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Would you buy this boat with all these problems? First time boat


jazzdu

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Hi all, apologies for the duplicate post however can't seem to find a way to delete the other post

 

So i am buying my first boat, a sea ambassador 285. Was listed as having no problems, paid a £1000 deposit to the broker to secure it for me and had a basic survey carried out to check things over. The survey was completed and a whole page of problems where shown to me. The boat broker has assured me an old boat like this will have some problems etc and seems to be down playing it, however some seems to be fairly severe problems. At the moment to broker is requesting a quote from a repair shop to see how much the repairs will cost and to see how low the seller will drop the price. I'll list the problems below, i would really appreciate it if anyone with experience in repairs/ boat maintenance could let me know just how bad these problems are and if i should either leave the sale or go ahead if they're fairly simple repairs.

 

 

port engine

oil seal leaking

plug cap split

excessing cranking of power steering hose

weeping cow horn

voltage gauge non op

fan belt loose

leak from camshaft or rocker box

corrosion to sump

shift cable needs adjusting

trim tabs wont power up

both engine seacocks stuck open

 

starboard engine

STBD engine very hard to start, cuts out and misfires

primer bulbs need to be removed both engines

possible carburettor needs cleaning

possible air leak in fuel system

batteries low on bank

 

accessories

bilge pump non op

heater non op

water tank faulty gauge

VHF won;t call up

faulty compass

faulty radio

toilet faulty/ not pumping water

gas pipe needs replacing

alround white light no op and top stern light non op

some cabin lights non op

 

So what's the verdict? sounds like a bit of a mess to me. 

 

Thanks in advance 

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To have it listed as having 'no problems' when some of these should be pretty obvious to anyone with at least one eye sounds shady at best. That's quite a list, and you can guarantee once you bought it it will only get longer. 

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Some of those are not terribly serious and probably not too hard or costly to fix. Thing is though that it adds up to a boat where the owner has not fixed things when they go wrong. Seacocks stuck open? that to me means an inexperienced or careless owner who just steps off the boat in the autumn without turning stuff off and walks away. Personally I would hesitate to have anything to do with petrol on a boat, petrol engine boats have a poor safety record. I think you could well find that an in depth survey would throw up a lot more problems. Boats can be expensive and just as an example I have a flexible coupling in the propeller shaft that has developed a bit of a rattle. Its a 'Python drive' A surveyor would only find that if he took the boat out for a longish trip. The book price to replace the rattly bit is about £500. That is what a boatyard would charge, plus fitting. That is half your deposit so you just may be risking big bills with this boat and if you do perhaps lose your deposit it might not be too awful. (incidentally don't worry about my big bill with the coupling, I can replace to iffy constant velocity joint for less than £50)

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Thanks for the replies everyone. Just wanted a few opinions as i was most likely going to pass on the sale, but was unsure on how serious all those problems might be and wanted to see if the problems where serious enough so that i could withdraw from the sale and get a refund on the deposit. There won't be a problem with getting a refund under these circumstances?

 

Thanks

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Many years ago Bought a Reliant Robin with faults like that, did a 150 mile trip in it and gave it away to the barman at the hotel I stayed at. Caught train home. 

Lesson learnt has (almost) stood me in good stead ever since, lessons cost. Didn't have your good sense to ask the questions before hand. 

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2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Don't buy petrol engine boat.

The rest of the problems pale into insignificance.

 

Seconded.

 

Or better, if lists of problems like this trouble you, don't buy a boat at all..!

 

Hope that helps....

 

 

 

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Being an electromechanical engineer none of the items on the list cause me concern. Given time I could 'fix' them if I could get the appropriate spare parts - and being retired with a well equipped workshop and working for myself a no charge - it could be a bargain - and a valuable boat when finished.

 

If you can do this yourself, then it might be a bargain for you.

 

But since you ask the question I guess you are not able to do this yourself - then you are heading for paying someone else a lot of money for an unknown amount of time to carry out repairs for you.

 

As others have said -  don't buy it.

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3 hours ago, jazzdu said:

There won't be a problem with getting a refund under these circumstances?

 

Thanks

 

You're asking about the refund of your deposit? I would have thought that would be returned if you withdraw from the purchase, but there may have been specific conditions or an agreement made between you, the broker and the vendor of which we are unaware. What were the conditions under which you handed over the deposit?

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7 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

You're asking about the refund of your deposit? I would have thought that would be returned if you withdraw from the purchase, but there may have been specific conditions or an agreement made between you, the broker and the vendor of which we are unaware. What were the conditions under which you handed over the deposit?

Normal BMF/IWA conditions of sale are 5% of the agreed price in repairs.  I would argue that is easily exceeded by the list the OP posted on this boat.  No basic maintenance has been done on this particular boat, so I would worry about all the other bits too. 

 

As Alan has said, it's a twin petrol ...  I wouldn't have looked at it, never mind paid for a basic survey!

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There are plenty of petrol engined boats where I keep my boat. Those small river boats with small engines  may be well used. However those with twin engines generally remain in the marina.

Most of them change hands quite often as the owners realise the limitations of running on petrol. Not only the cost of fuel but also the limitations on cruising range usually being associated with the scarcity of refuelling facilities at the waterside .

 

The items listed are going to be costly if you cant do it yourself.   Obtaining parts like a sump or a carburettor may prove challenging.

 

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3 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Ambassador 285 (Not an ideal canal boat)

 

Image result for ambassador 285.

Quite frankly, if anyone who knows nowt about boats is buying one of these as a first go at boating, it's best if it does have enough snags to stop them ever taking it to sea!

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3 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Ambassador 285 (Not an ideal canal boat)

 

Image result for ambassador 285.

Agreed.

But would be at home on the R.Trent for example.

 

 

 

Just now, Sea Dog said:

Quite frankly, if anyone who knows nowt about boats is buying one of these as a first go at boating, it's best if it does have enough snags to stop them ever taking it to sea!

A lot of people buy a first boat bigger than that.

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27 minutes ago, MartynG said:

Agreed.

But would be at home on the R.Trent for example.

 

 

 

Yup - but as far as I know there is only Farndon that sells petrol (unless you detour down the Fossditch)

 

I am running on one engine most of the time (which doesn't help with steering) to try and keep the speed down.

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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