Is 1600hrs on a 2006 boat a lot?
 

I know how many miles is a lot for cars, but being relatively new to boats I am not sure what is considered a lot of hours for a boat that is a certain age. I am looking at newer boats at the moment and I have soon a 2006 Air 216 which has 1600 hours. Is this a lot of hours for a 2006 boat? I know you see some boats with 3-400 hours of the same age. Is it likely to hurt a lot in resale value a few years down the line/cause problems with the boat/engine/maintenance with 1600 hours?

Thanks!

Simple answer is yes. Plenty of people will say that with proper maintenance and upkeep, it could last 10,000 hours. But any future buyer would still question the high hours. Think about it, you're questioning it right now.

1600 is a lot of hours on a boat but if it is well cared for it should run just fine. When looking at wake boats you need to consider how much ballast has been used normally in the boat and what size engine it has. Adding ballast to a boat can be hard on engines.

Must of been a camp boat or lesson boat. Either way it is a lot of hours. That said you should be able to get the boat for enough of a discount that even if you had to replace the motor and transmission immediately(just for comparison sake) that you would pay less then a low hour version of the same boat. I would expect an 06 216 Nautique with 300 or less hours to run about 30k probably. I personally don't think I would pay more then 20k for that boat with that many hours.

The only thing I would make sure of with that many hours is that it wasn't a ski team/school/camp's boat and racked up those hours... I've been a part of all of them and while the boats are mechanically cared for very well, they are beat on.... it would be like buying a rental car, which I could never do,

... on a similar note, if the seller is a hardcore wakeboarder (with a 216 I doubt it) but those 1600 hours might have all had 2000+ lbs of extra ballast which certainly takes a toll on things.

I think I've seen a similar conversion around here before but 1600 hours would be like ~160,000 miles on a car (someone correct me if I'm wrong with that)

I've sold 2 previous boats with 1700+ & 2100+ hours on them and both are still running fine with no problems. I know this cause both boats were sols to friends of mine. I run as much weight as I can in my boats but I keep up on all my maintenance......run Sea foam every 10th tank, and only run premium gas in my boats, ect. Might be overkill, then again....the numbers speak for themselves. I

i approach it like this:

modern car engines are usually scheduled for routine oil changes at 5000 miles for normal use, or 3000 miles for heavy use such as towing. PCM and Indmar both suggest a 50 hour oil change interval. I know Mercruiser used to suggest 100 hours. at 50 hrs of heavy use, my PCMs oil is always still honey brown and not black.

at 1600 hours, that is 32 oil changes. 32 oil changes x 3000 miles would be the equivalent of 96k miles. that engine has a ton of life it still.

before somebody says thats not apples to apples, i know it is not completely analogous, but an engine doesnt have any clue what is placing the load on it, whether it be a prop or asphalt...

^ Smart analogy.

Not so fast my man. What you are forgetting is that your equation doesn't take into account the fact that boats are generally operated in a much different fashion. Cars have multiple gears which allows the car engine to run and cruise in a much lower rpm range with much less throttle. An engine might not know WHAT is placing a load on it. However, it certainly can tell HOW heavy the load is. That all makes a big difference, big enough to negate your analogy.

1600 hours IS a lot, plain and simple. That doesn't mean you should be immediately scared off though. Just realize that at that point, you never know what's going to happen with it. The engine could go bad the second you take it out, or it could last another 1000 hours. Just be prepared, and get a good enough deal to offset the cost of a new motor.

Yes it is a lot of hours on a 2006.

clearly you didnt read my disclaimer in the last sentence of my post: "before somebody says thats not apples to apples, i know it is not completely analogous, but an engine doesnt have any clue what is placing the load on it, whether it be a prop or asphalt..." additionally, a prop slips, much like the clutch in a car, negating the need for several foward gears in a boat.

marine engines are built with forged components and high performance bearings with the assumption that they will spend their lives operating at RPMs approaching WOT, and in the meat of their torque curve. your truck engine is not, it actually feels a huge load from lugging at a low RPM in an effort to increase fuel economy. that makes a big difference, big enough to bring my analogy (which i already stated wasnt analogous) closer to an analogy than where you were taking it. its a friendly debate, nonetheless.

anecdotally, growing up we had an old nautique 2001 with a PCM 351. it had nearly 3000 hours of barefooting and slaloming on it (read higher rpms than wakeboarding) and still held stock compression.

A boat engine lives it's life climbing a never ending hill, there is no coasting, no going downhill, never. 1600 on a 2006 is a lot of hours. the soft interior parts will show that kind of time/use the most. 1600 is more than most people ever put on their boats. no one looking at a 1600 hour boat will ever consider it "low hours".

i wont debate about how much is a lot as it is truly a subjective metric.

but i do have to ask what happens to my boat's elevation as it is going if it is traveling downriver, and why doesnt it come to an immediate stop when i let off the throttle? sounds like downhill and coasting to me hahaha...

The other comparison I've heard...Every 100 hrs = 10,000 miles!
1600 hrs = 160,000 miles!
160,000 miles in 5 years...A lot of use!

I have a 2004 Malibu with an Indmar monsoon 350 engine with 860 hours. will the power train surpass 1600 hours? I'LL bet money that it can. Will the rest of the boat? I really don't think it will

That boat is all composite, no wood... So no worries about the boat itself. It should last forever. That leaves driveline and upholstery as your only wear items. How is the upholstery? It can cost a couple thousand to replace, take that into account. 2000-3000 hours before an engine starts showing wear and needs a freshening up. Cost ranges from $500 for a freshening up to $2000-$3000 for a full rebuild depending on how crazy you go. Transmissions are cheap and easy, $200-$500 depending on if it needs a freshening up or full rebuild. Vdrive units, a little cheaper than transmissions. If the hull and gel are nice, make an offer but factor these expenses in where applicable.

This is the same line of thinking as I stated above. It isn't a big deal that it has a ton of hours if you factor in what could need to be replaced and get the boat for the right price. I think people think boats are more complicated then they are. They are a hull with a motor/transmission and some seats. IT isn't like there is complicated Steering or suspension or even a bunch of crazy eletrical items, at least not on boats before stupid LCD monitors in them.

I couldn't agree more with this statement! When I first got my boat, I was completely intimidated by service repairs etc. even though I knew how to do service on cars for some reason the whole boat thing intimidated me I guess. Now I come to realize its a piece of cake. Ooh ya, except the whole LCD thing, that still intimidates me

I have a 92 mercury outboard that has 570 hrs on it, so yes I agree 1600 is a lot for an 06


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I have a 2006 Suzuki outboard with 1900 hours on it. Most of it pulling wakeboarders.

The OPs question related to whether or not the accumulated engine run time would hurt resale.
The answer is a resounding yes.

Truck engines measure life wear by how much fuel has gone through them, not miles under the tires. Load=Fuel
That is about as close a comparison to marine use as you can get.
I dont care to do the math... personally.

if you drove the boat on a saturday and sunday every weekend for 6month out of the year it would be 6 hours of running time for each day for 6yrs. So do the math, thats aprox 1700 hours of running time. now if they boat 4 days a week its 3 hours of running time a day. Now that does not seem like alot until you look at how often you are running. I put about 100 to 150 each season in the north east. Thats usually from may to mid september, and we boat every weekend its not raining and usually 2 nights a week if we can get home early enough. I think that 1700 is twice whtat the avid boater usually does, but if they are on a big lake and have a spot they like to boat at, it could be reasonable. I know that is we hit the river sometimes and run up through a few locks, we can dump 2 hours of straight running time to get up river. hope this helps

Resale only matters as a comparison to what you paid for the boat. So if he gets the boat for the right price it won't hurt his resale at all. This is where people completely misunderstand resale. Resale isn't boat A sells used for more $ then boat B used.