new to the forum! looking at getting a cajun any advice?

[luke0872]

new to the forum here!

first off ive never owned any boat passed a 14ft jon boat with a trolling motor for fishing small rivers and lakes.

ive been looking on craigslist and ebay for about a month now hoping to find a good boat around $3000. not sure if that is even possible to get a decent boat with no problems for that???

so i get a call from our local tracker dealer who told me they passed on a boat that i might be interested in. ive got a lot of people helping me look. by the way im out of west texas so we dont have many boat places in town to shop at. closest lake is about 2 hours away. anyway i go look at the boat today. should have taken a pic for you guys.

it is a 1991 cajun 1750 lake travis edition 17' 6'' with a 1988 johnson 150. looks faded guessing it needs to be waxed and cleaned up. lots of tears on seats and carpet isnt in great condition. motor housing looks like its pretty faded also. im not against getting it because of the carpet and seats and color fade. i can work with that and clean it up. as for motor... i talked with mechanic who has taken care of it most its life. he says 3 years ago they replaced water pump, resealed lower unit, did a "major tune up on motor", and replaced a ignition system on the motor... this specific ignition system was supposedly made for only a year or two and seems to fail. i know that may sound broad but can anyone relate to this problem?? also said that something on the fuel system had been bypassed. the owner wants $3000. i think i would pay less than that for as much interior work as it needs. im worried about the motor though. i told the mechanic the motor was what scared me most as i dont want to throw a bunch of money into it and the mechanic seemed to keep saying all i should be worried about is the electrical system going out sometime such as powerpack and lines and everything. he said its a common problem on older boats. any suggestions?

[BassBUFF]

I had an 89 Evinrude 150 XP and it was a great motor. Sounds like they have disabled the oil injector so you have to premix the oil and gas. If the compression is pretty even on all cylinders then I wouldn't hesitate on the motor. I'd take a good look at the transom and make sure there isn't any flex indicating some wood rot. Sounds like a good project boat. I'd try and dicker with him on the price too!

Oh, and welcome to UB!