is a test drive really necessary?

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Capt Birdseye

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Hi,

I am looking to buy our first sports boat. I looked at one last week - it's a Fletcher Arrowsport 155. It was built in 1988, and I think has the original engine, a Suzuki DT85. It is in excellent condition for its age. The sellers started the engine (with water from a hosepipe) from cold and it started fine. It also throttled up and changed gear without issue. Now, I have been advised to always test drive any motor boat, but this particular one is not currently near water (the viewing was done at their house with the boat on a trailer). I am wondering whether a test drive is really necessary for such a small boat (~16ft)? I would be really grateful to hear your thoughts and recommendations.

Many thanks in advance.
Newbie.
 
How about if the engine overheats after working for 10 minutes at full load ? Or the electrics break down after 5 minutes ? There are so many things that could go/be wrong that wouldn't show up just running the engine on a flush fitting that a sea trial really is a must.

Being a distance from water shouldn't be a problem. It's not a huge sum of money, so why not agree a sale, subject to satisfactory sea trial and pay the seller a small deposit on the basis that it's refundable if their are any significant problems on the trial. Arrange to meet him at a suitable venue, taking the balance of the purchase price in cash with you. At the conclusion of a satisfactory sea trial pay the balance.

Remember you'll need to be insured for the boat once you've paid the money.
 
Good advice. A water test will prove all sorts of issues a run up wont.
It will also give you a feel for how well the boat handles the conditions. A mate of mind put a large deposit on a french fishy cabin thing but when he had the sea trial it was far too slammy for his back and could not had used it in all but the calmest conditions which he wouldnt get that often. He got the deposit back as he made the sea trail a condition of the sale.
 
Capt Birdseye said:
Hi,

I am looking to buy our first sports boat. I looked at one last week - it's a Fletcher Arrowsport 155. It was built in 1988, and I think has the original engine, a Suzuki DT85. It is in excellent condition for its age. The sellers started the engine (with water from a hosepipe) from cold and it started fine. It also throttled up and changed gear without issue. Now, I have been advised to always test drive any motor boat, but this particular one is not currently near water (the viewing was done at their house with the boat on a trailer). I am wondering whether a test drive is really necessary for such a small boat (~16ft)? I would be really grateful to hear your thoughts and recommendations.

Many thanks in advance.
Newbie.
Click to expand...

I bought one of my first boats without a seatrial from a reputable caravan dealer (he had taken it in part exchange.)

It started fine and I bought it.
First time out it broke down into limp mode.

The dealer had no idea there was a problem and they agreed to pay for it to be fixed but it took the season, ended up with me buying a new engine.

I recommend you either sea trial or buy it with a scrap value placed on the engine.
 
presumably the boat's on a trailer and presumably you're miles from the sea with there being no water near you.. however, I'd contest that a little and say it's quite probable that a ski lake will be near you.. give them a call and ask them to allow you to take a small boat out on their water for a couple of hours to test it.. a lake in Northampstonshire offered this service to me whn I was looking at my first boat, all they asked for in terms of payment was £10 for a mid week blast
 
Well obvioulsy there's some risk, so the question is whether it's a risk you're prepared to take. I've bought several boats that size without sea trials, and they've all been fine, but that doesn't mean yours will be. An outboard that old has a very low value, as spares may be hard to find, so you shouldn't be paying much for it and therefore arguably the risk isn't that great, but that's easy to say when it's not my money.
 
I bought 10 year old 5.5 metre RIB without a sea trial. We ran the engine on muffs, studied the detailed full service history and then offered £2,000 below the asking price, which he accepted.

Boat runs like a dream but it is presently stripped down while I renew all the wiring and cabling and clean out the ten years of accumulated gunk and dirt.
 
Nick_H said:
Well obvioulsy there's some risk, so the question is whether it's a risk you're prepared to take. I've bought several boats that size without sea trials, and they've all been fine, but that doesn't mean yours will be. An outboard that old has a very low value, as spares may be hard to find, so you shouldn't be paying much for it and therefore arguably the risk isn't that great, but that's easy to say when it's not my money.
Click to expand...

The outboard, removed and offered for sale, would have a low value, granted. But, if it was scrap the new replacement would cost £7000 to £8000 + A blown engine on a £2750 speedboat pretty much makes the whole thing worthless.
 
PaulGooch said:
The outboard, removed and offered for sale, would have a low value, granted. But, if it was scrap the new replacement would cost £7000 to £8000 + A blown engine on a £2750 speedboat pretty much makes the whole thing worthless.
Click to expand...

Don't agree. If the outboard is worth £500, then if it proves to be shot you can buy another one for £500, so your risk is £500, no more.
 
Theres too many things that can go wrong with an engine of this age. We have had a couple of them over the years. Always get a sea trial, offer deposit to show you are serious and then take it for a good run at a variety of speeds. We had this engine on a ski boat, it was forever dropping into limp home mode and bleeping, however on muffs it ran like a dream.

If the seller wont sea trial, find another one. The boat you are looking at is possibly the most common boat in the UK.
 
Nick_H said:
Don't agree. If the outboard is worth £500, then if it proves to be shot you can buy another one for £500, so your risk is £500, no more.
Click to expand...

If you owned this boat and the engine blew, you wouldn't go out and buy a 22 year old engine (assuming the engine is as old as the boat). You would, at the very least, go and buy a good, modern engine. This would cost you at least two thirds of what this boat cost.

Sorry Nick, but i'll have to disagree with your logic on this one. I can't see anything to be gained by not having a trial and everything to be lost.
 
I am wondering whether a test drive is really necessary for such a small boat.

No... BUT.... the bit of metal and electrics hanging off the back of your proposed new boat make up 90% of the value of that pre owned jewel you are buying and 101% of its reason to exist ie. to move about fast if at all.

Old outboards are notorious for reliabilty if not meticulously maintained and unfortunately many are not,especially just prior to sale when it has been sitting in the garden for 12 months after breaking down a mile off the coast last year :).
Does it have a nice shiney custom galvanised trailer or a welded pipe bodged rusty lash up.

Normally a glance at the address the boat in being sold from will tell you volumes about if any money is likely to have been lavished on the boat as will the overall conditon as the owner pulls off the custom fitted cover,no old tarps with tyres hold it down please.
My best two speed boats boats were bought from central London without test simply because both were virtually new and immaculate and had hardly been used cos owners were too far from any water and had purchased on a whim.The price paid reflected the risk of buying an unknown quantity.
There is nothing worse than on your first voyage having driven for miles,got the thing off the trailer without damage and merrily cruising offshore to hear the engine cough and die....and it did come with lifejackets and a radio did it not ?
quattropicton2.jpg

A Boat bought from Porto Lewisham.
 
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I m with Nick. In an ideal world, a blast out on the water would be beneficial, but it doesnt mean something might not go wrong a week after you own it. It might (might) show up something immediately.
If you are happy to take the risk, accept the sellers stories about use and servicing and reason for selling, go ahead. If you consider the financial risk too great (ie you need a replacement engine) you had better seek the test drive for peace of mind.
Consider though, that even if it does mean another engine, I guess you would "upgrade" to something newer, probably lighter, and more fuel efficient. I dont know what you could sell a 25year old outboard for, but I m guessing its value, and so your risk, isnt that much.
 
gjgm said:
I m with Nick. In an ideal world, a blast out on the water would be beneficial, but it doesnt mean something might not go wrong a week after you own it. It might (might) show up something immediately.
If you are happy to take the risk, accept the sellers stories about use and servicing and reason for selling, go ahead. If you consider the financial risk too great (ie you need a replacement engine) you had better seek the test drive for peace of mind.
Consider though, that even if it does mean another engine, I guess you would "upgrade" to something newer, probably lighter, and more fuel efficient. I dont know what you could sell a 25year old outboard for, but I m guessing its value, and so your risk, isnt that much.
Click to expand...

I have bought and sold a number of smaller speedboats, all without seatrial. I only had a issue with one, but the issue didn't arise until second outing.... so would not have shown up on a brief sea trial anyway. I always checked and demonstrated outboard running on flushing muffs and always left running on tickover for long period to demonstrate hot running. Second hand 20+ year old 50hp-100hp engines are regularly on feebay and sell quickly and make good money... anything from £500 upwards... an engine described with running problems still sell readily & sometimes for surprising amounts.

The one warning I would have for the OP is on an elderly Suzuki... they had to be set up correctly to run right... not many people know how to do that and parts can be difficult to get (Suzuki of recent times are a totally different world from the old 2-stroke suzi's) . I would avoid. Much better to get an old Merc powered fletcher... (IMHO)
 
Well, the first boat we nearly bought all but sank on a trial (albeit on the Thames). Turned out to have been dropped on its trailer and had a broken back. The next boat we looked at we bought without a trial (don't ask) and turned out to be fine, but the engine which ran sweetly on the drive turned out to be a nightmare to start once it was warm. Or cold. Or near water.

It's your call...
 
Go for a 'sea trial' if you feel you need to. But if I was the vendor, I would ask for a £250 deposit. This would be refunded if a) you went ahead with the purchase or b) the trial showed up sufficient 'true defects' to make it reasonable to withdraw your offer. I certainly wouldn't refund it to anyone who was clearly taking the p*ss by complaining that the boat was 'too slammy for his back' (see post above). This would also be true of all boats of this type (and probably all makes) and it would be totally unfair to expect the vendor to bear the time, cost and trouble of letting the potential buyer use him to work out what sort of boat he wanted. Buyers? Most of them need shooting!
 
Thanks Guys - that's been really useful. Sounds like a trial on some stretch of water is essential. Didn't know that about Suzuki outboards. I guess if it all works fine for a sustained period at high revs, then it's a safe bet? Which engines are renowned for reliability?

Many thanks again.
 
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