Boat buying help poll

[njmr2fan]

Helping my In-laws shop for a deck boat in Cape Coral FL. We've seen quite a few. Some have low hours on their motors, some are newer, when the prices are all about the same, whats more important? I know Yamaha 115 outboards are nearly $9-10k so what say you? Would you sooner choose a 2013 Hurricane with 1500 hrs or a 2004 with 62Hrs? Obviously the interior matters as well and we're trying to compare good condition to good condition. Appreciate the opinions from others, and Happy Thanksgiving all!

 

[Earfixr]

1500 hours? Hard pass on that one unless you’re getting the bare hull with perfect trailer and plan to repower. The low hour ‘04 brings up different issues like saltwater related neglect issues. Elcetrical, steering, throttle, and engine gremlins could ruin your day. Get a survey or have your favorite mechanic look at it even before a sea trial.

 

[2nazt]

High hours wouldn’t scare me to much. It means the boat has been used and that is better in some cases than a low hour boat that salt water sat inside the motor for long periods of time. The repower down the line isn’t that big of a deal and the small 4 cylinder 4 strokes have long life spans. Have it checked and do all fluids and water pump etc and you’re set. I have friends with over 3000 hours on theirs and still making Bahama trips etc and they’re fine with that. Repowers in FL are cheaper also since they sell so many outboards. To me the make model of boat and options are a bigger thing than hours to a certain point. You can use the hours to bring down a sale price also.

Me personally I won’t buy a 2 stroke unless I can repower and sell the outboards at the same time. You would be surprised, you can sell a high hour motor pretty quick, to help offset cost of new motors.

 

[robert843]

Hmm this is a tough one. Which model are they looking at that will help with a little more insight. If it's the 22 ft or bigger 2013 outboard model I would probably go newer but if its the 19 or 20ft model I may go older with lower hours as there wasn't a ton of changes. 1500 hours on a 2013 model sounds like a previous rental boat though and that means it has probably been ridden hard so I would have it checked by a mechanic even if the current owner isn't using it as a rental I would bet he bought it as a used rental as that's a lot of hours for a deck boat if it was a CC I wouldn't think much of the hours as they spend a lot of time trolling so its easy to see hours add up on those.

 

[swatski]

Would you sooner choose a 2013 Hurricane with 1500 hrs or a 2004 with 62Hrs?

I would pick the one with high hours, without any doubt. If no other issues to consider, of course.
AT 300-400hr per year, those motor(s) ran warm most of the time and probably experienced captain. I would not hesitate to jump on that, as opposed to a can of worms a 2004 with low hours could be.
Even 2 strokers can go for a very long time, if under continuous duty. I have known a guy, commercial fisherman in the NE, who would to run 2-stroke evinrudes for 2,000hrs in all his boats - and all of it was basically WOT - before re-powering.

EDIT: @robert843 makes a good point about it being a rental - if it were a rental that would give me pause.

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[Bluewater272]

13 years old with 62hrs? I'd wager that it's had close to zero maintenance over that period.

 

[druppert]

Many of the boats in that area with that number of hours are rental boats, which means they’ll probably be in very good working order. Plan on putting a new motor on it when it finally blows up. Until then, enjoy the cheap boat!

 

[njmr2fan]

I believe the high hour boat is a former rental boat. We had a chance to speak to a marine mechanic while waiting for a table at dinner and in a nut shell he said;

A engine that is run everyday is preferred to an engine that is run and then sits for a week, weeks, months. His explanation was that oil falls down the cylinder wall within a few days and then rust begins to form on the the cylinder walls. Rust is abrasive and then when the rings clean the cylinder while starting and running they abrade the walls further. This cycle gets worse and worse the more times its done. He did add that the engine may run shitty for years before needing a rebuild, but thats up to the owner if they can deal with that.

To add more specifics, my FIL likes Hurricane 20' deck boats. The 23's seem a lot bigger and somehow with only 2 feet less the 18s seem cramped. So he thinks the 20 is his sweet spot.

Thanks for all the replies so far!