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i am looking for a 04 or newer 23 foot. ive found plenty with less than 200 hours on the motor. are people unhooking the hour meter? is that possible? why would a boat that old only have 200 hours on it???
i am looking for a 04 or newer 23 foot. ive found plenty with less than 200 hours on the motor. are people unhooking the hour meter? is that possible? why would a boat that old only have 200 hours on it???
You can't trust hour meters. Not only can they be disconnected, the meters can be replaced and restarted from 0.
Some newer motors are capable of being read through the diagnostic port but you will need the diagnostic tool and software to do a dump. Some of these reports include not only hours but times spent within RPM bands. It's pretty cool.
A lot of recreational and seasonal boaters put on less than 100 motor hours a season. I say "Motor" hours because that's what counts as opposed to trip time which included periods with the motor off. If you get out 20 times a summer for 3 or 4 hours, that's 60 - 80 hours of trip time a season.
If the seller keeps a log of their trips, that is usually a good sign and a decent indication of usage.
i am looking for a 04 or newer 23 foot. ive found plenty with less than 200 hours on the motor. are people unhooking the hour meter? is that possible? why would a boat that old only have 200 hours on it???
If people aren't diehard boaters, they'll put 75-100 hours on their new toy real quick, then they'll just sit there...
Boats require time, investment, usage, and care/maintenance...which a lot of people aren't willing to put in...
dont know what part of the country your in but in the northeast the boating season is short, just as an example i put a new motor on early 05 and it has 210hrs. i think theres alot of people who use their boat less than me. just my opinion
thanks. so would u stay away from repo boats? or should i just get sum1 to come with me that can read it?
Deal with a broker or a boat sales person that you trust. There are a lot good brokers in the classified section.
One of them is friend of mine on here that goes by "GetGrady" His name is Clay Livingston and he own Carolina Boat Brokerage www.carolinaboatbrokerage.com
He is very knowledgeable and a very good guy to deal with. Check out the boats on his site or contact him and I bet he would help you find what you are looking for without having to sift through all the shady classifieds out there.
It is a buyer's market, but it can also be a DESPERATE seller's market as well!
Protect yourself and be patient.
Good luck in your search!
__________________ LTD
Living The Dream, but somedays, its not always my dream!
dont know what part of the country your in but in the northeast the boating season is short, just as an example i put a new motor on early 05 and it has 210hrs. i think theres alot of people who use their boat less than me. just my opinion
+1 In the NorthEast, boating season is really short. Last summer, it seemed like summer was around 6 weeks long.
My Pursuit (brand new in '04) only has 260 Hours on it.
Two years ago we bought an '02 KeyWest with a 150 Yamaha with 90 hrs on it. I guess you can set the hour meters back, but the boat was like new. So was the motor. Looked under the cowl and it showed no wear and tear. Kinda hard to hide lots of deck scratches, cut bait marks, corrosion in the motor; and the upholstery will look bad with a lot of hours. Just comes with the territory. And how much do you save with a low hour boat? I don't think it's worth the time to screw with hour meters to try and cover up a tired old boat...
i am looking for a 04 or newer 23 foot. ive found plenty with less than 200 hours on the motor. are people unhooking the hour meter? is that possible? why would a boat that old only have 200 hours on it???
It's likely they used the boat for 40hrs/year. That's common. You can use the heck out of a boat and not have to run the motor. Lots of people use the boat for a floating/swimming platfrom.
Those motors with 200 hrs on them will last another 1500hrs if taken care of. Easy.
I only put about 30 hours on my boat last summer since I fish pretty near the boat ramp. If you fish inland waters and don't use the main motor to troll or run all over the lake I don't think 30-50 hrs per year is unreasonable. I probably fished 15-20 days.
__________________ Key West Bay Reef 196-Love it
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it is possibly the reason they are selling - the do not have enough to use it. plain and simple though, do not trust an hour meter. all modern outboards can be checked via computer at the dealer - if the boat was serviced regularly, the owner may have the printouts - I did. also - I would rather have a boat that was cared for properly and used regularly, then one that has low hours because it was neglected and ignored (not that all low hour boats have been)
I don't know why people get so hung up on the hour thing. A neglected motor with under 100hours can often be in MUCH worse mechanical shape than a motor with 1000hours.
i am looking for a 04 or newer 23 foot. ive found plenty with less than 200 hours on the motor. are people unhooking the hour meter? is that possible? why would a boat that old only have 200 hours on it???
my parents boat has a '99 on it with only 140 hours. my parents just dont use the boat much. it sat in the yard for 3 straight seasons. 70 of those 140 hours i put on it last year now that i have started using the boat.
some people buy a boat then just dont have the time to use it
Let's assume that I got out on the boat every single weekend from the beginning of June until September. That means I used my boat about 12 times during the summer. Assuming I only rack up 36 hours in the summer, that averages out to 3 engine hours per weekend. For the weekends where I buzzed out to Kettle Cove, dropped anchor, stayed overnight until Sunday, and buzzed back home on Sunday afternoon, it's about a 30 minute ride in a no wake area followed by 20 minutes riding on plane. That gives me about 1 hr 40 minutes of engine use in the whole weekend. Add to that a couple of trips to Provincetown or Gloucester, and I could easily stay under 50 hours/ year, even if I blow off any friends dumb enough to get married in the summer and expect me to miss a boating day.
200 hours over 5 seasons is not unusual in the Northeast or the Great Lakes, where the cruiseing season is mid-June to mid-September. I was on my cousin's 1986 Cruisers last year, which has 310 hours since he bought it new - that's an average of 13 hours a year. My neighbor has a 2002 34' Formula that has 135 hours on it. In my experience, lots of people that are only fair weather cruisers in the NE, only get out on their boats about a 20 times a season, often for not more than 2 hours of running time and 8 hours of time on the anchor; its only guys that fish who tend to rack up hours - one Canyon fishing trip is usually 20 or so hours of running time.
is it easy to get screwed? 
