lessons learned from buying a 10 year old boat

J

James Brant

New Member
in August of this year i bought a Silver Streak Challenger 16. so not an old boat at all. in great shape, from a buyer who kept good care of it.

but still, i've been on a never ending learning curve that has been steep as hell, as i've never had a power boat before. here's a fun list of what has happened.....

- kicker would barely start then wouldn't run for more than a minute. brought it in for full service on both motors. got a clean bill of health. runs now.
but does it?
- kicker still doesn't stay running. bring it back to Merc dealer. i'm told the fuel lines are deterioriated and carb is filled with crap again (it was just cleaned by the mechanic. so now it's all fixed, clean bill of health, runs now. but does it?
- kicker won't stay running, now leaking some oil. bring it back. turns out the internal fuel pump diaphram has developed cracks and now leaking. also , the priming bulb next to the choke also just split as i was pressing it.
they had to change all the fluids and clean it all out again, new diaphram. does it run? yes, it starts and runs well now!

- sitting in the house, hear the main tilt running. WTF??? run outside, nothing. ghosts. put motor back down, scratch my head, losing my marbles. later that day, hear it again. run outside and see motor rising. stop it with trim button. look it up online. it's a thing. call dealer. it's a thing. they replace trim button on motor. hasn't happened since.

fish finder not working well. maps ok. learn about transducers. mind blown. thought they were just a plastic thingy for 50 bucks, hahahaha. jokes on me. so get a P66 installed, much much better. d

Trailer......
- all straps are crap from time and sun. replace them.
- lights worked for a while. one now doesn't shop said it needs replacing.
- putting air in tire, take off chuck, rips off valve stem. original tires. jack up trailer to take off wheel, 2 of the lug bolts spin, can't remove them. take off wheel to bring it into tire place. get that fixed. buy an impact wrench to avoid that crap again.

i could go on. so what have i learned? that in a mere 10 years, a boat might have hundreds of little problems that you have no idea, unless you've owned boats before. every electrical component is suspect. all wiring, battery, everything. you don't know how it was stored, how long it sat in winter, fuel lines, fuel quality, etc.
motors could be fine, they could be on the verge of failure. you have no idea.
riggers, mounts, holders, everything is fine, or it isn't. there's no way to know.

so maybe this is why guys spend the massive premium for brand new boats and trailers. i paid a fair price for a very good boat. i also paid another 5k easily in the next couple months addressing and fixing all this stuff. i also had a custom cover made for it that is both for storage and hwy safe driving. that's very expensive, 2k.

i love it, have already had some great outings and fishing and blown my wife away with whales and wildlife. it's awesome.

but holy hell it's a super steep learning curve and your 'no maintenance' boat might just be very high maintenance in the end and cost you an arm and a leg!
 
it's amazing. i sold my wife on it by telling her it's such a low maintenance boat. after a month she was on the phone with her mother who asked about it and she said 'it's a money pit'!
 
Sounds about right - welcome to the club. I kind of enjoy fixing issues as long as I see them coming in advance and they don't leave me stranded on the water.

PS: You may want to consider that if your kicker fuel line deteriorated, the line to your main is likely in the same condition. The only reason it hasn't stalled the main is because you probably have a secondary fuel filter.

PPS: you could be doing a lot worse on a 10 year old boat. Imagine if you'd bought an old Bayliner with an inboard. 6 months in you would be replacing the risers and bellows, then you'd wake it up in the spring with no compression and a cracked block from not properly winterizing...

Once you work out the kinks that silver streak will serve you well. The great thing about these boats is how easy they are to launch, and how easy it is to keep them looking nice.
 
James Brant said:
in August of this year i bought a Silver Streak Challenger 16. so not an old boat at all. in great shape, from a buyer who kept good care of it.

but still, i've been on a never ending learning curve that has been steep as hell, as i've never had a power boat before. here's a fun list of what has happened.....

- kicker would barely start then wouldn't run for more than a minute. brought it in for full service on both motors. got a clean bill of health. runs now.
but does it?
- kicker still doesn't stay running. bring it back to Merc dealer. i'm told the fuel lines are deterioriated and carb is filled with crap again (it was just cleaned by the mechanic. so now it's all fixed, clean bill of health, runs now. but does it?
- kicker won't stay running, now leaking some oil. bring it back. turns out the internal fuel pump diaphram has developed cracks and now leaking. also , the priming bulb next to the choke also just split as i was pressing it.
they had to change all the fluids and clean it all out again, new diaphram. does it run? yes, it starts and runs well now!

- sitting in the house, hear the main tilt running. WTF??? run outside, nothing. ghosts. put motor back down, scratch my head, losing my marbles. later that day, hear it again. run outside and see motor rising. stop it with trim button. look it up online. it's a thing. call dealer. it's a thing. they replace trim button on motor. hasn't happened since.

fish finder not working well. maps ok. learn about transducers. mind blown. thought they were just a plastic thingy for 50 bucks, hahahaha. jokes on me. so get a P66 installed, much much better. d

Trailer......
- all straps are crap from time and sun. replace them.
- lights worked for a while. one now doesn't shop said it needs replacing.
- putting air in tire, take off chuck, rips off valve stem. original tires. jack up trailer to take off wheel, 2 of the lug bolts spin, can't remove them. take off wheel to bring it into tire place. get that fixed. buy an impact wrench to avoid that crap again.

i could go on. so what have i learned? that in a mere 10 years, a boat might have hundreds of little problems that you have no idea, unless you've owned boats before. every electrical component is suspect. all wiring, battery, everything. you don't know how it was stored, how long it sat in winter, fuel lines, fuel quality, etc.
motors could be fine, they could be on the verge of failure. you have no idea.
riggers, mounts, holders, everything is fine, or it isn't. there's no way to know.

so maybe this is why guys spend the massive premium for brand new boats and trailers. i paid a fair price for a very good boat. i also paid another 5k easily in the next couple months addressing and fixing all this stuff. i also had a custom cover made for it that is both for storage and hwy safe driving. that's very expensive, 2k.

i love it, have already had some great outings and fishing and blown my wife away with whales and wildlife. it's awesome.

but holy hell it's a super steep learning curve and your 'no maintenance' boat might just be very high maintenance in the end and cost you an arm and a leg!
Click to expand...
Well, you do know BOAT is short for bust out another thousand right?
 
Perfect first boat! It sure is a learning curve and with inflation, everything is more expensive to fix on a boat than it was a few years ago. Sounds like you've done well compared to many new boat owners. If you get a chance, take your wife to a boat show in the new year, she may be amazed at how much money you saved buying used!

My dads 16 foot starcraft was the poor mans version of a challenger. He rebuilt it once and then we rebuilt it a second time. Great to learn on a boat where the engines are less than 20k to replace, and most parts are less than $100. On my trailer this year I lost well over a month of fishing waiting for parts, and if it wasn't for an amazing buddy I'd be down over 7k, but was fortunate he has wicked knowledge, skills and tools so I was only down about 3k.

My brother who has a 30 footer and is amazed if basic maintenance costs him less than 1k.

I think I have walked in and out of Trotac spending less than $10, twice in 10 years, every other time I think I'm doing well if it's less than $100.

A boat nickel is $20.
 
Man, I feel you. Except probably 5x because the boat that I bought is almost 50 years old, with previous owners who weren't keen on maintenance. It has spent more time broken down, with me chasing problems, than it has working. 🤬

That being said, when I get frustrated I try to treat it as a learning experience. I am paying for an education in mechanics. Getting to fish is a bonus.

Good times!
 
brutus said:
You do this for a living you know boats are a never ending WtF not again kind of thing lol, owning a boat is one thing, keeping it running and reliable is another, 5 year old or 40 years old there is always something crapping out
Click to expand...
Yup and always somthing to learn
 
Seems like pretty standard boat stuff! My boat is 10 years old this year and I’m doing an entire refit on the electrical system just to try and limit suprised during the season.
I’m running a charter though might be a bit extreme in some cases
 
These things don't Equal: BOAT vs SALT. SALT WINS EVERY TIME. Buying a 10 year old boat that has been in SALT Environment no matter what you paid for it. Would easily be $7,000-$10,000 more than your purchase for repairs and to get the boat how you want it. As someone said your still winning and learning.
 
bryce said:
Seems like pretty standard boat stuff! My boat is 10 years old this year and I’m doing an entire refit on the electrical system just to try and limit suprised during the season.
I’m running a charter though might be a bit extreme in some cases
Click to expand...
Nope, I remember my 10 year old hewescraft had the main wire from the battery to the helm melt, the gauge from factory was no where sufficient. There is a reason transport Canada has minimum wiring requirements for commercial vessels. Thanks to you and all the other guides for putting up with rules and making your boats and all of us safer.
cby said:
These things don't Equal: BOAT vs SALT. SALT WINS EVERY TIME. Buying a 10 year old boat that has been in SALT Environment no matter what you paid for it. Would easily be $7,000-$10,000 more than your purchase for repairs and to get the boat how you want it. As someone said your still winning and learning.
Click to expand...
After 10 years I learned salt away is best used as soon as you pull your trailer and boat out of the salt. I use a salt away in a pressure tree sprayer after I launch and again when I retrieve each time on my trailer. Then on my boat and engine when I get home, sometimes this step is the next day as fish and family are the priority after unhooking the boat. https://a.co/d/aoCvIM5 This type
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Buying used boat from the US
Replies
4
Views
428
Flashman
F
seachicken
Should I have fuel shut off valves?
Replies
16
Views
959
wolf
wolf
MRWood
Looking into buying a new Kicker for my Seasport Skipper 19'
Replies
46
Views
3K
Aces
Aces
MRWood
Seasport skipper 19 podding project
Replies
256
Views
21K
MRWood
MRWood
Max123
Yamaha 9.9 engine trouble - looking for advice
Replies
45
Views
3K
Max123
Max123
Back
Top