Buy boat with blistered bottom?

I am debating on whether to drive 3 hours to take a look at a boat with a blistered bottom. See link. Owner has disclosed this fact. This boat was kept in the water during the summers and appears to have caused the blisters. I spoke to a fiberglass specialist that looked at this boat and he said the size of the blisters are small but most of the bottom has them. He said they may go away in 5-7 years if I don't keep the boat in the water all summer long.

I was pretty fired up on this boat but now I am not. I keep my boat in my garage so this blister thing is new to me. What do you guys think? Would you buy a boat with blisters? Boat is on consignment at a boat shop. I am kind of surprised that this happened to a boat so new but again I don't know much about storing boats in the water.

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/boa/2867307117.html

I would run. Why even go down that uncharted road when there are plenty of boats out there. I have no experience with it, but I would not even think about a boat with blisters.

Yeah, that's what I am thinking... run. I asked the owner to take photos and send them to me. I will post when/if I get them. We had tentatively agreed to $26.5K. which is a good deal for a 2007 Sanger V215 with the upgrades it has but now that I found out a little more about the blisters I am thinking twice. Resale will really hurt if I have to sell it too.

I won't do it again. I had a 2001 model ski nautique which had blisters. It came out after a season of laying in the harbor. After examining what the problem was I found out that the hole bottom was sooking wet, stringers where rotten, I had to take the boat apart . Drilled some huge holes in the floor to let the boat dry over the winter in a closed and heated shelter. Laminated new stringers and filled the holes with new foam laminated the floor, new carpeted and so on. finally to make sure I put a 7 layer of special coating (blister barrier) under the boat.

But thats my opinion and my story.

John F- Thans for the info. I have pretty much decided not to look at that V215. The dealer fixed the vinyl but the blisters are a deal killer for me. I also don't like the snap on cover. I could probably deal with it if there were no other issues. I offered 25K but he wouldn't take it. Maybe he will in a few months. Previous owner must have left it in the water for 5-6 months at a time without taking it out to clean or dry out.

I don't believe Sanger will cover the blisters. Technically it's a consmetic issue at this point. Sanger would cover if it was structural. The fiberglass specialist in Fresno who looked at this boat said it would take $4,500 to fix. There's no garauntee that it wouldn't come back.

I think I know the V210 you bought. It was a sweet black one with red flames, right? I spoke to that owner and he mentioned someone was flying out to take a look. Small world. Nice boat.

I made a trip out there from MN in January to look at this boat and a nice clean private party V-210. The Nautique dealer (the guy who is selling the V215 in this thread) told me he had just taken this thing in on trade. He didn't mention the blistering until I pointed it out to him. It's possible he didn't even know about it since it is limited to the bottom of the boat (everything below the waterline) and not terribly obvious unless you are looking for it. In fact, I would say that if you are committed to this price range, this boat may be worth considering over some of your other options. The boat is in decent shape, but wasn't super clean. It had a couple rips in the vinyl, and it had a snap-on cover, which is almost a deal breaker for me. I just can't stand all those snaps screwed into a boat. On the plus side, you could probably take that thing home for around 25k. Without the blisters, it's a 33-35k boat. I also thought it might be worth a call to Sanger to see if that sort of thing is covered by their lifetime hull warranty. I ended up buying the low-time V210 from a guy who obviously took great care of his boat.

Here's a picture I snapped of the boat in question.



Here's my new ride. Does anybody have any ideas on how to mount that bimini to the tower so I can get rid of the straps?

Larry-
Sorry, I had some trouble with my connection and didn't realize my post went through earlier. Yeah, I feel like I got a great deal in the black V210. And you're probably right to run from that V215. Even though it's a great price, I didn't get a really great feeling when I was looking at it. I do believe the blisters are pretty minor, but I would always be thinking about it.

My 2006 215 sits in the water for a couple of months every season and has no blistering. I'd be hesitant if there is a bunch of it. It does not happen on all boats.

John,
My bimini attaches to the tower via one tube from the bimini frame. It screws into a plastic nut fitting mounted to the tower. It's a great way to go and simple enough. I also hate the straps. See the middle tube just over my shoulders.