No hour meter????

[Gyrene]

I inquired about a 2007 Bayliner with a mercruiser I/O and asked engine hours, and seller said it did not come with an hour meter?????
Even my riding lawnmower has an hour meter,
I oassed - it's like buying a brown paper bag. Ask what is in the bag and "buy it and find out"....

 

[Bt Doctur]

I used to average about 100 Hrs/season in nj and know of some boats that do 25 hrs/season too

 

[CV16]

I bought 2 boats without hour meters.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Bayliners got rid of hour meters because the average owner would be upset then their warranty expired and they only had 25 - 100 hours of use on it.

Brunswick's solution was to simply get rid og hour meters. Truth is, most boat owners put less than 20 hours per year on their boats requiring only one oil change per years

Many boats from many manufactures do not have an hour meter. Your riding lawnmower gets 50-400 hours per year ( thats 2 to 8 oil changes). It makes more sence there

 

[bruceb58]

If it has EFI, you can pull the hours from the ECU.

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,.... Most hour meters are owner installed, as it's merely something to gauge service intervals, not the motor's general health,....

A compression, 'n leak-down test tells ya motor health,....

 

[gtfireftr]

My 2005 Bayliner did not have an hour meter either....

 

[harleyman1975]

Most entry level boats are pretty Spartan.

 

[Scott06]

Upstate NY about 30-40 hrs a year.

Bondo is right compression test and oil pressure are two good indicators of condition.

How does the boat look- is it clean, engine oil and gear lube look clean?Look for evidence of regular maintenance or better yet invoices from annual service at a marine mechanic.

I just repowered a 2004 that had 38 hours, previous owner cracked the block which I knew and paid accordingly. When I pulled the engine I found the original oil filter (had phantom black overspray on the outside half) and original fuel filter that was rusted on the housing, gear lube was black most likely never changed. Basically PO ruined the boat after one seasons use.

So bottom line regardless of hours if you see visible signs that the boat was taken care of and covered that will trump low hours and no oil changes.

 

[JoLin]

I have two hour meters and can't tell you offhand what they read. I noted the readings in my documentation when I bought the boat, then forgot about them. They run less than 100 hours a year and I perform regular maintenance on the motors every fall. Tuneups at 3-year intervals. I don't burn any oil to speak of during the season- I might be down a little on the older motor at the end, but it's less than half a quart.

My .02