How to buy a BOAT – To buy USED or To buy NEW?
If my budget is less than $10K for a used boat, and we want a bay or flat bottom boat, how old should I go to and what brands are the safest to deal with? I am thinking 2003 and have been looking at Carolina Skiff models 19 foot DLX for 11 people max. I do not want to go out in the ocean with this boat and there is a lot of shallow water in Wilmington NC area so something like this would be perfect. I’m worried that the used motors are going to bite me on this deal. What motors are best Suzuki 90 4 stroke, Yamaha, Johnson, ??? If I do compression check then what is a good number for this on each cylinder? Is 300 hours a lot of time for a motor? Is it bad for the boat to dtay i nthe water and only come out once per year for cleaning? If I can buy a 2009 Skif for $16K and a 2003 Skiff for $10K which should I choose if it is apples to apples compared?