BlueRanger1 thats a good deal I'd think ........ again, thanks for the input guys.

buster do you no tlike mercury anyway the omc is a division o fjohnson, they were alrigth back tehn but not hte best and i would say 2500 tops with the motors age and gas milage

Will the owner take you out for a thorough test ride? If so, go over every detail and keep a list. Check the oil level before you start out and check it after a day on the water. Is this the original owner? Has it always been garage kept? Does he have maintenance records?Look it over good before handing over your money.
Good luck. From the photos it looks like a nice rig.

I looked the boat over on Saturday. Here is what I observed (scale of 1-10)

gel coat / clear coat 9.5
hull 9.5
carpeting 8
upholstery 5
electronics/trolling motor 8/9 assuming they all work (he said they did)
visibily the motor was an 8/9 - looked to be in excellent condition
trailer - 8.5
tires 9
cover 9


The story is the boat was bought new in 1982, and the orig owner had a custom trailer built for it, and a custom cover. Jim bought it in 1985 and he put a funky self adjusting prop on it to aid in coming out of the hole, and he built a custom ski rack to pull his kids behind. Always garage kept, never pulled up on the bank .... the boat has been big time babied. He winterized it every year, and he takes immaculate care of his things.

I have an 87' ranger 375v i/o and it's been a great boat. it came out with a 4.3L and it runs great and easy to maintain. I have put a chevy 350 motor in it this summer and it will fly.

$3500 at most