Fletcher 19gts - is this one any good?

[oGaryo]

Hi, I viewed the following boat today and it looks in good condition for its age (first registered June 2001).. I've been shown the service paperwork for every year apart from in 2003 where the paperwork is missing and the engine has had a full service twice this year (April by the past owner and last month by the dealer).. it has had two owners since new and there's manuals for the boat, engine (3.0ltr Mercruiser petrol) and the electronics listed below.

it comes with the following extra's:

- Garmin GPSMAP 172 (not colour)
- Eagle Cuda 168 fish finder (colour)
- radio/cd player with removable facia
- what looks to be a brand new camper cover
- a tonneau cover
- anchor
- extinuishers (auto in the engine bay)
- a near new (purchased 2006) De Graaff trailer - this one: http://www.degraafftrailers.co.uk/swing-beam-Boat-Trailer-SB2000-4ADJ.htm

this boat looks fine to my novice eye.. original gelcoat with no obvious scrapes, dinks etc and the cuddy look fine (doesn't smell musty) and the interior looks pretty clean.. I'll post a few pictures up in a moment that I took with the mobile..

the only downside is that it looks like it's had an inflatable fixed to the rear at some point.. the vendor has removed the fixing points (x2 with 4 screws each) and is waiting for some white plugs to tidy up the holes.. there's electrical tape on there at present

I'm in Devon on business Thursday so will be going back for a second look in better light and with batteires in the camera!and if that goes well, I'll be taking my wife to view it at the weekend with a view to buying if you guys think it's worth a punt

so, what do you think, worth the £9950 price tag assuming all is well mechanically?

 

[oGaryo]

sorry, some of the photo's have come out rubbish /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif you'll notice a decent camera in a bag within the rear view shot.. great camera (canon 350d) but absolutely useless with flat batteries in the hand grip /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Anyways, here's some of the better one's.

this is the hole left after the inflatable baracket were removed.. there's another the other side.. he reckons it'll look fine once the little plastic plugs have been fitted:

 

[Nautorius]

Hi Gary,

Landlockedpirate will give you an appraisal as he has one. However, here is mu opinion. The trailer is spot on. I have a de-graaff and have had a much larger one. They are strong, sturdy and reliable and de-graaff will sort on any issues! A lot better than the 'fletcher trailers' they originally came with which were underspecked!

That Fletcher looks very clean and well looked after. The seats are the tell tale and they are good! Mechanically it is pretty strong mercruiser petrol...is it the 4.3ltr or 3.0ltr?

They were going for about 12k this time last year and are still in demand. £9950 is an OK price...I would try for at least another £500 off!

Cheers

Paul /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[scej]

Looks to be very tidy, is that a VHF areil o the starboard side in front of teh Nav light.
3 ltr engine is a nice package, performace ok and economical i sold lots of them when i was at Poole Boat Park

Geoffs would be a good person to talk with as he owned one for a long time 8/9 years if i remember.

Get the boat surveyed and have a engineer survey the Engine. for the money a good buy but in this market i would try an offer of 8k cos you can always go up on your offer

 

[oGaryo]

thanks Paul... it's the 3.0ltr version. I'll try and haggle it down a bit based on the photo I've just put up regarding the bracket holes left in the back of the boat.. I'm not fussed about them so long as they are plugged professionally I guess.

 

[Alistairr]

Hi Gary, That looks and sounds pretty good.

I have thought though that you sould be able to get the newer beige coloured 19GTS for that kind of money.

Also if £9950 is the price the broker is asking, thats not the price you really want to be paying, I'd think you should be making an offer of £8500 subject to survey.

Good luck.

Cheers

Al.

 

[alt]

I paid €17,000 for a 2004 one of these with a 1.7 merc diesel, 10 hours on the clock and a twin axle trailer, just as a guide

One thing I must note though is that cosmetically it looked more appealing, nicer colours on both gelcoat, seating and cuddy upholstery

 

[alt]

Sorry, now for some useful info:

I found the gelcoat build to be good quality and it was a heavy boat for it's size. I was happy with the build, especially around the engine bay, good thick walls.

One thing to note - see in the cockpit, there's a locker on the ground that can coem away - well there's loads of storage under there, but I don't think there was any escape for water that went in there ie. it didn't escape into the bilge where the bilge pump was

The only fault I can think of was the windscreen, it wasn't fixed to the boat all that well and I noticed at the ends of the windscreen (ie. aft starboard and port) it had started to come a little loose from vibration - it seems it was only held down here with silicone/glue - hadn't I of sold the boat I would have done a job to secure it down with screws

Other than that I had a great time owning the boat and wouldn't hesitate recommending one to someone

 

[oGaryo]

[ QUOTE ]
Hi Gary, That looks and sounds pretty good.

I have thought though that you sould be able to get the newer beige coloured 19GTS for that kind of money.

Also if £9950 is the price the broker is asking, thats not the price you really want to be paying, I'd think you should be making an offer of £8500 subject to survey.

Good luck.

Cheers

Al.

[/ QUOTE ]

Al, I'm going to take your's and other's advice and wait for a newer model ot come on the market from probably a private seller that can't keep their much loved new colours boat any longer. Even though the boat above is very tempting with the trailer (over £2K worth) and everything, I think you're right to advise not to buy the first boat I see.

Another little niggle is that the seller said there's no after sale warranty on the boat as he doesn't think they're worth it (sales gimmic) but he'd 'help' try and resolve anything if something went wrong shortly after the sale... that doesn't sound convincing to me. He also wouldn;t let me know what else I needed atter the sale to ensure I could take the boat out safely, he referred me to a book to read to understand what I'd need. Really nice chap mind you just some of the things came across as a little suspect... maybe just me expecting too much?

If another doeesn't come on the market in, say, 2 months and this one is still available, I think that will also position me well to go in with a cut down offer.

thanks to you and others for the advice and pm to temper the overly enthusiastic decision making.

cheers

 

[geardownthreegreens]

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif You'd be much better off with my Rinker 212 for £8.5K. Much bigger,better and better looking cuddy than that Fletcher. That statement will stir up a hornets nest /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif, with unbraked trailer. PM for more details if interested Gary. Based in Cheltenham.
Si

 

[Alistairr]

Now there is another great boat! The Rinkers!!

Not sure a 212 is a better looking boat than the Fletcher, but the 232 certainly is! The 232 is a fantastic boat, and I know of one for sale for £12995, and an offer of £10500 would probably get it. The only snag is you'd need to buy a secondhand trailer for it. And I think it would be far too heavy for any of Gary's cars.

Not sure your 212 is legal on an 'unbraked' trailer?

Cheers

Al.

 

[geardownthreegreens]

Of course the trailer isn't legal without brakes but i wont say anything if you dont /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
My truck is Navara with excellent brakes and i've towed some miles with this trailer without any problem at all.Was thinking of sorting the brakes out, but this year she was left in a boatyard so no need for troublesome brakes.
I completely disagree however with the looks departement.

A Rinker 212 is a squashed version of a 232, (side profile). The 232 is one of the best cuddies out there and my 212 is no exception,and a very rare boat also,plus its maximum trailerable width with a lovely beamy 8ft 6inc of space.
Take a look at a fletcher then go and buy a rinker, no comparision.
The 232 you mention(my ultimate boat LOL ), where is that advertised, for that money,that must be around the same age as my boat,98.

 

[Alistairr]

The Rinker 232 for sale at £12995, can be seen here:
http://www.cambrianboats.co.uk/stocklist_detail.asp?ID=427
I'm not looking to buy a boat, but know the dealer well, so contacted him about the boat yesterday, and he says a deal could be done, but as the boat doesn't come with a trailer, he would do the boat for £12995 complete with a Brand new SBS Road Runner Twin Axle Trailer. Sounds like a good deal to me.
I used to own a 232, bought new from Cambrian Boats, and can confirm they are brilliant boats.

I also used to own a Navara Outlaw, and yes they are great work horses too, will pull anything.

I've had 2 other PMs about this boat, so you'd better be quick, it might not be along for long!

Cheers

Al.

 

[oGaryo]

Thanks Al, I'm not so sure about that one to be honest.. I've zoomed in on the rear seats and they look none too tidy.. also, I'm looking for something that I can tow with the wife's car for now for a couple of years until we're sure it's for us and I can replace my existing company car with something that has a much greater towing capacity. Thanks for showing me but I'll let your other interested pm's go for it.

p.s. the more I think about it the more I'm turning my attention back to the 19gts I looked at during the week.. just looks a very tidy boat in comparison to anything else I've seen on the web and I'm not really convinced a beige one will come up in the near future for the money I'm talking about /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[oGaryo]

by the way,,,,, slightly off topic but I've also found a place to store the boat 8 miles from the house that has cctv, keypad gate access 24x7, hardstanding and 24x7 manned supervision (they live on site)... £36 a month

 

[itsonlymoney]

I think that looks a tidy boat, wouldnt worry too much about the holes there easily sorted. Who cares about there being a newer paint job if you like that one then I would have a punt at £8 K and prob be happy to pay £8.5K. The merc engine is also pretty bulllet proof and fairly economical.

PS-Beige /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif you sure thats a better colour scheme than the one you have seen.

 

[oGaryo]

see, that's the thing.. all the Fletcher GTS's I've looked at are at least £10K + with some being older boats with less robust trailers.. the only route I can think of that would get anywhere near £8.5k is via a direct private sale to cut out the middle man but that's risky for a first time buy I guess.. can I ask if everyone is saying £8.5k on the basis that it's a given that 10 - 20% should be knocked of an asking price or is it from good knowledge that these boats (taking in to consideration the trailer and other bits I've listed) are currently selling for £8.5k... i.e. could it be this particular broker is already savvy to tough market trends and has priced the boat keenly to sell it? sorry for being a doubting Thomas but I'd hate to lose the right boat on an incorrect assumption. thanks Gary

 

[geardownthreegreens]

PM sent there Alistair.Thanks very much indeed.

 

[geardownthreegreens]

I think your right to be cautious about being told it will sell for £8.5. I cant see it personally.If lucky at all,you may get for £9K but doubt that.Once the seller has paid brokerage,he's down to £8.5 clear.Thats painful.

PS, where was that storage Gary. I'll probably keep my boat but would love somewhere cheap to store it.Could you tell me please,either public or pm me.Cheers.Simon

 

[landlockedpirate]

The boat looks in decent condition, from your description its got a good history and its had money spent on it over the years (extra fire extinguishers, electronics, duel battery, new dash etc). New quality trailer is a big plus point from trouble free towing. I think the price is actually quite fair in todays market (Fletcher sportscruisers have a bit of a following and seem to hold there prices quite well).

You wont get a warranty from any dealers on a brokerage boat, so its buyer beware. At a minimum I would take it for a Sea trial and check the it out very carefully. But if your not mechanically minded or very practical get a Marine Survey, it will give some piece of mind.

I would start with an offer of 8.5k (they can only say no) to go upto a price of 9k. If its A1 I would go for 9.5k. Because of the type of boat you can use it for a few years and still get most of your money back.