First boat questions

[BigMinnow]

So a neighbor has his boat up for sale and I've been wanting one for a while now, but I have no clue if its a good buy or even what to look for in a boat. I will tell you a little about it and get some opions on what you think. It's an older boat (84 I think) v-bottom 14 foot, with a 76 9 1/2 hp johnson motor, 40 lb minncotta trolling motor, and a humingbird fish finder. The boat has a deck built on the front for a bass type seat but could be removed, the trailer looks older but is in good shape (could use a little paint). What should I look for and what questions do I need to ask him about it. He had ths same boat up for sale towards the end of last summer but asking alot more for it, should that be sign. Now he is only asking $500 obo is a good deal. Hope you can help.

[Bigby]

Pretty much sounds like my first boat and I paid 700.00 bucks for it with out a fishfinder about 25 years ago, so it sounds like a good deal to me.
The biggest problem on the older boats is leaking around the rivets, I got a bilge pump and a automatic bilge pump switch in the old boat I had because it leaked so much.

[BigMinnow]

I did notice a small pump next to the gas tank, or maybe it was an airator for the minnow bucket?

[gnrboyd]

Put a couple of inches of water IN the boat and crawl under it and see if it leaks.

[Jigging15]

Ask to take it for a test run. That way you will know the motor starts and runs and will also find out about possible leaks. Sounds cheap enough to me even if it needs a little work. I would like to find one similar for fishing the creeks around here.

[OU812]

sounds like a good buy.but the oldr motor mite b a problem if the lower unit goes bad or just so happens 2 hit a rock or tree while in the water...im not sayn its bad just sayn that if some thing does break can you get parts for it ??sounds like a good buy.if it does leak consider it a plus you have a live well.lol

[John Brower]

Take it for a test drive, that may answer a lot of your questions. Be sure and use
everything on the boat, trolling motor etc.

Just a thought
john b.

[kazualobzerver]

if the boat don't leak too bad, if the engine runs ok, and the troller works it seems like a reasonable price to get on the water, a small manual start engine would bring $200-250 by itself if you went to sell it,,,here's the thing to be aware of, considering labor rate only it will take as much for a dealer to work on a small engine as one with a gazillion horsepower, a test run to see if it runs steadily and doesn't overheat would be an extra bit of security

[Dongotto]

When you consider boat, motor, trailer and some extras it would have to be a piece of trash to not be a good buy at $500. All the advice above is good stuff, but I would focus on the trailer and boat. If the boat and trailer are in good working order they alone are worth the money and you can look at the motor as a bonus.

[ScarinDcrappie]

Everything above, plus consider where are you going to fish. ie. small lakes or Truman. You can use it on Truman but i think it would get pretty rough, especially on the weekends, but it would work great for getting around the trees.