Opinions Please

[Destroyer]

Hi and welcome to the site. The V20 is a great boat. The hull was designed by a guy named Ray Hunt. He's the guy that invented and patented the deep V hull. The ultra wide flare of the bow makes for a very dry ride. It's a wide beam boat so that makes it very stable, and the step lift design of the hull makes it very easy to get up on plane. It's really a great family/fishing/fun boat. You should do very well with it.

CHECK THE TRANSOM OF THAT BOAT CAREFULLY!!! There's a reason it was reinforced. Maybe the reason was just for extra strength, maybe it's soft (dry rotted) wood inside. The metal thing that's on the transom is not standard equipment.

ASK QUESTIONS of the owner.

[Blue_Runner]

Metal reinforcement on the transom would make me very suspicious.

Don't get me wrong - it did it on my first boat and it got me by, but the reason I did it was because I knew nothing about how to properly fix it, other than I talked to a glass guy and he said around $1000. Well, I paid $900 for the boat/motor/trailer so needless to say I wasn't going to spend 1k on a new tranny! Stainless steel transom reinforcement to the rescue!

I'm betting the transom is at least partially rotten or delaminated. Motor looks great. Boat looks pretty good too.

[BRIELLY]

The v20 is perfect for you however that particular boat may have some issues. If the transom was rebuilt and then reinforced with steel and the owner can prove it then its probably a good deal. If it wasn't rebuilt and just reinforced I would pass. For $4500 you could get a very nice v20 with a solid transom and not have to worry.

[Road King Cole]

In looking at the pictures again, I am reminded of something I learned in the coast guard on a ship before an inspection: "if it doesn't move, paint it". It seems they painted over the rub rail, hardware on the transom, maybe the decals and everything? It may have been a quick thing to make it look good just for the "inspection". If you do look at this boat, inspect it carefully.

[Destroyer]

Some kind words of advice:

It's very easy to become swayed towards a particular boat or car or just about anything. You want it, you think of all the good times you can have with it with your family, etc etc etc. So you start looking for the object of your desire, and pretty soon you come across a boat such as this. It looks good, the price seems right, and you buy it. Now you're on your honeymoon and you get home with the boat, the next day you put it in the water and BLAM!! You suddenly realize that something isn't right with your new baby. What I'm trying to tell you is that you want to avoid that situation. How do you do that you may ask..? Well, you did the first thing right... you looked at the boat, made an appointment to see it in person and (most important) you asked a bunch of strangers here that know these boats from the inside out what they thought of the unit.

Personally, I'd be very leary of that boat for the following reasons.
1) It's sitting on very expensive boat stands. That probably means that the seller is a professional. There's nothing wrong with that if it's a Marina or a mechanic, but if it's a private sale from a home that probably means that the seller is someone that's buying, doing minimal fixing and then selling at a profit. In other words a used boat salesman. They are to be avoided like the plague in my opinion. A pressure washing and a coat of paint will hide a ton of problems. But the problems are still there. Tread carefully around people like that.
2) Look at the pics... The boat is completely white. The rub rails, the "W" wellcraft logo on the side... everything is white. That means it's been painted to look good, but it's a sloppy paint job.
3) Look carefully at the picture where you see the the transom from the left (port) side of the boat. See the pain drippings on the transom reinforcement? Sloppy work like that is a sure sign of a hurried job. What's he trying to hide?
4) It's hard to see, but look carefully at the windshield. See how the top of the center window doesn't line up properly with the top of the right window? It might be nothing, or it might be a rotting base.. either way it's something to be concerned about.
5) What's this about trailer "numbers"? Does he mean the registration? Make sure he has a registration with the same name on it as his name. A lot of times a dealer/salesman will never register a trailer or the boat in his name, since he just wants to sell it. So make sure that the names on both the boat and the trailer registrations match.

In short, I would be very careful about this particular boat... The Wellcraft V20 is a great boat, but sales people are sales people.. they are only trying to make a profit.
There was a story about a month ago about several people that were lost at sea when the transom of their boat cracked. You can find a thread about it here on this site. You certainly don't want that happening to you and your family. The ocean is a loving mistress, but take her for granted and she will kill you without a seconds thought. Take your time and look carefully at the boat. Then ask any questions you may have here and we'll all try and answer them, based upon our own experience.

Red skys at night...

[reelapeelin]

Coast Guard Certified

[Road King Cole]

Originally Posted by reelapeelin

Coast Guard Certified

ya good one, ask to see this "certification" and then let us know...

If this is just a sticker from the CG aux, it means it passed a safety inspection for life jackets, fire extinguishers etc. This would have nothing to do with the integrity of the boat. Ask the seller why he made this a selling point.

Sounds like false advertising, if so let the seller know he is a scumbag and walk away.

Destroyer,

Yes, that was what I was trying to say...

The window "mismatch" might just be that the latch was put down before the window was closed and is holding it open a bit. But good eyes! Needs to be checked out for sure.

Please let us know how you made out!!!

rkc

[ogjk]

He said that the transom reinforcement was put on by the person that installed the motor. According to him the transom is sound, but the installer was being overly cautious because of the size of the motor.

Is that possible?

As far as the paint, he said that he bought the boat a few years ago and it was green, so he and a buddy painted it white.

I decided to go look at it anyway, its not far from the house and if he is telling the truth it might be worth exploring.

After reading everyones thoughts on it I wouldn't do anything with out an inspection.

Thank you for all the advice, I'll let you know more after I see it.