2021 Robalo R272, twin F200s, bank repo from a South Carolina yard to Tampa, and the survey i had done after it showed up

been reading since renee opened the place. the buying board asks for real numbers so here are mine, and there's a survey coming next week that i'll post too, good or bad.

the boat is a 2021 Robalo R272 with twin Yamaha F200s. 212 hours on the port motor and 209 on the starboard when it came off the truck, on a Magic Tilt aluminum tandem with torsion axles. the bank had it parked at a storage yard outside Summerville, South Carolina. first time i saw it in person it was coming down the ramps of a step deck in Seminole Heights, and half my street came out to watch.

why a 27. i sold my 2003 Sea Pro 190 in July for 9,800 after a soft spot by the console turned into a conversation about stringers that i did not want to have. my buddy has a standing offer to take me out to the Middle Grounds if i ever have a boat that can do it, and the Sea Pro could not. the dealer lots around Tampa Bay had 2020 to 2022 R272s with twins at 145 to 165, and the ones with 300s higher. every one said "recently serviced" and none of them could show me a receipt.

a guy at the Fort De Soto ramp told me about conaway's. they broker repos for lenders, boats, RVs, trucks. they don't own any of it, the bank does, and it sells online in sealed bids. you never see anyone else's number. you put yours in and you can raise it before the close and that's it, nobody tells you where you stand.

their own people photograph every lot. this one had 61 photos, a cold start video for each motor, the hour screens, the hull ID plate, the trailer plate and the bilge with the hatch up. i asked for shots of the livewell plumbing and the T-top welds and got them the next afternoon.

the part i wish somebody had told me first: they don't do financing. the lender holds a lien on the title until it's paid in full, so you need your money lined up before you bid. my credit union wanted the HIN and the listing before it would write a pre-approval and that took eight business days. do the loan part first.

bid 108,000 on a tuesday, raised it to 112,600 the night before the close, and won. the invoice said 112,600 and nothing else, they don't add a premium. delivery cost nothing, since Summerville to my place is roughly 470 miles by road and they cover anything under a thousand. wired the money october 14, it showed up october 27 on a step deck. notarized title paperwork in an envelope with both keys and the kill switch lanyard. their old lots stay archived on conawaysautosales.com, mine included, so you can judge the photos yourself.

the survey. i booked one after delivery, and i'll explain why in a reply. it's tuesday, with a member of this board.

twin_f200_or_single wrote:why F200s on a 27 and not the 300s

honest answer, because that's what the boat had. i wasn't choosing between configurations, i was choosing between this boat and the next listing. and the twin 300 versions i saw on lots were 20 grand more.

with three adults, 40 gallons of fuel, a 120 quart cooler full of ice and a livewell full of bait, it gets on plane fine and cruises around 31 mph at 4,600 rpm. the flow screen says 17 to 18 gallons an hour for both motors together. top end i saw 44 with half fuel. it's not fast, it's fine. if it were mine new, i'd have bought the 250s.

the other reason i booked the survey: my insurer bound the policy on the listing photos and the HIN, but wrote it so that a survey is due within 30 days or the hull coverage drops. so between that and the guarantee window renee talked about, i wanted it done fast. conaway's auto sales had also attached their own lot condition sheet and i wanted somebody independent to check it against the boat.

thanks bill. for the record, the fix: a yard off 22nd street in Palmetto swapped the livewell valve and put two 316 clamps on the hose thursday. the valve was $64 and the total ticket was $186 with labor. it took them forty minutes because the boat was on the trailer at the right height.

i didn't contact anybody about the guarantee. a stuck valve on a four year old boat isn't a misrepresented boat. if the transom had read 40 that would have been a different phone call.

survey was $594. the Yamaha tech was $280 for both motors. insurer got the report the same day and the hull coverage is permanent now.

offshore_on_a_budget wrote:did the trailer come through 470 miles on a step deck ok?

bottom_paint_season wrote:no bottom paint, right?

first real offshore trip saturday. launched at Johns Pass at 6:10, ran 38 miles west to some ledges my buddy has numbers on. seas were 2 feet and dropping. a couple of gags came up and went right back because they're closed. kept lane snapper, porgies and two big red grunts. it ran 31 at cruise with four of us and burned 71 gallons round trip including the bottom time.

the boat did nothing wrong. the livewell valve opened and closed like it was supposed to. one small thing: the starboard motor's trim gauge reads a little lower than port at the same trim. tech says it's a sender, not urgent, he'll look at it in january.

UPDATE, three months in, and the all-in number since you asked.

the trim sender was a $68 part and twenty minutes of the tech's time while he had the cowl off for something else. the boat came with a 6 month limited warranty, but i wasn't going to open a claim over 68 dollars. i paid it.

the honest downside is the money side. no financing through them means my credit union loan, and the rate was 7.49 percent because it's a boat and a used one. a dealer would have offered me a promo rate and buried it in the price. i still came out ahead of the lot prices, but not by as much as the bid makes it look when you count interest.

the survey valued it at 128,000. i'm in it at 120,806 before insurance. the boat has 241 hours on each motor now and i've got the Middle Grounds trip on the calendar for the first flat week in march.

if anyone's looking, the conaway auction has had a couple more Robalos come through since. i'm not bidding, my wife has views. survey whatever you buy, the day it lands.