Four Winns 2004 Freedom 180 F/S

[ILUVBOATING]

I am in the process of purchasing a Four Winns 2004 Freedom 180 Fish & Ski from a local dealer on a broker deal. I had the boat inspected by a different boat dealer and they found 3 things that they felt needed repair. One was torn exhaust bellows, the second was sticky trailer brakes, and the third was a worn shift/throttle control box. The owner fixed the trailer and the bellows but not the control box. He got a second opinion, which was from the dealer that is brokering the boat and they said it did not nead to be replaced. As a counter to the repairs, I asked for a sea trial.

If I am not satisfied with the contol box, should I demand that the owner fix it before I close on the boat? The purchase price on this boat is $13,000. It was difficult to find a NADA price as this exact model is not listed. I have found boats of this kind for a little less and for much more so I feel this is a fair price. The boat is in good shape, the motor has good compression and checked out fine.

Has anyone had a similar problem with their shift control box? I was quoted around $1,200 from one dealer and $600 from another for a new control box. So should I demand the owner fix the control box, or should I pay for it? I am on the fence on this one.

Would like anyones feedback on this deal.

 

[RotaryRacer]

Re: Four Winns 2004 Freedom 180 F/S

It surprises me that it would need a new control box at only 5 years old.

Is it the cables that are worn? What are the symptoms?

If it functions fine I wouldn't worry about it.

Control boxes aren't something that need to be replaced unless they get damaged. My 1981 has the original controls.

 

[ILUVBOATING]

Re: Four Winns 2004 Freedom 180 F/S

I agree, this is not normal to me.

The way it was described to me was that the shift lever is hard to move with out the motor running. This is one thing I did not try when I looked at the boat. The other comment was that there was a grinding noise inside the box while moving the shift lever with the engine running. The technician said that the cams inside the control box are most likely worn.

I don't know much about control boxes, I just don't want anything to happen when I'm on the water. I just can't decide if I want to force the owner to pay (I originally asked that all repairs be corrected by the owner), or if the purchasde price of the boat is fair enough that I could pick up the expense of a new control box.

I won't know the severity of the problem until the sea trail next week. Hopefully it is not as bad as it sounds.

 

[jkust]

Re: Four Winns 2004 Freedom 180 F/S

I looked at brand new 2008 left over's of that model with a carb v6 for not much more money than $14,200, assuming you paid for the repairs, in MN late last season (pre-economic meltdown). They had a heckuva time offloading the F&S models. I would say 13k is the absolute max you should pay with everything fixed assuming it is pristine otherwise. I say this coming from MN where our boats cost more than the coasts and down south. I didn't need the fishing set up but it would have been a great deal. The fact that the boat needs anything in this few years, might indicate some heavy use and less than adequate care. Is it an MPI or carb and is it a V6? An MPI would change my opinion on the price.

 

[ILUVBOATING]

Re: Four Winns 2004 Freedom 180 F/S

This is a V6 carb, which checked out fine at inspection. This is a Wisconsin boat and is in descent shape with a couple scratches on it. The hard part is finding a lot of comparables and the fact that I like this boat because it has the fishing package and also can pull my three kids around the lake. My first love is fishing, but I also want something my kids can enjoy. This seems to be a good fit for me until I can get a reel fishing boat.

 

[jkust]

Re: Four Winns 2004 Freedom 180 F/S

This is a V6 carb, which checked out fine at inspection. This is a Wisconsin boat and is in descent shape with a couple scratches on it. The hard part is finding a lot of comparables and the fact that I like this boat because it has the fishing package and also can pull my three kids around the lake. My first love is fishing, but I also want something my kids can enjoy. This seems to be a good fit for me until I can get a reel fishing boat.

In addition to the new FW's I mentioned, I also checked out a 2004 180 Freedom without the fishing set up. It was a two owner in nice shape and had the ultra-superduper rare MPI v6. It had high hours for Minnesota standards since it was used primarily on Lake Minnetonka which is a very large intown lake in the suburbs of Minneapolis. I would have almost overlooked the hours but he wouldnt come off his price. It was if I still recall around $16,500 ish. I am pretty sure it never sold though. a separate four winns dealer from the one that had the fish and ski models got desperate toward the end of the season and would call me at least weekly to make a deal. By then I had already decided on Chaparral but with the carb v6 which is adequate but not fast for the upper end heavier built boats like a four winns.