1988 Four Winns Freedom 160

[llvlleeks]

I looked at a boat today, this 1988 Four Winns Freedom 160. The gel coat is faded and needs to be buffed and waxed badly, otherwise in good condition. No stress cracks to be found. The interior is pretty dirty and some of the wood, peticularly the back part of the back seats and the ski storage cover are rotten. It has been sitting next to the river for a while it looks like. The engine is a 3.0 4 cylinder (Mercruiser?) with an OMC Cobra outdrive. I had him start it up on muffs, started up second try, idled very low for a few seconds then purred beautifully, trim works, and forward and reverse works. The hull has had a couple of minor repairs, looks like some sort of marine body filler. They did not sand and repaint any of it. It doesn't look like they beached it much. It does have soem evidence of dock rash but nothing serious. It is a sexy white/red combination of colors. The guys was asking 2800 for it but not only did I not have 2800 to spend, I didn't think it was worth that. So I offered him 2200 and he accepted almost quicker than I could say 2200. That made me a little hesitant but then I thought that he might just be trying to get it out of his yard since he had 2 other 20k+ boats in his yard. It was probably bringing down his property value, lol. Anyway, after that was all said and done, he let me know that his friend, an auto dealer, has the title, supposedly clean, so then my suspicion grew again. The guy says his mechanic went through it and said that everything was in good running order. The trailer is included and is in good shape. He's gonna fix the lights on the trailer, one plastic piece is busted. All in all, what do you guys think? I'm thinkin good deal. Anything I should watch out for on these boats? He's told me the oils need to be changed, lower unit and engine, no big deal. Nothing else is included with the boat, just a running boat and functioning trailer. I've obligated to buy it tommorrow, but if I find out something major between now and then, deals off. I'm a new boater so I'm just trying to protect my investment. I see a lot of fun on the water in the near future.

 

[ziggy]

Re: 1988 Four Winns Freedom 160

did ya look at any of the flollowing?

did ya poke around with an awl looking for wood rot... transom and floor are most succeptible areas. if the floor is soft. assume that the stringers that are the structure of most boats is rotton also.... this can be major boat repair.

did ya do a compression test on the engine?
did ya inspect the drive lub?
did ya pressure test the drive?
does everything work on the boat?
did ya test drive it (this is a must do). a nice long test drive... and still see everything works?

google buying a used boat.... there's a lot more to look at than my small list.....

don't believe anything a seller tells you about his boat.....

are you aware that omc is no longer in business. parts may be hard to find....

 

[kg5388]

Re: 1988 Four Winns Freedom 160

looks like this?

She was garage kept came with custom top, front mount minkota trolling motor,2 tubes, stereo ,2 fish finder/depthfinders, towable cover,2 bank battery charger and nice trailer. Solid floor and stringers with good compression check had a weekend test drive but still lost the ujoint 3rd weekend out.

Gave $1800 for it but it cost another $1200 to do full tuneup/carb rebuild and repair the drive and replace all bellows and impeller with me doing the labor.

these pics are from 3 weeks of storage as I am getting the boat and camper ready for a camping trip today.

OMC drive parts can be found but can get really expensive and you need a manual as I can find no one within 2 hours that will work on it. I spent time buying plenty of spare parts when I had some extra cash during the winter.

sounds good on muffs does not equal what happens under load in the water it's kinda like hearing a car idle but not getting it on the interstate.
Mines a great boat and the family loves it but a problem boat will always be a problem unless your willing to spend time and money to restore it.

 

[llvlleeks]

Re: 1988 Four Winns Freedom 160

Guys, thanks so much for the fast responses. I've since found out that this is a police seized boat. I don't think I'm going to go through witht he deal on this basis alone. I spoke with the 'real owner', the guy that owns the dealership, about the process involved and what it is I have to do and I'm not comfortable with this at all. The guy that has the boat is just a 50/50 investor. Anyway, I appreciate all of the input.

 

[ziggy]

Re: 1988 Four Winns Freedom 160

I don't think I'm going to go through witht he deal

i think that's a good idea....... ya can still go boating this year.... just keep your eyes open..... boats are on sale right now with the economy gone south.... stick with mercruiser or volvo..., try not to get into any mercruiser 470 version engines either.... they sound kinda questionable too.....

 

[llvlleeks]

So I ended up buying this boat, and despite my clear skepticism, I had a LOT of fun on lake Michigan in this boat. Some of the NEXT times of my life. This feedback comes 11 years after the fact. I'm glad that I did my homework, but I'm also glad that I bought the boat. Take this advice however you may.

 

[Big Gee]

What changed your mind about buying it?

 

[JimS123]

I must admit, this is the most pleasurable thread I ever read. I'm happy you had such good luck and really amazed at your follow-up.

You have our admiration for taking the time to come back after 11 years and give us an update.

Now, don't be a stranger any more....

 

[roffey]

Funny, I started reading this thread and thought, rotten seats, OMC cobra drive, run dont walk away... I would have been wrong.

 

[llvlleeks]

I suppose there's always an exception every now and then, how do they say it? Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then? lol Anyway, I don't remember exactly what changed my mind. I THINK it was that it looked in far better shape in person and I felt much more comfortable after meeting with the guy. I remember it like it was yesterday, I had a vertically adjustable hitch on my ford EXPLODER sport that was set way too low and locked in place with a lost key lol. When I pulled it out of the yard my hitch did a gnarly skkkkkkkkkkkkt sound haha, I thought oh crap, I have done broken the boat. I then proceeded to have some of my fondest memories running up and down the grand river so foggy i literally had to trust my [automotive] gps to make sure I didn't hit the banks, hanging out in the gravel pit, in lake michigan with >6ft swells once and ONLY ONCE. And then I seen the water on lake mi as flat as butter one coast guard festival. I will NEVER forget that boat. I had absolutely no trouble out of it beyond maintenance and i think i bought a prop. I do not regret that day. nor do I regret consulting y'all. Y'all set the foundation for my newfound hobby to come for several years. Eventually the woman left me before the boat did, and so it was time to retire the boat, join a rock band for 6 months, and then buy a trailer randomly one day and move back home to TN. That was her state anyway. I still miss the boat...

 

[llvlleeks]

I must admit, this is the most pleasurable thread I ever read. I'm happy you had such good luck and really amazed at your follow-up.

You have our admiration for taking the time to come back after 11 years and give us an update.

Now, don't be a stranger any more....

So, periodically, I google my usernames, email addresses, etc just to check and make sure I don't see my accounts in a crack list or anything suspicious or nefarious, and that's how I was turned back onto my post here after all those years. So I thought, what the hay. I'll update them for giggles.