How concerned would you be to buy a boat after being told this?

[CurrentObsession]

Looking at a 1995 34' Chris Craft Crowne cruiser with twin carbed 350 SBC with V drives.

​Seller claims he has owned the boat for last 20 years and has never replaced anything major on the engines (manifolds, risers, starters, water pump, fuel pump etc) or drives. Great lakes fresh water all its life. Engines have 1100 hours each. Claims he has been really good about maintenance.

​Is this a time bomb about to blow?

 

[boatman37]

My 1986 merc 260 still has the original manifolds and risers. being fresh water you should be ok in my opinion but new manifolds and risers wouldn't hurt

 

[enginesilo]

To me it says that work will need to be done sooner than later. If the owner is willing, do some testing of your own to see engine condition (Compression, and other common things that can help determine engine health, etc). Depending the price you may consider having a survey done.

Buying any used boat is a risk, whether it is 1 year old or 20+ years old, so take your time and decide if it's worthy and offer a price that is reasonable. Leave your emotions at home, talk business and be prepared to walk away.

 

[tpenfield]

It is a bit unusual that 2 engines would go that distance with out needing some work. So, you may be walking into a fire storm.

However, the bigger issue is that you have a 22 year old boat in fresh water. I would have the structure checked thoroughly for elevated moisture levels and hull blistering. Also have a compression test and oil analysis on the engines. At 1100 hours, you may be able to get more life out of them, but a rebuild is probably in their future.

 

[Scott Danforth]

most great lakes fresh water boats, if properly pulled every season with normal maintenance will go 30-40 years on original motor without any problems. usually the motors suffer a lack of winterization that takes them out. 1100 hours is average hours on a boat (about 50 hours per year). many boats have upwards of 2500-3000 hours after 20 years.

as Ted mentioned, the hull may suffer, however the motors/drives normally only need the oil changed, ignition parts changed about once every 20 years and the raw water pump (and bellows on I/O's) changed every 3-5 years

if the hull checks out, I bet the motors need nothing except normal maintenance items like raw water pump, hoses, cap/rotor/wires/plugs and oil changes

 

[stonyloam]

Hire a marine surveyor to go over the boat stem to stern! Will cost a few hundred, could save you a few thousand!

 

[harleyman1975]

Big boats like that are usually not run very hard because of how much fuel it uses to run flat out with a 34 ft boat. that would not scare me at all.