How to interpret an ad for a Sceptre

[joshm]

Hi everyone!

I've been reading through this site and learning a lot about these boats. We're in the market for our first boat and these classic Seacraft's look like just what we've been looking for. I found a 20' Sceptre locally for a very good price. Tomorrow I plan on contacting the seller to get info about the year, condition, etc. Apparently it is running (with good compression on the outboard), but the ad stated that the fuel tank needed to be cleaned. How would you all interpret that? Is it possible that this boat just sat for a while or do you think that something else is likely wrong if the engine still has good compression numbers? I know it is kind of difficult to diagnose this from little details over the web, but I know you all are experts .

Would you say the bottom line is to get it surveyed before purchase to know exactly what I would be getting into? For example, there is another nice 20' Sceptre here but it has a blown powerhead. At least I'd know that I was getting into a serious engine problem before hand and I was somewhat concerned about getting into something that supposedly had a dirty fuel tank (E10 isn't that common around here either) and it turns out that I'd need to repower.

Thanks for any input you guys might have!