ADVICE - Considering Buying a Used Carver

[Browner]

Hello, I am considering buying a used 1988 Carver Montego 2757 for my family of four, and am going to look at it tomorrow. So, before I become part of the Carver family, I was wondering if anyone had some advice and/or tips for me? Are there any common potential issues I should look for on this boat? Anything in particular that I should examine closely? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank You!

[tomschauer]

Hello, I had a 1988 2757 for about 10 years. I loved the boat. You won't find a bigger 27 foot boat.
A couple things to look for is this boat has wood stringers and transom. Have them checked for moisture and /or rot. I had to replace two of the engine mount stringers in 2000. Also, if it has the 3.7 liter mercury motors parts are getting hard to come by and expensive. Mine had the 190hp 3.7s. It ran well, but when heavily loaded would be slow to plane. Once on plane, no problem.
Had I kept the boat I would have repowered with 4.3s but I sold it when the second motor bit the dust.
Otherwise I had no problems and really liked it.

Thanks
Tom

[Browner]

Hello, I had a 1988 2757 for about 10 years. I loved the boat. You won't find a bigger 27 foot boat.
A couple things to look for is this boat has wood stringers and transom. Have them checked for moisture and /or rot. I had to replace two of the engine mount stringers in 2000. Also, if it has the 3.7 liter mercury motors parts are getting hard to come by and expensive. Mine had the 190hp 3.7s. It ran well, but when heavily loaded would be slow to plane. Once on plane, no problem.
Had I kept the boat I would have repowered with 4.3s but I sold it when the second motor bit the dust.
Otherwise I had no problems and really liked it.

Thanks
Tom

Thank you so much for the advice. I'll definitely check the stringers & transom as you suggested. The one I'm looking at also has the 3.7s, as well.

[waybomb]

Ask around, find a well recommended surveyor, and pay to have it surveyed.

[Browner]

Yeah, not a bad idea. I'm sure it's well worth the money to avoid any surprises.

[RuffLife]

We looked at the same boat before buying our first boat, a Sea Ray 270.

The boat was immaculate and the seller had owned it 14 years and had all maintenance records. We thought we were going to buy one of those rare older boats that was pampered and would last us many years. The surveyor started inside the cabin then checked the hull and everything was pristine. We got into the engine compartment and I heard my first thud. Its that awful sound the little hammer makes when it encounters rot/delamination. The stringers were rotted just over 1/3 of the way up and nearly the entire center of the transom as well. He figured it was a poorly installed transducer, possibly the bellows allowing some water intrusion as well.

That survey saved us from buying a boat that looked impeccable but would have needed very expensive repairs. Worst part was that I had to break the news to the owner of the boat that he had some significant rot.

[Browner]

Good story. I guess it's easy to look at a boat, talk to the owner, and feel certain we're getting a good deal. Like with your story, the owner wasn't even aware of it. You've definitely convinced me to get my next boat surveyed. What is a reasonable price I can expect to pay for a surveyor?

[waybomb]

I paid a surveyor somewhere around 350 bucks to do our 3697.
He drove in from Grand Rapids, was there with me for about 5-6 hours, drove all the way back, and wrote a very detailed report.

He probably could have been done sooner, but I was asking him all sorts of questions on his experiences and other non-my-survey stuff.

[Browner]

Source of the post I paid a surveyor somewhere around 350 bucks to do our 3697.
He drove in from Grand Rapids, was there with me for about 5-6 hours, drove all the way back, and wrote a very detailed report.

He probably could have been done sooner, but I was asking him all sorts of questions on his experiences and other non-my-survey stuff.

So, a good point to remember is that if I talk his ear of I'm paying him to listen?

[tomschauer]

Most surveyors charge by the foot. In my area its $22-25 per foot for full pre purchase survey and valuation. Ask all the questions you can think of!