Buying a boat, question

[FLEX ROD]

Hi folks, still looking for a used boat and I found this:

2000 Smokercraft 16' with 115 evenrude, ipilot, 2 Lowrance fish finders, 2 walkers downriggers , new seats and trailer. The motor is newer 2006 , he is asking $16,000 it's not exactly what I am looking for but I can make it work. I appreciate any feedback is appreciated as I have doubts about spending $16k on a 20 year old boat. Going to see it tomorrow so any and all comments would be greatly appreciated. 

FLEX

[Terry]

By todays prices, it seems about right

i paid just less then that for a year newer Lund with a 90hp and a 9.9 kicker 

no downrigger and no good fishfinder or electric trolling motor 

[HTHM]

Don't buy without a lake test. Only way to find out if it leaks or not. I had a smokercraft, it was a good layout and good handling boat, but it was suitable for straining pasta. That should do about 48 MPH

[FLEX ROD]

Thank you for the feedback,  and for sure a test drive will happen. 

FLEX

[Dara]

16' with a 115?

 

[FLEX ROD]

You raise a very interesting point Dara, a little bit of a over kill, I am hoping that it's a 18'. 

Will know better when I see it tomorrow. 

[glen]

Price is a little high.   Should be more boats to look at.  

[FLEX ROD]

How much do you think it should be?

[Dara]

11 hours ago, FLEX ROD said:

How much do you think it should be?

My 16' side console with 60 Yamaha was 16k brand new in 2010.

I see the same unit only a 2000 for sale for 16k now so who knows the right price.

[glen]

This one ain’t a Yamaha.  
Keep looking. 

[FLEX ROD]

Great feedback,  as I said I will see it tomorrow and see how I feel about it first off, if I don't have the right feel I will walk if it has potential then I will take it out and see how it goes from there.

Many thanks for the great feedback, if I have to wait then I'll look again in the fall. 

FLEX

[AKRISONER]

i keep a very close eye on the boat market Flex.

Treat the motor and hull as two separate things. 

His pricing is probably in the correct ballpark for a quality boat if it is indeed an 06 115hp. You cant go by the "well i paid 22k for a boat in 2010" logic. The pricing has gone completely out of whack because of covid. A perfect example, Imagine you could buy a brand new 20 foot glass boat, with a trolling motor, electronics and a 200 horsepower engine on it for $27,000...youd buy it right now without question, well in the year 2006 you could. Thats how out of whack pricing is. My boat is literally selling right now for more than the new retail price from 2006.

2 things you 1000% need to do before buying the boat,

1. Take it for a test drive, a 115 on a 16 foot aluminum the thing should be powerful as all hell, in fact is that even a legal amount of power for that boat? Im a bit concerned that the motor is actually rated for more power than the hull is legally allowed to have. As such you wont be able to get insurance. Check the stamp. During your test drive keep an eye on the bilge area. Is the boat filling with water? Your hull may have a blown rivet.

2. Walk away immediately if the seller is not open to you compression testing the motor (google how to do this its very straight forward) and second of all, get him to start the motor from cold. Lots of motors will run once they've been got running.

Finally, you want my personal opinion? My best friend ditched their 04 smoker craft 2 years ago because the thing blew its rivets. That boat was the worst riding boat I have ever ridden in. Second of all, a 15 year old evinrude...There arent literal memes all over the internet about rolling the dice buying used evinrudes without reason. We also just had another board member post an entire thread about the fact that he could not get parts to fix the hydraulics on his 15? year old evinrude. Finally Evinrude shut down for a reason...

Im sure this post is going to absolutely bug the heck out of someone here thats driving a smoker with a rude on it, so be it. As i said to the guy with the evinrude, and trust me on this one having bought two used boats in the past 5 years, boats and specifically 15-20 year old used boats are a money pit and a total PITA, at minimum if things are going to go wrong, you at least want to be able to get parts to fix the problems. Knock on wood, at minimum you hope that your used motor you buy wont blow any time soon, the rest is just maintenance.

[Fisherman]

What he said, especially on the Evinrude, parts may become a problem with no fix in the future.  I would not put that one on my list. 

[FLEX ROD]

This is why I love this board, fantastic info from great people.

AKRISONER, fantastic feedback many thanks you have filled in a lot of points that I never would have thought  about.

I think that both of these last 2 posts have given me anough info to make my original gut feeling justified and go back to looking for a  ski / fish boat so the whole family will get enjoyment from it, even though I will be the one using it about 90%.

Many thanks, 

 

FLEX