First Boat Purchase - HELP ?

[Ruckdog96]

Help?

I need some advice. I am thinking about making my first boat purchase, a 2000 Hunter 310. The seller has it listed for $45,000.00 and I made him an offer of $39,000.00 before ordering the boat survey.

Well on the outside the boat looks very nice, BUT I have major concerns about the engine. Basically the surveyor concluded that the engine looks in fair to poor shape for its age.

MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS:

The overall condition is FAIR - BELOW AVERAGE for a vessel of this type and age.

• Appraised value of the boat came in at $32,000.00
• The cockpit throttle/gear shift control was found in poor condition - cannot disengage the gear shift to allow "throttle" only mode; as the neutral detent lever is seized.
• -The throttle adjust did not function properly - would not allow the engine rpms to come down to “idle” rpm - should be around 600 rpm. The throttle could be manipulated at the engine. Recommend a new shift/throttle lever control and associated cables be replaced. Due to the high idle situation, the transmission shifted abruptly and loudly into forward and reverse, may be leading to pre-mature wear on the gear components.
• Recommend the transmission be closely inspected for signs of unusual wear or damages, due to the high idle shifting situation.
• The tachometer’s hour meter did not function; no estimate on the actual engine’s hours. Tachometer stuck at 3200 rpm.
• Several of the engine’s hoses were found cracked and in poor condition; including the sea water intake hose (clamps are heavily rusted also), and the water heater coolant heat exchange hoses.
• -The exhaust elbow is heavily rusted and cracked at both sides. Recommend install a new elbow

Although I have been sailing for several years, I am no mechanic. I have no idea of what it might costs for these type of repairs? Any ideas?

If you were me.... what would you do in this situation?

FULL SURVEY

Hunter 310 Margaritaville.pdf Views: 168 Size: 452.4 KB ">2000-IRJDSUNE9932123321222xxeww-Hunter-IRJDSUNE9932123321222xxeww-310-IRJDSUNE9932123321222xxeww-Margaritaville.pdf

[zeehag]

pass it up.
this is a buyers market and there are many for sale.
if seller wont repair the survey discovered fails, you dont need the boat.
the findings on survey are to be completed by seller unless you make arrangements.
the insurance will coerce you to repair the fail points if you expect to have it insured.
if you are determined to own this particular boat, offer 25000. sounds like neglect. more items will be fail.
surveyors do not find all the problems.

[sailcruiser]

I would keep looking if it were me. It sounds overpriced and abused.


SC

[rancher44]

RUN!!!!!

[stevec195]

The exhaust elbow and the hoses appear to be the only repairs that jump out as mandatory. I would definitely repair the rest before you took her on a long journey


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[lilbabypenguin]

I would say if you are saying to yourself you have "major concerns" that alone, is your answer. There are tons of Hunters on the market, so you could probably find one in better shape. But if you are inclined to try and swing a deal, like the $25,000 mentioned above and fix the problems, you could do that. Depends on if you want to do the work or not. Good luck! We are boat shopping right now as well, actually waiting on our survey report to come in today, so I know exactly what you are going through right now. Once you have invested into the purchase of a boat, it's hard to want to pull out. Please let us know what you end up doing.

[shorebird]

We have a Hunter 31, and love the boat, but I would pass on any vessel that shows such a complete lack of care and maintenence.

[HappyMdRSailor]

Ruckdog,

The listed problems really aren't a big deal at all.... BUT...

What they point to... Is that this boat has a high probability of overall lack of maintenance... Being such, you have to make the decision of whether it's a risk you want to take, or if the survey vetted out most of the problems...

Your survey link didn't work... Post it and the listing, and we here will give you a better opinion... Where are you/the boat located?

H310's are over the place...
No way the seller is going for a 40% hit, you may get away with 5k-ish

Now that you've got some coin invested, let's make an informed decision...

[Jolly Roger]

ZeeHag is correct. This boat has been neglected, and surveyor’s never find all the faults.
I paid for two surveys on different boats and walked away from both. Then I found my present boat and had a survey on that as well. That’s the purpose of a survey. They are always worthwhile, so long as you do your own detailed inspection as well, and you don't have to be an expert to see obvious faults or neglect.

If you aren’t able to fix the faults yourself then find another boat with fewer faults.

[S/V Illusion]

This is your first boat. Even if the owner commits to fixing everything on the survey list, no one wants a boat which has not been well maintained. Particularly a novice at it!

Price should not be your primary concern. With a poorly maintained boat, you will assuredly find more problems requiring even more money.

[Ruckdog96]

Well, GOOD NEWS! The seller has decided to reduce the price to what the the surveyor had it valued at ($32,000). To me that seems like a pretty good deal!

I am also getting a Yanmar diesel mechanic to tell me how much it would be to bring it up to speed. I don't mind paying for the repairs if they are under $7,000, because I initially offered $39,000. The mechanic is supposed to meet me next Tuesday to give me an estimate on the repairs.

We will see? If it doesn't cost too much to repair, I'll probably buy it... BUT if the repairs are like $10K + FORGET ABOUT IT! So we shall see.





Here's some pictures of her.

Mustang Island Yachts (Rockport, TX)

[Hudson Force]

13K down from the original asking price and 7K down from your offer sounds as if it is to your advantage. Are all of the significant surveyed problems engine related? The photos look nice. If you can address the engine problems within your discounted price and there are no other big issues, then you'll likely be pleased!

[savoir]

I'm still worried about the gearbox thing. Crash gear changes are seriously tough on the equipment and it seems like there may have been a few.

Make sure your mechanic checks the gearbox condition.

[savoir]

The gearbox thing might still be an issue. There is a good chance that there may have been a few crash changes which can be quite damaging. Crash changes by my PO cost me $1600 in propeller repairs.

Be sure to ask your mechanic to check on the gearbox.

[maytrix]

If its valued at $32k, then it seems you shouldn't pay more than $32k. If it was a sellers market, maybe, but in a buyers market, you shouldn't pay anything more than what its worth. And it needs work, so that should be deducted from the price.

Unless you can't find anything similar and in better shape, I wouldn't proceed without the price being adjusted accordingly.