us for a few years...it's just the attitude of the dealers that doesn't sit well with me!

Not an option! We've already been approved for the loan and received the money. It is what it is...not expecting to find something perfect in my price range just want something that isn't going to need a lot of work done right away...they're out there, I've seen them but I've always been a step too slow. This is a first boat...I'm sure many of you had a first boat that was older and not in pristine shape but it got the job done and you were happy with it until you had the funds to upgrade and did so...that's what I'm looking for, doesn't have to be super fancy just reliable and safe for the family so we can have a fun time out on the lake fishing :).

I would say Best Reasonable Offer :). I just don't want to buy a boat and turn around and have to put $1500 into a new floor in the near future...is that asking too much? The guy said the outside is immaculate and even the trailer is in excellent condition.

http://nh.craigslist.org/bik/5538077957.html 1993 Grumman Renegade w/1993 Evinrude 48hp motor http://plattsburgh.craigslist.org/boa/5540106978.html 1995 Sea Nymph w/2002 Johnson 50hp. Spoke to the owner tonight and asked him a bunch of questions, only has 1 battery and it's not a deep cell, live well isn't hooked up but is operable when attached to a battery, said there are no soft spots in the flooring/deck but described it as "spongy" in some areas and expects it made need replacing within the next 2-3 years (this worry's me...should it?). Said cash talks and he doesn't want to sell the boat but needs the money so I expect I could get him down fairly significantly. Keep in mind we will be fishing mostly small ponds/lakes around 76 acres or so and most likely wouldn't be venturing out into really big water.