Forget about slow horses and fast women. Ask any boat broker what makes a boater broke, and they’ll spill a succinct response: “Spending good money on bad boat.” One common belief is that buying a secondhand boat and installing a new engine will increase the boat value. Wrong!
Many boat owners buy secondhand boats to save money, but they are actually buying someone else’s trouble. In my boat-selling days, I saw engines catching fire, cooking themselves, conking out at critical moments or resolutely refusing to start. They belched smoke in myriad hues of white, black and blue, and oozed oil like a pizza addict’s pores.
In one memorable gearbox failure, the reverse mechanism failed just as the boat entered its marina pen, and the bow struck the concrete walkway at 4 knots. Try selling a boat that’s suddenly 60 centimetres shorter to buyers who are lying dazed across the deck.
There’s no greater passion-killer for boating than mechanical mayhem.
The salesman sees fear of the unknown in the buyer’s eyes. They see the buyer’s beloved leaping over the lifelines and beating a hasty retreat towards his car. Some owners don’t see anything, however. Whether love is blind or stubbornness is plain dumb, they persevere well past the point of no financial return.
One owner I know spent $1500 for investigating an overheating problem only days after buying his Cuddles 30 cruiser. On the delivery trip home, the gearbox disintegrated, necessitating a police tow and an additional $8000 investment. The parts were presumably delivered by stage coach and, judging from the bill, were installed by a neurosurgeon at the Hilton. Alternator issues, injector dramas, more overheating problems and finally a rebuild were to follow. When advised to cut his losses and install a new motor, he slammed his fist and cried, “I’ve spent 20 grand on this $ @ motor, I’m not giving up now!”
If small problems aren’t addressed early on, they generally turn into big problems. Boat owners don’t have the time and definitely dislike spending money. That makes the problem a lot worse.
Consider the conditions in which motors operate – hot, damp, cramped with salty bilges, intermittent use and irregular maintenance. What they really need – cool and dry air – is rarely what they get. Nor do they have the benefit of long running times, as boat owners rarely use their engines more than 100 hours a year.
Repairs can keep you going, but eventually weak links can also appear in the chain. When it comes to rebuilding, parts can be expensive and hard to find, plus you need a skilled mechanic to do the job.
Rarely are the older, raw-water cooled engines suitable for rebuilding as the internal water passages in the block and head are corroded beyond salvation.
Ultimately, a rebuild can cost money that’s better invested on new technology, instead. As a rule of thumb, don’t spend more than 40 per cent of the full cost for a replacement.
You can sell or trade your old engine if it hasn’t totally given up the ghost, but keep in mind that the outlay on a new installation will rarely be offset by a rise in resale value. You do it because you want to enjoy trouble-free use of your boat and limit future expense.
Want to avoid all the trouble and unnecesssary expenses? Join the club now! Just complete the simple five steps and your on your way to luxury boating.
Source: Mark Rothfield
