How old is too old for 1st timer? 2001 Tracker

[jdwo2212]

Nada on that boat is from 2500 to 3000 dollars. 7800 is more than new.

Which boat?

[Tarheel14]

FWIW. Force motors were cheap mercury engines. It'll say force on the cowling. Tracker had several different engines. Silver cowling will be a mariner or a "tracker" by mercury marine. Normal mercury will be black cowl with red letters for freshwater and blue letters for salt. Check out the wooden decks and transom in any tracker.
Do Not Buy a Force engine under any circumstances.

[bockscar]

FWIW. Force motors were cheap mercury engines. It'll say force on the cowling. Tracker had several different engines. Silver cowling will be a mariner or a "tracker" by mercury marine. Normal mercury will be black cowl with red letters for freshwater and blue letters for salt. Check out the wooden decks and transom in any tracker.
Do Not Buy a Force engine under any circumstances.

Force nowhere to be found on the motor in the pics so thats prolly good.




Here is the NADA info:




Suggested

List Price Low

Retail Average

Retail

Base Price $7,995 $2,280 $2,600

Options: (add)

Outboard Engine: 35 - 50 HP (change) $585 $585

TOTAL PRICE: $7,995 $2,865 $3,185







Dude told me 2001 on the phone....just checked craigslist again and dude is listing it as 2002. He kinda seemed sketchy TBH. I just had a friend text him to offer $4k to see if he would bite.




If he meets me at the lake and my mechanic says all is good.....i think I would give him $4k......or does that blue book value mean $3185 is "max" value for it used?

[Tarheel14]

The serial number of the boat is located on the right rear corner of the hull. Last 2 digits are the year. 01 would be 2001, 99 would be 1999 etc. Motor Vin is usually located on the right side of the engine if you are standing at the back of the boat. Its usually a white sticker. I'd keep looking. Look at Lots of boats before you buy. This is something that you will keep and want to enjoy for a while. There is no reason to rush.

[Tarheel14]

4k sounds more reasonable. No way I'd pay almost 8k for a 2001 tracker. I bought my boat about 4 years ago. Paid 8k for it. 99 Champion 187 Elite 98 175EFI merc. Original Owner. Keep looking.

[Tarheel14]

When pricing a boat that you are going to purchase. DO NOT add any options to the price. What size motor does this boat have? If its in this size range then this guy is smoking crack. Its only worth $2500 if hes lucky. I wouldnt even offer him 4k.
You never ever offer the "list price". You pay average retail price at the most. Suggested list price is a joke.
Values

Print

	Suggested List Price	Low Retail	Average Retail
Base Price	$7,995	$2,280	$2,600
Options: (add)
Outboard Engine: 35 - 50 HP (change)		$585	$585
Trailer: (change)
2001 Single 17 Feet		$340	$380
TOTAL PRICE:	$7,995	$3,205	$3,565

[bockscar]

Hell yea! Thanks guys! I thought I was lowballing him! LOL

But that makes perfect sense....i imagine a boat is almost if not worse when it comes to how quickly things depreciate! 15k brand new today from Bass Pro Shops.....15 years later and it only depreciated $500/year? with what looks like no upgrades....average retail seems a lot better! Glad I stopped in here....if not I wouldve used the full retail as my starting point!

His motor does look pretty clean....but to give you an idea on its age/condition....it has an Eagle brand fishfinder, and Im pretty sure Lowrance bought them out a while ago! lol I have a hummingbird 698Ci I can use right now, but would likely need 1 more graph, and a new trolling motor cuz its a super old looking motor guide at minimum I think.

Thanks bros!

[bockscar]

Wow....going over the boats I considered as real contenders.....they all list at "Full Retail"! I thought that was cool since that was what I thought base should be on a for sale by owner boat in good condition....but "Average retail" is what a running boat in decent condition for sale is worth. Full retail is basically an old boat that still coming off the showroom floor, from my understanding according to NADA...MSRP. All/most of the boats are all what I would describe as "average" condition since they all had older trolling motors, most OLD looking motor guides, and old b/w fishfinders.

I have a feeling I am gonna be making LOTS of offers on different boats until I run into a seller who is reasonable. Im sticking to my guns! Ill pay and upgrade....or max my budget if someone has a newer/upgraded boat and are reasonable people.

[Tarheel14]

Yup. Never pay higher than average retail. Keep looking. The right boat will come along

[underestimated]

I sell boats as a hobby. Last year, I sold a 2013 with a 2007 4 stroke 60 for $8,000. Also sold an 04 175 with a 50 2 stroke for $5,000. Keep in mind, i made money off these boats. So, keep looking, you'll find a good deal.

[bockscar]

I sell boats as a hobby. Last year, I sold a 2013 with a 2007 4 stroke 60 for $8,000. Also sold an 04 175 with a 50 2 stroke for $5,000. Keep in mind, i made money off these boats. So, keep looking, you'll find a good deal.

Dude...this is great! I was trying to look on ebay for past sales but I suck at searching I guess and couldnt get what I was looking for! This is great to hear and a good baseline....if you have any other extra info on the going rate for boats and the prices you know they went for. I know people tend to fib a bit when it comes to fishing....i figure it may end up like that with boats too since people usually sell to recoup cost on next boat and wanna make it seems like they got top dollar lol

At least im not being unreasonable. Im sticking to my guns. I offered some guy $4k for the 2001 with a 50....and I thought that was high for the year. Thanks again for your post....i need to stay patient because it looks like I will find the right deal with patience. Actually just came across this and it seemed reasonable....see if anyone beats here beats me to it, looks good and with the right offer may work out...

https://showlow.craigslist.org/boa/6123703737.html

[johnsobo]

Hang in there for the right boat. I sold an 05 pro team 175 with a 50 HP Merc for 4800 two years ago. Boat was sweet but I wanted to go glass

[underestimated]

That's a pretty good price. If you were closer, I would help you out. Good luck.

[Crankb8]

I didn't see anyone mention the Force / Mercury or Force / Chrysler issue, so I will offer my 2 cents. Years ago Chrysler made a boat motor in Wisconsin and was a contender in it's day. When things went south for them, they sold out to Bayliner which in turn branded the motor Force. Force motors were not known to be very good. Cheap, yes, easy to work on, yes, but not very reliable. Brunswick then bought out Bayliner and the Force motors then became a Mercury product. Mercury decided to spruce them up and improve them with Mercury gear cases/props, CD ignition systems, etc., and market them as 2nd tier engines. I understand, they were actually pretty good, but not really hot performers and with a second tier "cheapout" image for the owners. The situation spooked Yamaha and OMC enough that they downgraded their own lines, removing oil injection and other items, so they too, would have a second tier line. OMC called them the "Special" engines, with odd ball HP numbers to set them apart. Yamaha had a designation for theirs also. As clean technology became mandated, this engine had to die, so Mercury dumped it in favor of putting Merc engines on Bayliners, and all their other brands also. I think it only took a couple years for Merc to dissolve the Force motor and made them disappear.

[bockscar]

I didn't see anyone mention the Force / Mercury or Force / Chrysler issue, so I will offer my 2 cents. Years ago Chrysler made a boat motor in Wisconsin and was a contender in it's day. When things went south for them, they sold out to Bayliner which in turn branded the motor Force. Force motors were not known to be very good. Cheap, yes, easy to work on, yes, but not very reliable. Brunswick then bought out Bayliner and the Force motors then became a Mercury product. Mercury decided to spruce them up and improve them with Mercury gear cases/props, CD ignition systems, etc., and market them as 2nd tier engines. I understand, they were actually pretty good, but not really hot performers and with a second tier "cheapout" image for the owners. The situation spooked Yamaha and OMC enough that they downgraded their own lines, removing oil injection and other items, so they too, would have a second tier line. OMC called them the "Special" engines, with odd ball HP numbers to set them apart. Yamaha had a designation for theirs also. As clean technology became mandated, this engine had to die, so Mercury dumped it in favor of putting Merc engines on Bayliners, and all their other brands also. I think it only took a couple years for Merc to dissolve the Force motor and made them disappear.

Good info! Even though you didnt call them garbage....that history and info makes me think I should shy away from any force motors since im a first timer.

OK GUYS.....lol.....so I guess Im not as sure about EXACTLY what I wanted as I thought.

I have still been out searching and continued to surf craigslist. Well....pretty much all the boats I see for sale do not have upgraded fishfinder and/or trolling motors, even the nice ones that are in good shape. A color fishfinder has been the extent of how most have been described, if even that. Most look like the small 3.5 inch b/w style ones....and that makes sense since im looking pre 2010 when tech was way further behind than it is now.

Well, I have a hummingbird 698ci and that has side imaging on my kayak. Not the best, but it can get the job done....and is kinda my minimum of what I want now that ive used side imaging. I dont want a totally tricked out boat at all...but I do want those perks that come with a bass boat, and nice graphs is one of them. I figure I can use my 698ci on the bow...and I wanna fork out the cash for a helix 9 w/megaimaging cuz that megaimaging is so next level....feeling like seal team 6 while fishing from the videos I have seen! lol

Well....that got me thinking. This isnt a 10+ year keeper boat for me, and im hoping that I can use it for 3-5 years before I can comfortably upgrade to fiberglass w/150+hp motor....financially, as well as experience wise since fiberglass boats can hit 60mph+ and things get a bit more complicated, even in the care/maintenance (from my understanding). SO.....what do you all think about going older, 2000-2005 and just making sure the hull, deck, and motor are sound and in good working order; while paying less than $4000, and closer to $3000 hopefully.....and then spending maybe an extra $2000 for epic fishfinder and good midrange 24v minnkota?

What do you all think of the new plan? Or should I stick to my original plan better? I want megaimaging almost as much as I want a boat! Hummingbird's marketing got to me! lol

[jdwo2212]

Well i say do what you're comfortable with. Its all gonna depend on what boats are for sale and what you find. I suggest just keeping an open mind. I wanted a 2008 or newer boat/motor when i was shopping last year in the 19-21ft range. Was trying to stay around 18k or less. It wasnt easy. But a beautiful tr21 triton popped up on CL one day and was like wow!!! Had a 250hpdi (another story) and boat was in great shape with hds9's. I said well....im gonna check it out. Ended up being a 2003 tr21 bmc. Great trailer, tires,etc. I thought long and hard bout it since it was older than i wanted but already had the electronics upgrades i woulda paid 3k for. I ended up paying 14.5k after some tough negotiating. Point is it was a little older but was what i wanted mainly in options and colors and shape and most importantly BUDGET. So keep looking and something will come along. I wasnt shopping hard but was actively looking for about a year.

[Bass AHolic]

always do a actual lake test regardless, just on water hose at sellers house yea motor will run. but when on lake bog down and no WOT full speed run.. I know from experience
here is why enclosed:
my wife 6 yrs ago bought a small fishing boat, $850.00 Boat,Trailer ,Motor and 1 TM ...while I was on the Road, guy did a hose run at his home, but no lake test. She had the guy deliver it.. and waited Till I got home , to take to lake .. It didn't run over idle speed going WOT on lake.. motor ran just no speed .. well after about a $1.200.00 expenditure at Dealer . got it running a little better. even then It wouldn't run a true WOT speed. matter of fact the 2 hand held 12v TM up front and one on stern for a fixed pusher,,( look close and see both TM) when running together was faster than the 40HP Gas Burner.. by it self.. figured it was worn out compresson etc.. we left it as is after the shop tune up. pump repair. since was using it in shallow areas and back water coves and a small lake she liked to camp & fish at ..any way.. That my Bass Boat didn't need to be in... She kept it 2 yrs then Sold it. Now sorta wished kept it and eventually put a new 40 HP on . But $4.920.00 for a new 40 HP back then didn't seem feasible cost. Considering wasn't Home much to use the grand total of 3 Boats and MH at that time. So you have some thinking to do

[STCL01]

Whatever you get make sure that you get a clear title to boat and engine with it. Trailers under 4000# do not need to be titled in Texas, so the registration works for the trailer. However, no title on boat and engine no spendum your money.

[Sports1]

Since you are in Texas here is a good site to check out used boats to buy.

http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/...1/Boats_4_Sale

[underestimated]

Whatever you get make sure that you get a clear title to boat and engine with it. Trailers under 4000# do not need to be titled in Texas, so the registration works for the trailer. However, no title on boat and engine no spendum your money.

Some states don't require titles. I live in Alabama and worked at a boat dealership. We sold a lot of boats to tittle states without titles. There is paper work to do that makes it clear to sell to your state.