New member, question on an older 225.

[aircooled]

Hi,
First post! I was wondering if anyone had any feedback on a Grady White I'm looking at. It's a 1994 Grady White 225 Tournament with a Yamaha 225 OX66 2 stroke and trailer. I'm guessing the engine is original to the boat - no idea on hours. He's asking 12.5k for the boat and trailer. Prior to going to look at it, does anyone have any feedback on what to look for and/or questions to ask? This would be a first boat for us and would use it for cruising with the family (3 people) and some occasional fishing here in eastern NC. We'd use it primarily near shore but maybe an occasional offshore, weather permitting.

Boat looks to be in good condition and while it has a bimini top it doesn't appear to have much else in the way of extras. I'm thinking the asking price may be on high side.

 

[Recoil Rob]

Do a search on here for "bang cap" "bang plate" and "transom repair".
You'll see lots of pics of what to look for.

 

[Sdfish]

X2 on what Rob said above, get the motor checked out and factor in the cost of a new motor if worst case scenario shows up. Also at that age, make sure the trailer is in good shape - trailers are expensive if you need to replace.

 

[Recoil Rob]

Probably should check gas tank and lines too.

 

[Bottomfeeder]

I have a 1995 225 , that’s a full transom boat, no bang cap. see if the live well can come out easily and check the bolts holding the bracket on. If they are sunk in substantially you probably have a rotten core.
The covers over the gas tanks could be soft but can be recored fairly easily. I did mine.
Ask if the gas tank(s) have been replaced, I have 2 and haven’t had any issues.
The 225 Yamaha is plenty of power, gets close to 40 mph, loves gas and oil . Get a compression test.
I think it’s a great riding hull, lots of room aft of the helm seats. It’s a heavy boat.
Is it worth $12.5 , maybe if its in really good shape.
Good Luck !

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I'm sure it's going to be a bit of an unpopular opinion, but I'd also maybe consider some newer alternatives for not much more money. I'm a firm proponent of buying as new/big as you can the first time and hopefully in doing so, you'll avoid needing to do much, if any work, to the boat/motor/trailer in the near future. If it were me, I'd be looking around a bit more, of which on Boat Trader there are a couple of newer 225 Tournament's in the high teens to low/mid $20k's. As mentioned above, the hull and outboard are now both 30 years old, of which you'll likely need to plan for some extensive work to both, or at least the outboard like a potential repower in the next several years. Which is only going to eat into your budget and expenses even more. Lastly, in 1997 Grady White switched over from using standard marine grade plywood to a product called Greenwood XL, which is supposed to be a bit better at withstanding rot/corrosion. If you can wait until the winter, I'd consider doing so in that you'll save a considerable amount of money as opposed to buying in early/mid August. Which is the busiest time of the year and is a total sellers market.

https://www.boattrader.com/boat/2003-grady-white-tournament-225-9362444/

 

[aircooled]

Thanks for the advice guys. I appreciate the info - I've still got a lot to learn. And since I'm not hearing anyone saying it sounds like a screaming deal I think I'll hang loose and see what shows up on the market when it gets cold outside.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

Well... I look at what I paid for my boat, which was $26.5k back in October of 2021 in Maryland and compare it accordingly to what others are paying for their boats. My boat is a 2004 Grady White 228 Seafarer with the factory hardtop, a 2004 Yamaha F225 4 stroke with around 1k hours, a 2009 aluminum I-beam trailer, etc. I guess if I were in your shoes, I'd ask myself the question of would I rather have the boat you're looking at for $12.5k, or spend a little bit more and have the boat that I bought for $26.5k? Imo, it's a very easy decision, even though it sounds like you're looking for a dual console boat, I think as I mentioned above that waiting until winter would be a better idea. Imo, and again this is just my opinion, there's no reason why a mid 2000's GW 225 Tournament should be worth more than $25k unless it's been repowered, has a ton of money into the electronics, etc. I think that 2003 that I linked above is priced appropriately at $18.5k and then figure another $4k or so for a trailer, if you needed one. At $22.5k, or around $10k more than the one you're looking at, imo it's a much better deal than the boat you're currently considering. Again, just my thoughts on the matter, though it did take me just over a year to find my boat and I've been looking at GW prices off and on over the last 4-5 years... so I'd say I have a decent idea as to what I'm talking about with regards to boat pricing. Either way, good luck and hopefully you find the right boat for you.

 

[JeffN]

Get a survey. Not sure what they cost now but it could save you money and pain in the long run.

 

[seasick]

Get a survey. Not sure what they cost now but it could save you money and pain in the long run.

A survey is highly recommended. Do you need one? If the boat turns out to be worthless and the motor is shot but you don't loose sleep over the money you spent on the boat, you probably don't need a survey

My advice to to look at as many boats as possible to get a better idea of what 'looks' good means. When you find one that with a better education seems reasonable, that is when you have a survey and motor inspection done..
Be prepared to walk away if the survey finds serious issues.
All boats will need something and/or have issues. A 30 year old hull will have issues, some may be serious and you at this point probably don't have a lot of experience. The more serious problems may not be visible.

The engine, if original has very little worth so the value would be in the hull. A used motor might cost a few to several thousand dollars plus installation.
A transom replacement if needed would run $8,000 and up give or take
A new fuel tank would cost more for the install than the new tank. Tank cost depends on capacity but figure 10 to 20 dollars a gallon for fabrication.
Shipping a new tank can cost almost as much as the tank in some cases. Depending on the ease or difficulty of deck access, labor can be fairly expensive..
If you have a friend who is more experienced with boats , ask they to take a look with you.
My final advice: If the boat was not well cared for, you can be pretty sure the motor wasn't either.

 

[PointedRose]

Insist on a sea trial with the seller after you look at it visually (may need to offer a bit of a deposit). The boat should have no problem getting on plane quickly with that horsepower and should be over 40 mph top end. If that isn’t happening, it’s either walk away or offer at a steep discount to replace the engine. There will be other members here that have that boat and engine combo so you might be able to get some rpm and speed numbers to look for. If sea trial goes ok, you can still ask for a survey and then negotiate price after factoring in what the surveyor says needs to be fixed. Note a surveyor will not look closely at the engine and that would be a second fee for a mechanic to look.

It gets expensive quickly if you hire a surveyor and mechanic to look at every boat with you, so you are taking the right approach by asking what to look for and doing some diligence yourself - open every hatch and look beyond the surface of the boat. Try every electrical switch. Look for modifications at the transom (prior holes from a transponder for example) that might cause water intrusion. Ask for recent repairs and maintenance and items fixed on the boat in the past few years. Does the seller have the cushions? Does it look like someone made a bunch of modifications? If you can see drain hoses and fuel lines - do they look to be original and old/brittle or upgraded at some point?

all the other advice from everyone else is very good - fuel tanks could have leaks, engine could have bad compression, transom bracket could have issues, etc. also look under the hull for any major prior damage or repairs to the hull itself. Look for any obvious rust stains dripping from hardware and look on the inside if possible.

for the trailer - check it all works (brakes for example). You can get a trailer ramp to check that each tire spins freely. If each wheel doesn’t spin freely like you’d expect, for example, the spindle/hubs may need a replacement.

Don’t be afraid to ask a lot of questions. Also don’t be afraid to make a lower offer on an older boat, especially one listed for a while. Anything that needs an upgrade or replacement can get very expensive on a boat so you want to be thorough. When I negotiate on things like this I try to be complimentary to the seller - they are proud of their boat - but also realistic (for example ‘if I were to buy this boat, which I love by the way, I may only be able to keep it for a few years, and I don’t see resale at that time being more than $7-8k, so it makes it hard to justify your asking price. I’m happy to make an offer of what I could do, but don’t want to offend…’ after showing and talking about the boat for an hour of course they will hear your offer…