Boat Buying Knowledge
By: Scott Benjamin

            Ok, you are sitting in your office when you finally realize its time to invest in a new toy, right. Will it be a new car, a motorcycle, yes that is it, a Boat! Now that you have decided, how do you go about buying one? Pre-owned or new? Lots of choices and many options!

            The age-old question, should I buy a new boat or a pre-owned boat? Let us discuss our advantages and disadvantages. First with a new boat, you have the expensive or top dollar price tag but have a warranty involved. With the pre-owned and the way gas prices are you can really find good deals right now but most of the time you will not get a transferable warranty. Ok now what? Get together a budget! Yes, I said a budget. On most new boats, you will have to take seven to twelve year loans meaning you had better be in for the long haul and the rising gas prices in the years to come. Yet with a pre-owned boat, you can get a loan for as little as three years, although most are five to seven year loans.

            Next, throw in the word maintenance. Your new boat has a warranty, regular scheduled maintenance plan and most likely wont break down. Yet your pre-owned boat needs the same maintenance but you better put back some money incase of a dreaded breakdown due to the previous owners use or your soon to be use! Of course, you could get lucky and it last the rest of your boating days, right. Good luck with that!

            Now let us pretend you already know your buying a new boat. What do you look for? One word, Warranty! The longer the warranty the better. You might have to pay a little more for the extended warranty but if you plan on having this boat for your kids when they get out of high school its worth it! Second would be gas consumption. With todays gas prices you can use up a lot of gas depending on the size of your boat and engine. Ask the person who drives the $250,000 speed boat what he can look to spend on a 5-minute boat trip at top speed. Well over 10 dollars a minute and that is being conservative! Third, efficiency. If you plan to stay out all night you may consider a cuddy cabin but on the other hand why have a cuddy cabin if you plan on only day use. The same goes for all the bells and whistles, why get them if you will not be using them.

            Now on the other hand, let us pretend we decided on the pre-owned boat. Number one and most important. Pay close attention to the sellers’ vehicle and or house if you can. If they take care of those items chances are they did the same with your soon to be boat! Ask for maintenance records, they can tell you a lot. Also, check the NADA book or NADA online to see if you are getting a good deal. Another good thing to check on is the availability of parts for you are soon to be boat. I purchase a nice bass boat a couple of years ago, got a great deal on it. Come to find out the company that produced the motor discontinued all but four parts on the motor. I never did find a new part! Therefore, do your homework believe me it pays off! Finally yet importantly, take it for a trip. Not a ride, a trip. Tell the owner you would like to go out with them on the boat for at least a half an hour. (Would recommend chipping in on gas) If you take it out for at least a half an hour you can let the motor get up to proper operating temperature to see if there are any potential problems and you can have plenty of time to mess with all the switches.

            Be patient when buying your new or pre-owned boat. Consider all your options. Educate yourself through the many websites on the World Wide Web. If you employ these buying tips on your next boat, I am sure you will not only have time to enjoy your boat but satisfaction guaranteed!