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Considering purchase. Experts opinions please ?


Marco_mark

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I would also check that the boat isn't the subject of any pending S8 or other actions.

The boat has been in that area for at least the last 4 years to my knowledge.

It may not be good to bag a seeming bargain and get it towed away by CRT before you manage to move it (...to Paddington...)

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From the advert:

 

"I am selling my beautiful highly spacious narrowboat Simla"

 

"The cheap price is for three reasons:"

 

 

One look at the photo suggests this seller is living in cloud cuckoo land.

 

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder but to me it look both a mess and priced at top money. I'm sure you can do a whole load better than this with a modicum of searching the market.

 

 

MtB

I agree, when I looked at the advert I thought "I've seen dozens of better boats for that money".

 

Apart from anything else, it just hasn't been looked after, £10's worth of polish and a couple of hour's moderately easy work once a year and that paintwork would look 100x better. If they couldn't be bothered to do that, how likely are they likely to have changed the gearbox oil, had the blacking done etc?

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Marco - you will have gathered by now that it is a complete non starter. Most boats look quite tidy in digital photos, this one looks dreadful, I shudder to think what she looks like in the flesh.

 

If the appeal of the boat is that it's local, I think you have to rethink your boat buying strategy. To buy a good boat you need lots of time, a car, lots of petrol money and a high disappointment threshold. Don't go raising your hopes and thinking the best about grotty boats within walking distance.

 

You could be very lucky of course, but there are so many stories on this forum of folk who have bought a bargain, their dream boat, only to find after a few weeks what they have let themselves in for.

 

But we do like to spend other peoples money on here so keep the suggestions coming!

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Here, for example, is a FAR tidier boat for the same price.

 

$_57.JPG

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mydian-57ft-traditional-stern-narrowboat-/181581449844?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2a47190a74

 

And not only that, it's for sale at Norbury Wharf who not noted for selling boats cheaper than necessary!

 

I also note the Gumtree boat has no photos of the inside, always a sign that the interior is a disaster area. If it was good, the seller would have put photos up.

 

 

MtB

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Here, for example, is a FAR tidier boat for the same price.

 

And not only that, it's for sale at Norbury Wharf who not noted for selling boats cheaper than necessary!

 

 

Mike, I have moved two boats from Norbury in the last two years that have needed serious time and effort to get them to end locations, look at my posts from last december, pre christmas for one.

The boat had a single coat of blacking and was put back in water same day. When I picked it up from Penkridge, the blacking was coming off in sheets underwater. I had to strip the thermostat out and replace hoses, along with other works, just to get it South, the owners are still finding problems now, which were supposedly put right on purchase.

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Here, for example, is a FAR tidier boat for the same price.

 

$_57.JPG

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mydian-57ft-traditional-stern-narrowboat-/181581449844?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2a47190a74

 

And not only that, it's for sale at Norbury Wharf who not noted for selling boats cheaper than necessary!

 

I also note the Gumtree boat has no photos of the inside, always a sign that the interior is a disaster area. If it was good, the seller would have put photos up.

 

 

MtB

I disagree. That boat doesn't look much more appealing to me. At least the gumtree boat has a 2kw honda genny thrown in.

 

Norbury always seem to me to be a depository for tired boats that the owners have got sick and tired of. I'm told Simon is a personable bloke who knows his stuff, but the one time I made enquiries about a boat the guy I spoke to was breathtakingly unhelpful.

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I disagree. That boat doesn't look much more appealing to me. At least the gumtree boat has a 2kw honda genny thrown in.

 

Norbury always seem to me to be a depository for tired boats that the owners have got sick and tired of. I'm told Simon is a personable bloke who knows his stuff, but the one time I made enquiries about a boat the guy I spoke to was breathtakingly unhelpful.

 

Maybe he had sussed out (or decided) that you weren't actually in the market to buy a boat!

 

I agree with your description of the stock there, but my suggestion still looks a better buy to me that that rusty heap on Gumtree.

 

 

MtB

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Maybe he had sussed out (or decided) that you weren't actually in the market to buy a boat!

 

I agree with your description of the stock there, but my suggestion still looks a better buy to me that that rusty heap on Gumtree.

 

 

MtB

Actually Mike, nothing could be further from the truth.

 

Last year I had a number of exasperating "conversations" with brokers all over the country which went along the lines of look, I am not a tyre kicker, I am going to buy a boat and I have the money and I am very interested in "dogz bollox" (or whatever the boat was unfortunately named) but it isn't my first boat I do know a bit about them and bearing in mind I live 400 miles away do you mind if I ask you a few questions?

 

On the odd occasion I would get someone who at least had the gumption to get the boat details out of the drawer, but quite often it was we'll look into that and ring you back which of course they never did, or more usually, "you really need to come and have a look for yourself", which was pretty much all I got out of the guy at Norbury.

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Maybe he had sussed out (or decided) that you weren't actually in the market to buy a boat!

 

I agree with your description of the stock there, but my suggestion still looks a better buy to me that that rusty heap on Gumtree.

 

 

MtB

speak for yourself. I'd rather haggle on a down at heel boat docked three years ago than buy a knackered boat that's had the paint polished and little else. The reality is it's impossible to call between these boats from a couple of dodgy pictures on the net.

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speak for yourself. I'd rather haggle on a down at heel boat docked three years ago than buy a knackered boat that's had the paint polished and little else. The reality is it's impossible to call between these boats from a couple of dodgy pictures on the net.

We know that!

 

But where would this forum be if we stopped having arguments about the hypothetical?

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speak for yourself. I'd rather haggle on a down at heel boat docked three years ago than buy a knackered boat that's had the paint polished and little else. The reality is it's impossible to call between these boats from a couple of dodgy pictures on the net.

I agree it's what Is known as an honest motor/boat in as much as there has been know attempt to hide anything about it, you know what your getting, if there desperate as they say, there could be a bargain to be had, just tread carefully as others have said check there is nothing outstanding and make a really cheeky offer
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Here, for example, is a FAR tidier boat for the same price.

 

 

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mydian-57ft-traditional-stern-narrowboat-/181581449844?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2a47190a74

 

And not only that, it's for sale at Norbury Wharf who not noted for selling boats cheaper than necessary!

 

I also note the Gumtree boat has no photos of the inside, always a sign that the interior is a disaster area. If it was good, the seller would have put photos up.

 

 

MtB

 

The Gumtree ad has interior photos. You just need to click the arrows on the first photo to see the interior ones.

 

The interior is just as ugly as the exterior, maybe even more so. One big concern is that the wiring is outside the walls. I suppose you could put it in wiremold, but that is still going to detract from the value of the boat no matter how much time and money you put into it.

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