Buying a Pontoon boat from a Fleet of boats

[Jking233]

Hello there fine People.

I am very much interested in buying a Pontoon Boat. I am very familiar with pontoon boats. I have a chance to buy a 2011 Harris FloteBote Cruiser CX 220. It is part of a fleet sale. They have 10+ of these. They were use as rental boats. (Fresh water only) The Company that sold them to the rental business took them back for trade in for new boats. My ? to the forum is what are the positive and negatives of buying a pontoon boat that was part of a rental business?

Thank you for your input.

JK

[HandymanHerb]

Well look at the pontoons first, if they don't have a bunch of dents, then start looking under the deck, I say most are not hurt as they don't put that big of engine on a rental, but get it checked out good and you should be fine

[Ray Jr.]

I have bought 1 yr old rentals, twice, both were in very good shape. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.
As Herb said, look em over carefully. If they are not hammered to crap, and the price is right grab it and enjoy!!!

[Thin Ice]

Prior to buying my pontoon I had rented on a couple occasions. Like Herb says, they are normally rigged with lesser HP and for the most part don't have many mechanical or structure issues. Ive noticed that most of issues will be cosmetic. Renters don't care about keeping things neat and clean so you may find some beverage and food stains, cigarette burns, etc. These are simple repairs. Definitely get it looked at tho. Happy Toonin to ya!

[cleatus]

also to consider, any warranties may not be honored because of rental status, depends on how the boat was first registered.
Renters sometime run the piss out of vehicles/boats, just to see what they can do,.. not a good way to break in a new engine. A marine shop can put a scan on the engine to show how many hours, and at what speeds the boat was ran, at least for yamaha they can.

[Jking233]

Thanks for the great reply’s and INFO. The first quick look over they look like they are in very good shape. The Boat has Mercury 90 hp. I have not took it out on the water yet because damn it here in GA it seems like it’s been under 32 the last month. In the next couple of weeks we are going to take a couple of them out on the water to see how they ride. I do have a boat mechanic on deck to give the one I choose a very good detailed once over. Another ? I have in my research a 22’ foot pontoon most come with a 90 or 115hp motor? We will not be pulling skiers anything like that. Maybe pull a tube from time to time will have 10 or less people most of the time. Can I assume the 90hp as long as its in good shape should be ok for that size of toon?

Thanks Again.

JK

[Capt Sully]

Of coarse a lot of people here will say bigger is better, gee, thats what she said. and depending on what you want to do bigger is better. But a 90hp will be just fine for getting around and just think of all the gas you will save. go slow and enjoy the ride. Welcome aboard.

[badmoonrising]

I have a 90 on my boat, plenty of power for me

[Jking233]

Thanks for all the good INFO Lets hope I will be out on the water soon or at least when it gets over 40 here

[OK Toon]

We.have 90hp on our 22' boat - so glad I held out for the 90 because I almost settled for something a 50. Top speed is about 23 - 24 mph. But most of the time we are cruising at about half throttle - but its nice to be able to move quicker when a sudden storm pops up.

[oldcoot]

We have a 90hp on our 24ft 'toon....plenty of power and decent gas consumption...

[Jking233]

Thanks Everyone for the great INFO. Lets hope everything goes well and I will be out on the water soon!!