Pre-Purchase Questions on NC 795

[palms2pines]

I’m looking at a 2018 795 for sale in Southern California. The boat is “new” (never owned), but has been moved from city to city and marina to marina for various boat shows, and has had a number sea trials with prospective buyers. So while “new,” it may actually have 50 or more hours on the Yamaha outboard. If I were to purchase it, they’d likely let me slip it at their marina spots for 2-3 months for free (which allows them to show it to other prospectives, though not take out for trials), after which I’d bring home on a trailer and store in my RV garage.

Here are my questions:
1. Should I ask that the Yamaha warranty be extended to account for the current hours they’ve put on it?
2. I’ve told them I want trim tabs added (electric, per your suggestion). They said it doesn’t need it to get up on plane. I said I want them, because the boat can list if 3+ folks are all standing/sitting on one side. Do you agree with the importance of adding the trim tabs? Do you prefer the Bennett, others - I haven’t re-read your threads in a while.
3. The boat has probably been in the water (salt water) for 6 or more months. I want to ask they to redo the bottom paint and/or make it basically brand new, once the slippage is over, and I take home on the trailer. This would be similar if I brought brand new, and it had a couple days in the ocean. Is that a reasonable request?
4. They do add a horn for all new boats. I want them to add a radar. Anything else I’m missing (aftermarket)?

Thanks so much,

Marc

[Capt’n Ron]

Hi Marc, you won't be disappointed with the 795. I'm on my third year and enjoy it all the time.  I even towed it in a parade this weekend for a local harbor town (Gig Harbor) in Washington representing my club, and it gets a lot of great comments from the crowd. 


To address your questions:

1. Absolutely yes on the extended warranty.  Everyone I've spoke to who bought a 795 or 895 got extended warranties on their engines, even when they hadn't put any time on the engines.  

2. Trim tabs.  So this is one of those things that you don't know what you are missing until you have them.  The 795 is a better ride and gets up on plane better than other equivalent boats I've tested. That said, I used my trim tabs every time to get up on plane and they really help when I have a full tank of fuel and others onboard. Once on plane they help level out the boat not only from side to side, but helps provide a lower bow angle for cruising and a much better ride in choppy water. It appears I also get better fuel efficiency and speed, but I've not done the enough testing to say I actually do.  The choice between electric or hydraulic isn't really a performance difference to me, but since I installed them myself I saved a lot of anguish and frustration by installing electric, and I've had no issues with them.  I was one of the first to purchase the Bennett AutoTrim Pro tab controller, and to be honest its been a disappointment.  Very inconsistent in the deployment and auto stabilization that was promoted by Bennett.

3. Bottom paint. To be honest I don't have much experience on bottom paint as I have always pulled my boat on my trailer after 3 to 5 days in the water, but I recently secured dock space so I just had the bottom painted last week.  Based on my understanding, I'll have to have it redone every 2 or 3 years so for your situation I'd probably look to use that as a negotiation leverage for other options, but I would make them clean it up the best they can.  Others with more experience can weigh in on this topic.


4. Mid-ship cleat is still one of my favorite and most used adds.  As for other options it depends on what you are going to use the boat for.  I use mine 90% fishing and 10% cruising and overnights, so I have other options setup like rocket launchers, downrigger mounts and plugs (don't let anyone talk you into gimbal downrigger mounts!), and a 9.9 high thrust kicker with a Garmin TR1 Auto Pilot (My second best add to the boat and must have for fishing).  The TR1 really makes a huge difference!

• VHS radio with AIS and connect to your Chart Plotter for GPS.  I used the NMEA 200) network for connecting my NMEA devices.
• Make sure your Radar and Chart Plotter support chart/radar overlay.  I had to add a rate compass on my NMEA network.  
• Additional cup holders on the passenger side dash along with a USB outlet. I also added a flip down cup holder on the helm side for my favorite beverages while piloting the boat.
• From a safety standpoint when I'm out fishing I added a Fell Marine FOB wireless cut off switch. I wear a FOB so if I fall into the water it will kill my engine so the boat doesn't troll away. Never had to use it, but it provides peace of mind and works really well.
  
• I purchased a shade option from T-Top covers. Cost $500 and goes up and breaks down in 5 minutes and is very compact to stow. 

  Hope this helps and good luck with your purchase.  It can be a frustrating experience depending on the dealer!

Cheers,
Ron

     

[lynnardm]

Palms2pines

On the bottom paint, I’d check what type of paint they used. If it’s going to be out of the water for periods over a couple of weeks then I believe it needs to be an ablative paint. Hard or hard modified paints can’t be out of the water for very long or they loose their effectiveness. If the boat has only been in the water for 6 months the bottom paint look almost like new. Of concern is the non-hull thinks like the bow thruster and the bottom of the engine mount bracket. If they are painted with bottom paint they should be fine. If they are not painted with bottom paint that might be ok too just make sure the critters and funk that are on them clean off ok and that the original finish still
is ok.

I just saw a 2016 795 for sale here in seale vial
Craig’s list. I didn’t look at he details. But I was surprised - it’s a good asking price. And they are great boats! Just don’t get one with the 150 hp engine.

Capt’n Lynn

[palms2pines]

Thank you Capt'ns Lynn & Ron.  Open to feedback from others as well.

When a "new" unregistered boat has hours on it from demos, is it normal to ask for concessions?

Don't know enough about docking yet, but the mid-ship cleats make sense.

Will check what kind of bottom paint was applied, and where.  Once I pull it out of the water, it will be trailer based.

I need to research the radar / chartplotter / rate compass more.  The boat has the higher end GPS unit (9"), and I definitely want the radar to overlap the image on the GPS/chart plotter.

Marc

[paulmcc]

Agree with Capt'n Ron re trim tabs. I've had Bennett Bolt electric on my 795 for about 18 mths now. Great. Ride is better, less slamming, into headwind/chop and they balance side to side with crosswind or load. Yes of course the boat planes without them but it gets on plane quicker and with less bow rise with them.

[palms2pines]

Thank you for the additional support. 

Dealer is is installing the Lenco electric.