Articles
   
       
Pics/Video
       
Wake 101
   
       
       
Shop
Search
 
 
 
 
 
Home   Articles   Pics/Video   Gear   Wake 101   Events   Community   Forums   Classifieds   Contests   Shop   Search
WakeWorld Home
Email Password
Go Back   WakeWorld > Boats, Accessories & Tow Vehicles

Share 
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old     (robandrus)      Join Date: Feb 2002       12-20-2012, 4:38 PM Reply   
I just bought a Tige off ebay... While this is my third or fourth boat that I've purchased that way, it really makes me nervous, like cliff jumping nervous. -By the way, I did once lose $2,500 on a ebay scam boat, hopefully learned something since then. The boat is being shipped and should show up just after Christmas. So who else has bought a boat sight un-seen and how'd it turn out for you?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2002-...#ht_500wt_1182
Attached Images
 
Old     (MattieK27)      Join Date: Mar 2010       12-20-2012, 4:44 PM Reply   
You lost $2500 once and you still pulled the trigger on this thing unseen? I wouldn't have done it, but I hope it works out for you.
Old     (SkySki)      Join Date: Feb 2010       12-20-2012, 5:08 PM Reply   
I put 10000 down once and it turned out great. It had a ton of pictures and the guy took additional for me.
Old     (boardman74)      Join Date: Jul 2012       12-20-2012, 5:28 PM Reply   
I have sold boats on ebay and it turned out great for the buyers. I personally would never buy a boat off ebay unless it was close and I could see it in person first. Condition is too subjective. Whats excellent condition to me may not be too you. Plus I am anal about my toys and when it says mint I expect it to be mint. Been my experience there tends to be alot of junk on ebay. But there are some good items.

If I had lost $2500 I would NEVER even consider it again. Plus I would never ship the item. I would go pick it up so if need be I could refuse on the spot. The shipper isn't a party in this so when it shows up trashed the shipper is going to say it was that way when he picked it up. Then the seller is going to say you took possession, you own it. Too much can go wrong. I have seen plenty of boats that looked great in pictures and walked up and walked away. You can always take pictures to make the good look better and leave the bad out.

I wish you luck, but to much risk for me. Do you have something against buying locally? Maybe driving a few hours? Gotta be cheaper that shipping a boat cross country. Plus there's so many people that watch ebay now a days that things sell for what they are worth 99% of the time. Not like back in the 90's when you could get deals.
Old     (bryce2320)      Join Date: May 2012       12-20-2012, 5:34 PM Reply   
Damn, you got a steal on that boat. Congrats, hopefully it turns out for you. You should have gotten on Tigeowners.com and I'm sure if someone was close to that boat, they'd have went to check it out for you. Keep us posted!!
Old     (burban89)      Join Date: Nov 2006       12-20-2012, 5:45 PM Reply   
I have sold a boat as well on Ebay and the buyer was 3 states away. It worked out great, I was more worried about the banks screwing up than anything else. I am in the process of buying a boat online without seeing it as well.

What shipping company are you using?
Old     (sandm01)      Join Date: May 2010       12-20-2012, 5:48 PM Reply   
my '06 supra was from a dealer 400 miles north and all I saw were 3 pics from them. pretty much sight unseen and taking the dealers word for it. boat was 1 year old and 90hrs. my first boat. didn't know any better my only regret was being told it came on a dual axle trailer(boat was on a display next to the highway and was not on a trailer) and found out when I got there that it was a single axle. again, didn't know any better. towed ok, but was sweet to maneuver in the garage.

turned out to be a fantastic experience and a great boat.. I would have done it again had I not traded it in at a dealer after trying unsuccessfully to sell it, mostly due to the single axle..
Old     (brttkrz)      Join Date: Aug 2005       12-20-2012, 6:05 PM Reply   
I just bought one off of ebay at the end of the season. It turned out great. The boat was actually in better shape than I thought it was going to be after talking to the guy on the phone. Apparently he sells one almost every year. I tried asking lots of questions and he really knew his stuff about inboard boats and especially a lot about nautiques. Made it a lot less worrisome. I did however drive down 2 states to go look at it and deliver the money.
Old     (Orange)      Join Date: Jun 2012       12-20-2012, 6:18 PM Reply   
I bought sight unseen once and it worked great. I did it safely, however. Here's how:
- have the seller take it to a mechanic to do an inspection of your choosing. Expect to pay for that, but you choose the mechanic.
- hire a lawyer in the sellers area to act as an escrow agent. The seller signs over the title and gives it to the lawyer. Then you wire transfer the money to the lawyer. The lawyer notifies the seller he has the money and the seller ships the boat. You notify the lawyer when you receive the boat and the lawyer sends you the title and the money to the seller.

This insulates both the buyer and seller from paying and not receiving the boat or shipping the boat and not receiving payment. There are details to work out like when ownership transfers in case the boat is damaged during shipment, inspection rights and refusal, etc.

Still - much safer for both buyer and seller if you can do it locally, but sometimes that's not a choice.
Old     (NotSure123)      Join Date: Nov 2012       12-20-2012, 6:19 PM Reply   
It's all about the communication with the seller...if he/she seems totally frank/upfront/forthcoming with any and all issues (including the small miniscule stuff!) you will be just fine! I drove 8 hours down to San Antonio to pick up my Session from a dealership that really had no history of the boat! Fortunately it had low low hours and I had great pics to go off, and an honest salesperson on the phone. I had that dude doing circles around the thing so I had a 100% reliable expectation. Long story short I was totally happy w/everything. If it helps, for the price you got that thing I don't think you could go wrong!
Old     (robandrus)      Join Date: Feb 2002       12-20-2012, 8:28 PM Reply   
Thanks guys. I'm stoked on the boat. Utah has a pretty strong wakeboard market... Its all anyone wants here, so I never buy a boat unless I'm sure I could sell it for a profit. The time I lost money I was stupid, The boat was $25-30k below value, they wanted a deposit sent via western union. I sent the money, got on wakeworld and other people were talking about the boat and somebody said "Obvious scam" I freaked, called grocery store Western Union office and asked them to put a hold on the money, they said, too late... and that was it. Usually if you can talk to an actual person on the phone, ask him to take a bunch of obscure photos of things, etc you'll be safe. I have bought a few out of California where the guy sent me 3 year old pics and the boat was thrashed upon delivery. That being said, I had enough room to make a little after all needed repairs. Regardless, I still get a little nervous until the delivery guy shows up and lets me know its a real boat.
This guy has an actual dealers license so I was able to do a little research on him.
Old     (robandrus)      Join Date: Feb 2002       12-20-2012, 8:34 PM Reply   
Now to the fun stuff....
Decal or no decal?
Ditch the racks?
WTF steering wheel.... definitely replacing!
Speedo and Tach aren't working? Any experience with these on a Tige?

Seller says that the previous owner dropped $4500 into the stereo...stoked
Already has an ACME, perfectpass (only cruise) and ballast system.
Merry Christmas to me.
Old     (jperkinsttu)      Join Date: Mar 2008       12-20-2012, 8:35 PM Reply   
I feel nervous about not seeing how a restaurant preps my food as is, not even gonna venture into that territory. Good luck to ya though
Old     (baitkiller)      Join Date: Jan 2010       12-21-2012, 4:40 AM Reply   
Well i just inspected a 2003 v 205X for a client from out of town.

Found:bent strut, bent shaft, alignment issues.
Bad alternator
Bad perfect pass throttle actuator
2 of three ballast pumps shot
Center bag leaking
High speed fuel starvation issue
Compression all OK
Weeping riser gaskets
Tower lights shot, speakers blown out.
Board racks stiff and need service
Gel chunk in the tunnel where whatever bent the shaft hit the boat.
Battery 4 years old and weak, no switch.
Stereo installed by a car guy with respect for marine environment or ABYC electrical standards.
Plus the usual laundry list of little crap.


Total cost for survey with full report, 90 pictures and sea trial? $411.00

Crazy how tournament style boat guys very rarely hire a surveyor. But to be fair, allot of y'all are pretty sharp about these style boats.
Old     (baitkiller)      Join Date: Jan 2010       12-21-2012, 4:54 AM Reply   
(no) respect for marine etc. etc. missed edit cut-off
Old     (boardman74)      Join Date: Jul 2012       12-21-2012, 5:11 AM Reply   
See thats what i think of. Like they say usually anything too good to be true, usually is. If it was that great of a deal(and its appears to be) why wouldn't have someone bought the boat locally. Texas has a great inboard market. I have seen alot of scams that were claiming the cars/boats/etc were is Texas and we all know they always want to ship.

Escrow is a great idea.
Old     (srock)      Join Date: Mar 2002       12-21-2012, 7:21 AM Reply   
Sight unseen on a major purchase. I don't think so. Hire a local marine surveyor, someone from a dealership or someone who knows boats from this site to take a look.
Old     (jhartt3)      Join Date: Jan 2012       12-21-2012, 7:46 AM Reply   
I semi-bought my boat on ebay. Ended up being the highest bidder but didnt meet the reserve. He gave me a second chance offer. I also saw the boat advertised on Onlyinboards.com so i called him and we worked out a deal that way. Got a better deal since he didnt have to pay the eBay fees.
Old     (robandrus)      Join Date: Feb 2002       12-21-2012, 8:33 AM Reply   
Transporter just called. He's picking up the boat in 2 hrs. Should be here the 27th.
Great idea on the surveyor. I usually have a friend or relative in the area go look at the boat. If its ok I mail them the check and pick it up. However, I'm a little short on relatives in Texas. One of the worst boats I got was an 02 Super Air. I had my brother in law go see it. He was gushing about how awesome it was. When it finally got to me I had to re-do the whole interior and a bunch more. I don't mind a boat that has some project work to be done, but there is definitely a balance between a good deal and -I'm going out of my head with this damn thing.
Old     (will5150)      Join Date: Oct 2002       12-21-2012, 8:57 AM Reply   
You stole that boat- good luck with it.
Old     (downfortheride)      Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: SLC, UT 5600'       12-21-2012, 9:00 AM Reply   
Rob congrats first off...
Now that's a gamble that but they have panned out in the past for you.
Old     (robandrus)      Join Date: Feb 2002       12-21-2012, 5:43 PM Reply   
Thanks Josh! I looked at MB's a ton. I love your boat! Unfortunately they're outta my price range!
Old     (robandrus)      Join Date: Feb 2002       12-21-2012, 8:44 PM Reply   
Tige on its way from Texas. Its in Kansas right now. Headed to Denver tonight, then after Christmas its coming to Utah!
Attached Images
 
Old     (robandrus)      Join Date: Feb 2002       12-21-2012, 8:44 PM Reply   
By the way, kicking around the idea of a Monster MTK Tower. Any thoughts?
Old     (downfortheride)      Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: SLC, UT 5600'       12-22-2012, 9:44 AM Reply   
Quote:
Thanks Josh! I looked at MB's a ton. I love your boat! Unfortunately they're outta my price range!
So is this a keeper Rob until the right buyer comes? I like the look of the Tige with the OG tower on it but I would look into some decent racks (at least 4) and a good shade top and your set after you lose the tower speakers. Hope to see you and your family on the lake, can't miss this Tige!!!
Old     (polarbill)      Join Date: Jun 2003       12-22-2012, 1:43 PM Reply   
Leave the tower on it. That isn't one of the terrible ones they had. Maybe have it powdercoated a different color or something.
Old     (scottb7)      Join Date: Oct 2012       12-22-2012, 1:59 PM Reply   
I found a 2006 larson senza 186 on ebay few years back. called dealership, researched them, bought it after auction ended with no deal for him. had it shipped worked out fine. sold it last year on craigs list to a lady who bought it sight unseen, but she paid for inspection. she sent a employee from fargo to minnesota to pick up.

then mid season bought 2008 nautique 210 sight unseen out of dallas and had shipped via uship to me here in minnesota. no problems, but it a fellow member of planet nautiques went and checked it out for me...so it was not too much risk.
Old     (chpthril)      Join Date: Oct 2007       12-22-2012, 6:20 PM Reply   
Its not a Met-Crap tower.

Why lose the tower speakers, they come in handy for listening to music while surfing, wake-boarding or floating behind the boat?
Old     (ReSession)      Join Date: Apr 2010       12-23-2012, 3:45 AM Reply   
I bought a 2005 VW Passat W8 4Motion wagon on eBay back in 2007...sight unseen from TX, had it shipped to Burlington, VT and it was a great experience. This was a very unique car and I knew I wanted it, and the only place to find them at the time was eBay. I paid $150 to have CarChex.com come out to the dealership and provided a detailed inspection and road report.

I bought my first boat, a 2006 Ski Supreme V220 as a left-over left-over left-over model in February of 2009 on eBay as well, sight unseen and never test driven. If you recall, this was when our economy (and the boat industry was in the toilet!), so I had some cash and was looking to score a good deal...and did I ever! The seller was a Boston boat dealer that had purchased 3-4 of these Supreme's from the bank (as the dealer in CA had gone bankrupt), but had never sold any boats on eBay. So I called him and talked about the boat, and he happened to mention the reserve price...so I watched the auction and 30 seconds before it ends, I entered the reserve price + $99 and WON! Literally, 50% discount...he was floored. He was positive the boat was going to sell in the high $30's...nope! $22,050. I traded that boat in on my '11 V226 and made $8k!

My next boat I bought from a CA dealer and had it delivered to Albany, NY...I drove down and swapped my V220 for the new one, but again purchased it sight-unseen and never test driven.

Same thing with my current '08 VW Touareg...I work in the car biz, so I let a fellow dealer buddy know what car I was looking for. A few weeks later, he called me up letting me know the VP of Converse just traded in a cherry T2 with 15k miles on it. He sent me a few pics and I drove down 200 miles from Burlington to Boston and picked it up, never having test drove it.

I've just found that by using the tools available through the internet (search and 3rd party sites and services, like CarChex.com) along with dealing with reputable sellers has allowed me to have 4 great experiences of purchasing vehicles online without ever having touched/driven them before taking delivery!
Old     (boardman74)      Join Date: Jul 2012       12-23-2012, 5:54 AM Reply   
I think buying from a dealer you have some protection. I don't think the OP bought from a dealer, I think it was a private seller. That puts you into a whole different category in my mind.
Old     (boardman74)      Join Date: Jul 2012       12-23-2012, 5:56 AM Reply   
If you had a 02 X-star why would you be swapping for a 02 Tige 20V. Most would say that wasn't a trade up.
Old     (johnny_defacto)      Join Date: Sep 2006       12-23-2012, 9:29 AM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by boardman74 View Post
If you had a 02 X-star why would you be swapping for a 02 Tige 20V. Most would say that wasn't a trade up.
I was going to ask this, but saw 2 other tige's in his boat history, so figured he likes tige and it is a trade up for him.
Old     (Thrall)      Join Date: Oct 2010       12-25-2012, 10:49 AM Reply   
Bought my 06 X2 sight unseen but not before MANY conversations and pictures from the po. Helped that it had less than 50 hrs on it and a good history with the dealer.
I was still skeptical but got sort of a guarantee from the po. He volunteered his buddy to tow it the 600 mi to me and I agreed to comp him fuel with the agreement that if it was not exactly As depicted no $ would be xferred and I'd be glad to store it for him until his buddy came back thru to pick it up. Worked perfectly with the eception that they didn't air up the tires and smoked a tire / cracked a fender and I had to drive 2 hrs to bring a spare for my soon to be boat.
Old     (srock)      Join Date: Mar 2002       12-26-2012, 8:38 AM Reply   
I sure am curious how this works out
Old     (tuneman)      Join Date: Mar 2002       12-26-2012, 8:57 AM Reply   
I've done it twice. Both were good experiences, but you've got to do your research on issues with the particular model and you have to know what to look for in pictures. Have the seller take lots of pictures/video and get a compression test.
Old     (robandrus)      Join Date: Feb 2002       12-26-2012, 2:06 PM Reply   
I really like Tige's and I really liked my X-star. It was a huge project and it really hurt to let it go. I ride on Utah lake, which is very shallow so sometimes the wake was inconsistent, but when it was on it brought a big smile to my face. I owned the star with a partner who decided he wanted out, and I didn't have a loan on it so I got a big paycheck when I sold it. I've got 4 kids, so the bigger body of Tige works well. The star was a little crowded. During the time this summer that I didn't have a boat I got to try Red Rock cable park in St. George for the first time. Really changed my perspective on ridding. I took some pulls behind some really crappy boats (beggars can't be choosers) and some nice ones. (Thanks Josh) As long as I'm on the water I'm happy. There's fun to be had even if you're behind a waverunner.
Old     (tyler97217)      Join Date: Aug 2004       12-27-2012, 2:56 PM Reply   
Did the boat make it? and...........
Old     (SkySki)      Join Date: Feb 2010       01-03-2013, 6:12 PM Reply   
Did this boat ever arrive?
Old     (tyler97217)      Join Date: Aug 2004       01-04-2013, 8:57 AM Reply   
Here is his update.... http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=796514
Old     (cbarguy1)      Join Date: Dec 2012       01-07-2013, 8:10 AM Reply   
I bought my current 2008 xstar sight unseen from a dealer. It was a low hours boat that the first owner purchased from the same dealer so there was history. I had the dealer take pictures and videos. In the end the boat was fine but it was very nerve wracking and I wouldn't do it the same way again. Too risky.

Next time I will hire a third party boat surveyor to inspect the boat prior to purchase. I may also fly out to view it myself.
Old     (boardman74)      Join Date: Jul 2012       01-07-2013, 8:33 AM Reply   
I totally agree. Thats how I would do it. I would have a hard time trusting a dealer as they have something to gain. NO WAY I would consider trusting a private party. Its risky enough doing it in person. To many shady sellers out there.

Reply
Share 

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 7:27 PM.

Home   Articles   Pics/Video   Gear   Wake 101   Events   Community   Forums   Classifieds   Contests   Shop   Search
Wake World Home

 

© 2019 eWake, Inc.    
Advertise    |    Contact    |    Terms of Use    |    Privacy Policy    |    Report Abuse    |    Conduct    |    About Us