Please Advise on Boat Purchase

I've never bought a boat before other than my little 2 man plastic boat. Today I looked at a 1994 Nitro boat (Rick Clunn Edition, whatever that means). It was for sale on a car dealership lot listed for $5913 plus 7% sales tax plus $129.00 fee. I negotiated it down to $5800.00 including sales tax and fee. The salesman said that it had $1700.00 service done on it at marine shop. It has a 60 HP Mercury motor, foot controlled trolling motor, hummingbird fishfinder, cover and other acessories. The trailer and tires including spare appeared to be in great shape, no rust. There are no scratches on the boat. Although it does not matter, I think it is a good lucking boat. I called the guy that serviced it and he said it is a nice little boat. Do you guys think that this a good price for this boat?

Man, something just isn't right with that service amount. $1700 is in the territory of a MAJOR repair or a new (used) outboard. That 1994 is a heavy hull that may or may not have water intrusion into the foam floatation between the stringers that would add more weight. I am thinking that these boats shipped from the factory with either a 135 (max), 115 (std) or 90 (cheap/value pkg) horsepower
outboard from the factory. I wouldn't take less than a 115hp on that hull and 60 is grossly underpowered and I can almost assure you will have issues getting it to plane out after spending several hundred dollars experimenting with different props only to come to the conclusion that it is a lack of power. I would walk away, as hard as t may be to do.

Underpowered & overpriced IMHO

What did the mechanic say was "serviced" for that $1700 ?? That'd be what I'd be most interested in, were I looking at this boat.

Sounds like original owner bought it "packaged" with the smaller motor, to save some $$ .... then the motor wore out trying to push too big a load. But, that's just speculation on my part. I don't care how many times someone says they don't need the max motor size on a boat because they're not going to be running it WOT to get to their fishing spots. THEY WILL, TOO !! If they've got it ... they'll use it !!

FYI -
Rick Clunn is a professional Bass angler ... and has his name on boats, baits, rods/reels, etc. And Nitro Boats is one of his sponsors.

... cp :kewl

Too much boat for that motor.

I believe you could do better for the money you're talking about. I may be wrong and somebody correct me if I am but I don't think you have to pay sales tax in Ky. if you buy a boat from an individual. If that is correct then that could be money you could save or add to get a better boat.

I've been wanting a Tracker Pro Team 175 or 190 and the smallest engine I would want on a 175 would be a 60 and one a little bit bigger on a 190.

This boat is in Evansville, IN, just across the river from me. I'm in Henderson, KY

Thank you Guys for your great advice. I just searched iboats.com. Found two dealers, one in Nicholasville, the other is in Richmond. They had aluminum boats that would appear much better deals than this Nitro. I'll be visiting these dealers very soon to buy my boat. After talking with my wife today, I think I got excited about buying my first boat and might have made a terrible mistake. Thank God for you guys.
God Bless,
lnooksgilmore

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Originally Posted by LNooksGilmore

Thank you Guys for your great advice. I just searched iboats.com. Found two dealers, one in Nicholasville, the other is in Richmond. They had aluminum boats that would appear much better deals than this Nitro. I'll be visiting these dealers very soon to buy my boat. After talking with my wife today, I think I got excited about buying my first boat and might have made a terrible mistake. Thank God for you guys.
God Bless,
lnooksgilmore

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I am glad you got some good advice from these guys. Money is too hard to come by in this day and time. Its easy to get excited about your first boat. I make mistakes when I get in too excited or in a hurry.

LNooksGilmore, here's two that I thought about going to look at but I'm not quite ready to buy yet. I'm going to wait 'till I'm a little closer to my retirement. I like the four stroke engine because it should be quieter and more economical than a two stroke.

2006 Bass Tracker PT175TX
2006 Tracker Bass Boat Pro Team 175 TX

Even though it's in In. I still don't think that you would have to pay sales tax when transferring to Ky. If you consider it you might want to check on the tax thing first though. Let us know what you get and how you like it.

I have a 2006 Pro 175 Tx. It has a 60 hp four stroke. I love it. Bought it from a boat broker in Nashville that listed it on Craigslist. Had it two years now. Gets great gas mileage. Wife and I are headed to Green with it right now.

TG

I have a 94 170dc Rick clunn edition boat as week speak. My boat had a 90hp merc on it and ran 44.6mph on GPS. I recently purchased a 135hp merc and bumped the boat up to 58.3 mph. The boat is a good riding boat for a small boat. It does have the foam in the hull. The boat with a 60 hp would have problems getting on plane with not counting if it had a full tank of gas or a full live well. Just my 2 cents. I bought my boat in 2000 and gave 4600 for it and was a one owner boat in showroom condition.

Pm sent

Father-in-law in Owensboro bought a 175 limited edition with a 90hp and 2 fishfinders for about $3800 last year and it is in great condition. Keep looking,he found his in Calhoun.

I can echo what has been said here. Don't buy in a hurry. I have owned a jon boat with 9hp motor, an old Sea nymph (I think) with casting deck tacked on and an 18hp and now my BassPro Pro Crappie 175. I am happy with the current boat but still add something and/or replace all the time. But my 3rd boat is the first I actually contemplated before buying. And it is also the first I am comfortable with. Think about what features you want and what the boat you are considering will allow in the future. Unless you are rich, you won't want to replace your boat each time you realize you want some other feature. Best of luck Shopping!

Thanks Killum, I've decided to slow down, take a deep breath, be thankful for the great advice I've received from you guys and really shop around for what i want and hopefully find a great deal.

Something to keep in mind, those 40 to 60 hp Mercury 4 stroke motors are made in China.

Mercury Marine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I have a Stratos 176XT (17'6" glass boat) with a 50hp 2 stroke Yamaha. I jumps right up on plane, and runs great, just isn't very fast. Since I'm about to move to an area with several small lakes (with 30mph speed limits) it's all I need.

There is an Airman on the Texas Fishing Forum with an '04 Nitro 640 for $6700, he has had it for sale for a while now, so that older boat sounds overpriced to me.
http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/...lx#Post8930314