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[Json]

Been keep my eyes open for a good deal on a boat for a few months now and finally found a 2004 NITRO 640LX for 6000. From what I've seen this is a good deal. It is from a local dealer who usually sells auto. He has had it for 8500 since last year, recently came down to 7500, and then 6000 after I talked to him. Said I can take it to the lake Sunday and try it out.
 Problem is I really don't know the first thing about boats. What should I look for? It has a good scrape on the front but, is that really something I should be worried about? I feel pretty confident I'm going to buy this boat I just need a heads up. Oh, engine is a 60 HP MERCURY TRACKER. Overall the appearance looks pretty clean. Some wear and tear but, nothing major as far as I could tell.

[Json]

Oh, one thing to add. I know I will need to order a boat cover so any tips on picking out the right one(been looking at them not sure what style the boat is) would be greatly appreciated.

[Ron Fogelson]

Before you do anything get the value from NADA and have the motor checked by anyone you trust other than the car dealer.

a few of the main things to look for IMHO is to bounce the motor and check for any movement on the transom, look under the boat for cracks or exposed fiberglass.  Open all the boxes looking for standing water, cracks or pealing fiberglass.  Make sure all the switches work, lights work, live wells work and hold water so you know what you need to fix on top of the price you all agree on.

You said there is a good scrape on the front?  if there is exposed fiberglass that could be a big issue depending on how much if any has made it's way in to the rest of the fiberglass in and around the scrape.

As far as a cover all depends on what you need it for.  If you are going to keep it covered while parked most anyone from Wal-Mart or BPS will be fine but you will need to open it up a good bit to make sure it doesn't start to mold under it in the heat.  If you want one to travle with they are going to run a lot more$$$$$.

Good Luck,,,, two things to keep in mind is that the bests days to own a boat are the day you buy it and the day you sell it,,,, the 2nd thing is BOAT stands for Break Out Another Thousand.

See You On the Water
Fogy

[Json]

Thank you very much for all the good information. Trying to find someone to help my check out the motor but so far none of my friends or co workers know much about them. I may have to educate myself real quick and go from there. I was worried about the scrape on the front but I rubbed it with my hands and it doesn't seem to peel or get any worse. Going to try calling a local shop that does repairs and see what they say about it. Doesn't look like it would be simply to fix. Again thanks for the advice I will continue to post updates so others can hopefully learn from my experience. I'm sure I'm not the only guy that decides to buy a boat and knows nothing about them.

[Ron Fogelson]

I'm sure I'm not the only guy that decides to buy a boat and knows nothing about them.

No you are not we all started in the same place 

Contact a local marine mechanic / repair shop and tell them you are looking at buying a used boat and would like them to check the motor.  They should do compression checks on each cylinder, drain the oil in the lower unit to check for filings and hook it to the computer to see if there are any faults.

[Json]

Yup waiting on a mechanic to call me back right now 

[Json]

 So I took the boat out for a test run. It was rough to start the first time(found out afterwards the gas had been in there for 1 1/2 years). It ran great and all the pumps worked. The interior of the boat and engine looked great. Batteries and cabling looked new still. I think the previous owner took really good care of it it's just the year it spent sitting in the back of an auto lot that hurt it. I took the boat to the only local marine mechanic. He told me there was no reason to do any test. I was a bit frustrated with him but after a 20 min conversation I could tell I wasn't going to get any work out of him and left. I did purchase the boat. I got it for 1200 under what my bank valued it at. It turned out to be a lot of fun we caught a lot of sand bass the first day out. It still sound rough at idle and is more difficult to start than I like but, until I find a good mechanic who knows whats wrong with it.

[Json]

So far loving the boat. Catching more fish and having more fun. Trolling motor stopped working last trip. Linked the problem to the battery. Simple fix is always good

[Mike Cork]

Sounds like you've made a great investment.

The rough starting of the motor could very well be the fuel. Go to your local marine dealer, Academy Sports, or a BPS and get some Mercury Fuel Additive. You're going to need two. One to stabilize the fuel and clean up the tank, and then another that you add every time you fuel up.

Mercury has different names for them but they make it easy each bottle will have a large number on it. 1 -2 -3 the third one is for storage, if you put the boat up for the winter you'll want to use it.

If you don't want to use the Mercury products there are a bunch of other ones on the market now. I personally use the Mercury additives and have had great success.

They should clean up your hard starting and any roughness at idle. A set of plugs may not hurt either since it's been sitting a while.