Are you interested in buying a used boat? Are you wondering what to expect when you do? L&M Marine and Day Break Marina receive many questions about used boats on a regular basis and what the process is like. This article will thoroughly explain the process of buying a used boat and what to look for when you do. Here’s how to buy a used boat and what to expect based on our 30+ years of experience.

Determine Your Budget + Type of Desired Boat

The very first thing to determine when purchasing a used boat is your maximum budget. Once you’ve established that and the type of boat you want, then you can open your mind to anything within that price range. It’s easy to get off track when you only pay attention to price versus focusing on the type of boat you’d like to buy.

Your next step is to pay attention to the used boat’s age and engine hours, we recommend looking for used boats that are under 10 years old with less than 500 hours logged. This age and amount of hours logged should ensure the boat is in good condition and minimize the amount of problems you come across in the future. You may find a boat that’s older than 10 years and it may be a good fit depending on the condition, Just keep in mind boats become harder to finance once they hit the 10-year mark. 

Inspect the Entire Boat: Exterior, Interior, Electronics + Motor

You should physically walk around the entirety of the boat and inspect the whole thing by doing things such as:

• Open the hatches

• Look inside the bilge compartment

• Check out the hull

• Make sure all of the electrical components work

• Ask the last time their boat was serviced

Ask: ‘Has the Boat Had Any Issues?’

You should ask the owner or dealership if there have been any issues with the boat to get a better understanding and overall knowledge of the boat. If you’re not familiar with boats and maybe it’s your first time with you, we recommend bringing someone with you who does. This is especially important for older boats (boats older than 3-4 years old).

For example, if you’re looking at a used boat and the previous owner knocked a barge with the lower unit and the insurance replaced it two years ago - you’d want to know that. It’s vital to get a good understanding and synopsis of the boat.

What to Look For: Top Five Most Important Things to Inspect When Purchasing a Used Boat

1. Overall Condition of the Boat: Exterior

• Take a good look at the exterior to determine if it’s in great, fair, or poor shape. Inspect the boat for things like spider cracks or chips in the gel coat, take a look to see if the keel of the boat is scraped or chipped, look around the transom for cracks, and take off the cowling to get a good look at the engine.

2. Does Everything Work?: Electronics

   • Be sure to ask the owner or dealership know if everything works. Get in the boat and start flipping switches and testing things out. The last thing you want to do after you buy a boat is start working on it. Although, this is all dependent on your experience with boats and how you are to fix it up yourself.

3. Engine Hours + Maintenance Records

   • The next thing most important thing to inquire about is if the engine has less than 500 hours and check the oil. You can tell a lot about the condition of the engine based on the oil - if it’s super dark and thick, that’s a sign the boat is in need of an oil change and the engine may have not been well maintained. You should also get a copy of all of the maintenance records and review them before making a decision.

4. Condition of the Trailer 

   • Your next step is to check the condition of the trailer, be sure to look for things like rust and bald tires. It’s also necessary to make sure your vehicle has the towing capacity to tow the trailer. The trailer has to be just as dependable as the boat and it is your chariot to the water.

5. Take the Boat Out on a Sea Trial

   •  Lastly, we recommend putting your potential new purchase in the water and running it. Anytime you buy a preowned boat you should always make a point to get do a Sea Trial and see how it performs. Here at L&M Marine and Day Break Marina, the majority of our customers ask to run our preowned inventory before buying, and we’re happy to do it as we’d do the same thing. 

Most customers want to know why the previous owner has decided to sell it and it varies. Sometimes people want to why the boat is being sold, which may be for a variety of reasons: life changes, the boat is too big or too small, or they don’t use it enough. 

For example, we recently had a customer who consigned their pontoon boat, a 2017 Avalon with only 18 hours on it. The boat is in pristine condition and barely has any hours logged on the motor and it’s six years old. This is a prime example of how the condition of used boats varies by boat.

What Happens When We Receive a Used Boat

L&M Marine and Day Break Marine work with new boats, used boats, and consigned boats. Here’s what our process looks like when we receive a used boat: 

Step One: Do an Evaluation 

Our first step when we receive a used boat is to do an evaluation and see:

• What works

• What doesn’t work

• Record the engine hours logged

• Do a compression test

• Check fluid levels

• Make note of the overall condition of the boat as well as the trailer

Our evaluation is all on record, which is made available to customers and we also give our service recommendations. 

Step 2: List It

We use NADA, JD Power, and Boat Trader comparables to determine the trade value or listing price for boats on consignment. When it comes to consignment, we take your used boat and we will sell it for you and charge a nominal fee. 

The fee is either 10% of the overall selling price or $2,500 depending on the price.

• If the boat is under $25,000 we’ll charge you the $2,500, if the boat is over $25,000, we’ll charge 10%. 

• The process differs depending on whether the boat is paid off or not. It’s a good option for those who aren’t interested in trading.

Step 3: Put the Boat on the Water

When a customer is interested in a used boat, we do a walkthrough and provide an evaluation sheet, turn everything on, and if the customer wants to put the boat on the water, we’ll go do a Sea Trial. We typically take our customers for a 30-40 minute boat ride to make sure all the buttons are pushed, everything is working and the boat is in the condition you'd like. 

Summary

In summary, when you’re purchasing a used boat it’s important to determine your budget and the type of boat you want. From there, you can begin your search for boats under 10 years old with less than 500 hours logged. 

Once you find a used boat you’re interested in, you:

• Inspect the overall condition of the boat

• Make sure everything works

• Take notice of the engine hours logged and maintenance records, and ask if there have been any issues

• Inspect the condition of the trailer and make sure you have a vehicle with the appropriate towing capacity

• Take the boat out on a sea trial and see how it performs

There are advantages to purchasing from a dealership including knowing the boat went through of process of inspection, evaluation reports, and financing is made easily available. Contact us today at either location if you’re interested in trade, consignment, or purchasing a used or new boat: L&M Marine (251-937-1380) Day Break Marina (850-434-9022) and book your sea trial here.