How long do you keep your boat?

[Davpmars]

I'm curious to know how long you boat owners plan to keep your boats before they reach a point where they are too much trouble to maintain so is time to get a new one?

I have bean told many times that "if you take care of it, it will last forever" yes I know that, but what is a reasonable amount of time that given regular upkeep that YOU would keep a boat before swapping it for a new/newer one?

[mikenehrkorn]

I plan to keep my BODY my whole life!!! Sorry, couldn't resist your typo.....

My .02....

Assuming the boat still meets all your needs, I see no reason to change. I'm a fairly new inboard owner (little over a year) and traded up from my I/O that I had for about 10 yrs. That boat was in great shape and if the I/O still met all my needs I'm fairly sure I would still have it.

[moombadaze]

so far my boat ownership record is 7yrs

[papou]

Longest I've kept a boat ,car,truck is 8 years .I usually get tired of looking at the same vehicle,this time around tho I may have to keep them longer:looking to purchase a villa in Costa Rica

[rdlangston13]

My general rule of thumb for all my vehicles is 10 years, Got to get your moneys worth out of them!

[kaneboats]

I expect 10-12 years. Still driving my '01 Suburban.

[chawk610]

Like above, as long as it suites you, or you get the itch. We are on year 4 now I believe.

[Davpmars]

Oh my gosh... I didn't realize my typo in the thread topic until now. Dang auto correct!

I'm going to have to buy a boat about 5 years old in order to afford it. I know that many people say that boats are money pits but I think they have come a long way in reliability.

Have any of you noticed a point in the boats life where maintenance cost jumps up?

[kaneboats]

Oh my gosh... I didn't realize my typo in the thread topic until now. Dang auto correct!

Handled.

With and inboard if you get one that was maintained and you pick up where they left off you can save a ton and it will last a long time. Google 1998 Moomba. The 2015 line is coming out right now so that would make those 17 years old. Notice how many hits you get. Still running.

Assuming engine is properly winterized and oil changed, etc., the most expensive other items are stringer/floor work and interior wear/replacement. Moombas since at least 2000 (earlier anyone?) have had no wood in them so they should last forever if not abused. And, vinyl work can be done in a cost effective manner if you are willing to remove the cushions and skins yourself and just have the covers made. I am working on a new mail order solution for that which I will be sharing here in the next few weeks after my test run.

I would not be afraid of a 5 year old boat, especially if I knew its maintenance history.

[saskyrider]

My boat is new this year but my plan is that it will be the last V-Drive boat i get. My wife has no use for the water sports and once my daughter leaves home (8-10 years from now) i will have no one family wise to go out with... at this point we will either probably transition to a pontoon boat (wife has balance issues and they are nice and stable) or just sell and get out of boating altogether. No of course things could change... if my daughter stays close by then thats a different story. hard to say right now other than i'm sure this will be the last tournament boat we will have... i plan on getting my money out of it!