Inherited vintage outboard value?

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seahorse

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A few years back I inherited a few older outboards, they belonged to a relative who lived on a lake in PA.
He used most of them from time to time up to around 2015 or so. They sat in a boat house down by the lake until I load them all up and brought them home here.
The oldest is a mid 50's 25hp Johnson RD17,and an FC17 that's been camo painted, two '59 model 18hp Evinrude motors, both short shafts, one Mercury '400' long shaft tiller motor, one short shaft tiller 33hp Evinrude, (was on a wood row boat), one 55hp Johnson (1978?), and two long shaft 6hp Evinrude tiller motors with their tiller handles removed.
All have good compression, and I've had the one FC17 and the 33hp Evinrude running just last summer. I also had used the FC17 to run out on the lake a way to bring back a boat he had kept on the shore at a small duck blind and cabin about four miles away but I had to clean the points on it to get it started. It needs points, a shift lever and some proper paint unless camo is your thing.
While keeping them all was the original plan they take up a lot of room and I've got newer motors and newer boats so they will never be more than just ornaments in the garage here. I just have no idea what to ask for them. Especially the older models. The only one I may keep in the 55hp, but the rest really will never serve me any purpose here. I had actually listed the 55hp, which is still in int original crate, for $500 on CL and Fb but got only a few $50 and one $75 offer on it. Tat was before I found a boat for it though.
With the 50's models, there just isn't any others on the web for sale to compare to, most seem to break them down into parts and sell the parts. That may be the only option but I'd rather just sell them to someone who wants a motor to use. I had one guy here that wanted them all for $50 each and only if i threw in the 55hp too. If all they're worth is $50, then they will likely get parted out but I wanted to here someone else's thoughts on this.
 
I went through something similar when my one uncle passed years ago, he had what I'd call auction disease. He bought anything he felt was worth owning or that he felt looked clean enough to run. The problem was he had no mechanical ability himself and relied on buddies and a few shops to get thing going. I had watched him over the years, even went to a few sales with him. He'd buy a dozen motors for $10 at some estate sale, bring them home and see which one's ran.
If one ran, he was happy and he'd use it till it didn't. The others just sat. IF he took one to a shop to get it going, and it needed more than a spark plug or something cheap he let them fix it, if not it went back home and got hung on the wall. He did this his whole life and would never part with any of them not wanting to rip anyone off. When they went on the wall he'd pull the plugs and flood the cylinders and crankcase with this thick clear oil he got from a buddy who stored antique aircraft for a museum, it looked like clear STP, he'd turn the motor over till it was all through the engine and then put it away forever.
It was soluble in gas or mineral spirits o it flushed out easily. I sort of figured it was a paraffin mix of some type. When he died I had over 900 motors to deal with. Most were smaller motors under 25hp.


The way I valued the older motors was that if its got good compression, and no physical damage, its worth no less than $200 assuming who ever buys it is going to likely need to replace the impeller, replace the lower unit seals and likely the points and maybe the coils.
If I went through all that I'd put $650 or so on each motor which only made them harder to find a buyer for. The problem was that if a buyer wasn't his own mechanic, most shops would hit them with a $1,200 or higher estimate. I didn't see that as my issue though, and I strongly feel that if your going to run an older boat and motor you need to be at least capable of doing the basic maintenance yourself because at $250/hr labor, even a water pump or tune up can be more than a motor is worth but then again, not everyone can afford a new $3k four stroke motor every couple years when it needs some maintenance.

With the motors that had obvious issues, like chipped fins, missing parts seized steering or tilt pins, no compression, or stuck pistons those are $50 parts motors. My thought there is that it wasn't worth my time to tear the down a difficult motor just to get a few sell-able parts off it. Something that's best left to the end user or collector who needs those parts or is better equipped to deal with it all. The worst of them got some basic parts removed and got tossed in the scrap pile. Even then I had a few guys come and dig through the scrap pile and give me $50 each for those motors. No whole motor ever is below $50 and to be real, just about any one part would likely cost at least that at the dealer and many of those parts are no longer available new.

I've still got about 200 of his motors either for sale or awaiting my time.
None are perfect, but just the same, none need more than basic maintenance either.
Even if you bought a new motor, and let it sit for a year or two in the garage, it would likely need the same amount of work. Modern gas fouls the carbs, water pump impellers are made or rubber and will either take a set or dry rot, and things rust when they sit.

Selling anything right now is slow, most people are broke these days trying to afford gas and groceries.

From experience, outboards are too big to ship, so eBay is out, and Let Go and Offer Up are a waste of time. Local newspapers are useless, no one gets the paper anymore.
 
I would say, for the most part, value is mainly for those doing period correct restorations. You might try contacting member Pappy, he would know value and where you should advertise.

A local restaurant, The Boat Yard, use to have half dozen vintage outboards on display, from 40’s and earlier. Also, the main desk was from a wooden hull runabout. They took it all out when remodeling and mostly ruined it for me. :(. Still go there occasionally, but now it’s just the food and watching the boats going in and out of the canal.

If I had a small vintage outboard, I’d find away to mount it in the rafters at camp.
 

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https://www.aomci.org/ has a classified section and regional chapters.
They are also on Facebook as both a member and a non-member page.
You will find relevant customers there.

Facebook marketplace is the best option as a dart-throwing exercise.

In general, you will find vintage motors to be highly collectible, but not very valuable.
Desirable models fully restored, running, and with the appropriate tank some can hit the 500-1000 range (which still doesn't touch the expense of the restoration)
Otherwise, unless you can fire it up in front of the buyer (and demonstrate the appropriate fuel/oil mix), they are considered "complete non-runners" and "parts non-runners".
Expect Free to 150 as the price point.
Good looking survivors are obviously somewhere in between IF you happen upon a knowledgeable customer.
 
I have an easier time finding buyers for the older motors than newer one's here. Most avoid 90's and newer motors because of both it being a bit of a transition era and that many newer motors need special tools to work on.
While selling anything right now is tough, most who aren't broke will always fork over $50 for a complete older motor. When I say older I mean mid 50's to mid 60's. Anything older and I feel the buyer for those have come and went already, and we're slowly approaching that point with the 50's motors. The only thing keeping them alive is the remaining interest in old glass boats of that era. Parts are abundant but shipping often kills the sale of most parts or me wanting to fix one.
I've got two older 25hp motors of that period, both need minor parts and a good reseal, and anything 65 years old or so will need new paint and decals to be even presentable.
If I list one for $50, I get guys who part out motors on ebay and they're gone the same day.
If I list them for $150, they're more likely to sit for a month but they do sell. Guys who buy them tend to wait till they find multiple items in an area and then make a drive gathering them all up. Never list them all at once, buyers will insist on a package deal and you'll make less money on them in the end. I'm all for giving someone a deal but I'm not doing charity work and even if you got them for free, you have money invested in either your own labor or the gas to haul them home and save them. I rarely sell a motor for $50, maybe if its an odd size or if its stuck or something but otherwise its worth more in parts. Unless your the sort of guy who want to sell $50 bills for $5, I'd either put a price on them one at a time, or break them down and sell the best parts and scrap the rest. After all, if you need a part, they aren't free, and sure as you know what some seller isn't going to be bashful with the price.
 
Everything has value but only in the hands of someone who values it.

When it comes to selling anything, its only worth what someone will pay at that moment but that's really bad advise if you intend to survive for very long these days.
In reality its better to have an overpriced item than a negative or a loss too.
I strongly feel that wen it comes to vintage items the value is more perceived than actual.
If a person just needs a motor, they likely aren't going to look for a particular year or one that's made 60 years ago. But just the same, the guy who buys a vintage corvette doesn't need a Corvette, he could do just as well driving any cheap car that runs. The fact is he WANTS a Corvette or the feel he gets driving something historic or classic. For some people its cars, for other its boats, bikes, or trains, or whatever they like. Listing it cheap means it'll sell cheap.

When it comes to selling an old motor, if you know what you have, and what it can be or currently is, price it accordingly, you can always negotiate down, but never up. The real buyer will make a fair offer.
I feel that any motor is worth the sum of its parts, Sold Items on ebay are a good source for something's value but remember that the lowest prices may have also been listed by uneducated sellers who sold too cheap so I generally discount the super low prices for that reason. There's no worse feeling than realizing after something drives over the curb that you short changed yourself a ton of cash in haste to sell something. Money left on the table is money lost.

Not all of use are in this hobby to make money but its also nice to not be in it to lose money either.

I'd figure that any 'viable' motor is worth no less than $200, maybe more in some areas. Older motors are few and far between, both age, corrosion, and simply attrition have sent most to the crusher long ago. There's a lot to be said for the older simplest motors. Those older Johnson, Evinrude and Gale motors required almost no special tools and could be worked on and repaired over and over again by anyone. That alone to me make them more valuable than the newer motors. I set up at a flea market a while back and took a half dozen older motors with me, I turned down a hundred $20 and $50 offers on most of them, (all 5.5 and 6hp Johnnyrudes). I had one guy super interseted in two of them, he came back sevearal times, had his phone out, he even took a compression test on them. (I had a $325 tag on each of them),
I had nothing in them, all came from larger estate sale buys where I bought the contents of the place for a few hundred bucks because they needed it empty in a hurry. The guy who had checked the compression asks if I'd take an offer on both, I said sure, and he chines in with $450. I didn't anwer right away, but would have let them go for that in a heartbeat at 4pm. He then ups the offer before I said a word to $475, and says its all hes got. I said since its late, I'll do it and he handed me the cash, a guy who was standin behind him, saw the deal go down and asked me how much for the other three, I said make me an offer, and he tells me he's got $500, but then said if I'd wait he could run to the cash machine and come up with some more. I said go get some more cash and we'll talk. He comes back 20 minutes later, and I'm almost all packed up by then, and handed me $760, and says if that'll work he'll take all three.

I pocketeted over $1200 on five non running, but with good compression, fairly clean looking 50's and 60's motors that I had zero interest in keeping or ever using. I myself would never pay that much for one of those motors because I have no use or interest in smaller motors. They don't work on my boat, and I'm not a small boat guy at 6ft 4in tall and 400 lbs.
If it won't get my 16ft boat on plane with two big guys in it and their fishing gear its not a keeper here.
Most sellers need to remember that there's always someone out there who sees what they have for sale the same way you did when you first bought it too. It'll always be new to someone else if only for a little while.
 
mbullen said:
https://www.aomci.org/ has a classified section and regional chapters.
They are also on Facebook as both a member and a non-member page.
You will find relevant customers there.

Facebook marketplace is the best option as a dart-throwing exercise.

In general, you will find vintage motors to be highly collectible, but not very valuable.
Desirable models fully restored, running, and with the appropriate tank some can hit the 500-1000 range (which still doesn't touch the expense of the restoration)
Otherwise, unless you can fire it up in front of the buyer (and demonstrate the appropriate fuel/oil mix), they are considered "complete non-runners" and "parts non-runners".
Expect Free to 150 as the price point.
Good looking survivors are obviously somewhere in between IF you happen upon a knowledgeable customer.
Click to expand...
I went to a couple of their weekend meets a few years ago in hopes to find a few bits and pieces for a pair of mid 50's 10hp motors I had, but was told that most of their members were more into pre WW2 motors. I never went back. One guy there told me that the 50's and 60's motors were just 'old' and not really collectible or worth my time.

Not knocking those who collect older motors but I feel that those older motors are no longer relevant for daily use today, they're best as museum pieces than your primary means of transportation. I have no issues running a mid 50's motor on a boat and doing so week after week so long as its healthy, but I do prefer the newer roller bearing motors that run on 50:1 fuel mix and no ignition points to get wet or fail. But I never did have any issued with the 56 Evinrude that was on my old MFG since new. The wood/fiberglass hull needed more maintenance than the motor ever did. For me, I use my boats either to fish or to go somewhere and back on the water. I don't think I'd ever feel comfortable running a finicky prewar motor with near zero parts availability 20 miles to and from some water bar or restaurant.
They're plenty cool to play with but they're not for me.
I like the look of the 50's motors, much like cars of that era they had lots of style. I would feel one would be a must on a vintage boat restoration for any purpose.
 
mirrocraft16 said:
I went to a couple of their weekend meets a few years ago in hopes to find a few bits and pieces for a pair of mid 50's 10hp motors I had, but was told that most of their members were more into pre WW2 motors. I never went back. One guy there told me that the 50's and 60's motors were just 'old' and not really collectible or worth my time.

Not knocking those who collect older motors but I feel that those older motors are no longer relevant for daily use today, they're best as museum pieces than your primary means of transportation. I have no issues running a mid 50's motor on a boat and doing so week after week so long as its healthy, but I do prefer the newer roller bearing motors that run on 50:1 fuel mix and no ignition points to get wet or fail. But I never did have any issued with the 56 Evinrude that was on my old MFG since new. The wood/fiberglass hull needed more maintenance than the motor ever did. For me, I use my boats either to fish or to go somewhere and back on the water. I don't think I'd ever feel comfortable running a finicky prewar motor with near zero parts availability 20 miles to and from some water bar or restaurant.
They're plenty cool to play with but they're not for me.
I like the look of the 50's motors, much like cars of that era they had lots of style. I would feel one would be a must on a vintage boat restoration for any purpose.
Click to expand...
"Most of the members" at that meet, perhaps.
I've found the club to be very helpful and I've been able to help some folks, too. Networking within a common hobby can't be all bad.

But to be fair, I agree 100% about the old, old stuff. I have a few and they're fun to play with, but they're nothing more than playthings.
On the other hand, I have a small fleet of vintage aluminum runabouts and every one runs a vintage magneto twin cylinder. Mostly OMC products from 1954 to 1962. I've found those years to be my sweet spot and I've never had reason to find them untrustworthy.

Though, I have to admit, I rarely have the same trust on some of the other brands from the same era. My Scotts, McCullochs, and Mercs get exercised, too, but rarely without a rescue buddy back at the dock. Lol
 
I don't doubt it was just that one club but when someone who's selling the very same model motor your asking about in half the shape for real money, then looks at yours and says it worthless, maybe a $20 parts motor at best, (1946 PO-15 that ran and was clean other than a patched fuel tube, and a few dents in the tank).

I never went back. To be fair, it sat listed for $125 on CL for five years with no takers here but I gave it to a buddy to list about 50 miles north of me and it sold in four days. The guy even told him that he saw it listed here but he lived 30 miles from here so he didn't want to drive so far for an old motor. He paid $200 for it there.
A lot of the selling issues here is the area, people won't drive 5 miles these days. I had a guy email about two seats I have listed, he's 8 miles down the road. He emailed said he's been looking for a month for a good pair to pop up. I gave him my address, he came back with a long story about how I'm too far away. He's 10 minutes down the road at best. He then emails back from what I'm guessing is his wife's email, as if I'd take less, telling me again that he's right down the road with cash. I said now, the price is firm and its 1/4 the cost of new seats. He emailed me back with a profanity laced tirade about how people like me should be shot for taking advantage of folks. He felt I should sell them for $20.
I had a tool box listed two weeks ago, a guy emailed saying he wants it and can come right over, I give him the address, he tells me he's nearly two hours away. I said I'd be here, he shows up four hours later telling me how far he came and that he got lost and ended up lost for a bit and came here by way of an almost 100 mile detour. Je looked the box over and then tells me he doesn't have enough cash and that he needs to keep some for gas to get home. He then offers me 1/4 of what I was asking. I told him sorry but the price is firm. he leaves mad without a tool box. A week later he emails again, this time offering $10 more. I decline and he doesn't respond.
After a few weeks of nothing but jokers I got fed up with it all and took new pics, and put it back up at three times the price. The same guy emails me again seemingly oblivios to the fact its the same box and seller and asked if I'd sell it for $40 less than I was now now asking, I said I'd take $20 off the price. He dies a no show that night but shows up the next morning with cash and buys the box.
After pays me and shoves the thing in his truck he tells me he tried to buy one just like it a few weeks prior but the seller wouldn't drop his price. He either was too stupid or too blind to realize he just paid more than double for the same box from the same seller. He could have had it for $280 less if he just paid my original price.
 
mirrocraft16 said:
I don't doubt it was just that one club but when someone who's selling the very same model motor your asking about in half the shape for real money, then looks at yours and says it worthless, maybe a $20 parts motor at best, (1946 PO-15 that ran and was clean other than a patched fuel tube, and a few dents in the tank).

I never went back. To be fair, it sat listed for $125 on CL for five years with no takers here but I gave it to a buddy to list about 50 miles north of me and it sold in four days. The guy even told him that he saw it listed here but he lived 30 miles from here so he didn't want to drive so far for an old motor. He paid $200 for it there.
A lot of the selling issues here is the area, people won't drive 5 miles these days. I had a guy email about two seats I have listed, he's 8 miles down the road. He emailed said he's been looking for a month for a good pair to pop up. I gave him my address, he came back with a long story about how I'm too far away. He's 10 minutes down the road at best. He then emails back from what I'm guessing is his wife's email, as if I'd take less, telling me again that he's right down the road with cash. I said now, the price is firm and its 1/4 the cost of new seats. He emailed me back with a profanity laced tirade about how people like me should be shot for taking advantage of folks. He felt I should sell them for $20.
I had a tool box listed two weeks ago, a guy emailed saying he wants it and can come right over, I give him the address, he tells me he's nearly two hours away. I said I'd be here, he shows up four hours later telling me how far he came and that he got lost and ended up lost for a bit and came here by way of an almost 100 mile detour. Je looked the box over and then tells me he doesn't have enough cash and that he needs to keep some for gas to get home. He then offers me 1/4 of what I was asking. I told him sorry but the price is firm. he leaves mad without a tool box. A week later he emails again, this time offering $10 more. I decline and he doesn't respond.
After a few weeks of nothing but jokers I got fed up with it all and took new pics, and put it back up at three times the price. The same guy emails me again seemingly oblivios to the fact its the same box and seller and asked if I'd sell it for $40 less than I was now now asking, I said I'd take $20 off the price. He dies a no show that night but shows up the next morning with cash and buys the box.
After pays me and shoves the thing in his truck he tells me he tried to buy one just like it a few weeks prior but the seller wouldn't drop his price. He either was too stupid or too blind to realize he just paid more than double for the same box from the same seller. He could have had it for $280 less if he just paid my original price.
Click to expand...
Never bargain or accept a buyer's lower price before you see his/her eyes and they see the item they want. How can a guy offer a lower price when he hasn't even seen the item. I don't even answer the "will you take less" before they arrive. Those types are never the buyer of your used item.
And when I'm looking for something used, I don't respond to an overpriced ad. If the price is right, I'll go look and make a deal.
It's difficult to buy and sell on internet sites and still have respect for the process.
 
I find most want to pay half of what ever your asking or less, if something is legitimately worth $500, they want it for $250 or less and will offer you $100.
Along the same lines if you put it up for $1,000, you get $400 offers or no offers at all.
I have never had anyone pay asking price for anything, nor will I.
I get suspicious of a seller though if something is listed at $1,000 and I offer $300 and they say okay, come get it.
It makes me wonder both if I had offered less, would they have taken that too? Why are they so willing to sell it cheap?

I've been watching dozens of boats and motors listed lately for dirt cheap, some with issues, others appear to be those with no clue what they have or are selling. One ad for a boat says "16ft aluminium boat runs" the ad test starts out saying No papers but have title??? The boat is upside down on the trailer, it looks to be an older SF16 hull, there are no top pics and the only motor pick is a super close up of a mid 90's Johnson 15hp. I've passed the boat where it sits, its been tied to a tree on a lawn on a major road for a year with a cardboard Bote 4 Sale sign $400OBO.
I never stopped simply because I'm in a work vehicle with GPS, no unscheduled stops are allowed, and its a bit far from home to just drive out that way. But, being on CL for so long, for cheap, even if its rough, its worth $400 to someone. The crabbers and dock builders take that sort of boat all the time. I emailed the ad and got a barely intelligent response, they didn't answer any of my questions but did email me a pic of the title, which has the address where the boat sits on it. According to the title its a 1993 SF16. I asked about the motor and for more pics but that part got ignored. I sent another email, asked only about the motor and got only the reply, "It Runs". I sent another request from a different email for more pics, and got pics of an 80's 25hp Evinrude and a 9.9hp Johnson, both looked to be fairly decent but that raised the question as to whether the boat comes with one or two motors and which one. I had a buddy email asking what size motor came with it and got told that the motor runs but they don't know what kind it is. My buddy lives closer and went to the house where the boat is out front for sale, knocked on the door and the guy came out and said its not for sale. There was a number on the for sale sign so he went back to his car and called, and got some woman who said her husband would call back, but no one ever did. I had another guy at work stop there and look at the boat and take some pics, he said some guy came out and told him it comes with a newer motor than the one that's on it, (there's no motor on it), but its in the trunk of his car. He said the guy showed him a tiny Shakespeare trolling motor from the 70's and said its '50hp or so'. He asked if there's a title he said yeah but its at the bank. He'll have to go get it. He left a number but the guy never called back. Its been there now for well over a year and the ad has been renewed over and over.
If they don't want to sell it, I don't see anything they can gain by having it on the lawn with a sale sign or by running an ad on CL. A neighbor near there that sells produce told me one day that the boat has been out there for sale for 5 or more years but the people in the house have changed a dozen times.

Last week, I had my neighbor who drives that way going to work, stop and try to buy it. I told him to lowball the guy like $50 but only if he produced a title and he could take the boat right then and there. He stopped late that day, parked out front and laid on the horn, he said some guy came out looking like a meth head. He said he's there to buy the boat and motor in the ad, he said the guy called some other guy out of the house, they flipped the boat over, he walked into the house came back out with a 1997 Johnson 9.9hp, a 3 gallon gas can and hose, and a half gallon of 2 stroke oil, He said he pulled a signed title out of his back pocket and handed it to him. They both wheeled it over to his car and dropped it on the ball, then even went back in and got two tie downs and strapped the boat down. He asked for a DL and the one guy produced one which he took a pic of, that matched the address where the boat was. I was shocked to say the least when he pulled into my driveway with the boat in tow.
Its now in my back yard, $100 spent. I didn't want it or need it, but would have gladly given $400 for even the motor.
The motor runs but needs an impeller. Its clean, with good compression. The boat could stand to have a few dings banged out and the rear where the battery tray is is a bit beat up but nothing 10 minutes with a block of wood and a hammer won't fix. The trailer is unmarked with no papers but in decent shape other than dry rotted tires and cheap lights.
I have a a buyer for the trailer and the motor is likely a keeper. My neighbor who went and got it said he may want the boat for himself and offered to trade me for his 16ft Starcraft Jupiter that needs a motor.

109_3385.jpg
 
freeisforme said:
I find most want to pay half of what ever your asking or less, if something is legitimately worth $500, they want it for $250 or less and will offer you $100.
Along the same lines if you put it up for $1,000, you get $400 offers or no offers at all.
I have never had anyone pay asking price for anything, nor will I.
I get suspicious of a seller though if something is listed at $1,000 and I offer $300 and they say okay, come get it.
It makes me wonder both if I had offered less, would they have taken that too? Why are they so willing to sell it cheap?

I've been watching dozens of boats and motors listed lately for dirt cheap, some with issues, others appear to be those with no clue what they have or are selling. One ad for a boat says "16ft aluminium boat runs" the ad test starts out saying No papers but have title??? The boat is upside down on the trailer, it looks to be an older SF16 hull, there are no top pics and the only motor pick is a super close up of a mid 90's Johnson 15hp. I've passed the boat where it sits, its been tied to a tree on a lawn on a major road for a year with a cardboard Bote 4 Sale sign $400OBO.
I never stopped simply because I'm in a work vehicle with GPS, no unscheduled stops are allowed, and its a bit far from home to just drive out that way. But, being on CL for so long, for cheap, even if its rough, its worth $400 to someone. The crabbers and dock builders take that sort of boat all the time. I emailed the ad and got a barely intelligent response, they didn't answer any of my questions but did email me a pic of the title, which has the address where the boat sits on it. According to the title its a 1993 SF16. I asked about the motor and for more pics but that part got ignored. I sent another email, asked only about the motor and got only the reply, "It Runs". I sent another request from a different email for more pics, and got pics of an 80's 25hp Evinrude and a 9.9hp Johnson, both looked to be fairly decent but that raised the question as to whether the boat comes with one or two motors and which one. I had a buddy email asking what size motor came with it and got told that the motor runs but they don't know what kind it is. My buddy lives closer and went to the house where the boat is out front for sale, knocked on the door and the guy came out and said its not for sale. There was a number on the for sale sign so he went back to his car and called, and got some woman who said her husband would call back, but no one ever did. I had another guy at work stop there and look at the boat and take some pics, he said some guy came out and told him it comes with a newer motor than the one that's on it, (there's no motor on it), but its in the trunk of his car. He said the guy showed him a tiny Shakespeare trolling motor from the 70's and said its '50hp or so'. He asked if there's a title he said yeah but its at the bank. He'll have to go get it. He left a number but the guy never called back. Its been there now for well over a year and the ad has been renewed over and over.
If they don't want to sell it, I don't see anything they can gain by having it on the lawn with a sale sign or by running an ad on CL. A neighbor near there that sells produce told me one day that the boat has been out there for sale for 5 or more years but the people in the house have changed a dozen times.

Last week, I had my neighbor who drives that way going to work, stop and try to buy it. I told him to lowball the guy like $50 but only if he produced a title and he could take the boat right then and there. He stopped late that day, parked out front and laid on the horn, he said some guy came out looking like a meth head. He said he's there to buy the boat and motor in the ad, he said the guy called some other guy out of the house, they flipped the boat over, he walked into the house came back out with a 1997 Johnson 9.9hp, a 3 gallon gas can and hose, and a half gallon of 2 stroke oil, He said he pulled a signed title out of his back pocket and handed it to him. They both wheeled it over to his car and dropped it on the ball, then even went back in and got two tie downs and strapped the boat down. He asked for a DL and the one guy produced one which he took a pic of, that matched the address where the boat was. I was shocked to say the least when he pulled into my driveway with the boat in tow.
Its now in my back yard, $100 spent. I didn't want it or need it, but would have gladly given $400 for even the motor.
The motor runs but needs an impeller. Its clean, with good compression. The boat could stand to have a few dings banged out and the rear where the battery tray is is a bit beat up but nothing 10 minutes with a block of wood and a hammer won't fix. The trailer is unmarked with no papers but in decent shape other than dry rotted tires and cheap lights.
I have a a buyer for the trailer and the motor is likely a keeper. My neighbor who went and got it said he may want the boat for himself and offered to trade me for his 16ft Starcraft Jupiter that needs a motor.

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It sounds like more trouble than it was worth, I'm not sure I would have persisted.
'Looked like a meth head' may explain the whole deal. Generally if it walks like a duck.....

Ive seen quite a few decent deals lately, but if it takes playing someone's stupid game to get, they can keep it.

I had a super strange deal about 5 years ago when I answered an ad for a 17ft aluminum bass boat. It was for sale on cl and fb, and out on the lawn around the corner from my house. I emailed the guy several times but got no reply. I finally called the cell phone number in the ad and some kid answered and said he was at school but the boat belonged to his dad. It sounded like a 10 year old kid. About two hours later I got a call from some woman wanting to know why I was calling her kid's cell phone.. I told her I answered the ad on CL for a boat for sale. She didn't answer me but started yelling for 'George' get the ...in here. I get some guy on the phone after that telling me I shouldn't have called the phone number, his wife is pissed. I told the idiot that maybe he shouldn't put his kids number in the ad then. He then starts telling me that I was on hi shouse phone and I shouldn't use that number either, I told him his wife called me. All the while his wife is screaming on top of her lungs at him about buying more boats, and she want a divorce. I just hung up and forgot about it. A month later I get a call from the guy on a different cell phone saying he's the guy who's got the bass boat for sale. If I still want it, its still for sale, "The first $800 takes it, but someone stole the lower unit". It had a running 75hp Johnson on the back, that now needed a lower unit. I thought about it a bit and figured no matter what its well worth $800. I take a ride over there with my truck, he meets me out front where the boat is parked.
Mind you this is a guy likely in his mid 60's or better who's standing about 6ft 6in tall and about 450 lbs or so. He shows me the missing lower unit, but they left the stainless prop?
I bump the key and the engine fires right up that quick, so I figured he had likely just had it running, but it was cold to the touch, the interior was well aged but the hull was good. It needed carpet and new seats. The trailer was galvanized with polyethylene bunks.
I tell the guy finding a lower unit will be costly, and asked if he looked around and he said the best he deal he found was $800 for one with no guaranty. Plus the water pump and other parts it would need. He said he can't find the title for the trailer, but has the boat title.
I asked him if he thought the boat was worth the sum of what he was asking and all the parts and labor it was going to take to fix. He looked at me funny and I said I'd do $300 tops. He balked a bit but finally said he'd do $350 if I could take it away right away. I said you have a deal and he went in the house to get the title. He was gone for a long while, then he come back out and he said that his wife refuses to give him the title. He wanted me to take it and he'd bring me the title. Apparently his wife knew that once that boat left he'd go buy another one.
I told the guy I'm not taking it without a title, without the title the boat is scrap to me. He finally says "give me $200 cash, take the boat, I'll get the title once she either leaves or falls asleep.".
Figuring that the trailer and motor were worth at least that I handed him $200, and took the boat. I handed him a card with my address and told him if I didn't have a title in my hands by the end of the week I was coming back for my money.
I took the boat home, that was around 4pm on a Thursday. 10am the next morning, I see a minivan pull up, a short little woman no more than maybe a 100lbs come running up to my front door banging on the storm door like a wild woman screaming "Is anyone here"
I walk around from the other door, and come up behind her, telling her that the doorbell works better.
She asks if I'm the guy who bought the boat off her fat lazy no good husband? I said 'That depends if he comes up with the title or not. She grabs the title out of her jeans and throws it at me and stomps off yelling that "It better stay here" I've had enough of him and his boats". She hopped in her van and took off.
 
I'm glad its not just me who finds the crazy folks out there.
Over the last 20 years or so it seems there are more and more odd encounters with people.
 
That's because several generations have now been brought up by day care workers and ZERO discipline. You know there were some good reasons for Moms staying home and Dad getting the belt out when kids acted up. Now all these hapless, clueless humans have grown up and they're VOTING. Just look how THAT has turned out!
 
There's a lot of people that shouldn't vote, shouldn't drive, and shouldn't have contact with others.

To be fare, I've run into oddballs of all ages, some of the worst were my own age or close to it.
I just figured its a combination of never having been punched in the face and drugs.

On FB and CL the no show rate is about 90% and most don't get past the first email before they either make a ridiculous offer or just never respond. About 99% of all real buyers on both sites have been from far away, almost never is it someone nearby but I get a lot of people who use the excuse that I'm too far away yet they're only 5 or so miles away. I've had people who wouldn't drive past a certain block or road as if it were another country not the next town over.

I sold a guy an inline 6 Mercury 150hp motor for parts a few years ago. He showed up driving a new Toyota Avalon. It still had a temp tag onit from the dealer. The motor was on a stand and weighed about 275 lbs or so. He looked at me and asked if I could give hm a hand getting it in his car. He wanted to put it across the back seat.
It was clearly longer than the car was wide but he insisted it would fit. I wanted no part of it. I told him I'd help guide it but I"m old and have a bad back. He managed to get it of fhe stand it was on, and laying at an angle partly on the rear seat. He gets in the car and has me hold the skeg while he fought to drag it acxross the back seat into the car. It almsot didn't clear the door, he had to remove the prope to make it fit. He gets the thing to where he thinks it all the way in, then slams the rear drivers side door. I could here the door thump on the top of the motor as he slammed it shut. could see that the skeg was still stickig out the doort too far. Imeantion this but he said it looks like it'll clear, and he slams the door hard. It doesn't come close to closing. The skeg is holding the door open about a foot. He then climbs in the csar, runs the rear window town and olds up the bottom of the motor and asks me to close the door. I could see the window o that car didn't go all the way down, so the glass was going to hit the motro. He reached up front and lays a jacket between the motro and the top fo the glass.
He climbs out the right front door, happy that he got it in the car. When he slams the front door, the motor dropped and the rear window shattered. he looked at it for a bit and drove off. The motor was a greassy mess to begin with and the car had a beige valore interior. He destroyed the seat, both rear door panels, and a window over a $200 parts motor. His only comment was that his grandmother is gonna be pissed. It was her new car.

When he drove away I could see that the right rear door had a dent from the inside out likely from where either the skeg went through the door panel or where something inside had bent when he slammed the door the first time. I also can't imagine what the top of the right rear door was going to look like by the time he got home either. He also wasn't a kid, he had to be in his late 20's or better, definitely old enough to kow better.
 
Geez, that's a crazy tale. I got one. About a decade ago I had upgraded my bike and finally decided to find a new home for my beloved KZ650 which I had restored to like new. I sorta knew the guy from an online car forum. He shows up with a minivan.....and a friend. Thank God for that. He managed to cram that bike into the van at an oddball angle, but it was hanging out the back. He tied the hatch down and off he went. I found out later he made it home with it, but I'll bet he messed up the bike and the van some. Why he didn't hand the van keys to his buddy and ride the bike home I don't know.

Honestly I think people should have to take an IQ test to vote and to get a drivers license. If you're below 90 or so, you probably aren't capable of making good decisions.
 

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