Sell it or fix it - 1990 stratos 201 needs work

[PeakeBass]

I need some advice. I have a 1990 stratos 201 that I’ve not used in over a year and needs some work. Original motor, Johnson v6 200, has never given me any trouble and a rebuilt lower unit was put on 4 years ago and barely used. The seats are shot and the carpet needs replaced. Electronics are outdated, 2 lowrance 590Cs. The body is sound but has more beauty marks than she deserves, including a large chip on the right side where the rear corner bounced up and struck the bottom of a metal dock frame when an eager coangler hoped off with a little too much gumption. Trolling motor is a 24v 70lb minnkota.

So I come to you for advice. Do I sell the boat and make a down payment on a side by side and hope to be able to buy another down the road? What’s it worth? Am I better off to put new seats in, carpet it, repair chip and repaint or wrap then sell?

Thanks in advance.

[clayrhye]

Coming from someone that has been in the side by side game for a good long while, buying a side by side is probably the worst financial decision I have ever made, and I don't ever see myself buying another. (Current RZR Turbo 4 seater owner, we won't discuss how much I have in it.) That's all I have to say. LOL.

[Javelin389]

NADA should be able to give you an idea on pricing. As for the carpet and seats, it will help sell it, but I don't think you'd recover the money on the sale. I'd sell it as is.

[PeakeBass]

Both valid points. I’ve heard Polaris quality has fell off a little the past few years. I’m looking more towards a honda. The pioneer. More of a utility and less of a trail rig.

Anyways, I like the point about selling as is. What the best way to sell it? Facebook? Craigslist? BBC? All of the above?

[crank68]

Pics of boat would help.

[Javelin389]

I've seen a lot of good things about selling on FB. I'd avoid Craigslist though. Too scammie. Oh, and I also want a Pioneer. Been wanting a SxS for a while, and really like the Honda.

[douglaswood34]

So many things to address here. Who cares what she looks like? If it is solid and serves the purpose why get rid of her. You could get the seats recovered and replace the carpet yourself. It's relatively easy. Heck you could even recover the seats yourself if desired. The questions you need to address are do you want to do the work yourself? How much do you 'want' to use her? Is storage an issue? For about $1000 you could do the carpet and seats yourself. Tack on another $1500-2000 if you want good current electronics. Do that and you won't need to shell out substantially more at a later date should you decide to just sell her. Yes, a nice shiny new boat looks great. But put a scratch in a new one and you feel terrible. All comes down to what you want. Also will you be in a position to get a new boat when you want to start fishing again?

[douglaswood34]

Likely in this economy you won't get much and kick yourself when you want to fish again.

[Bassnailer]

If your boat runs good, and you know the motor has been taken good care of, then it's worth a lot more to you than it will be to someone else (they'll just nick pick and talk you down to a low ball amount). On the other hand, any boat you find in the future will be worth a lot more to its owner than it will be to you (boats, like everything else, always seem much more valuable to the seller than to the buyer). In other words, if you sell it for $3,000 today it will likely cost you twice as much in the future to get something comparable. I would keep it, touch of the dings, spend a couple hundred getting new seats and carpet and enjoy your boat! The couple of hundred dollars you spend now will be a lot less than the cash you will have to come up with in the future to get another. Also, updating the electronics can really bring your boat into the modern era. Boats haven't changed drastically from your 90 model as far as design and layout, and 200 HP in 1990 is the same as 200 HP in 2020, but the electronics are a whole other world. If you want to bring your boat into the 21st century, update your electronics! Good luck with whatever you decide.

[billnorman1]

I recommend a good upholsterer for the seats. Since your hull has a lot of battle scars, apparently your style of fishing attracts them. Recarpeting isn't all that difficult except for the floor. If your motor is carbureted, it may last forever, but use a lot of gas. Selling it as it is won't bring much.
I just put a new motor on my old scarred Stratos 295, I am not sure what the outcome from that is or will be, but I fish hard, and don't want to scratch up a new boat.


2020 Suzuki 200 hp

[PeakeBass]

I decided to keep her. The boat has been kept outside under a cheap cover. I brought it home and into the garage two weeks ago. I got to work removing the carpet and discovered soft spots in the floor. There were soft spots of varying sizes around every hole in the subfloor that I assume was there from the factory to pour foam into. So I cut out the center section of the floor and also plan to remove the floor under the console since it’s a little soft there. The foam was wet in these areas as well. Luckily all the stringers that I uncovered were hard. Thanks to stratos for glassing them.

A couple questions.

1) Do I need to worry about damp foam? I’m not really worried about top end speed. I plan to put down marine grade plywood with resin and glass on both sides. Just don’t want to cover up something that will create more problems. Also, the floor has been out for two weeks now and the boat kept in a garage, the foam already feels much drier. Is there a way to dry it better? Sitting it in the hot sun? Tenting it with plastic and Running a dehumidifier in it?

2) where else should I check for water damage?

Any all input is appreciated!

[Hickory Legend]

Just bought a 1991 201. And I usually have a new boat. If you spend a few grand to get it fixed up if you are happy with the boat you will be better off. Boats are bring good money now, but you are going to pay more money to replace what you have just like selling your home to upgrade. Its not going to happen without going more in dept.
If you are happy with the boat other than cosmetic issue, just fix them and upgrade what need to be refreshed and save some coin.
If you want the newest just pony up and get what you can off of Craigslist or FB market. Your better off dealing with the dead beats and making more than what a deal will give you.