Hours on a used boat

[splash]

Looking at purchasing a used boat soon. With the overall price of boats being pretty high I was thinking of going with an older direct drive/v drive rather than an i/o (have the perfect lake for water sports!). While I know that reliability will depend on how the boat was taken care of, does anyone have any advise on what constitutes 'high hours' on a boat? Does 500 hours likely mean looming high priced repair bills? These are near car motors - if I drive 60 mph, 500 hours would only amount to 30,000 miles - that's nothing...

I have always had an 2 stoke outboard and the think was bullet proof - can I expect the same from an inboard?

If anyone has any thoughts....

[Yellowmobius]

I sold my 2001 D-Drive with 460 hours on it, thing still ran like a champ and if I would not have found a good deal on a yellow 2004 v-drive I would still be running it.

I would like to think a guy can get 1000 hours or more without to many problems, if it is well taken care of.

[tarkus70]

I just traded a 1989 DD with 1900 hrs still on the first motor. Was it tired? A little but it still ran good and looked good. just like a car you can buy something with high miles or in this case hrs. as long as it is taken care of and I don't mean just waxing it. Check the engine and look for things hoses, leaks, rust and stuff that does not look good or looks like the person just used it.




Scott

[lowdrag]

If it's been maintained correctly I don't think those hours are that big of a deal. However, you need to add a little to the equation if your comparing it to miles on a car. These are single speed transmissions and pushing a boat through the water has a lot more resistance than a car rolling down the road. So figure it's 30,000 miles driving in second gear pulling the maximum load allowed for the vehicle.

[Smrtz]

I have a buddy with a 99 Malibu 1200 hrs on it... still looks and runs like its brand new.
Has never had any major issues with it. He originally purchased the boat from a ski school.

[splash]

lowdrag - good analogy!

Thanks for the words of wisdom all....

[Livindadream]

My Mobius has 350 hours on it, 275 of those since I bought it in 11/03. Granted I treat it better than my own wife, but it has never missed a beat.

[jj29ca]

I am not an expert, but I understand that the general rule of thumb is that engine is good for couple thousand hours (if properly maintained and well taken care of, but expect other problems after 1000 hrs