Carver Owners Forum

Unfortunately I think that every boat purchase is emotional. Like jcoll said you fall in love with the boat and emotion overrules what some would call your common sense. In my boating career I have owned 10 boats. 6 were purchased new the other 4 used. I had to walk away from a few. It was hard because I did like a couple of those boats a lot. When you fall in love with a boat it is difficult to walk away but some times walk away one must do.

What I see in the pictures posted here scares me and just base on the pics I would walk away. Maybe in real life it don't look that bad. Once again I have no saltwater boat experience. All of my boats new and used were freshwater boats. Freshwater is a lot easier on boats than saltwater is.

All I can say to the OP is take the emotion out of the equation and make a decision based on the positives and negatives.

Thank you all for the advice. That's what I figured you would say, and I agree, no reason to spend any money surveying this one. I talked to the seller, and told them I would have to pass. I guess at the right price I would consider it, but $65,000 isn't the right price for me.

Thanks guys!

You know what is interesting about this....had the owner paid someone to do a clean up down there , there might be a different opinion, cause the rest of the boat looks ok.......looks like some newer hoses, and in the one pic you can see the spare shaft seal...personally I would rather see a boat like that, then you know what you are in for.......good luck on your continuing search.

I am in agreement with several of the above owners! Don't walk,..run! There is enough corrosion in your pics to cause serious concern. What about the areas where you can't get pics due to limited access? This boat is going to be someone's renovation project. Would not even invest in a survey. I was on a search for a boat from last Aug, till April. There are so many nice freshwater boats out there, but it takes time. Be really careful because there are a lot of hurricane boats out there also. A survey is always a good thing, but wait till you get seriously interested in something. If you find anything in Wisconsin, let me know. I will go take a look at it and save you some travel. I live in Green Bay, WI. USA

Cooler By The Lake!

Looking at the situation you most likely did the right thing by walking away. Just to clarify my stance obviously you would only pay for a survey on a boat once you get serious enough to consider an offer. You can't survey or would want to survey every boat you look at. That would get expensive.

Good luck in your continuing search. There is a boat out there for you just waiting for you to find it.

Run away! I have a 22 year old Carver 355 that has been in salt and brackish water. It is spotless and Bristol down below. I have all the maintenance receipts and major repair receipts. You might get a good deal on the purchase price, but you will pay many times over for maintenance.