Hi,
Im planning on purchasing my first bass boat and im realy excited and anxious. It is a 1994 Nitro 180 DC with a 150 Mariner Magnum III that all seems to be in good condition. And he is asking $5900 or better offer. I have a few questions:
1. Is the price to high or should i offer a different price?
2. Does anybody know if the boat and motor would be a good buy?

Just my opinion. I have never been a fan of the older Nitros. They have made great strides lately, but the reputation they are trying to overcome was made in the 90's and the 2000's. I would think there are plenty of Skeeters, Rangers, Tritons, etc....out there close to your price. Personally, I would keep looking until I found one.

Not sure if this helps but I bought one same year and model as that one except it had 115hp evinrude on it back in 2001. I paid $6500 for it. Kept it until 2009 when I sold it for $3500. Was a great boat for the years I had it, the guy I sold has put a new set of rings on it and still fishes regularly out of it.

I do believe you could find a newer boat for the same money or for not much more in todays market. And as far as the Nitro warnings you will get here, all I can speak to is the one I owned it, the only time that boat ever failed me was when my buddies took the kill switch out to stop me from taking it out one night because I was too drunk.

a8689b I owned a 1995 180 TF I bought brand new with the XR6 150 Merc. It saw a lot of time on Fork and surrounding lakes. I don't know about the construction on these boats, even back then Nitro didn't talk to much about the internals of their rigs. At the time I bought it I was just looking to get into something to tourney fish in that was not as expensive as the other brands at the time. It was by far the driest and smoothest riding boat I had ever set foot in. I think I gave about $18k for it. If it is extra clean I think $5900 would be a good price. If you have a fiberglass repair shop in your area you might consider having them look at it and go from there.

Look it up on NADA. Not real accurate, but it may help some.

I think it sounds high for a 94.

Thanks guys for all the help! Here are some pics of the boat..Im going to test drive it tomorrow. I think I will offer him $4,500 if everything checks out and see what he says? i dont know if thats to much or not..and also it looks like the windshields are missing??

and i found out that its a 1992 not a 1994.

I'd go with the $4500 and walk if he don't bite. The good news is this old boat looks like it would clean up real good. I have bought a couple of "diamonds in the rough" and this one looks about like what I would start with if I were going to do that again, a little wet sanding, buffing, and wax, touch up paint on the trailer, new decals from Nitro and this thing looks like a million dollars sitting on a trailer. One other thing....make sure you get under it and look for damage, look for soft spots in the floors and decks, go around behind it and grab the motor at the lower unit skeg area, pull back and forth on it and up and down, see if the transom flexes, if it does then its thanks but no thanks.........

Does the seller have current titles for the motor and trailer in his name? I still would keep looking, but if you are seriously going to consider this boat, do your due diligence. Take it to the lake and run it hard. Good luck.

Ok i will make sure i check for soft spots and check the transom as well to see if it flexes or not.And yeah i was thinking that price was too high to be asking for it. And Yes he said he has the titles for both boat and motor. He didnt say if they were in his name or not though. Im going today and ill make sure i run it pretty hard.

Update: didn't buy the boat. Long story short, the boat was a bust and the seller was ignorant and had the salesman type pitch.

Look at the 95 javelin in the classifieds

Sounds like you made the correct decision, keep looking you will be surprised what you might find. With this economy in the mess it is in there are lots of deals out there. I'd keep an eye on Craigslist.com and Ebay locally. I bought a really nice Ranger several years ago that was only about 3 years old at the time for about half what it was worth because someone was in a financial bind and needed to be rid of it quick. You will see that a little more often now........These deals go quick so try to have cash on hand or prearranged financing so you can pull the trigger quick if you need to.

Thanks for all the help! I really appreciate it!