I,m new to boating as of this past summer. I purchased a '87 Trophy Hardtop from it's original owner.This boat only had about 150 hrs. on it and everything seems in excellent shape. I just finished replacing the original bellows and impeller and all seems O.K. mechanically. In reading the many great posts in this forum there seems to be a lot of people who are very negative towards these boats. I live on Lake Erie and used this boat about 3 1/2 months before winter with no problems. Heres my question: can anyone tell me why and or what to look out for in this boat (it has a 140 h.p.OMC Cobra).I bought it very reasonable so now I'm not so sure I got a good deal. Thanks
<br />Bayliner has had some major and minor qaulity issues over the years. 1984-1995 stand-out tho. They aren't that bad if given the best of care. Some retrofitting and beefing-up in the future may have do be done,but if you keep the deck reasonably clean and dry, use care when loading and launching,and in general,stay on top of things, you can expect 15 more years out of her. Weak areas on your Bliner and other models in the same time frame are extremely poor fiberglass layup under the decking.walk heavily around the deck aften,and dig in at the fist signs of spongey-deck syndrome.Keep an eye on the transom for spider-cracking.Avoid mounting anything to the transom that requires a hole or screw.They didn't use the best core materials.<br /><br />It's no fun, but after repairing the deck on a smaller Capri last year, i can tell you the hull has been trouble-free.<br />As far as the OMC, read the thread about Parts availability..Kinda scarey.<br />But you came to the right place.<br />Someone here has stated (and I have found it to be true), Bayliners were an affordable entry-level boat, usually purchased by beginer boaters with little desire or knowlage of how to care for them. But as long as you keep her ship shape, and learn how to care for her, don't be overly worried about being "taken". They really aren't as bad as thier rep.