Buying Used Glass Boat - Your opinions appreciated

Greetings,

First post. I am in the market for a bass boat. Just moved back to MN from CA after 20 years. Unfortunatly, I am stuck in the only MN county with no real lakes!

Before that I grew up on Cooks Bay on the west end of lake Minnetonka. First boat was 'Kit Kat' a small 5' boat my dad made with rudder, keel, and sail. Still remember thos brass screw heads backing their way out on the inside bottom. Ouch! First motor was a rebuilt 2 1/5 hp knoted rop arm start. Raced sail boats in the UMYC. Loved my 14' 15hp rude! At 17 I bought a Criss Craft 19'. First Glass boat CC made. Any way...its been years.

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http://minneapolis.craigslist.....html 1994 Bass Boat Stratos 264 DC 16.8 ft 140hp Evinrude - $6500 Stainless prop,Front and rear livewells W/Timers,Evinrude bow mount trolling motor,two locators, Lowrance X22, Hummingbird 3D Wide Vision W/Speed & Surface Temp,Transom Jack & Cover,Custom trailer W/Spare, Excellent Condition always stored inside

He says the live wells are 7g and 10 gal front and back? Does not know how many hours. Looks good but the price seems kind of high? Thinking $4500 is appropriate. Let me know what you think.

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http://mankato.craigslist.org/boa/309714189.html 19 foot Stratos Fish&Ski with 1989 Johnson GT150. Exellent condition and never been beached. Comes with 12/24v Johnson trolling motor, sun top, custom cover, fish finder and flasher, two live wells and new ski pylon. Motor has been mantained at a dealer(have all records) Low hours and stored indoors.

Though I am interested, the price seems way high? $3500 seems appropriate to me.

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http://minneapolis.craigslist.....html 2002 Nitro NX882 DC - 115hp Mercury Motor: - $11000

Nice, but I just do not want to spend that much.

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So that you know, what I really want is a Glass, DC, 17' or less, 75hp to 115hp, 2 stroke Opti or E-tec. I prefere 1990 to 2000 or so. Looking to spend $7500 or less. Less I spend the more likely a 24' or so bow rider with head becomes.

Thanks

Peace and Blessings
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For what you're wanting to spend and the style of boat you're looking for, don't rule out a tin boat. There's a lot of nice rigs out there that will fit your needs. Xpress, G-3, and Triton are just a few namebrands that make dual console boats that can be rigged with 75-115 Hp motors that will perform and are very comfortable rigs. A 3-4 year old tin boat will serve you much better than a 10-15 year old glass rig.....If you want one of the newer injected motors you mentioned, it's going to be difficult to get into a glass rig with your available funds.

Good Luck,

G-man

Your price on the 16 1/2 Stratos is about right. You're way lowballing on the F & S. That boat would normally sell for around $5-6k, especially this time of year. Skip the Nitro.

I'd suggest waiting if these boats aren't what you want. I'd also take the other suggestion to look into aluminums. You'll get a lot newer rig for the money you're talking about spending.

Greetings,

Thanks for the respons, both of you. :)

That F&S is an 89. Do you really think it is going to hit that price range? As the buyer...chuckle chuckle...it is a 17 to 18 year old boat. NADA puts Avg OB at $800 and Avg boat at $2900. So I guess in my opinion $4500 would be about top dollar for it.

Regardless,

Cart, and anyone else, which would you rather have for $4500. The Bass or the F&S?

Peace and Blessings

I sold an "88 Ranger 375V w/ 150 Evinrude XP last year for $4500. I needed new electronics and carpet. Hull was OK, but the boat definitely showed it had been used. So based on that, an "89 in good shape should be worth more than the $4500 I got.

I am in WI. so basically the same geographic area...

By the way - I lived in Rochester for a few years...I drove back to WI. to fish.

Greetings,

The F&S sold for the $7500 asking price. That is great for the seller. Must have really been in great shape. I still can not immagine the buyers remorse if I bought it and paid more than $6k tops.

The stratos for $6500 is still available and I am hemming and hawing over if I want to make an offer. Looking to buy a house this month or next so that comes first, unles Intel stock goes up 20 pts this week... http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/popcorn.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/Laugh.gif

I grew up on Cooks by on Lake Minnetonka right on the North east side. Awesom! No better way to grow up than on the lakes. Been in Ca since the Twins won the 2nd World Series. Have been dieing to move back for the last 10 years. And where did I end up? The only MN county with out a real lake! Siiiiigh. I have the money now to buy my old house for the $170k my parents sold it for in 82. But I don't have the money for the $11k in taxes a year on it now or the 1.1 or 1.2 price tag. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/eek.gif

Soooooo, you gonna go check out that Stratos in WI for me... ;)

Peace and Blessings

As a new boat owner and one that spent about 1.5 yrs (in ohio) looking for something that fit my needs....... (ended up with a skeeter SD-125 1989 w/ 115)

That FS should have been around 4500-5000, I discovered the further north you go the more your gonna pay, further south the less.... simple usage.. south is year around, north is 4-5 months..... seems us northen folks dont even track hours !!

had no intention on getting a 1989 boat but the owner impressed me with honesty and genuine concern for me getting a boat that fit my needs...

I was looking for something around 1994... F/s and str8t bass boats all hovered around the 5500-7500 range.

I used http://www.boattraderonline.com for a lot of referance.. the search function is nice.

I searched for the right boat for 3 years (well it actually took that long to talk the better half into getting a boat). I have two young boys 9-11 so I didn't want a bass boat I needed a fish and ski. I looked at the Lunds, Crestliner's, Alumacraft and the one thing that I noticed on all of them was the bow casting deck was just too small.
I actually found my boat on iboats and it was in Detroit MI. I paid $13,000 for it and the loan value was way over $16,000 not counting the trailer. I looked at boats in MN and for some reason everyone want's a mint for them. If you are just starting your search you are about 6-7 months too early. You will end up paying top dollar for a rig right now with fishing opener 3 weeks away. If I were you I would look at some boats that are down in MO, NE or maybe IA.

Do you want me to run over and look at that boat for you? It is nearby - at least according to the listing. I could try to do it this weekend if you are still interested.

Greetings,

Thanks! I just may. But maybe next weekend if it is still around. Trying to get the house purchase settled. :)

Peace and Blessings

I have a 94 Stratos 254 that i found through a freind of a friend. It was not used much and in storage. It is in near mint condition. i paid $ 4,500 and I can sell it today for more money than that. All I can say is that the quality of the boat built in 94 by Stratos is amazing. If I wa buying another old boat,I would go with the Stratos.