Re: Which Outboard to get?
Re: Which Outboard to get?
I have taken in countless motors on trade and in 99% of the cases, there was something that needed attention.
Is the Yamaha from a relative, so you can you verify the motors hours. Many people feel that since they "hardly used it" winterizing is not important. Thermostats can stick. They may have started it out of the water - who knows.
In your case the carb may have some crud and the water pump should be changed out as normal new ownership maintenance. If you can do the work and have time to do it, then saving the $600 dollar fee might be a necessity.
In the marine world, $200 bucks a season, zippo maintenance, and having a hand in every moment of your "Baby" is short money.
Last year I bought a used 15hp Mercury 4 stroke, "Slightly Used".
I was actually at the dealer getting parts when the original owner took it home. It was the last of the 2007 models he had left. I told the dealer that if he came across another, call me.
Less than two weeks later, the dealer calls and says he's got a new motor that was returned. The customer claimed it was too hard to start being manual start only. It was the same guy that I watched carry out that motor two weeks prior. The dealer made me a killer deal, cash and carry, the motor had some scrapes on one side where the idiot just laid it in the bed of his truck and let it slide around. After hanging it on my boat, I soon realized that the prop was spun, and it wouldn't stay running. A call to the dealer got me a new prop, a carb kit, water pump kit, and a set of new plugs, plus they gave me the decal kit they owed me. It runs fine now, but the carb was full of crap, the water pump was full of mud and sand, and the idiot had already changed the plugs in it to a pair of plugs labeled Briggs Stratton.
Why on earth anyone would do that to a motor that was less than two weeks old I have no clue, or why the dealer took it back. I have no idea what went on there though.
I still got a deal, I couldn't buy that motor for twice what I have in it, and although I had to do some work on it, the above post is dead on, if you or someone you know and witnessed run it had that motor, its a gamble and pay for it accordingly.
The bottom line is that people do stupid things, especially when it comes to boats and outboards. I once went to look at a used motor, drove about 20 minutes to see it. I called the guy when I got close to his place. When I got there, he had it running, with no water at all. I got out of the truck, I asked the guy why on earth would he run it with no water? His reply was that it don't need water, it's a 4 stroke. I shook my head and just left, there was no telling what that motor had been through.
It was less than 6 months old and was listed on CL as a new outboard, used only three times. I guess the 10 minutes or so running with no water on the fence didn't count. I've got a neighbor that flushes his 115 Optimax in an ice chest full of water every time he comes back from fishing. He lets it run for 15 minutes or so, there's no where near enough water to reach the water pump and there's no telling him any different. To top it off, the motor has a water port on the side where you can hook a hose up to. He won't use it.
He can't figure why he goes through so many water pump impellers, he blames it on all the mud at the dock. He hates the motor because of that and you can't tell him anything.
Keep in mind that most people don't sell a motor unless something is wrong. I rarely see a used motor that doesn't need something.
