Boat history reports: worth it and reliable?

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, David.

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by davidsloane

I have to agree with the other posters that ordering this so-called "report" proved to be a colossal waste of money. It's obvious these people have ZERO history on the 16 year-old boat I questioned. Perhaps it's because I have frequently purchase carfax reports before which raised my expectations. The report I got told me NOTHING...not even state registration information. Turns out the seller was rather well off. Had the boat regularly serviced at dealerships in both Wisconsin and Arkansas and meticulously kept all service records. This was a boat that had regular contact with boat service centers. Furthermore, the boat had been registered in both states. I feel at a MINIMUM boat history should have had that publicly available information. They did have a generic list of Mastercraft recalls, none of which involved this boat. Whoop-tee-doo! I could have gotten that information FREE off Google. If this report didn't have all this positive history how can I expect that it would have any negative? If ANYBODY buys a boat in reliance on one of these "no history" reports they INDEED are an idiot! My old boat has just been totaled. (Swamped with corrosive sea water...but to just look at it all is hunky-dory!) I will wait a couple of months, run the hull number, and see what they say.

What BoatUS has to say about boathistory.com

[History Helper]

Hi David,

We are sorry to hear that you were not satisfied with your report. We take great pride in our product and stand behind our 100% satisfaction guarantee, which provides a full refund if you are unsatisfied for any reason. We’ve actually already refunded your purchase for you.

We are boaters ourselves and for the past 10 years, have been helping other boaters make informed decisions when purchasing used watercraft. Our recall and warranty information is provided as a courtesy within our reports, but the primary purpose of our reports is to help fellow boaters access data not otherwise available, that outlines damage to pre-owned watercraft. We work with thousands of public and private sources, including State DMV, DNR, and FWC departments, Insurance Companies, National Insurance Crime Bureau, Marine Surveyor Network, Law Enforcement Accident Reports, US Coast Guard, and Auction Data to compile the most accurate reports possible.

We’ve also sent you an email with some additional information, so please be sure to check for that as well. We are sorry again that you were not satisfied with your report David, but wish you lots of luck with your boat purchase and many happy days on the water. If there is anything else we can do please reach out to us at info@boathistoryreport.com or give us a call at 1-800-441-7599.

Sincerely,

Annie- BoatHistoryReport.com

[Cheechako]

Even Carfax info is dubious.
Here's an example.
You buy a car with 25k miles on it. You drive it 5 years putting 50k more on it. You go to the wrecking yard and buy a speedometer dash module off a car with 30k miles showing . You install it and sell your car with 30k miles showing. Carfax doesn't have this info.
Another example. You buy a car new. It is severely damaged in a windstorm or flood, but you fix it up. The title never changed and no damage was reported to the state. Now you sell it. No past damage is necessarily shown.
Here's example 3. Your car is totaled in a crash. You have it fixed and sell it giving the original title to the new owner. The title will not show as a "rebuild" or "salvage" title until the new owner gets it maybe 90 days later.

[tdoster]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Even Carfax info is dubious.
Here's an example.
You buy a car with 25k miles on it. You drive it 5 years putting 50k more on it. You go to the wrecking yard and buy a speedometer dash module off a car with 30k miles showing . You install it and sell your car with 30k miles showing. Carfax doesn't have this info.
.

Not entirely true. In states where emissions are done each year, the mileage is reported at that time. Also on newer cars, the speedo is tied to the ECU and the ECU is tied to the car. You have to be pretty specialized to switch an odometer these days and the dealers that can flash to that level not worth it for them. Carfax works.

Carfax is very helpful in this when buying old classic cars where speedo changes are far easier. Example, we used to buy old Porsches and restore them. When you pick up a carfax that shows normal driving over a period of years, then no driving or reverse driving you can end the BS of "original miles" right there.

They also show non-use registration, which many people with classics will do when they store them.

On other accounts. The biggest culprit is dealer lot cars that have been flooded or hailed on. These cars are paid out in a lump insurance that is not tied to the individual car unless brand new it must be disclosed, then sold at auction. Perfectly legit until the mom and pop dealer buys the car and puts a few bucks into it. There is legislation passed or in works for many states to put a stop to this practice, especially after Katrina. But, Carfax works when you look at a used car that was last registered in New Orleans pre Katrina, then sold at auction shows up and use your brain in conjunction.

Carfax has done a lot to keep people honest, and hopes that eventually some of these services will as well for boats.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by tdoster

Not entirely true. In states where emissions are done each year, the mileage is reported at that time. Also on newer cars, the speedo is tied to the ECU and the ECU is tied to the car. You have to be pretty specialized to switch an odometer these days and the dealers that can flash to that level not worth it for them. Carfax works.

Carfax is very helpful in this when buying old classic cars where speedo changes are far easier. Example, we used to buy old Porsches and restore them. When you pick up a carfax that shows normal driving over a period of years, then no driving or reverse driving you can end the BS of "original miles" right there.

They also show non-use registration, which many people with classics will do when they store them.

On other accounts. The biggest culprit is dealer lot cars that have been flooded or hailed on. These cars are paid out in a lump insurance that is not tied to the individual car unless brand new it must be disclosed, then sold at auction. Perfectly legit until the mom and pop dealer buys the car and puts a few bucks into it. There is legislation passed or in works for many states to put a stop to this practice, especially after Katrina. But, Carfax works when you look at a used car that was last registered in New Orleans pre Katrina, then sold at auction shows up and use your brain in conjunction.

Carfax has done a lot to keep people honest, and hopes that eventually some of these services will as well for boats.

Sorry, but it is true... it happened to me! Bought a little pickup with 22k miles on it. Carfax said the last recorded mileage was when new. Turned out the speedo module was changed out and the car had well over 100k on it! BTW.. not everywhere does emissions checks, often just hi populated areas . I haven't done one for 17 years!

[tdoster]

Originally Posted by History Helper

Hi David,

We are sorry to hear that you were not satisfied with your report. We take great pride in our product and stand behind our 100% satisfaction guarantee, which provides a full refund if you are unsatisfied for any reason. We’ve actually already refunded your purchase for you.

We are boaters ourselves and for the past 10 years, have been helping other boaters make informed decisions when purchasing used watercraft. Our recall and warranty information is provided as a courtesy within our reports, but the primary purpose of our reports is to help fellow boaters access data not otherwise available, that outlines damage to pre-owned watercraft. We work with thousands of public and private sources, including State DMV, DNR, and FWC departments, Insurance Companies, National Insurance Crime Bureau, Marine Surveyor Network, Law Enforcement Accident Reports, US Coast Guard, and Auction Data to compile the most accurate reports possible.

We’ve also sent you an email with some additional information, so please be sure to check for that as well. We are sorry again that you were not satisfied with your report David, but wish you lots of luck with your boat purchase and many happy days on the water. If there is anything else we can do please reach out to us at info@boathistoryreport.com or give us a call at 1-800-441-7599.

Sincerely,

Annie- BoatHistoryReport.com

Annie, as you recall, I am another dis-satisfied customer and knowing all to well that there just is not good information out there, even skip-tracers and repo agents can have a hard time finding a particular boat registered outside of the CG.

It would be my thought that these boat sites like yours take it up a notch and add voluntary reporting. If they allow you to keep your records for free, then your boat would be worth more to someone else thus perpetuating the process. Work with insurance companies for a discount when you keep track of your maintenance on that site as well as a better way to prove you are maintaining your boat in the event of a loss. Add reliability information like TrueDelta does for cars as the gold is always in the data, it is the aggregation of data that pains us all.

The best way to aggregate data is to find a way to do so that is also of value to those who have and want the data.

Also, what ticked me off was buying a report that contained nothing but nonsense recall data. Why not aggregate known design issues that these forums and the specific forums are flooded with simple enough to write a hook into google and build some fuzzy analytics around, but still providing the customer something useful. Add meaningful information like sailboatdata.

The ideas are limitless, but hoping to duplicate carfax for boats using the same logic is destined for failure as there is just not enough public information out there or requirements to report to a public entity.

Direct CG is the best as they will even tell you the last time the boat was boarded. Public information that your site didn't even tell me.

[ensembull]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Sorry, but it is true... it happened to me! Bought a little pickup with 22k miles on it. Carfax said the last recorded mileage was when new. Turned out the speedo module was changed out and the car had well over 100k on it! BTW.. not everywhere does emissions checks, often just hi populated areas . I haven't done one for 17 years!

I agree. As an automotive tech for 30 years I have seen it all. Speedos turned back computers that hold mileage erased. As for Annie at Boathistory, I just put in my HIN. Says my boat was built by Calder Building Company???? I have a C&C 25 1973, so who is Calder and what good would me spending $35????

[Cheechako]

I guess the bottom line is you could turn up something you didn't know with one of these reports (car or boat) , but don't rely on it as everything!