Buying school boats - good or bad?

(ccwhite) · (ccwhite) **Join Date: Jul 2004** 03-13-2007, 6:43 AM

Im buying a boat this year and my local dealer offered me a deal on a boat that was just traded in by a local board school. 450hrs on an 06 model.

What do people think, is the fact that these boats put on so many hours in a single year a bad thing? Or is it negated by the fact that these are all normally very well taken care of and serviced (or are they?)? Should these boats be vastly reduced in price or will NADA be an accurate pricing for them?

(byrd) · (byrd) **Join Date: Dec 2005** 03-13-2007, 7:07 AM

You can save a lot of money on those boats, make sure you check it out well, and see what warranty is offered, and you should be fine. IMO, it should come in less than NADA. If not, you should buy a used one a year old boat with 100 hrs on it for the same price.

(ccwhite) · (ccwhite) **Join Date: Jul 2004** 03-13-2007, 7:09 AM

The dealer offers a full warranty and I have asked for a maintainence history

(taylormade) · (taylormade) **Join Date: Jun 2001** 03-13-2007, 7:10 AM

If you search the forums here, you'll see that this question has been asked a few times in the past. People are about 60/40 against it in most cases. I happen to be on the 60% side.

I think if you find the right school, that has really taken care of the boat very well, then you'll be all right. Travis may chime in here. I hear he is meticulous with his boats and certainly feel like he'd be a good guy to buy from.

I personally think of a school boat like a rental car, which I'd never buy.

(byrd) · (byrd) **Join Date: Dec 2005** 03-13-2007, 7:12 AM

If the dealer is offering a full warranty, like what I got on mine, it should be a no brainer if the $$ is right...

(sinkoumn) · (sinkoumn) **Join Date: Jan 2007** 03-13-2007, 7:17 AM

I've worked directly with a school wake team and watched how they took care of the boat, from that I'd never buy a boat from a college ski team...but if it has the full warranty I don't see why not.

(ai_rider) · (ai_rider) **Join Date: Apr 2006** 03-13-2007, 7:47 AM

From my experience, I also have seen first hand how poorly the school boat was taken care of. They have been instructed on what should be done to take care of it, and occasionally they do. For the most part, they simply spray it down with a hose and call it a day, if that. The boat is run in primarily brackish water, and occasionally saltwater bays and they rarely would flush the motor or do anything to protect the inside materials. Also little things that drive me nuts like people wearing shoes on the vinyl and such. One of the club members made a comment that it was not their money, and that they would trade it in before most of the major problems would show, so why should they worry.

Again, this is just from my personal experience. I am sure there are plenty of school teams/clubs that take great care of their boat. Again, a full warranty would be the key if the $$$ is right.

(wakeshoe) · (wakeshoe) **Join Date: Jun 2004** 03-13-2007, 9:54 AM

Chris,
The good news about this boat is that it was dealer maintained (because it was provided to the person for the dual puprose of his school and as a demo boat for the dealer. As such, the dealer maintained the boat for nothing and it was in their best interest to have it maintained perfectly. Second good thing is that you will already have the wake dialed in at the best it could possibly get (i.e., they can tell you precisely where and how much weight to put in on the ballast and also the wakeplate adjustment. Hopefully they are offering a smokin' deal.