Newbie to yamahas thoughts on this potential deal?

[Jayme]

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Not sure if I want a 21 ft but looks nice and well kept. Anyone have thoughts on buying a boat without seeing it and how to do tranfer of funds etc? I'll have it delivered if I do buy it... Experiences?

 

[haknslash]

I would never buy a boat without seeing it in person and doing a demo.

 

[BigAbe75]

When I bought my 210, my wife and I went and sat in it but we didn’t do a water test. ‘Course it was someone from the forum, and we had seen it in action a couple months previously at the Shelbyville gathering... though we didn’t realize it at the time.

We may have sat in @RampRage ’s driveway in his boat for an hour before we told him we’d take it.

At the sale, I brought a cashiers check and a nice lady at his bank helped us make sure all the right things were signed and she notarized, I think.

I would feel better about buying from an active member here sight unseen, as you can get some idea of the things they post about and an inkling of their level of attention to detail.

 

[Jayme]

I would never buy a boat without seeing it in person and doing a demo.

Problem is I cant find anything used within 400 miles...

 

[haknslash]

Problem is I cant find anything used within 400 miles...

Hmm that's unfortunate and would be an issue. If that's the case I would have the seller take a ton of videos and pics for me and it would probably seem like an annoyance to him/her but is what it is. I know when I was selling mine I had a guy interested last season and he was several states away. I took a bunch of pics and some vids for him. We were going to do a sale but it ended up not working out due to some unfortunate mishaps along the way. If possible have them do a water test and mention your name so you know the video is recent/for you and that they go over anything you have questions about. Sometimes this can be done on the water with a FaceTime call and such but nothing beats seeing the boat in person and crawling all over it. If I found a boat far away I really liked I would ask the seller to do these videos and pictures and if they're motivated seller they will gladly do it for you, if you like what you see enough you could take a cheap flight to maybe go look at it and to seal the deal. Cheap insurance vs taking a gamble sight unseen. Just my .02

 

[BigAbe75]

Btw, some members here have been willing to go look at a boat for folks if it’s convenient, as well. That could be an option.

 

[haknslash]

Yes check out the user map https://jetboaters.net/dbtech-membermap/. There might be someone who is active on the forums that also lives in the area of the boat. Good idea @BigAbe75

 

[PJ73]

Btw, some members here have been willing to go look at a boat for folks if it’s convenient, as well. That could be an option.

He's right. If you are unable to inspect it in person. I would suggest either having the boat delivered to a dealer/mechanic to do an inspection and run to ensure everything is "acceptable" to what you're looking for. Or, Like BigAbe said, if there is a member near a boat you're looking at, they might be able to take a look, facetime you while there and check it over.

 

[Rumbo]

I’ve never bought a boat sight unseen but have bought vehicles sight unseen. I have the seller take the vehicles to a mechanic of my choice and I pay for the pre-purchase inspection. I have the mechanic send me pictures of everything and ask them to inspect every aspect of the vehicle that they can. This has worked very well for for with these types of purchases I’ve made.

As for the payment aspect, some title companies will act as a transaction broker for purchases like this. They will exchange payments between the buyer and seller just as they do with a home purchase for example. You can also ask a dealer in the sellers area if they will broker the sale for you. Obviously, both of these services will cost money but may be good insurance to make sure that you don’t get ripped off.

 

[Ancient canoe]

If there is no used market within 400 miles, there is a good chance that mechanics in the area may not be familiar with jetboats. Just to throw another obstacle at you. If you do go the mechanic inspection route make sure to vet them as well.

 

[Rumbo]

If there is no used market within 400 miles, there is a good chance that mechanics in the area may not be familiar with jetboats. Just to throw another obstacle at you. If you do go the mechanic inspection route make sure to vet them as well.

He said there is no used market within 400 miles of him. Hopefully there are quality mechanics where the seller is that can conduct the inspection.

Yes, I should have said that, definitely vet the mechanic you choose and make sure you trust them. A Yamaha dealer near the seller would be great.

 

[AlphaKap]

She has YES warranty so that's good. See if she has service records.

You could have it inspected by Park Marine which is the local dealer.

Nice if the equipment is part of the deal.

 

[Speedling]

Some seeming legit stuff out there is scam as well. Don't forward money to anything until you check here! I was almost scammed into sending money to a law firm or something but it seemed slightly off and the people here set straight quick.

 

[AlphaKap]

Depending on where she is, I can take a look to verify it's legit and do a high level visual inspection. I'm not a mechanic so can only speak to what I see.

 

[Ancient canoe]

He said there is no used market within 400 miles of him. Hopefully there are quality mechanics where the seller is that can conduct the inspection.

Yes, I should have said that, definitely vet the mechanic you choose and make sure you trust them. A Yamaha dealer near the seller would be great.

Yes. I read it wrong.

 

[Banditgrrr]

I live in Vegas and took a red eye to Pittsburgh to see the boat I wanted. Found a last minute ticket on Spirit Airlines for $92 round trip. I already had it worked out on U-Ship and had the shipper (who was local to Pittsburgh) meet me at the sellers house 30 min after I arrived. I guaranteed him $200 if I backed out of the deal for any reason. I met the seller, viewed the boat, paid and signed docs, had the shipper show up and headed back to the airport. That was on a Tuesday and my boat was delivered to Vegas on Saturday morning. Mine was a little easier as I decided to carry cash and the seller had the title in hand. It was a lot of up front work but it was too good of a deal to pass up. If there's something out there that you REALLY want, look for last minute cheap flights. Spirit, Frontier, Sun Country, etc. It might be worth the small investment.

One last note, I also considered renting a one way truck or SUV from a car rental place. If everything worked out, I was thinking about towing it back on my own. If you decide to do something like this, take a receiver with you or buy one locally and make sure you do not tell the rental car agency that you're towing a boat home!

 

[AJack]

I bought a boat some 15-16 years ago without demoing it, took it in the water and the stern drive had a hole. Lesson learned, never buy without a test drive.

 

[OCMD]

I bought both my Yamahas off the old forum. Sight unseen; had 'em delievered from North Carolina to Maryland. No water test no anything. But both owners were long time valued contributors to the forum, so I didn't believe I was taking any chances. Both deals worked out fine.

 

[ACRDSPORT14]

speaking of scam's. without too much detail. I bought a stolen item on CL, unknown to me, paid him cash, felony amount of money if convicted. Police gave him ultimatum to pay me back in 5 days, which he did. Very lucky and won't be buying anything on cl for a long time. I have had over 50-75 transactions over CL too.

 

[Wisefam22]

I cant see the link... I dont mind making a trip with @AlphaKap. No mechanic either but tinkered a bunch on everything I've owned