Vet a listing

For used-boat buyers

Vet the boat before you buy it.

Paste any used-boat listing. In about two minutes HullVet tells you straight whether it's worth a look, fairly priced, overpriced, or one to walk away from, and gives you the questions to ask the seller.

Vet a listing free Get the Buyer's Kit

2 free checks every month · No card needed · Listings from any site

Example report
Worth a look

2004 Sea Ray 340 Sundancer, $64,900

34 ft · Twin MerCruiser gas inboards · 640 hours (about 29 a year) · Racine, WI

“Fair money for a freshwater Sundancer. Worth a call, but get the riser history first.”

Nothing on paper says no. Worth a phone call and a visit. Confidence: medium.

The price

Asking $64,900 is in the middle half of asking prices for this model: 13% below the median of $74,900.

Freshwater use and moderate hours help; no recent survey or service is mentioned.

Based on 78 asking prices for the Sea Ray Sundancer 300-370 (model years 1988-2008), collected 6 Oct 2026. Asking prices, not sale prices.

Warning signs

  • medium Nothing about when the exhaust risers and manifolds were last replaced.
  • low No survey or service records mentioned.

Good signs

  • Freshwater boat since new, which is kinder to engines and metal.
  • 640 hours over 22 years is light, steady use.

Ask the seller

  1. When were the exhaust risers and manifolds last replaced, and do you have the receipt?
  2. Has she had a survey in the last two years, and can I see it?
  3. Is the title clear, with no loan or lien on the boat?

Next step

Call with these three questions. If the answers are good, book a viewing and take the Dockside Walkthrough checklist.

Not in the listing: Survey, Service records, Generator hours.

In The Used Boat Field Guide: “Sea Ray Sundancer 300 to 370”, page 26.

HankWe vet the listing, not the boat. Always see her in person and hire your own surveyor.
  • 2 freelisting checks every month
  • 62model groups with Oct 2026 asking prices
  • 63boat and engine profiles behind each verdict
  • 0commissions from brokers, dealers or lenders

How it works

Three steps, two minutes

Do it before you call the seller, and definitely before you drive three hours to see a boat.

Paste the listing

Copy the title, price and description from Boat Trader, YachtWorld, Facebook, Craigslist or a dealer's site. Add screenshots if you like. Sign in with just your email.

HullVet reads it

We compare the asking price with what sellers are asking for the same model, and look for the warning signs, engine issues and scam patterns we write about in the Buyer's Kit.

You get the verdict

Worth a look, fair, overpriced or walk away, with the reasons, and three to five questions to read to the seller on the phone. A copy lands in your inbox.

What HullVet looks at

The things that cost buyers money

  • The asking price, against real asking prices for 62 popular model groups, collected in October 2026.
  • Engine hours and age, and what they say about how the boat was used or left sitting.
  • Known trouble spots for the model and engine, from the 63 profiles in our Field Guide.
  • Paperwork red flags: no title, bill of sale only, liens, salvage or flood history.
  • Scam patterns: too-good prices, deposits to hold, shipping agents, sellers who can't meet.
  • Fit for you: tell us how you'll use her and your budget, and HullVet says if she fits.

We vet the listing. Your surveyor vets the boat.

HullVet can only judge what the listing says and shows. It can't see a wet transom or hear a tired engine. Use it to decide which boats deserve your Saturday, then do the walkthrough yourself and hire your own surveyor before you sign anything.

Nobody pays us when you buy a boat, and nobody pays us when you don't.

The Honest Boat Buyer's Kit

Everything we check, in five books you can print

314 pages: the buyer's guide, the Used Boat Field Guide with October 2026 asking prices, the first-year owner's manual, 15 printable dockside tools and a guide for your partner. Plus a working cost calculator, and 5 HullVet checks on top of your free ones.

$47Launch price.
See what's inside

Instant download · 30-day money-back guarantee

The five books of the Honest Boat Buyer's Kit and the True Cost Calculator
Hank, founding host of HullVet

Your host

Plain talk from Hank

Hank is HullVet's founding host. He started out answering the questions people ask at the dock on the Honest Boat Talk YouTube channel. HullVet is what happens when you bring him the listing itself: a straight answer, in plain English, before you spend a dime.

Hank

Hank is an AI-generated character, and so is the voice of every HullVet report. The research, price data and checklists behind them are real.

Questions

Frequently asked

Is it really free?

Yes. Everyone gets 2 checks every calendar month, no card needed. Buyers of the Honest Boat Buyer's Kit get 5 more.

Which listings can I check?

Any used boat listing from any website, or a flyer on a marina noticeboard: paste the text and add screenshots of the photos and details. HullVet never logs into or scrapes any marketplace; it only reads what you give it.

Is a HullVet report a survey or an appraisal?

No. It's a first-pass read of the listing, to help you decide which boats are worth your time and what to ask. It can't replace seeing the boat, a sea trial or an accredited marine surveyor, and it isn't a valuation for a loan or insurance.

Where do the prices come from?

From the same asking-price snapshot as our Field Guide: listings for 62 popular model groups collected on US marketplaces on 6 October 2026. They're asking prices, not sale prices. For models outside that list, HullVet says so and focuses on the listing itself.

Who writes the report?

An AI model reads the listing using our checklists, model notes and price data, and writes the report in Hank's voice. We test it hard, but it can make mistakes, so double-check anything important before you act on it.

What happens to the listing I paste?

We send it to our AI provider to write the report, keep the report (not your screenshots) so you can open it again, and email you a copy. We never contact the seller. Details are in our privacy policy.

Found a boat you like? Vet it before you drive.

Two free checks every month. It takes about two minutes.

Vet a listing free
The free Dockside Walkthrough checklist

Going to see a boat?

Take the free Dockside Walkthrough

The one-hour inspection you do yourself before you pay a surveyor, with a repair-cost tag on every line, plus the red-flag card. Printable, free.

Get the free checklist