Ready to buy a challenger 180 - no gauges working

[chantunia]

hello everyone!
I've been reading a lot on this forum, but this is my first time actually posting.
I am planning to buy a Challenger 1999, with 720s recently rebuilt (both), with a warranty from the dealer.
The boat looks in pretty good condition, no damage to the hull other than a scratch here and there, which I am totally fine with.
Interior is decent for the age. Trailer is okay, may need new tires, but not too bad.
The seller agreed to a water test, so that's something that we are organizing for the upcoming weekend.
So here comes the issue: only one of the gauges work, the port tachometer. So no fuel, no speed, no starboard tachometer.
Aside from the convenience factor, could this indicate sort of red flag I'm missing?
This could be part of a major problem with the boat (a computer problem)?

Apologies, but like I said, in spite of reading a lot of very valuable info in here I am not mechanically inclined. I'm also getting a little bit paranoid by the minute. Asking price is 9K CAD, so no cheap for sure, to be spent on a +20 year old machine.
Any other tip/advice will be of course welcomed and appreciated
Many thanks

 

[FlyboyX]

is it a 18' boat? if so, 9k is like 6k usd? thats probably reasonable. make sure to do a compression check with all cylinders at right around 150psi. if not, walk away. i don't care if they were just rebuilt.

if the boat is coming from a dealer, make them fix the electrical gremlins. the fuel gage is always broken on these boats. there is a diy for the sending unit on youtube. as to the others, its possible that the plugs under the dash have just come loose. i had that minor issue with my boat when i bought it. easy fix that was.