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Looking at '85 Nova 23

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#21 ·
Look long & hard for transom & stringer rot...quite common on 80s Wellcrafts....The 23 Nova was a great boat though & the XL gets you the nice interior
Asked before..Is it a NEW MERC motor or a rebuild/no-name....Big diff in $
 
#22 ·
Look for signs of wood rot, soft floors, cracks in transom gel coat, go for a ride, check oil to make sure its not milky colored. New motor with old manifolds in salt water = bad motor. Check outdrive bellows for cracks. Theres more, but im drawing blanks, time for a nap. Someone should chime in here and help you out.
 
#23 ·
Vicious said:
Yeah, I'm having a hard time believing that the NADA values could be that far off.
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Vicious - I was just kidding around when I said that :rolleyes:

I agree with both Boat-less and jb. IMO, generally a 20+ year old 23 foot boat is not going to be worth 5K. And a "new motor" does not necessarily mean "new". People get screwed quite often when they hear the words "new' or "rebuilt". And salt water/brackish water takes its toll, not only on the engine. You have to consider the exhaust and aluminum out drive as well. In addition, salt air can be a pizzer on wiring/connections.

NADA is a rough guide. I've seen boats sell for way less than NADA.
 
Discussion starter · #25 ·
Thanks for the advice. I still haven't been able to take a good look at it. I'm still waiting on them to pull it down from the rack. Since they have had it for so long, they may be receptive to any offer I make them. But I need to take a look at it to decide if I even want the thing first. If it's a total POS, it would have no value to me at any price. But, if there is any life left in it, they would probably take an offer that covered what they have in it, which is going to be their cost for the motor as you know they didn't offer who ever traded it in anything they didn't have covered in their mark up on the new boat.

So here is what I think I have:

1. New long block + old intake and exhaust = no deal.
2. Stringers, transom.
3. General condition of the boat (should be the same as an outboard powered boat)

Mild Thunder said something about the bellows on the outdrive- being an outboard guy, I’m not familiar with that?

What else should I look for with the outdrive?
 
#26 · (Edited)
Bellows are rubber "accordion" like boots that cover the controls and such spanning from the transom to the out drive (not the best tech language/explanation but best I can do :eek: ). Should also be one for the exhaust. If those are cracked/worn and need replacing, Mr. boat could sink. And they ain't cheap to replace.

Have them drop it in the water so you can take for a spin. While it's in the water I'd pop the engine hatch and look for leaks. If water comes in, that could mean cracks in the bellows that might not be visible from outside. Keep an eye on the guages, make sure they all work too.

Go over EVERYTHING with a fine tooth comb. And if your not familiar with I/O's, find someone to go with you who is! Even guys that are familiar with I/O's and have been boating for years will often bring another set of eyes with them.

Good luck!

edit:::: Take a close look at all mating parts to the engine and the exhaust! Look and listen for leaks whereever there are gaskets.

Damn...not even my money and ya got me worried :eek:
 
Discussion starter · #27 ·
Kidnova said:
Bellows are rubber "accordion" like boots that cover the controls and such spanning from the transom to the out drive (not the best tech language/explanation but best I can do :eek: ). Should also be one for the exhaust. If those are cracked/worn and need replacing, Mr. boat could sink. And they ain't cheap to replace.

Have them drop it in the water so you can take for a spin. While it's in the water I'd pop the engine hatch and look for leaks. If water comes in, that could mean cracks in the bellows that might not be visible from outside. Keep an eye on the guages, make sure they all work too.

Go over EVERYTHING with a fine tooth comb. And if your not familiar with I/O's, find someone to go with you who is! Even guys that are familiar with I/O's and have been boating for years will often bring another set of eyes with them.

Good luck!

edit:::: Take a close look at all mating parts to the engine and the exhaust! Look and listen for leaks whereever there are gaskets.

Damn...not even my money and ya got me worried :eek:
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Thanks! Definitely some very good advice.
 
#28 ·
Vicious said:
Thanks for the welcome.

So I take it, what you both are saying is that you wouldn't buy it?
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Vicious - this is often a tough crowd around here.

the bottom line is this - if you think the boat is a good value for the money then buy it. I would invest a few hundred dollars and have it surveyed. You don't want to spend a few thousand dollars only to find out the stingers or transom is rotted out and needs a few thousand in repairs or the engine has low compression - so get a compression and leak down test done on the engine. The last two boats I've purchased have been salt water boats and they were both flushed after use by their owners and were in perfect condition.

just remember... the first rule of negotiations is to leave yourself plenty of room to negotiate - so if you want the boat and it checks out - make a low ball offer - low to the point where you're embarassed to make it because you never know --- they might accept it - especially since they're looking at sitting on the boat for another winter and it's taking up valuable rack space they could be renting...

welcome to speedwake...

- jeff
 
#29 ·
And when you buy it, just run above the bridge and the salt water isn't a factor!

Keep going up the bay and soon it is so fresh you can drink it! :dead1:
 
#30 ·
Survey the boat .... best money you will spend if you truly are going to buy it. Make an offer contingent upon satisfactory survey and sea trail. I know it is only a 5 k boat but that is a chunk of change for that age boat. I think you should look at wholesale or loan value.
 
Discussion starter · #33 ·
Speedwake said:
Vicious - this is often a tough crowd around here.

the bottom line is this - if you think the boat is a good value for the money then buy it. I would invest a few hundred dollars and have it surveyed. You don't want to spend a few thousand dollars only to find out the stingers or transom is rotted out and needs a few thousand in repairs or the engine has low compression - so get a compression and leak down test done on the engine. The last two boats I've purchased have been salt water boats and they were both flushed after use by their owners and were in perfect condition.

just remember... the first rule of negotiations is to leave yourself plenty of room to negotiate - so if you want the boat and it checks out - make a low ball offer - low to the point where you're embarassed to make it because you never know --- they might accept it - especially since they're looking at sitting on the boat for another winter and it's taking up valuable rack space they could be renting...

welcome to speedwake...

- jeff
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Jeff,
that sounds like good advice. Do you know of anyone who does boat surveys in the Solomons Island area? A quick scan of the phone book didn't come up with anyone.
 
#35 · (Edited)
Vicious said:
If this boat doesn't pan out, what I think I'd like to do is go the other route. Find a nice, later model boat with a bad engine for a bargain price.

Do y'all see those pop up for sale very often?
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True "bargains" can be hard to come by. I've been keeping my peepers open for the same thing. I've seen a couple but they sell fast, if/when the price is right.

My '95 Nova now has a ZZ502/502 and my thoughts have been to buy a boat more suited to our needs, and yank the engine out of the Nova, then re-power it with stock power to sell it. That said, our Nova will be up for sale at some point in time. Not sure what power will be in it but it will be done right. Nova will go in the SW classifides when the time is right. You'd be hard pressed to find a '95 anything in better shape. No plan for a "bargain" but will be priced fairly.

edit....btw these guys are giving you good advice. A survey I think would run around $400.00?? But worth it for an "unknown" boat.
 
Discussion starter · #36 ·
Well, I snuck over to the marina at lunch time today, and they had the boat down from the rack. They had a worker on it trying to clean it up. It was in rougher shape than I had hoped for.

The manager of the marina said he had $3K to $4K tied up in it, so I offered him $3K. He said he was hoping for closer to $4k. I countered with the roughness of the boat. He then acknowledged my offer and stated it looks a lot rougher than when put it up in the rack last fall. He then said he wanted to start the motor up and go over the boat to make sure he's not selling me a piece of crap, because I'm a valued customer. While in a perfect world this would be true, I suspect he wants to see how it cleans up and make sure he's not selling it too low. I told him I'd check back with him on Monday.

At this point in the game, I think a survey could only strengthen his hand. I'm willing to gamble $3k. I don't think the boat has any structural problems for the following reasons:

-they buy and sell boats for a living, so they know what to look for. If there would have been any structural problems with the boat, they would not have sunk any more money into it, they would have just unloaded it for what ever they could get.

At worst I'm out 3 grand and that's if I couldn't turn it around for anything. With the NADA valued at $5200 to $6200, I don't think I would take a total beating.

It is an XL by the way. It appears that it has a fiber glass deck, but since I came from work and was in my business attire, I couldn't really crawl around it like I would have liked to. Is this correct, or is it that vinyl contact paper stuff.

Also, it has a moulded fiberglass swim platform. I haven't seen many with this, was this an option?
 
#38 ·
orthos1 said:
Survey the boat .... best money you will spend if you truly are going to buy it. Make an offer contingent upon satisfactory survey and sea trail. I know it is only a 5 k boat but that is a chunk of change for that age boat. I think you should look at wholesale or loan value.
Click to expand...



I think you should definitely get it survey done :D
 
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