Boat Purchase Researching Tips

Buying a boat ranks in one of the top purchases you’ll likely make in your entire life. Doing the proper research beforehand is critical to ensure you’ll buy a boat that will suit your needs the most and last you as long as you so desire. Buying a boat like buying any expensive item in the 21^st century is much different than it used to be, and there are a few places you need to look into while doing your initial research.

Boating Forums

When researching the specific type of boat you want to buy, it’s great to get an unbiased opinion of similar boat models from current or previous owners. There are plenty of forums to look into, and to speed up the time it takes to find the information you want, we have a bit of a shortcut. Let’s say you’re interested in learning more about the Alumacraft Trophy 175, and you want to find any info on it on the thehulltruth.com forums. In Google, use this search: “Alumacraft Trophy 175” site:thehulltruth.com to only get results related to that boat.

At the same time, don't be fooled by one or two amazing or completely negative reviews in forums. Reviews can be posted by anyone including people associated with the company or a competitor. Doing a search in Google again of “Alumacraft Trophy 175” review will yield results from online boating magazines and other credible resources that provide an honest opinion and description of the boat.

Online Sites

Once you've narrowed down the type or types of boats you are interested in, it’s time to find the right places to buy them. There are plenty of sites to find new or used boats that have been posted by either site administrators or by site users who sign up with a free or paid account. The most difficult part of speeding up the process is finding current and accurate information, and not postings from several years ago that were never taken down or modified. Additionally, you probably don’t want to find a listing on the other side of the country, as transportation costs become a significant part of the purchase decision. Boats Around Town is a great site that updates their listings on a frequent basis and geographically maps where you can find a new or used boat, or sell post and sell your boat.