why?

[Snowking]

my dads been looking for a boat for a while now and we found one on the local craigs list so we went out to lindstrom to look at it and the guy wouldnt put it in the water. so we talked to him and hes some motor guru and tells us how he rebuilt the motor and the boat hasnt been in the water for 10 years. so i ask if we can take it out on the water thinking no problem seeing as he lives on s. center. he flat out says "no not gonna beable to do that".. so what is this guy hiding? why would you try to sell a boat if your not going to let it go for a test ride? thanks for letting me vent

[zamboni]

Yeah he has to be hiding something. He will probably never sell it.

Who would buy a car without test driving it? Noone

[Sandmannd]

Walk away from that deal. If they don't let you try it out they are hiding something and you don't want anything to do with it. Even if there was nothing wrong, I wouldn't give my money to the jerk.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

So he lives on a lake and you can't try it out?? Not good

[TurnUpTheFishing]

motor guru, rebuilt the motor, hasnt been used in 10yrs, no test. It doesnt add up...

[Jethro80]

That has scam written all over. Steer clear

[Snowking]

we did walk away from it. pretty sad 'cuz the old man wanted it really bad.

[dustin85]

Was the registration good? I have sold cars to people that had expired tags, and I would not them take it on the road until it was licensed....just a thought.

Dustin

[Sandmannd]

That is a good point Dustin, if the registration on the boat is not current that could have had something to do with it. Guess we all jump to the worse case right away but it coulda been as simple as that.

I just know from experience that buying a boat without the owner wanting you to drive it bit me in the butt once.

[Sandmannd]

Maybe call him and tell him that if he wouldn't let you drive it because of expired Reg to go register it. If it tests out fine and you want it, you will reimburse him. That should weed out if he's lieing about it or not.

[riverrat56]

If that was the case why would he not say that? You'll find out pretty quick if it needs to be registered anyways.

[Hookey]

I guess I would have asked to run it in the driveway on a hose if it is the motor you are worried about. I have purchased and sold four boats and have never gone or given a ride prior to the papers being signed. I do not know of many boat dealers that allow test drives on used equipment.

It kind of sounds like you question his credibility, he probably senses that and figures why bother as someone else will buy it anyways. He could be honest or he could be dishonest you will never know.

[wplatehunter]

My last boat I asked the guy if I could take it for a test run, and he only wanted the boat run in the driveway. I had the boat for over four years and never had a problem. The boat I own now the guy drove me to the lake to drive it.

[DTro]

Sounds like a “failure to communicate”.

If the guys wants to sell the boat and knows by talking with you that a sale is dependent on a test drive, then he is crazy not to take you out for a ride.

It seems like a piece of the puzzle is still missing. It’s odd that he would just plain say no without some sort of reason.

[EBass]

Sounds like he's hiding something to me from what was explained. The used boat I bought I test drove. The guy was pretty cool though and knew it would seal the deal. Which it did.

[jigginjim]

At least have him start the motor. Bring a set of motor muffs, if he will not do that, talk him straight. NO DEAL.

[pinkfloyd4ever]

I'm with the walk away from it dept.

[Deitz Dittrich]

boy ohh boy... sad situation.. I dont think the guy wants to sell it that bad if he will not run it. I myself would not buy a boat before a test drive.. period!

[upnorth]

If it has not been used in 10 years, he may be afraid it won't run. Or maybe it won't run and he knows it. Probably want to sell it as is too.

[Walleye Guy]

Steer clear. The guys is hiding something.

[Jim Uran]

Yep.. don't do it. Don't even call him back. If he really wanted to sell it he'd let you run it.

[wayne123]

From the sound of it I would stay away from that boat. Keep in mind if the boat has not been out in 10 years all the guy can tell you is how it worked 10 years ago. He really cannot comment on how it will work if you buy it.

Rebuilds in general - I generally stay away from rebuilds. I might consider one if the person had receipts from a reputable repair place.

Test drives in general - If I was selling I would agree on a test drive if we agreed on a price and that the buyer would purchase the boat provided the test drive did not reveal any issues. I would hate to invest the time in a test drive only to find that the person wants to make me a low ball offer.

[THEDOGG]

I'm a bit of a motor guru myself and the only reason that guy would say no is because that motor has something wrong or he would have wanted to show off his nice rebuilt motor. RUN AWAY there are alot of boats and motors out there and the open water season is too short to be fixing all summer when you should be fishing.

[herefish101]

i, agree, if he had rebuilt the motor and it worked good he would be full willing to show off his handy work. sounds like junk.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Who would buy a car without test driving it? Noone

ME! I bought my Saturn without a test drive!

I also bought my boat from a fellow FMer without putting it in the water. He did put the water muffs on the motor and started it for me.

[mnflyfisherman]

While I see you're not making this purchase, I'll put this out there for the information of all...

Watch out for that--a friend of mine got burned in a similar deal--he wanted this old large glass inboard boat and he didn't have a vehicle to tow it. So naturally he bought it without taking it to water first.

Once we got it in the water after trailering it with my truck and tooled around with it for a while at speed it became apparent that there was water entering the boat and it was traced to a cracked cooling water jacket in the outside wall of the engine block. After inspection it was noticably patched with some block sealer.

He wasn't happy.

--mnflyfisherman

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