boats someone should buy

Hey IFL , I tried to get some more info on the 1st Striper listed on three different occasions. I emailed I phoned. Then a salesman told me the boat "was not really available at this time" but we have some other lovely ones if you would like to come and have a look.
Either the boat is long sold or never really existed in the first place. The old too good to be true.
 
Hey IFL , I tried to get some more info on the 1st Striper listed on three different occasions. I emailed I phoned. Then a salesman told me the boat "was not really available at this time" but we have some other lovely ones if you would like to come and have a look.
Either the boat is long sold or never really existed in the first place. The old too good to be true.
 
Hi Beemer

Thanks for reporting your experience. I find there's always 1 or 2 that are way below market value on those iBoats.com listings ... that explains it, same thing for cars.

Here's another good deal possibly:
http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/boa/1974846378.html

However, been on craigslist for 2 weeks, so probably already gone.
 
My builder just got a boat out of Idaho this is probably realistic and I guess indicative. 26/6 Robalo (2002) twin 225 merc opti max-with 140 hours on each-dealer certified and serviced-Has some electronics but nothing spectacular-self dropping anchor and puller-aluminum I-beam trailer(3 years old)with surge brakes ( I believe illegal in BC) he says Canada tire certified so I didn't get into a spitting contest. It's also 9' beam but nobody said anything about that either. He paid 28,800 in Idaho covered it with insurance-1200 to ship with U-ship to Belligham- Gas and Ferry down and back, 3 days storage in Bellingham. GST and PST plus trailer inspection which seems to have been a formality. All in all 35000 plus a few days of his time. He still has to equip it for fishing. He has been out in it twice and seems happy (not a Guide)so twin 225's will be expensive to service and run and of course no warrenty. Probably a good deal-if you are a Merc fan-just thought I would throw this on as an example of a boat I have seen and know the very recent details of.I can't comment on whether a good deal or not-I wouldn't have wanted it because of operating expenses but is in nice looking shape!

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"So many fish-So little Time"
 
I thought it could be time to mention being cautious. One does not want to get burned on late model low hours, cheep boats from the US if they turn out to be what are sometimes referred to as Katrina boats. Boast that have been beat up and or sunk for a few weeks because of Hurricanes/major storms in the southern USA. There are those who buy the wrecks for next to nothing, fix them up a little, clean them up a lot, take the motors apart and get them running, put in new cushions and minimal cheep new wiring so they will at least run and them flip them for a huge profit to someone unsuspecting. Sometimes they are insurance write offs, sometimes not. You can bet there is a high probability you are going to have motor, and wiring/electrical and other problems down the road. A Canadian who is down there for a couple of days, buys it and immediately take it out of country is just perfect for them. You could even be the salvation for some guy who bought it from one of the rebuild specialists and now realizes what he is stuck with.
 
Absolute caution is the key Rockfish-we sometimes can get blinded by the low price. A move of a junker boat across the border is as perfect a solution for a fast buck artist as you could ever want!! Still for a hard and careful shopper there is still good value there if you are willing to take the time and do the work.

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"So many fish-So little Time"
 
There is no doubt that US pricing is lower in most cases than here. In my spare time I'll often track prices on high end products like boats, planes, exotic cars, and real-estate.

In the collapsed US economy, toys go up for sale first. As the situation worsens, prices continually drop. If you have the time to hunt for them and the resources to research things you can find great deals on nearly everything down there.

Re the Bait and Switch, oldest trick in the advertising and sales game there is. Used by box stores and chains everywhere as well as almost every retailer of high ticket items. You really think Future Shop has more than one of those $300 60" flat-screens in each store for the great boxing day sale? Oh, gee the manager's kids just got the last one, but we do have this lovely model over here for only $1000 more!

Whether your buying in Canada or the US the rule of the deal is NOT to fall in love with the item. If you do that the seller has you and you're doomed.

As long as you can walk away from the deal you have all the power in the negotiation.

Extinction is Forever
 
I have to agree, buy in the US. Particularly the East Coast. The prices along the eastern seaboard are way lower than the west coast. I have now imported 2 boats. First from Virginia, second from North Carolina. The reason for lower prices is there are a whole lot more used boats which lowers the price and I also suspect the economy melt down on the east coast has been hitting the boys with toys harder than on the west coast.


I purchased both from dealers, and this made the whole process easy. Best advice I got from another guide who has purchased many more than I is to hire a qualified marine surveyor to inspect the boat. Don't waste your time and money travelling down to look over a boat. Photos should help you to narrow down the good from bad, and as long as you purchase from a reputable dealer and protect yourself with a good survey all should be good. The other advice is you can go online and get boat transport companies to bid on your shipping. The website is called UShip.com. I was afraid of the whole border thing, but I found that as long as you have all your sales contracts, survey to establish fair market value paid, financial records showing the transfer of funds etc. there was no problem and no disputing what I paid for the boat. It took less than 30 minutes to get all the paper done. Biggest issue was getting my trailer registered and insured, and the reason for that was there was no codes for one of the trailers I imported as they had never seen that manufacturer here in BC before, so it took a bit of fiddling to get a code to properly register the trailer.




Searun

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regarding paying the taxes, there have been a few changes that most ICBC brokers should keep up with. When you buy a boat and trailer, we are required to collect PST/GST, now HST on the whole package. when you import a boat, the border people have flip flopped on collecting tax on the boat and/OR the trailer, sometimes one tax, sometimes two. You will be given a form showing what taxes you paid, so that when you come into the ICBC Agent's office, the agent will only collect what was not paid at the border.

Only the inexperienced ICBC agents will get confused, so ensure you bring in all your paperwork.

I have been an advocate of the two receipts, one for boat, one for the trailer for a while. But since the border seems to be collecting both taxes on the boats, it does not really help when importing, but will if you still buy locally, or from another province.
 
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