So yesterday the wife and I headed to Miller's to look at a 1986 Century Cardel they have for sale…read more I spoke with Dave a few times, and decided to go take a look. I grew up with Century's and would love to own my own now.
Got to Millers, and Dave came out. We started talking, (Dave can talk), and when we finally got around to talking about the boat he told me that he's been dealing with the family that owned it for 20 years (he didn't say 20 years, he said their kids now have kids in college) and they traded the boat in for a pontoon. Told me that he replaced the engine a few years ago, and that it's a remanned 454. We took the cover off the boat, the whole time talking about this and that, but not the boat. I went around to the swim platform to climb up, and he said let him grab a ladder, he doesn't use swim ladders anymore since something or another happened. I climbed up, he came back with a ladder to climb in, didn't think anything of it. Looked it over it needed help, but nothing I wasn't prepared for looked at the stringers they were encased in fiberglass, I asked if they were solid, he said yes and asked if I wanted a hammer to tap them with. I declined. We were looking at spending 6500 on this boat. I say that to say, when I wanted to start it, he hee'd and haw'd avout how it hasn't even been summerized yet, and doesn't know if the batteries are charged, can't claim this or that because it's not his boat, and he's just selling it. After he just finished telling us he's been dealing with this family forever, and has put an engine in this boat, and has been in his care for years. Finally tell him, I'm not spending anything if I can't water test the boat. He finally agreed to back it down the ramp and try to start it for us. You'd swear we were more like Jehovah's Witnesses than customers the way he was treating us. Anyway, got the boat in the water on the trailer, and got him to start it. It did fire up, it had fogging oil still in it, but ran smoothly after it warmed up. As it's sitting on the trailer, we noticed water pouring in from the transom (back wall of the boat), like pouring in. We pointed it out and he tried to tell us it was because the swim platform was submerged. Asked him to pull it out so we could look at the hull, we also noted it was leaking below the waterline, not above it. He pulled it out and started saying it was the speedo mount, and the swim platform is loose, and the exhaust outlets need new gaskets, and that they would tighten all the hardware before they let it leave their shop. I asked if it needed a transom and he said no he didn't think so, they had just put an engine in a few years ago (when the wife asked him when they actually put the engine in, he couldn't answer said he'd have to look at his notes). I jumped in the engine compartment to feel the transom wood where it was leaking from, it didn't even crumble it disintegrated. When I told him this, he said he had no idea about the transom, and then started bad mouthing the owners talking about how stupid they are, and they don't know how to take care of anything. Dave has been maintaining this boat for years, he knew the condition, he knew what he was trying to sell us. Dave is just a used car salesman, trying to pawn his junk onto someone else. Buyer beware. He came out with a smile, sidestepped as much as he could, and when we called him on the issues, he turned his back on us, walked away and said "goodbye". Not an honest or decent salesman at all. Again beware if you do business with these shysters.
