Traveling to buy a boat

[Mattbassmaster]

Hey fellas, I am thinking of getting a boat that is just about 18 hours away from me, my plan is to fly to the closest town take a final look over of the boat, give a cashiers check, and get a rental vehicle and drive it back. Would you guys recommend U-Haul or do something like enterprise. Or should I slap it on a flatbed and have it towed? Whatever ideas you guys may have go ahead and chime in because at this point I am all ears, I just want to get the boat to my house as safe and cost-effective as possible.
i’m about 90% going to drive over there and look at it first before I do anything so I figured I might as well drive it back, nothing wrong with a little road trip

thanks.

[Rich1]

My first question is did you have a mechanic check the boat? Lot of money and time to go find our your looking at junk. Second I am not sure car rental agencies are in to boat towing. Dont remember ever renting one with a hitch. I would just dive up and look and if its good drag it back with me.

[Roddy]

My first question is did you have a mechanic check the boat? Lot of money and time to go find our your looking at junk. Second I am not sure car rental agencies are in to boat towing. Don't remember ever renting one with a hitch. I would just dive up and look and if its good drag it back with me.

If you rent a full size Suv it will have a hitch. I pulled one with a rented Navigator. My son flew from TX to North Carolina to buy a Wakeboard boat and rented a Tahoe one way to pull it home.
My current boat was in Marathon Key when I bought it. I flew round trip to buy it. then drove down the next week and stayed a week fishing before bringing it home.

[Cerus]

If you rent a full size Suv it will have a hitch. I pulled one with a rented Navigator. My son flew from TX to North Carolina to buy a Wakeboard boat and rented a Tahoe one way to pull it home.
My current boat was in Marathon Key when I bought it. I flew round trip to buy it. then drove down the next week and stayed a week fishing before bringing it home.

A lot of that depends on the location and getting lucky. Most places remove the hitch since they don’t allow towing. None of the SUVs or even Trucks around here have hitches. Can’t say how lucky you’d be if you got into an accident while towing with a rented vehicle that prohibits towing.

Enterprise Truck Rental rents trucks specifically for towing but locations are limited and it’ll cost several hundred in mileage to drive 1200 miles or so. Probably still cheaper than shipping though.

[Roddy]

A lot of that depends on the location and getting lucky. Most places remove the hitch since they don’t allow towing. None of the SUVs or even Trucks around here have hitches. Can’t say how lucky you’d be if you got into an accident while towing with a rented vehicle that prohibits towing.

Enterprise Truck Rental rents trucks specifically for towing but locations are limited and it’ll cost several hundred in mileage to drive 1200 miles or so. Probably still cheaper than shipping though.

I am going to have to disagree.

The large SUV's have the hitch hidden behind a some plastic on the bumper so you don't know they are there. They are not going to spend the time and money to remove something you can't see, so they never remove them. I have rented over 100 from Enterprise in the last 5 years. Tahoes, Suburbans, Navigators and Escalades will all have the hitches.

[Cerus]

I am going to have to disagree.

The large SUV's have the hitch hidden behind a some plastic on the bumper so you don't know they are there. They are not going to spend the time and money to remove something you can't see, so they never remove them. I have rented over 100 from Enterprise in the last 5 years. Tahoes, Suburbans, Navigators and Escalades will all have the hitches.

Like I said. Depends on the location. Not all those will come with a hitch - depends on the year and trim level. These places buy cars at big auctions from all over. Towing is expressly forbidden in their contracts so you’re taking a chance regardless.

Ain’t worth the risk to wreck their car and whatever you’re towing and have to pay for it out of pocket.

[Dan21XRS]

Enterprise use to rent trucks you could tow with, not sure if the do any longer... U-Haul has the big moving trucks you can tow with but that be a slow go... Best bet might be to have it delivered by a company that specializes in that. I'm sure someone will be along short with a few companies that can do it... Good luck... Dan

[yatesville88fan]

Please have that boat checked real good. Long way to drive to have a bad ending.

[smalljawguy]

Please have that boat checked real good. Long way to drive to have a bad ending.

+1. Had that happen to me but fortunately it was only a 3 hour drive to look at a "great condition" boat. Get there to find several gouges down into the glass, several spots where the clearcoat had delaminated and other "minor" issues. Needless to say, I walked away.

[XingEyeballs]

I’d either drive there and get it or fly there and pay to have it shipped. Big commitment either way, I’d definitely recommend doing some major due diligence. My last boat went from MN to SC, want to say the buyer paid $1200ish for the delivery.

[west texas luke]

I would drive there to look at it and if it checks out then pull it back with you.

[markheb]

Whole lot simpler to just drive there, look the boat over and if you decide to buy it, bring it home.

If you fly up, decide not to buy it, then you have to buy a plane ticket back at a premium price, plus a hotel room and transportation to your airport, rent a car to go look at the boat and then, IF you can find a way to rent a tow vehicle, pick it up. Twice as much time, trouble and money as just drive there.

[Brownmaniac]

I drove to Missouri to get mine. I rented a truck at home and went and got it. The rental on getting one there and driving back is ridiculously expensive. mine still had warranty and low hours so I wasn't too afraid of getting there and finding a junker.

[Bill2e]

Fly round trip and ship it back.

[The Bass Junkie]

Fly round trip and ship it back.

This...im sure a company like OUTLAW Boat Transport would be cheaper than what you are talking about once you take into account the value of your time etc.

[BP in ME]

What about insurance for the ride home? I'm just kinda thinking out loud. Never driven 18 hours to buy anything

[Mark Perry]

What about insurance for the ride home? I'm just kinda thinking out loud. Never driven 18 hours to buy anything

Work it out with your insurance company. Give them the particulars on the boat and get a binder and make it effective should you buy the boat. Easy enough.

I drove to Kentucky from Texas to buy a boat. We did tbe whole trip non stop.

[Kwwildcat]

Drove 13 hours to Missouri to pick up a 2 year old boat in January. Had the seller drop it off at a certified dealer, they sent me all the numbers and what they thought of it and then I drove down and checked it out. Got there and everything checked out, had insurance on it that day, and was on the way back same day. Just do your homework and make a trip of it.

[CigarBasser]

Where is it? Maybe a fellow BBC’er can give an eye first..

I like driving so I’d make a mini trip out of it with fishing on the way home..

[n2ratfishin]

A buddy of mine used UShip to get his boat home, but it was brand new. I’d want to look and drive anything used. I agree with fly round trip and ship it home unless you can fish your way back.