Low hour boat?

63 Skier wrote: No offense to your friend, but if the inside and outside are neglected so they look beat with 300 hours, don't be so sure the engine is being treated any better than the rest of it.

Haha, none taken. The only reason I said that is because the boat just sits in public storage and gets used maybe 50 hours a year. The inside is filthy with mildew and the exterior is oxidized, but it gets dealer serviced on schedule!

I know a guy that's a pretty good all-round mechanic.
When I helped him with a shot impeller he asked what the hose in the bottom of the boat(Malibu) was. (oil drain) He had the boat 5 years!    

63 Skier wrote: Zach, 10,000? Really? That would be like putting a half million miles on the car.

He swore 100% honesty. Haha. I have another guy down in Cincy with a one family owned 74 that the hour meter quit working on some 15 years ago with 3800 on the clock. Only engine services have been regular maintenance and a carb rebuild/new Dizzy when the advance wore out.

I would like to hope I will pull at least 3000 hours out of my 351. It's approaching 700 hours currently with no signs of oil use and it's still clean as a pin when I change it between 50-70 hours pending how fast I put those hours on.

Our 96 Dodge Cummins had about 410k on it when we sold it. Judging by my truck meter vs miles that truck had every bit of 12-14,000 hours on the clock. I think it's more about the age and the sitting around VS the constant use and maintenance that really makes something live forever.

The guy with the GT-40 says they change an impeller every 4 months.

Zach, 10,000? Really? That would be like putting a half million miles on the car.

I agree with a couple of posts above, am much less concerned with hours as compared to who the owner is and how he maintained it. For me 500 hours would be low hours if well maintained, certainly less than a quarter of it's useful life by whatever standards you use for max life.

I have a customer out Cali that runs a 98 Ski Nautique GT-40. Still has great oil pressure and he says he hasn't pulled the engine yet because it is so reliable. It's a membership based ski lake where none of the members have boats. The GT-40 is still spinning along strong at 10,000+ hours.

It's all about up keep.

Every boat is unique.
Well cared for, abused, garage kept, left out all winter, ect... I run my boat pretty hard and take pretty good care of it. But mostly if (when) it breaks I can fix it.

The the kind of guy I'd like to deal with is honest and not completely clueless about maintenance.

It took me a year to find the one I just bought, I did miss a few in the search. I just bought a 95 with 100 hours on it. There was also a 96 locally with 170 hours on it, might still be on Sacramento Craigslist or San Francisco Craigs list. Some people buy them and park them in the garage. Prices are good now but tend to go up as Spring approaches. Good luck with your search.

Best chance at finding a well kept (maybe "high" hour to you) is a club/promo boat. ski-it-again would be a good place to look. You might want to come out and ask on ski forums (ballofspray, skifly). Could be some would-be sellers lurking.

quinner wrote: 50 hrs a season seems to be about average so 500 on anything pre 04 would be low. I would expect to get 3k hours on a modern well cared for engine so in the big picture a 500 hr motor probably has more life left then most of us.

Man I just put over 70 hours on our boat since we got it in June. At the rate I'm going I will easily put 100 hours per year on it no problem.

Thanks guys. Looking at 06-09 196s. Had a lead on a nice 06 with just over 200 hours that went cold, bummer... All the other current ones out there are around 500. You right, in the big picture as to how much I'll put on it, 500 is not that high.

500 is not really alot of hours,but you have to look at the whole package too.What do you consider a late model? Just bought the 95 with 295 hours out of Indiana and it shows. Good luck on your search.