Looking at a 1987 Carver, need help!

[Locqlynn]

First off thank you for taking the time to helping a person 100% clueless.

My wife and I have been talking about house boats for some time. Today we toured a very nice and well kept 1987 4207 aft cabin and we are in love. She’s wanting 90k for the boat.




I went to a few sites and the 90k seemed over priced. Before I go to the bank I was wanting some opinions.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for responding. I’m very much out of my element here.

[buster53]

Go to yachtworld.com and search for other late 80’s, 4207’s and compare to see if the price falls in line. The 4207 is a nice boat, but definitely needs diesels if you plan on doing much cruising with it. With gas, it will be a fuel hungry slow dog. I used to have a 3807 with gas and we always ran it at hull speed, about 8 mph, because it used so much fuel.

Just because the asking price is $90k, offer what you think is fair and are willing to pay. She will either accept, reject or counter. My guess, it will be a counter.

[Viper]

Welcome aboard. Certainly do your homework re current values but I wouldn't put in any offer until you get a proper survey first. It might reveal things that can help to negotiate a lower price. You'll need the survey for insurance anyway.

Good luck, I hope everything works out, and keep us posted.

[waybomb]

Welcome aboard. If it's gas, yes, overpriced.
Had a 89 4207 with gas engines. I hope you are on a small lake, not a great lake or the ocean. You will not like it with gas engines.

[Locqlynn]

Awesome, you guys have taught me so much. I’m going to reread all the info you have on this site. Can you explain to me how gas vs Diesel engines differ. In cost, mpg, and maintenance etc

[waybomb]

Gas 454 or even 502 will only give you around 350 hp and maybe 300 lb ft of torque.
Diesels provide much more torque and swing much bigger props.
The cat 3208 were marginally better than the gas engines.
But were better.
I drove a 4207 with 500hp cats. The boat was a dream to drive, had the torque needed to get that puppy out if it's own way. I would not hesitate to that take that boat out in almost any weather.

[km1125]

Diesels would definitely command a higher price, but still may not justify $90K for that boat. It might, but for that vintage it would have to be pristine and have a lot of updates (recent electronics being one big one). Hard to give an exact number, but diesels might buy a $20K premium over the same boat with gas in this chunk of the market.

Diesels would be about 30% more efficient than gas in a MPG measurement. Part of that is just due to the fact that a gallon of diesel has a higher BTU content than a gallon of gasoline. The other advantage is that a diesel cycle is a bit more efficient than gas at using the heat of combustion better at sending it to the crankshaft. One easy way to see this is in the spark timing on a gas engine. The gas actually starts burning WELL BEFORE the piston even gets to the beginning of the power stroke and all that heat is WASTED. Diesels inject slightly before the power stroke starts, but don't actually start burning until the beginning of the power stroke, so all the heat from combustion goes towards pushing that piston down.

Diesels also benefit from the lower RPM, which allows more of the fuel to burn INSIDE the cylinder while doing work, while a gas engine (at its higher RPM) sends a lot of those hot gases out the exhaust because there isn't enough time to completely burn inside the cylinder.

You won't actually get a 30% lower fuel bill though, because diesel is currently more expensive than gas on a gallon-for-gallon basis. No real good reason for that, as it actually takes LESS refining even for low-sulfur diesel than it does for gasoline. The pricing is just the "market at work".

[Locqlynn]

Thank you, I've been reading about that on, https://www.galleonmarine.com/--diesel- ... comparison
Thanks for your detailed lesson on it.

If everything is in good working order, would 80k be more of a fair deal?

[buster53]

Welcome aboard. Certainly do your homework re current values but I wouldn't put in any offer until you get a proper survey first. It might reveal things that can help to negotiate a lower price. You'll need the survey for insurance anyway.

Boat selling doesn’t work that way. If it is being sold through a broker, absolutely no survey or sea trial will be allowed before a written contract signed by both parties. If the boat is being sold directly by the seller, he/she might allow it, but not likely.

[Viper]

Source of the post .....If it is being sold through a broker, absolutely no survey or sea trial will be allowed before a written contract signed by both parties. If the boat is being sold directly by the seller, he/she might allow it, but not likely.

It doesn't always work that way, at least not up here but I get what you're saying. A typical contract though will include conditions that it's a successful sea trial and that the survey come back with no major concerns. The presence of negative findings on either is when you'd use the results to revisit the offer and negotiate a fairer price. Many a contract has been nullified/broken as a result of negative findings after the fact. I'm sure every broker has dozens of examples where contracts fell through because of bad sea trials, bad surveys, rejected financing, etc.