Questions to ask about a used boat?

[CBedo]

Up to this point, I've only considered buying a new boat, but a good friend of mine has a year old Ranger Z21 with an Opti 225 that he is selling (he is a guide and got his new boat for year).

What questions should I ask, and what should I watch out for when buying a used boat?

Thanks for the help.

[gamblerOH]

 on a boat that new, especially a ranger you shouldnt have any problems but call ranger with the boats vin # and have them look it up to see what all warranty work the boat has had so far. do the same with a merc. dealer on the engine. In my experience if a newer boat has had a lot of warranty repairs I will stay away because it could only mean 2 things, the owner was neglectful or the boat/engine is a lemon. I would also keep in mind that a guide will put as much time on a boat in a year as most of us will in 10 years. Definately have the dealer hook it up and tell you how many hours are on the motor, check the lower unit and check compression. If it were my money I would find a Ranger with a Yamaha, those optis have had their share of problems. I should know i have one

[Ben]

If the boat was a guide boat and he has a good business, I think I would stick with the new one. It would have to be one heckava deal for me to want to consider it, at least $12K - $15K off a new one. He has probably put more hours on that motor than you will in five years. Also, most professional's don't take that good of care of their equipment because they know they're only going to keep it a year.

With that motor, you will want as much warrenty as you can get, and get rid of it when the warrenty runs out. I'm not bashing it, it's just all the direct injection motors are extremely expensive to repair, and the OPTI's have had more than their share of problems. Any kind of an ECU or injector problem can melt a piston and destroy a powerhead, a major expense. Even just a simple ECU problem can run $1,000 to repair.

[settle1]

yea ive heard their nickname was optipops lol