Re: Question about Saltwater Boat
Hold on now.....don't walk away just yet.
You said 52 hours on a 8 year old boat.
52 hours is NOTHING on an outboard or I/O.
The 8 year old part is.
Find out why this owner only put on such low hours in 8 years.
Climb in the boat, open the motor cover and have a look around.
52 hours should show very few signs, if any, of saltwater corrosion. In fact, the engine and surrounding area should show NO signs of having seen a drop of saltwater.
Don't let the fact that it's an I/O make it an absolute deal breaker.
It could very well be a hell of a deal.
That's not entirely true, Bond-o is right, maintenance schedules for I/Os in saltwater is every 100hrs OR 1yrs and the risers and manifolds MUST be replaced every 200hrs OR 2yrs, even if you only took the boat out once a year.
Salt starts eating pits into the risers and manifolds the instant they hit saltwater. 52hrs sounds almost too low to be true, could be a faulty hr meter, or does it have an hr meter at all? Maybe the seller is just guessing. Or it could be a second owner and the hr meter was replaced...resetting it at zero at some point.
I'm not saying its not a good deal, unfortunately there's only one way to tell if the risers and manifolds are any good..and that's to take them off and check inside. The labor for that is typically at least $400. Even if they are fine, if this owner never did the 100hr service that's going to need to be done due to its age and that will run you about $900.00 for the 4.3L.
When it comes to I/Os and salt water all of the maintenance schedules say 100hrs OR 1yr for standard maintenance. I/O's also have the 200hr OR 2yr maintenance which is due and can cost up to $1800.00 because it includes the riser, gimbal, bellows, fluids, seals, lower water pump, etc.
The fact is, its a buyers market, I wouldn't consider any of these deal breakers, but they are definitely negotiating points. Would be surprised if you couldn't get that boat for $9,000. The warranty offer through July sounds good but will that hold up in court, and will it be worth the hassle, and more than likely it won't show problems that soon.
Even if the risers are shot, it probably won't overheat (classic sign the risers are gone) for a few months. Thats when it all starts falling apart. Whenever I get a new boat I immediately get the 100hr service no matter what the hr meter says. Its to ensure all the fluids are current, all the joints are greased, and there are no major lurking problems that will result in much costlier repairs later.
Did you cross shop that price at all? When I'm down to the final price I put the boat and year into Google and see what its being asked for all across the country. This is a better way to tell if its a good deal vs using NADA or the local market. $13K for a 19' from 2002 sounds a little high, but I'm in FL, here boats are dirt cheap.
