Help with Buying a Challenger

[plmille2]

Hello guys!

I've been looking for my first boat and came across this. I'm not into fishing, just want something to get around the river and bay here in Tampa. Is this a good deal?

Ad says it needs a starter, anything else I should be warned about? I'm not too worried about the seat situation. I obviously just want it to run. Any help from you pros will be awesome.

http://tampa.craigslist.org/psc/boa/4428092238.html

 

[Coastiejoe]

Any time an add says "IT ONLY NEEDS,,,," you need to take a very serious look at things.

I would NEVER buy any toy if I could not do a compression test and also a ride and drive. The interior is not an uncommon thing that needs work. Parts for them are getting harder to come by, thus, you will often have the need to go to an upholsterer and let them recreate what needs replaced.

The price is right if it does in fact run. But,,, that is a total unknown. If there is a serious engine issue you can easily spend a grand or better to replace it depending on what is needed or how you go about it.

 

[LouDoo]

I agree, just needs a starter is the second oldest trick in the book. This being the oldest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUpbS92WrLQ

Kidding aside without a starter you really can't check anything, however after looking at the add $800.00 for boat and trailer you really can't go wrong. See if you can get it in the $500-600 range.

Lou

 

[hfgreg]

Welcome to the forum! Let me know if you end up getting it. Our shop is local and we could get you the parts you need :cheers:

 

[Walid Elbegarmy]

I think my next move will be in the US all these things for 800$ I wish I live closer. If you are not buying it to fix buy it and I'll pay you half to get the Bimini and Cover and few extra parts ... Lolll


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Brian J]

As already stated "just needs a starter" is a big red flag. If you buy it hope for the best but expect the worst.

Also:
In MN that thing would get snapped up in a second at that price. FL is polar opposite.
He says the seat padding is bad. Seat covers are readily available, the seat padding is not, that will be expensive to ship if you can find it.

Does that hour meter say 6000!!!??? That would be some kind of record.

 

[Spimothy Leary]

As already stated "just needs a starter" is a big red flag. If you buy it hope for the best but expect the worst.

Also:
In MN that thing would get snapped up in a second at that price. FL is polar opposite.
He says the seat padding is bad. Seat covers are readily available, the seat padding is not, that will be expensive to ship if you can find it.

Does that hour meter say 6000!!!??? That would be some kind of record.

looks like 288 hours, can't be sure...

at $800 its a great price, the MPEM is worth that alone. If my wife wouldn't shoot me for buying another boat, i'd buy it myself, its only 2 hours north of me.

IMO its a great price. Even if it turns out to be more than just a starter (well, lets be honest, there will definitely be more issues) there are $1200-1500 worth of parts on it even if the engine is just a core. (MPEM,Hatch,Shifters,gauges,core,pump,bimini,cover,trailer) just for starters.

As long as you have some free time, I think this would be an investment with very little downside, and in Florida/Tampa there is no shortage of shade tree mechanics that can help out.

 

[96seadogtx]

I would say buy it if your looking for a project or something to work on with the kids or by your self it would make for a good project but don't expect a hole lot if your considering it I would check every think from bow to stern get an idea of what it might need and go from there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Spimothy Leary]

just a quick piggyback...

1) if you can patch the foam, you can get replacement seat vinyl extremely well priced at seadooupholstery.com I've used Keith for his kit on my challenger and I was quite pleased with the quality, and the price was fantastic. He's a member here out of Lauderdale, good quality and ships fast.

2) The hull cleans up extremely well with some effort, but very little cost was involved, it took me a couple of weekends to clean up my 96 Challenger (lots of square footage) but with some soft scrub,compound/wet-sanding/buff & wax it went from a chalky faded dull mess to a real nice finish and it probably took me about 15 hours of effort, which wasn't bad considering how it looked beforehand. So don't be afraid of the hull, it will look great if you just put in some time. Those boats still sell in the $4,000 range when clean & running so you will get good value out of it even if you grow tired of it over the summer.

3) most parts that are not the shifters or electronics are quite reasonable to replace, latches (ebay $10), cup holders (walmart $2), but cables were pricey $130ish? and turf can cost $200 ( I got lucky and found my turf for $100 on ebay) most of the engine parts are just standard 787 and cheap.

4) not a fast boat..and quite sluggish, but it is a good basic run around for a small family, handles chop fairly well, but its best on smooth wate, but won't be that bad in mild chop, just not in heavy chop. One nice advantage of this hull is that you can run in quite shallow waters where other boats can't go, we've been on a challenger quite a ways up the peace river where its pretty shallow in the fall and the boat was able to go wherever the ski's could, so we were pleasantly surprised.