Should I buy this boat?

[JoeyW]

Hey so I recently found a Sugar sand tango 4 + 2 Jet boat on Facebook marketplace and I was wondering if this is a good jet boat to buy. The person wants $1000 and the ad says "Nice solid jet boat, engine needs to be reconnected". This would be my first project boat and I was just wondering if this is a good deal. I can send more info if needed.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

Can't help with the technical stuff, but what does "engine need to be reconnected" mean? Does it mean engine needs to be replaced?

I'll just add make sure the trailer is road-worthy or can be easily fixed. I wild guess is that a new trailer is probably around $1500.

Jim

 

[JoeyW]

I was also kind of confused by that but I'm assuming that's just referring to hooking up all the cables, but I will definitely be asking that before buying the boat, And the trailer looks to be in perfect condition but ill inspect it if I go to check it out.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

I'm a pretty skeptical guy, unless the seller can show the engine running, I would assume the engine is toast. My thought is that if it was just hooking up all of the cables, this is something that the seller would do before putting it up for sale.

A "sugar sand tango" search on the forum pulls up some other threads on this model of boat.

Hopefully, someone experienced with the boat will chime in. My guess is that there are not a lot of forum members who have this boat so it may take some patience to get a helpful answer.

Good luck,

Jim

 

[Julian]

Parts would be hard to find for this boat, so I'd want to know why the current owner doesn't have it running. If the engine runs and there is no hull damage and the pump isn't siezed / trashed, it might be worth a shot.....but so many things could throw a wrench in it.

 

[Evil Sports]

Most if not all of those suffer the same fate, the Merc 2 stroke oil pump blows and so does the engine. I say find something with a better reliability history.