What do you think? 1996 Mariah 18' Shabah 3.0 Skiing??

[smitty214]

Looking at a 1996 Mariah 18' Shabah, 3.0L 120hrs in above average condtion. Trailer, toys, PFD and covers included.

asking $6500 - what do you guys think?

Thanks

 

[Fishing56]

Re: What do you think? 1996 Mariah 18' Shabah

Re: What do you think? 1996 Mariah 18' Shabah

Have that exact model, but with a 4.3lx. Bought new. It has round 450 hours. It will top out with 4 people and half tank about 52, this is with a 21 pitch prop. Keep mine garagaged. Only signs of wear are the bow seats where people jump in and out of boat. Other than that a very sturdy and well equiped boat.

Fishing56

 

[korygrandy]

Re: What do you think? 1996 Mariah 18' Shabah

Re: What do you think? 1996 Mariah 18' Shabah

I bought the boat in my signuture for the same price at the beginning of the season. To my credit I looked for a long time before I found this sweet deal. Mine is a 2003 so quite a bit newer. In this economy you should be able to negotiate a lower selling price. After all a boat is the last thing you need to survive.

 

[sltintexas]

Re: What do you think? 1996 Mariah 18' Shabah

Re: What do you think? 1996 Mariah 18' Shabah

without looking at the boat, the price seems inline for what I 've seen in Dallas, Texas area. Maybe a little high but really close to market value around here.

I don't know much about Mariah's but the few I"ve seen have been nice boats. I've never driven or stepped foot in one.

 

[smitty214]

Re: What do you think? 1996 Mariah 18' Shabah 3.0L skiing?

Re: What do you think? 1996 Mariah 18' Shabah 3.0L skiing?

My only concern is the small motor. Would be used to mostly cruising and tubing, but as my children get older skiing. The most we would every have on the boat would be 4 adults and the 2 or 3 kids. Top speed I really don?t care about. Get them up and out of the water and having fun is at the top of the list.

Will a 3.0L be able to pull this off?

Thanks

 

[45Auto]

Re: What do you think? 1996 Mariah 18' Shabah 3.0 Skiing??

Oh no, not another "Does the 3.0L have enough power?" thread!

Some people are happy with the way their 3.0L works for what they do, some feel the power of a V6 makes their boating much more enjoyable. No way anyone can tell you what will work for you.

I had a 120 for 7 years, when my 3 kids were teen-agers. It was great and we had a lot of fun with it before moving up to a more powerful boat a few years ago. But if I had a "do-over", I would go with the more powerful boat originally instead of the 120.

 

[smitty214]

Re: What do you think? 1996 Mariah 18' Shabah 3.0 Skiing??

I know the 3.0 ?

I'm going to test drive it tomorrow. 3 with adults, i'm sure it will drive and ride well, but a few extra pounds and a rope out the back.......

 

[korygrandy]

Re: What do you think? 1996 Mariah 18' Shabah 3.0 Skiing??

I am happy with the 3.0l and really happy with my gas bill. I would say if you are concious about saving a little money go with the 3.0l but if you don't care than get the 4.3l. It wasn't a deal breaker for me and I am happy with the 3.0l for the amateur boater that I am. It pulls skiiers, tubers, cruises at 42mph which is plenty fast.

Sure with a heavy load it's not as responsive and not as fun to drive but I just cruise when there's a lot of people/

 

[45Auto]

Re: What do you think? 1996 Mariah 18' Shabah 3.0 Skiing??

I am happy with the 3.0l and really happy with my gas bill.

This excerpt from last week's 3.0 thread should give you an idea of about how much additional happiness you can expect from a 3.0L vs a 4.3L gas bill:

 

[98Shabah]

Re: What do you think? 1996 Mariah 18' Shabah 3.0 Skiing??

While the engine size is of course a personal preference, Mariah made a high quality/sturday boat. That boat around here (st louis area) with trailer would probably go for $1000 less than their asking price

My '98 with the 3.0L gets the job done, but I am not out to race anyone, I don't pull slalom skiers or anything more than a couple kids on a hotdog.. The main use of our boat is cruising at 25-30mph and for an 18' bowrider I'd say it "rides like a cadillac".

 

[korygrandy]

Re: What do you think? 1996 Mariah 18' Shabah 3.0 Skiing??

45Auto: I know your a stats man (as I've seen the post where you debate mph). I will have to fill my boat, use the GPS to calculate the miles I travel on 1 tank of gas and get you the real mph.

It just doesn't make logical sense to me that a motor with 135 horses would only get me 2.3 miles further on a 23 gallon tank of gas than a motor with 190 horses.

I will admit boating is not a poor man's hobby.
Say I fill my tank up 10 times during the summer, at a cost of $2.75/gal @23gallons...my gas bill will be: $632.50 and I would have travelled 1173 miles.

Anyone happen to know how far they can travel with a 4.3l on 23 gallons of gas? According to these figures it should be 114miles.

 

[45Auto]

Re: What do you think? 1996 Mariah 18' Shabah 3.0 Skiing??

It all depends on how many of those horses you are using. Your boat will take the same amount of HP to propel it at a given speed no matter what motor is in it. The weight differences between motors is negligible. At best cruise, both engines will be putting out somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 HP on an 18' boat, burning about 4 gallons of gas per hour. The relative efficiency all depends on where each engine is at in it's power band. The bigger motor can easily be more efficient than the smaller one.

You may find this thread where Boating magazine tested the same hulls with different size motors interesting. At best cruise a Stingray 235 with a 4.3L got 3.92 MPG, the 5.0L got 4.42 MPG, and a 5.7L delivered 4.84 MPG.

A Grady-White 230 with a Yamaha F250 got 2.78 MPG, with a F300 it got 3.15 MPG.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=397741&highlight=interesting

Now if you feel you HAVE to use all those 190 HP in the 4.3L, it will DEFINITELY burn more gas at WOT than the 3.0L! In that case, it all depends on how heavy your throttle hand is ......

 

[98Shabah]

Re: What do you think? 1996 Mariah 18' Shabah 3.0 Skiing??

I've always wondered if these fuel economy tests at the best cruise speed to compare engine sizes also include any idling, getting up on plane, etc.. Just getting economy at cruise speed probably wouldn't be a good test. I know in our boating there is a lot of stop and go & idling.. at idle a 4.3L 6cyl is certainly going to use more gas than a 3.0L 4cyl, and getting up on plane a v8 is going to use more fuel than a 4cyl or v6.. Not wanting to argue, it was just a thought.

It all depends on how many of those horses you are using. Your boat will take the same amount of HP to propel it at a given speed no matter what motor is in it. The weight differences between motors is negligible. At best cruise, both engines will be putting out somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 HP on an 18' boat, burning about 4 gallons of gas per hour. The relative efficiency all depends on where each engine is at in it's power band. The bigger motor can easily be more efficient than the smaller one.

You may find this thread where Boating magazine tested the same hulls with different size motors interesting. At best cruise a Stingray 235 with a 4.3L got 3.92 MPG, the 5.0L got 4.42 MPG, and a 5.7L delivered 4.84 MPG.

A Grady-White 230 with a Yamaha F250 got 2.78 MPG, with a F300 it got 3.15 MPG.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=397741&highlight=interesting

Now if you feel you HAVE to use all those 190 HP in the 4.3L, it will DEFINITELY burn more gas at WOT than the 3.0L! In that case, it all depends on how heavy your throttle hand is ......