Freedom 38 Buyer's Guide
Shopping a Freedom 38 on the brokerage market means weighing a Gary Mull cruiser built around volume and easy handling against a few structural habits worth checking before you commit. The 38 emerged from the Freedom 36 with a sugar-scoop stern, and the used fleet reflects both owner and ex-charter histories, with three-cabin owner layouts the more common but two-cabin versions also available.
Layouts on the Used Market
The boat's enormous beam and long waterline translate into a stick-built interior finished in teak veneer over marine plywood, with a teak-and-holly sole and foam-backed vinyl overhead. Headroom is 6 feet 1 inch. A 60-gallon water tank sits under the starboard settee and a 37-gallon aluminum fuel tank under the aft berth; the head holds a 12-gallon holding tank beneath the vanity, and a 6-gallon heater serves the centerline sink. The cockpit is large, with 7-foot seats and a deep locker portside, but buyers should note there is no anchor locker from the factory.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
Most examples on the market carry a self-tacking jib, autopilot, inverter, dodger, bimini, chartplotter, electric winches, air conditioning, hot water, and radar as commonly fitted gear, with a short-handed setup typical. Often-seen additions include solar, a swim platform, cockpit shower, heating, gennaker, spinnaker, and dinghy davits. For buyer consequence, the power-and-energy cluster—inverter, solar, and electric winches—determines whether you can cruise without generator noise; the canvas-and-sail cluster of dodger, bimini, and self-tacking jib defines day-to-day ease; and navigation gear such as chartplotter and radar speaks to offshore readiness. Watermakers and asymmetric spinnakers appear only as occasional owner upgrades.
What to Inspect
The shallow bilge on every example anchor always contains an inch or so of water that has entered via the masthead, so check the masthead seal and trace the path. The self-tacking jib with its CamberSpar takes up foredeck space and can get in the way of anyone working forward, so assess the foredeck layout for your own ground-tackle routine given the missing anchor locker.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
Freedom 38s typically appear in the United States, Italy, and Canada. For a shopper, the checklist is short: confirm masthead-water intrusion and bilge dryness, evaluate foredeck congestion against your anchoring style, verify the self-tacking rig and Edson steering, and choose between the more common three-cabin owner layout and the rarer two-cabin boat. The encapsulated shoal keel and one-piece rudder reduce structural worries, leaving the rig's water path as the main known item to manage.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Freedom 38. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 11 rows
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 25 | 1 | $119,000 | — |
| Mar 25 | 2 | $99,900 | -16.1% |
| Apr 25 | 1 | $66,500 | -33.4% |
| Jul 25 | 1 | $55,000 | -17.3% |
| Dec 25 | 1 | $87,349 | +58.8% |
| Jan 26 | 4 | $80,746 | -7.6% |
| Mar 26 | 3 | $49,000 | -39.3% |
| May 26 | 3 | $83,989 | +71.4% |
| Jun 26 | 5 | $62,900 | -25.1% |
| Aug 26 | 3 | $76,817 | +22.1% |
| Sep 26 | 4 | $70,099 | -8.7% |
Where they're listed
Freedom 38 listings appear across 4 countries. United States has the most listings with 11 (50.0%), followed by Canada and Italy.
Country view
22 listings · 4 countries| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $62,900 | 11 | 1 | 50.0% |
| Canada | $69,287 | 5 | 3 | 22.7% |
| Italy | $83,989 | 5 | 1 | 22.7% |
| Australia | $76,817 | 1 | 1 | 4.5% |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
7 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bavaria Yachts C38 | 37.34' | $ 299,000 | 84 | 15 |
| Dehler 38 | 38.71' | $ 235,078 | 57 | 17 |
| Sabre 38 | 37.83' | $ 49,999 | 48 | 21 |
| Beneteau First 38 | 40.2' | $ 33,583 | 33 | 6 |
| Freedom 38You are here | — | $ 70,911 | 23 | 7 |
| Tillotson-Pearson 36 | 36.42' | $ 42,500 | 12 | 4 |
| Freedom 40/40 | 40.42' | $ 119,500 | 6 | 2 |