Trojan Boat Forum

Boat salesman can be brutal...slippery and stupid wrapped into one hideous package.

That's a clean machine. The boat is obviously well maintained in its aethetics. So, if you or someone you know is knowledgable about mechanicals, focus on those. Also, give that cockpit deck a very good look. Anything under a rug is always suspect and I think that year was wood framed. Fuel tanks and system, steering, wiring...check it out.

When we bought our boat, we had looked at a Bertram, a Hatteras, a pretty nice Viking and several other old battlewagons. We chose to renovate the Trojan for its value, simplicity, timeless look and spaciousness. Our boat has been in the water for over 25 years and has never had a blister....very rare. Seriously, if someone gave me a new SeaRay for free, I'd sell it and keep the Trojan because they're riddled with bad engineering.

Let us know what happens!

when you say cockpit, are you meaning the rear deck, or the interior (salon)?

also, while this boat does look great in these photos, it's not nearly as nice now. current owners have let it sit out (under cover) without any cleaning whatsoever. the wood is starting to peel in places, and the thing is really dirty (no worries on that though...will be fun to wash in a way if i get it. lol) also, the bottom paint is in need of a redo (saw that today when i was looking at it again).

and i am starting to think all salesmen are jerks and liars. the one at my current marina was bad mouthing trojans and pressuring me (i felt) to buy the chris craft...but, the salesmen at this place didn't get their stories straight. one told me it was an older couple needing to sell due to healt, and the one today told me they were my age (i'm 42) and just wanted to sell because they don't use it.

oh vey!

Tuck ... any idea how much under the asking price they would take?

hey tuck the cockpit is the "rear deck". i believe that juice is referring to one of the pics on the trc link that shows the palm tree rug that was spread out in the cockpit. i know its not there now or it wasnt when i saw the boat. i was wondering if you made an offer today? your right cleaning it and getting the wood back is the fun part. good luck with your salesman mess. i know you know the boat show starts tomorrow in chattanooga i figured ill go and look at some gadgets and interiors for ideas and compare how nice my trojan thats 31 years old looks compared to those new boats. let me know how things go with you.

hey tuck the cockpit is the "rear deck". i believe that juice is referring to one of the pics on the trc link that shows the palm tree rug that was spread out in the cockpit. i know its not there now or it wasnt when i saw the boat. i was wondering if you made an offer today? your right cleaning it and getting the wood back is the fun part. good luck with your salesman mess. i know you know the boat show starts tomorrow in chattanooga i figured ill go and look at some gadgets and interiors for ideas and compare how nice my trojan thats 31 years old looks compared to those new boats. let me know how things go with you.

amazing...

i've talked to the guy who owned the boat before the current owners today. he claims it's a great boat and would buy it back. another person tonight says he knows the boat personally, and says it has serious issues, including a generator which will need to be replaced, seals, etc etc etc.

i'd give my left n*t for honest information on this thing. lol

if this second guy is right, and the generator is about to go bad, how much would i be looking at for a new/rebuilt one? any ideas?

eliminate the guesswork.

make an offer pending a survey and seatrial.

You pay for the haulout and survey.

Get a competent surveyor, and his report will tell you what you really have.

He will also check the generator output and the sine wave.

I had mine surveyed at purchase, including compression tests on the engines.

We re-surveyed the hull and decks 4 years later before making the final commitment to do the refitting.

The original survey allowed me to negotiate price concessions to allow for those items that were discovered during the survey.

Great negotiating tool as well.

Make sure you hire YOUR surveyor, not the marinas, or especially not the salesman's reccomendation.

Now you will have an opinion from someone with YOUR best interest in mind.

RWS

if you like the boat do what rws said, make offer, then survey to see what he has to say. if the results come back and you dont like what they are then you dont purchase. the surveyor i told you about knows alot and he is a trojan fan. he knows what hes doing and what to look for. but if theres something else holding you back well... believe me its worth having this done
good luck

Don't be afraid to start at a 60% offer. The asking price for mine was 25,000, I offered 20k and got it. after the sale I found out I could have gotten it for 17k. I found another F-32 with fresh engines for a friend of mine for 25k he offered 12,500 and got it. These were not at brokerages though, but you can make any offer and the brokerage has to submit it to the seller. If the seller doesn't like your offer he'll make a counter then you'll know where to stand.

quick question...

roughly...how much would i be looking at to replace or rebuild these 318's in this f32? and the generator apparently has an assload of hours as well (would assume many more than the boat). it's an onan. how much would i be looking at for replacement/rebuild? also, would one of these honda generators work in it's place if it were to die?

i really like this f32, but am really concerned about the engine hours. calling tomorrow to make an offer probably and set up a survey, but this information would be helpful ahead of time. should have asked here outright.

thanks!

The first F-32 I looked at had 3000 hrs on the 318 engines and they ran good, however, he wanted 25k and wouldn't budge and I wanted to go off shore right away and I didn't trust them that much without knowing them. They might have been fine for another thousand hours but I didn't want to wait to try them extensively before going off shore. In Portland, Or. I can buy new long blocks for $3000. each plus core and do the work myself or I can take the boat to Portland and have Cook Marine Engine Co. do the complete job for $5000 each. Some of the guys on the right side of the U.S. might be able to get a closer price for your area. The F-32 that I have now has 1800 hrs and I trust them completely and plan on getting approx. 4000 hrs (I hope) if I don't run them at too high rpm and change the oil often along with the other steady maintainance. As for the Honda generator as a replacement..not a good idea. the gen that is in the boat is a marine unit designed for the boat with water cooled exhaust and such. I don't have a gen. I have propane cook stove and fireplace in my F-32 with red dot heater also while underway and an inverter for anything 120v that I need. but maybe someone else will give the info you need for the gen set.

tks for the input wowzer. much appreciated.

the bit about your engine hours helps ease my fears a tad. just got off the phone with the service chief at this marina who says it's a good boat, etc etc ect...and he's going to try to find more up to date paperwork on the boat.

tks again.

Hi ...I've been looking through this thread & elsewhere trying to determine if the 1989 Trojan 12 meter international convertible has a balsa core or fibreglass hull. It seems that there is some confusion about this. Has anyone found a conclusive answer to this question???
Thks

the answer is BALSA CORE, however this post needs to be moved for housekeeping purposes.


RWS

X2 on balsa core . Its a good idea to start a new thread if you have questions