Buying a 2000 Glasstron. 18.5 ft, 4.3 liter inboard

[oilpsi2high]

It took me two years to find a boat that I wanted that wasn't a rotten POS.

FWIW Glastron still used wood in the transom and other areas in 2000. It wasn't until they went to VEC construction with Genmar that they were completely wood free.

Check our Four Winns, anything with VEC construction will be wood free. Also do yourself a favor and get EFI.

A lot of boats are just lawn furniture to most people - they leave them in the water with only snap-on covers (not even close to waterproof). Bilges are wet all season. They bake in the sun all day too.

Eventually they get tired of it, have it detailed and then toss it up on CraigsList to offload on someone who has no idea what they are getting into. Even wood free boats are not trouble free - let water sit in the bilge/ski locker/hull of any boat long enough and it'll cause damage in one way or another.

It's not bad to keep it in the water, but you need to do the maintenance. Use a proper mooring cover, keep above the water line waxed, and you'll need to bottom coat the hull to keep from blistering. Plan on visiting the boat at least once a week to clean/check on it, etc.

And that's just in freshwater - saltwater has it's own set of problems to deal with.

Boats are a lot of work. Unfortunately a lot of people don't like to do the work, and it shows come resale time.

 

[wings&wheels]

Took us a while to find ours also, as I limited my search to boats with fiberglass soles and transoms. I just didn't want to deal with rotten transoms and carpet over plywood floors. Our family boat is a tool for entertainment, not something I like intrinsically so we went for simplicity and reliability. We wound up with a Chaparral 183SS w/ the 4.3 Alpha. I also looked at more recent Glastrons as I do like them.

There are a lot of crap boats out there, but a careful inspection will reveal the toilets that were given a fluff-n-buff for a quick sale. Be patient, be careful, you'll find the right boat...or it will find you.

 

[alarmguy]

Originally Posted by dja4260
I've been casually searching for a family boat. It's my wife, myself, and two smaller kids. Found what appears to be a garage kept 2000 Glasstron. 18.5 ft, 4.3 Merc inboard. It is described as being in good shape and the pictures would indicate that as well.

I know that the 4.3 is the perferred power option to the 135hp 4 cylinder. I know that Glasstron makes middle level boats. This haul is all fiberglass, no wood.

Assuming the boat checks out, anything to look out for?

Thank you!


If the cockpit is carpeting, make darn sure the flooring isnt soft. Personally, I wouldnt buy any boat with carpet, fiberglass liner only. I assume since its a glastron it is fiberglass.

In many cases Glastron runabouts came with painted metal trailers instead of aluminum or galvanized. The problem with this is they tend to rust under the crossmembers but tend to look normal when looking from above/street level.
I would crawl under the trailer, normally there will be two or three cross members running from one side to the other, parallel to the axle.
Poke the bottom of the crossmembers for rust/corrosion, many times you will be able to poke your finger right through. Im talking painted trailers in general not directed at Glastron but when buying a preowned boat a new trailer can add to the cost if not taken into account when buying.

Of course engine and sterndrive, well, common sense prevails there.
Good luck!

Patience does pay off, after we lightly looked for the last year or two, we hit a home run back in FEB/March.
Purchased a 2008 Chaparral 180 SSI. Truly showroom condition, just amazing, aluminum trailer too. Not even a rusted bolt on the 135 Volvo Penta engine. I didnt believe the hour meter at first but now I do, its a digital built into the OEM tach, under the dash, the date on the tach is the same as the production year of the boat. 65 hours.

(not advised) but we actually bought the bought right onsite without starting it or taking it for a test ride. First time in my life I EVER did anything like that, but sort of knew the place we were buying would stand behind it AND felt the need to act fast at the price, Boat runs like new, zero smoke, I did replace the prop with an OEM of the same/4blade. Performance of the engine exceeded every expectation as I was a bit concerned with the 135 myself, will hit 44 MPH/4 adults on board and for us, that is fine, we are past the water sports part of our lives.

My history? I have been boating and owned my own boats since a kid back in (gulp) 1974, everything from 17 foot outboards and I/O to a 268 Sea Ray Sundancer. Last time I needed a large repair on any of them was back around 1978 and do my own maintenance all the time.

 

[philipp10]

I got one word for you......Outboards. I have had both. Hated, absolutely hated the I/O and that Alpha drive. Quirky and too prone to needing maintenance. The biggest issue between the 4.3 I/O and an equivalent sized outboard is weight. Do you really want to haul your 300 lb friend on the back of your boat every time you go for a cruise?