Question about buying a C–Dory

ThreeLions · Joined: 01 Nov 2023 Posts: 2 State or Province: WA

Hello all,

This is my first post here and I’m hoping you guys can give me some advice about a C-Dory that I’m considering purchasing.

A local shop has a 2007 C-Dory 16’ Cruiser for sale. It has a 2007 Honda BF40 motor and a BF5 kicker. The motor either has 122 hours or 22 hours, they have told me both and I’m unsure which is correct but either way that’s very low hours for 16-year-old motor. The boat is on a 2006 easy loader trailer. It looks to me as though somebody bought this boat never used it and left it parked in a barn or garage. The boat is very clean, just old. Last oil change on the motor was in 2016. The motors will want a service the batteries may need replacing and I would definitely replace the two tires on the 2006 trailer. The boat doesn’t appear to have navigation lights, and I would want to add those also.

They are asking $16,000 for the boat.

I looked up the NADA value and tried to get the value as high as I could by adding all of the extras like cockpit cover, salon enclosure, VHF radio, and fishfinder, etc. NADA listed a high retail value of the entire package at around $9700. I offered them $10,000 for the boat, but they said they had more invested in it than that.

My current boat is a 14 foot fiberglass open boat with no windshield and a 25 horse mercury, so this would be a nice upgrade. It would also allow me to get out on the water for much more of the year than my current boat. I just don’t want to spend $16k on a toy. At $10k I would have bought it (and sold my old boat to offset some of the cost), but not at $16k.

Do you guys have any thoughts on the actual value of this C-Dory? I would greatly appreciate any advice you have to offer. Thanks.

Esmi2 · Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2023 2:01 pm Post subject:

As a long time C-dory market watcher, my estimation is that they will sell it for pretty close to $16,000. C-dorys just seem to hold their value really nicely.

ssobol · Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2023 2:40 pm Post subject:

NADA has poor estimates for low volume boats. They are really for motor vehicles. The value from the BUC book is better, but you have to buy one to see the values. If you know a lender that makes lots of loans on boats you might get them to tell you the value.

That said, if I was in the market for a 16, I'd jump on it before someone else got it. Just make sure that the motors actually run.

WCF · Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2023 3:53 pm Post subject:

My experience watching for a few years: A nice 16 is typically $13-16k for private sales. $16k at a dealer for a nice boat sounds right.

If you think that's too much, the boat will sit and you'll have better luck with a lower offer in the future.

You're in WA so you can watch seattle-area CL and Marketplace and get an idea of asking prices and how fast the listing is pulled.

Esmi2 · Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2023 3:57 pm Post subject: Duplicate. Pls delete

Duplicate

ThreeLions · Joined: 01 Nov 2023 Posts: 2 State or Province: WA

Thank you all for your opinions and for taking the time to respond. I sincerely appreciate it.

I think I'm going to pass on the boat for now and see how long it sits for sale. Maybe the seller will be more motivated to sell later. If not, I guess it wasn't meant to be.

thataway · Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2023 10:18 pm Post subject:

NADA is basically worthless on the C Dory. Better is to look at the "Market Place" forum. There you will see the selling prices of recent boats. The majority of C Dorys are sold by owners, through this web site.

I agree that if I wanted a 16, the $16,000 for the boat you described is right in the ball park. This is the slow time of year for selling any boats, due to winter, the holidays and weather.