used 90 hp Johnson

[sandhopper2]

I have a chance to buy a 87 90 hp Johnson J90TLCUR motor for $1200 is this a good deal ? are parts still available for this ?

 

[kjdunne]

Re: used 90 hp Johnson

Parts are readily available, both OEM and aftermarket. Does it run? If it's on a boat, insist on a test run. Check compression, all cyls. should be within 10% of each other. Check lower unit oil for milkiness and / or metal chunks, very fine flecks are usually ok. Is it a saltwater motor? Check for overall cleanliness and corrosion. For me, that price would be at the top of the range for a clean good running freshwater motor with maintenance records, a crusty saltwater one is no deal. Offer less, he can only say no. I would plan to replace water pump and clean and rebuild carbs at minimum, unless the owner can show records they were recently done.
Generally speaking, they are very good workhorse motors. It all depends on how they were cared for.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: used 90 hp Johnson

I would expect that parts are still available, but think the price is too high, for that old of a motor. What does NADA say? It is just a reference point.

 

[daselbee]

Re: used 90 hp Johnson

Too high. 500 is more like it for a GOOD deal. Parts readily available. Do your homework. Check it out very thoroughly, compression, spark, lower unit, trim tilt, swivel and tilt, corrosion, stuck bolts on LU, running quality. Don't buy a pig in a poke for 1200....it has happened.

 

[idonthaveaname]

Re: used 90 hp Johnson

$1200 is big dollars. Once you get it you will probably need a tune up, carbs cleaned, and an impeller. Not doing this yourself you will spend another $600 at least. I'd say $500 to $800 at best especially that it's a 1987.

 

[82rude]

Re: used 90 hp Johnson

id say it depends on where you live for the price.condition ,very good fresh water motor up here you would not be far off on the 1200 price atall.i sold my 90 last year with a crappy black paint job for 600 ,in about 15 minutes (1982).motor was mech sound .

 

[sandhopper2]

Re: used 90 hp Johnson

Thanks for the quick replys
The guy is very firm on his price , the motor looks good in pictures he told me it was just serviced
I have seen 85 hp and boat with trailer for about the same pice

 

[V153]

Re: used 90 hp Johnson

That motor would have to be in MINT condition to bring $1200. I paid $600 for my '86 in '06, w/controls.

 

[82rude]

Re: used 90 hp Johnson

the op doesn't state where he,s from .what you folks pay in fla and what the northern world pays are 2 completely different things.on any given day in the south you may have tons of 90hp motors for sale ,up here ,may be 1 or 2 depending and its 3 hrs min to any place of any size atall.now if he,s from your area maybe that is too much but not up here.and no saltys up here either .

 

[V153]

Re: used 90 hp Johnson

the op doesn't state where he,s from .what you folks pay in fla and what the northern world pays are 2 completely different things.on any given day in the south you may have tons of 90hp motors for sale ,up here ,may be 1 or 2 depending and its 3 hrs min to any place of any size atall.now if he,s from your area maybe that is too much but not up here.and no saltys up here either .

Fair enough 82. But FL has it's share of freshwater lakes & tributaries too. I bought my '83 140 upstate in Lakeland, freshwater motor until then.

Lived/boated in FL for most of my life, I remain unconvinced salt is all that much worse than any of the other kind of mineral(s) present in the water.

I just bought a '93 88 Special with a sour #4 cyl from a buddy. I know for a fact this motor was run most saturdays & every sunday for years. In water that rivals the salinity content anywhere in the state.

Upon disassembly it still has the red oxide paint in the water jacket, and shows no sign of any major corrosion/deterioration?

No offense but $1200 for a 26yr old 90's a lil pricey.

 

[EZSteury]

Re: used 90 hp Johnson

Thanks for the quick replys
The guy is very firm on his price , the motor looks good in pictures he told me it was just serviced
I have seen 85 hp and boat with trailer for about the same pice

Yep, that is what some sell for around here, specially this time of the year.

 

[idonthaveaname]

Re: used 90 hp Johnson

"in the south you may have tons of 90hp motors for sale"

How I wish that were true. There are a lot of 200's - 225's and 250's but very few 90's or near 90 being offered. Those that do, at that age, are about $500 to $800 depending on condition (1986 85 HP EVINRUDE). I can typically buy a late 90s Evinrude 90 for about $1000 to $1200 (Evinrude 110 two stroke). The bottom line is condition - if the compression is up (125/130 and even), no corrosion, paint looks good (not repaint), wiring is solid, no scraping of knock (use a stethoscope) the motor could be worth the money. "Just serviced" doesn't mean a lot to me unless it was serviced regularly.

The other thing I have learned is that you have to be willing to walk away from a sale. There will always be something else down the road and when this has happened to me I have usually found a better deal and exactly what I needed. Lastly, people always overprice their stuff and think it's worth more than it is. There is an old bargaining trick to get the price down. Have 2 of your buds call the guy and make a low offer; $800 first then $600. Wait a day and go see the motor and offer $900. It's a psychological thing and the $900 all of a sudden sounds good. Worse case he will take $1,000.

 

[82rude]

Re: used 90 hp Johnson

"in the south you may have tons of 90hp motors for sale"

How I wish that were true. There are a lot of 200's - 225's and 250's but very few 90's or near 90 being offered. Those that do, at that age, are about $500 to $800 depending on condition (1986 85 HP EVINRUDE). I can typically buy a late 90s Evinrude 90 for about $1000 to $1200 (Evinrude 110 two stroke). The bottom line is condition - if the compression is up (125/130 and even), no corrosion, paint looks good (not repaint), wiring is solid, no scraping of knock (use a stethoscope) the motor could be worth the money. "Just serviced" doesn't mean a lot to me unless it was serviced regularly.

The other thing I have learned is that you have to be willing to walk away from a sale. There will always be something else down the road and when this has happened to me I have usually found a better deal and exactly what I needed. Lastly, people always overprice their stuff and think it's worth more than it is. There is an old bargaining trick to get the price down. Have 2 of your buds call the guy and make a low offer; $800 first then $600. Wait a day and go see the motor and offer $900. It's a psychological thing and the $900 all of a sudden sounds good. Worse case he will take $1,000.

remind me not to deal with you ,your sneaky,lol.i suppose im speaking from a northern Canadian perspective as we just don't have the population of the states .so you either pay or you have to be willing to travel quite a distance to get what you want.im fortunate that I live on the border and its 5 minutes to Michigan and the land of the cheap prices.i believe though the motor value is strictly a regional thing and a motor from up here if well taken care of may actually have less than half the hours or less than a motor from where you are generally speaking as we have a short season,very short.you know where I boat its a 35 mile long reservoir and if I see another boat all weekend I go over and say hello because that's getting crowded now,lol.even when theres 5 camps running you never see anybody.feel like I got my own fishing paradise.

 

[idonthaveaname]

Re: used 90 hp Johnson

"remind me not to deal with you ,your sneaky"

Yeah...it sounded that was but not really...there are many ways to negotiate a price and I always pay a fair market price. I have found often that sellers overvalue what they have--maybe it's a SFLA thing. Their $1000 motor or boat is "easily" worth $2000 because of all the memories tied to it. More often than not I will pay the asking price -- if fair -- but the truth is most people have no idea how to price things and end up asking way to much. Sometimes you have to help them understand the market and reality. Then there is the guy that will ask top dollar and the other guy that thinks it's the best deal since sliced bread. Tell ya what...dealing with buyers (and the general public) is a hoot sometimes.

 

[82rude]

Re: used 90 hp Johnson

alls fair in negotiating prices as far as im concerned.i think what im trying to convey is you guys have a huge pool of motors to select from vs up here where we have a very small pool to deal with thus prices are much higher.i try to price fairly for up here but still get the buyers that want it for nothing.my stock answer is to give them the number for the local dealers and tell them to go price out a new one.imagine if you lived way up north say Alaska or Yukon ,ouch.id like to here from the op if that is a avg price for his/her area or ?I wish everybody had to put at least a state or province as a location as I believe it would help in helping others and shouldn't hurt privacy if its only a general area.

 

[sandhopper2]

Re: used 90 hp Johnson

Ok thanks for all the ideas
I'm in southern california and have not seem many 90 HP motors for sale
I see a lot that are bigger , but my pontoon is rated for 90 Max . I have a very old 1969 85 hp on it now and trying to get it to run has been a big deal . I think the starter is bad now as I can't get it to turn over very fast and I just put a new battery and had the charger in jump start mode
I have seen a few mercury 80 hp with a boat for $500 - $1000 range some Johnsons also in that range
The guy with the 90 HP Johnson is a long drive and would cost $75 or so in gas for up and back
Just having hard time turning loose that much money
How much effect will 10 to 15 HP difference will there be on a 20 ft pontoon
Say good running 70 hp or good running 90 hp , looking to run in the high 20 mph range
I want to use this pontoon for fishing and towing the grandkids on a tube and just overall out on the water day

 

[toddschubert]

Re: used 90 hp Johnson

The Johnson 90 of that year is a known workhorse. I'd say you would realize a big difference in the 70. The price is high. However I paid the same for my 88SPL (same motor less frills) that has turned out to be a gem that I use twice a week for past 3 years and still runs like the day I bought it with same compression and all.
If you can do the work, maintenance is easy and cheap.
High $ but if its been kept up and specs. check out..... what the hell, buy it