If everything goes as planned, I will picking up a new to me 2000 Four Winns Horizon 180 LS with a fuel-injected 5.0 Volvo Penta this week. Here is how I got to where I am now.
LOOKING AROUNDMy Aprilia motorcycle is recently paid off so I was kicking around the idea about getting a first boat. Specifically, a bow rider around 20 feet. My budget was originally <$10,000. My in-laws have a 38 foot boat so we were just looking for something smaller where my wife and two young boys can spend the day on and maybe have room for a couple friends. I was also thinking a V8 is a must.
After spending hours on Craigslist, here are a few that looked nice that looked nice to me at first (no particular order of importance).
#1
#2
#3
#4
But an enthusiast friend went down the list and had this to say about them:
#1 - This one has a 350 with an Alpha Drive. I generally like Rinkers, and I wouldn't kick this one out of bed, but its not preferred.
#2 - This is the tail end of the OMC-era Chris Crafts. While they are attractive, I would be highly suspect of this thing. If it has a VOLVO SX/Cobra, then I would be okay with it, but the 5.0 is likely a FORD 5.0, not a GM. I'd pass on this, personally.
#3 - Four Winns was also owned by OMC up till about 1994, and this was also an OMC-tail-ender. The 5.8 Ford is the giveaway. I wouldn't kick this out of bed at all since its really nice looking in pics, and the 5.8 should be about 260 hp, which is proper for this size boat.
#4 - Nice boat, looks a little weather beaten and possibly sits in the water a lot based on the waterline.
ROUND TWOWhat he made sense and I narrowed down my choices to boats with running with a V8 Volvo Penta. I also upped my price range a bit. So after even more time on Craigslist, I found two Four Winns that went to the top of the list.
Boat #1
The first one we looked at had really low hours (105) and a fuel-injected 5.0L Volvo. Had a bimini top, was always stored inside, better color combination in my opinion, clean hull, nice newer-style swim platform, trailer was in good condition with aluminum wheels, etc. The owner’s son posted it as a “4 wings” but I am thinking that was an auto-correction issue as he did seem to know a little bit about boats. However, there were some issues when I looked at it. A tip of one of the aluminum prop blades was cracked off. It looked like he had backed the boat and trailer into a wall with it. The interior was soft with no rips and strong seams but there were a few small holes that looked like they were sealed by some type of glue. When I asked if they had maintenance records, the son said dad was a master mechanic and did the work himself. I asked for specifics of when things were done and he really didn’t know. Other than being stored inside, the boat looked like it wasn’t loved.
Boat #2
This one was 1.5 hours away but worth the trip. It is 2 years older and had 40+ hours more on the clock but you wouldn’t know it by looking at it. This one is almost identical to the first boat we looked - same engine, interior layout, trailer, etc. The main differences were the older style but still full width swim platform, stainless prop (+ aluminum spare) and it is a LS which added an upgraded instrument panel, paddle wheel speedo sensor and a few other small things. The owner was very knowledgeable about the boat and about all required maintenance. Interior looked spotless. The kids were super excited about it. This is the one for us.
FINANCINGI wanted to finance the boat through USAA. However, they do not factor in the number of hours the boat has when determining value. So, their value they can loan on is about a quarter less than I am paying for it. With USAA, getting a $10,000+ loan allows you to finance longer AND at a lower interest rate then if you are below $10,000. With the lower value loan, I would get less time and a higher interest rate.
So, I submitted an application online for a local credit union.
After doing that, I figured out why the USAA value was so low. The woman didn’t tell me the types of things they were looking for when determining the value. Luckily, I checked out NADA myself and was able to mark enough features to increase the price. So, we are good to go on financing.
When I was on the phone, the credit union called and left a message but they were already closed when I tried to call them back tomorrow to apologize for wasting their time.
STORAGEAlso, called a few in & out indoor rack storage places on Lake St Clair. We don't want to spend half our day picking up our boat from storage, taking down the covers, waiting to launch, launch, waiting to load the trailer when finished, loading the trailer, driving it back to storage, covering the boat, etc. We just want to call ahead and have our boat waiting for us, ready to go.
The one we really want where my in-law's have a boat (Belle Maer Harbor) has a 50-name waiting list. Doubt we will get in this year.
Our second choice, Beacon Cove Marina, isn't as nice as Belle Maer but does have similar amenities. However, it is the most expensive at $2,050 (year around). They have a few openings.
Our third choice, Hideaway Harbor Marina, has the least number of amenities (no pool for example) but is right next to Beacon Cove. They have a couple openings and are by FAR the least expensive at ~$1,200.
Since we don't plan on hanging out at the marina as much as we would if we had a water slip, we will most likely go with the Hideaway and then wait for an opening at Belle Maer. In the mean time, we can always ride over to the in-laws and use their pool if that is really important.
WHAT'S NEXT?I am waiting for the seller to email over a copy of the lien free title so I can finalize the loan. They will then overnight a check. We will drive out, do a sea trial and everything looks good, hand over the check and trailer her home.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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