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My husband is looking into buying a used small motorboat between $2-3K. Someone had told us that it is very costly to maintain a boat. Is this true? Besides regular engine maintenance, what kinds of costs are involved? We would store it in our garage. Thanks.
Much depends upon the condition of the boat when you buy it, and what your intended use is of it.
A several thousand dollar boat can be a lot of fun with minimal work ... or it can cost as much to keep it in useable condition as the boat cost to begin with.
My first boat was a used 15' fiberglass bass boat with 40 hp Merc 2-stroke. In 6 years I had to replace the water pump, wiring harness and repair the starter. I also had to repair the transom. My next boat was a new 17.5 aluminum Bass Tracker with 60 hp Merc 4-stroke. I have had this rig for 6 years and it has never been in the shop. I replaced both batteries last year. As for the trailer, I have replaced the tail light bulbs about six times.
Boat = Break Out Another Thousand! Verify there are maintenance records, and have an expert perform a marine survey. I had a boat in that price range as my first....within a couple years I sold it and bought a used bowrider for 9k that has been light years more reliable. I probably saved the difference in repairs over the last 4-5 years.
There is normal maintence to a boat that if you have to pay someone else to do can get expensive.
Spark plugs every year and a spare set in the boat is recomended.
Winterizing should be done every fall. This is basically changing the lower unit oil,fogging the engine,and changing the lower unit oil. The lower unit oil is change to make sure no moisture is in it to freeze.
The water pump is a normal maitenace item should be done every 2 years 3 at the most. A lot of people don't know this one and over heat the motor ruining it.
You should always have an extra prop on the boat with tools and know how to change it.
This is just a short list off the top of my head,and most I learned the hard way. I have had several boats over the years.
Then there is the trailer with lights,tire,and wheel bearings.
Boats are great fun and I don't plan on being without one. But they are not cheep to own.
My 2003 ranger bass boat was 36000 new.
There is normal maintence to a boat that if you have to pay someone else to do can get expensive.
Spark plugs every year and a spare set in the boat is recomended.
Winterizing should be done every fall. This is basically changing the lower unit oil,fogging the engine,and changing the lower unit oil. The lower unit oil is change to make sure no moisture is in it to freeze.
The water pump is a normal maitenace item should be done every 2 years 3 at the most. A lot of people don't know this one and over heat the motor ruining it.
You should always have an extra prop on the boat with tools and know how to change it.
This is just a short list off the top of my head,and most I learned the hard way. I have had several boats over the years.
Then there is the trailer with lights,tire,and wheel bearings.
Boats are great fun and I don't plan on being without one. But they are not cheep to own.
My 2003 ranger bass boat was 36000 new.
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I made a huge mistake with my first boat. A Mercruiser I/O six cylinder Chevvy engine. I did all the winterizing myself and put the boat in storage. ONE thing I did not do was drain the water out of the exhaust manifold. Heck I had been working on cars and motorcycles since I was 14 but never on boats. I became aware of the problem with the exhaust manifold in a talk at Xmas dinner with an Uncle who had owned boats forever. He told me I could expect a cracked block and he was right. A very expensive lesson was learned.
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I made a huge mistake with my first boat. A Mercruiser I/O six cylinder Chevvy engine. I did all the winterizing myself and put the boat in storage. ONE thing I did not do was drain the water out of the exhaust manifold. Heck I had been working on cars and motorcycles since I was 14 but never on boats. I became aware of the problem with the exhaust manifold in a talk at Xmas dinner with an Uncle who had owned boats forever. He told me I could expect a cracked block and he was right. A very expensive lesson was learned.
GL2
Sometimes those are good lessons learned.
I had a 65 hp evinrude at one time that was a great running old motor.
The 3rd or 4th year I had it the first time i took it to the lake that spring it started and run great got out fishing and trolled for a while. When I went to start it would not run. It was a really windy day and the trolling motor couldn't get us out of the bay we was in. I managed to get to a dock and pulled the plugs, cylinder were full of water.I cranked it over with plugs out to blow the water out. Put the plugs back in and it started right up. Made it back to the landing. That was the end of that old motor and boat.
For some reason the block cracked over the winter,to this day I still don't understand that one. There is nothing to hold water in an outboard but for some reason the must have been some place enough to crack that one that winter.
Just goes to show some times no matter how well you care for machines they still break when least expected.
If a person can keep their boat on their property somewhere, you won't have a storage fee. Depending on how you treat your boat, repairs/maintenance costs won't kill you. If you get boat insurance, that will be so much each year. In other words.......i'ts not necessarily cheap to own a boat, but a boat doesn't have to empty out your banking account either!
We pay month storage cause we live in an apartment with no boat parking in the complex. We live in FL, so we don't winterize. We have Sea Tow cause we get out on big water areas (river/intercoastal). We also have boat insurance. We fill up our tank (90 gal) perhaps twice during the summer. Since ours is a 1992, we treat it with "tender loving care". We have put a couple of thousand into engine repair since we bought it in early 2009, but the boat is MAJOR entertainment and exercise for us.
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