Possible purchace of 1996 Maxum 1900 Outboard

[mr300z87]

I am looking for advice. Yesterday I test drove a 1996 Maxum 1900 bow rider with a 150 HP Merc outboard. I did like the boat and so did my wife (that is important) but had some engine questions which I posted in the Merc forum. It is my understanding that Maxum is the same as Sea Ray butlooks to me like the Maxum Line has been discontinued and I have been having trouble finding info on this boat. When I click the Maxum link it bring me to Bayliner.com. Are these good boats? It seem well taken care of the upholstery is good, did not feel any soft spots in the floor, and the motor ran great. In my dealings with cars I have learned that all models all seem to have the same problem areas and assume that boats are the same way. Are there any specific areas that I should look at that are known problems. I am thinking I could get this boat motor and trailer for right around 4K. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Mike

 

[shrew]

Re: Possible purchace of 1996 Maxum 1900 Outboard

Brunswick/US Marine owns a number of boat brands, including: Bayliner, Maxum, Searay to name just a few. They bought Maxum to fit in between the Searay and the Bayliner. This was at a point in time when the Bayliner name was taking a beating due to 'quality'. They were trying to position the Maxum as an alternative to Bayliner, but more cost effective than the Searay.

When the economy turned, there was less and less reason to maintain 3 brands in the express market. They kept Searay as their high-end express cruiser, kept Bayliner as their economy/entry-level and dropped Maxum altogether.

They use the same Merc parts on their motors (Merc is also owned by Brunswick/US Marine). They use the same basic parts (Bomar Hatches, Perko parts, etc). In most cases you can find a large inventory of parts available for Maxum and most are interchangeable with Searay or Bayliner parts.

 

[shrew]

Re: Possible purchace of 1996 Maxum 1900 Outboard

I own a 97 Maxum 2800 SCR and have never had an issue finding parts.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Possible purchace of 1996 Maxum 1900 Outboard

1996 Maxum 1900 bow rider with a 150 HP Merc outboard. It seem well taken care of the upholstery is good, did not feel any soft spots in the floor, and the motor ran great. I am thinking I could get this boat motor and trailer for right around 4K.

That sounds like a fair deal to me for that boat. In used boats, brand means little. It's all about how it was cared for. They pretty much all use the same powerplants.

 

[BTMCB]

Re: Possible purchace of 1996 Maxum 1900 Outboard

I just traded in a 2008 Maxum 1900SR3. Bought it new right when Brunswick announced that they were discontinuing the brand. It was a great boat, never let me down. As excited about the "new" boat I just got, I was a little sad to let the Maxum go. If you click on the "archived" sections on the Maxum website, it will bring up some info as opposed to routing you to the Bayliner site. Also, check out the Maxum Owners Club forum. Not near the traffic as there is here on Iboats but it is brand specific and there are some helpful guys. Notwithstanding my very favorable experience with Maxum, as noted in above posts, maintenance, care, condition are more important than "brand" when buying used. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[mr300z87]

Re: Possible purchace of 1996 Maxum 1900 Outboard

Thanks for the responses guys. I have contacted the sell and am going to take another look later this week. When the rain stops Now I just need to sell my 93 Stingray 556zp.

 

[mr300z87]

Re: Possible purchace of 1996 Maxum 1900 Outboard

Bummed out, I contacted the seller today he took an deposit from someone else. Guess it was not meant to be. But what cool boat. How come there are not more 18-19 for Bow Riders with big outboards on the back instead of the hard to get at complicated I/Os. My Stingray has a 3.0L MC its not to bad work on but the v6s and v8s look tough. I guess my quest for an outboard powered bow rider goes on.