Buying a boat with dubious service history

[superheat6k]

Even just post warranty boats might have a dubious history. The paper record of a service being provided does not mean the service concerned was properly carried out. In this regard even a meticulous service history ignores entirely any abuse a boat may have at the hands of its owners.

I have not paid any professional for any work at all on any of the eight boats I have owned, beyond haul out and launch fees. I don't therefore have service reports, but I do keep a meticulous record of what has been done and when. It would be up to a future purchaser to decide for himself the validity of this for my current boat, and this record shall be available for inspection if and when I do put the boat up for sale, warts and all.

Caveat Emptor, instruct a surveyor and pay someone like Volvopaul of this parish to check the engine for you.

 

[Murv]

Caveat Emptor, instruct a surveyor and pay someone like Volvopaul of this parish to check the engine for you.

A big +1, that's exactly what I did.

My boat had no service history whatsoever. A contact who knew the previous owner knew it was well looked after, but there was no evidence provided.
It looked good, an offer made, VolvoPaul declared it a good one and now into the 3rd year of ownership, couldn't be happier.

Like Trevor, I do keep a detailed photographic record of all work and servicing that I do.

 

[Bigplumbs]

If you are unsure then walk away.

Or, you could get a decent survey done and place at least some of the burden on the surveyors liability insurance if the sale goes ahead and you have problems.

Basically, your choice.

The number of disclaimers you get in the average survey. That idea wont work

 

[EmptyPontoon]

The number of disclaimers you get in the average survey. That idea wont work

Indeed BP, that kind of thing is not what I am looking to utilise at all. Just some quality professional services which by the sound of things from Paul directly and folks on here I am sure will be provided.

 

[Bigplumbs]

Thanks for the replies so far folks. Useful stuff.

I should have mentioned, I have owned boats before - outboard and I/O but never this old. Therefore, I am well aware of the fueling costs and potential issues associated with running a petrol engine / leg and annual budgets are in place. I am also aware of costs of servicing turbo diesels and the purchase price differential between petrol and diesel boats.

It is not too easy to find a closed cooling system diesel in my budget for a planing, pocket sports-cruiser. So I wind up with a list of old RWC petrol v8s to choose from. History, surveyors / engineers and monitoring temperatures etc on a proper sea trial are about all I have to go forward to check out basic, important things like the lubrication and cooling systems has been properly maintained. The alternative of pro-actively breaking out another thousand on cast iron parts (probably more on Volvo), and sore arms from the weight of changing them is not so bad as a hydro lock. But if I combine that with an engine rebuild, leg exploding etc, it is not the kind of money I want to get into on a 25k boat.

Given all that, I am trying to view on condition rather than anything else, using the metaphor if the boat looks neglected, it probably isn’t worth getting professionals involved in pre-purchase inspections. Now I wouldn’t say this one looks like it has had the most skilled helmsman over its entire life, but the overall condition is about the best I have seen to date, and most of the others have been half the age of this one.

The bit I can’t understand is the family professional engineer not advising to keep the parts receipts on servicing - he ought to know. I have owned older cars which I have serviced myself, and when I do that I keep the filter receipts etc as proof it happened. I share the view expressed, if somebody cant show at least parts receipts in the car world, servicing probably didn’t happen.

Perhaps there are no receipts because he did not buy the parts, The receipts might be on one if the Super Yachts

Also my view is that Paperwork and receipts are just paper. Doesn't really prove much in my view. Rely on your instincts and what you see and can test. It is then a leap of faith

Dennis

 

[davidej]

In my limited experience boats with a full history are the exception.

Not sure why. My current one happens to have all bills from new- but as far as I know this is pretty rare.

In think that the reason is that, if you kept all the bills, you would frighten yourself (or the wife) how much you were spending.

 

[vodzurk]

Bought a £6000 mobo 18 months ago (30yr old Sealine 195).

Probably spent over £1000 on maintenance so far to keep it in good nick. Will be spending more next week .

It also had a bit of running a bit too warm and a raw-water cooling element. An annual Rydlyme flush is the plan going forward with this (or Coca Cola), which hopefully will get it cleaner and cleaner every year instead of sediment buildup.

 

[rlw]

Not an expert but had friends with petrol engined boats. We all have/had older boats so have had many beers with friends around an open engine hatch givin advice to the one with the breakdown

Petrol engines are indeed generally raw water cooled. weak points are the risers/exhaust manifold that seem to be expected to last around 10 year. If replaced in time can prevent the engine going bang. That said to my limited knowledge you can get a remplacement petrol block for around 5K and swap over parts which make major engine trouble look cheap compared to a diesel. I would definately invest in a pro to look it over. If I can give you one piece of advice is spend money on getting the engine stuff right before investing in the cosmetics. Also check the oil cooler. Had a mate who wrecked his engines on a new boat due to this.

Research the specific engine on forums and you will soon pick out the most obvious pitfalls of your type of engine. What I learned on here has kept me from maken some expensive mistakes.

A well maintained older boat can often be less expensive and problematic than a younger one that has been neglected.

 

[EmptyPontoon]

Well, I didn’t go for it in the end. Broker was going to get back to me with any docs he asked the owner to find but have heard nothing to date. There were also some issues I was not keen on with the hull bumpy areas on topsides looking like delamination) so it would have been a very cheeky offer which probably would have been refused had it got to that stage.

I have also made a decision to go away from Volvo power. Reason (among others including good previous experience of Mercruiser) being the RWC wet joint manifolds and risers seem to need a lot more care than the Mercruiser dry joint equivalent. So, this week I have got another boat in my sights, (I missed one while I was in Spain last week) a brand I know well, in good current use and with massive documented history and hope to conclude a deal very soon. It is a bit dearer (about 25% over budget and the other one was under) but hey ho... what is the point of setting a boat budget if you are not committed to blowing it!

On the previous boat, thank to Volvo Paul who offered services at a very competitive rate given the skill he demonstrates on here and his good reputation, but as this is Mercruiser and probably out of his geographical area too, unfortunately I may need to take another route in getting things checked. Watch for future horror stories from me very soon.

It will be a long way home from slightly outside my old cruising grounds, but the missus and I will be bringing her home on her own bum as I am reasonably familiar with all but about 50nm of the passage. A few outstanding questions and a Sea trial Saturday. Given the weather forecast, will probably start the homeward journey straight after - we’ll straight after a lot of Jerry can runs from a local garage as there’s is no waterside petrol that way! Plan is to ignore the fuel gauge completely and get enough on board myself to know I can make Portland Marina which does sell petrol where I will top her off.

First planned ownership step after getting her home - covers to be removed, cleaned and waterproofed and a complete hull wet sand, compound and wax to get her back to pristine condition and easy to keep clean for the rest of the season. Should take about 4 days for the hull with 3 full passes through the grits of paper (all by hand) and 3 passes machine polishing with compounds plus wax. I will be doing before and after shots to remind me of the task when my limbs stop aching. Strangely looking forward to that job though . I said “planned” step, well let’s see what happens on the way back and reprioritise I guess...

Thanks for all the input and hope to see you on the water soon.