New member! Buying a Moomba! Need advice please!

[CookieMonster]

I'll throw in my .02 since I just bought my first inboard just over a month ago. I looked on craigslist and boat trader for a good 4-5 months to find a decent deal. I found an 05 Mobius LSV 8 hours away from my house for $25k with about 300hrs. Overall good condition, ie. no stress cracks, good gel coat, seats in good condition. The previous owner had just put about $5k-6k in WetSounds and they paid $25k for the boat a year ago. I got a check from my bank for the their payoff ($21,400) and brought $3500 in cash. When I test drove the boat it would struggle past 4,000rpm. I pretty much figured it was a bad fuel filter and they hadn't winterized it. I used that to negotiate them down to just the payoff amount; just told them it could be a compression problem and didn't know what it would cost to fix. It's hard from someone to turn down a check for what they owe on something. I think I ended up with a decent deal, wish I would've gotten an 06 or newer for the new hull design, but I didn't know about that at the time. Just don't be too quick to jump on something that isn't a good deal or exactly what you want.

[trayson]

You can replace carpet with hydroturf for under $300. Get the right hull and do whatever you need to so it's right for you.

Dammit. I'm agreeing with everything Kane's saying on this thread. What the heck is the world coming to?!?!

[parrothd]

I'd skip the ones you have listed and check out the LSV in the classified, much better boat..

[parrothd]

And always pay for a marina to inspect with a water test, should be under $200, well worth it. Then ship is uship..

[996scott]

Get the LSV, you wont regret it and it looks to be a very clean boat with a lot of great upgrades.