Frustrated! Need some advice!

OK, I am soooo ready to buy a wakeboard boat! I have seen so many that will work for us.
My problem is selling my boat! I have a Four Winns with a tower, it's a 2003. I have had lot's of interest, but my problem is that there is no hour meter on our boat. We did not realize this would be an issue when we bought it a couple of years ago. To me, I felt like Four Winns are great boats, it was no big deal. I have a guy interested but he is "concerned" about the "no hour meter" issue. "It's like listing the miles on a car" I need a good answer for him. What could I say to make him feel secure out our boat,other than it run perfect and is in great condition?

Sorry no really good advice here...

That's his problem. Does he want the boat or not?
Sounds to me like he's got a "game" to play with you in order to get the boat at a lower price. If he's done his homework, he has seen that other boats also dont have hour meters.


I sold a 2000 bayliner capri 2050 last september. It did not have an hour meter either. Ive seen quite a few boats without hour meters.

I think Four Winns either uses Volvo-Penta or Mercruiser for their powerplants and I am not sure if their computer systems record the numbers of hours or not, but that is where I would start. Check with your dealer if the computer records engine hours or not. Otherwise I would try to provide any service records that I could, provide the name of the dealer or place that you have had the boat serviced and authorize them to release the service records to a potential buyer. Worst case scenario I would have your dealer or where ever you service the boat perform a leak-down and compression tests and record the findings, then provide this to the buyer. A leak-down and compression test will tell everything a potential buyer needs to know about the condition of the engine.

If none of that works the buyer is an idiot and I would then go to west marine and buy an hour meter and mount it in the engine compartment after adjusting it to about 40 hours...lol.

Good Luck!

Test drive? I mean theres really no other way to ease concerns than to take him out in the boat and see for himself.

I like the idea of buying an hour meter, lol. And yes we just got it dewinterized and it's ready to take out. So hopefully that will help. Thanks for the advice.

depending on the engine a tech should be able to hook it up to a computer and tell you your hours. They were able to tell me mine after I had it worked on earlier this year (1999 7.4 Volvo Penta).

Donna, if you have a guess at what it is I think I can get you a Hobbs hour meter that I can have set to whatever you want.

Ok, here is possibly a unique approach and you could be giving away your leverage, but ask him. Ask him what would ease his concern about no hour meter. Would having a boat mechanic come out and take a look solve his concerns? What does this guy want. If his answer is he wants you to knock $3k off the price, than tell him to kiss your A$$, and find another buyer, cuz all he is really using that for as an excuse to low ball you. If you are flexible on the price however, tell him you will pay to have a mechanic to come out and inspect it, and than say you are willing to pay $1000 bucks toward any engine failure over the next 6 months. Work creatively, but the key is to find out what he really wants.

dont know if you have a new boat already picked...but have you considered trading it in?
You can then get the taxes lowered on the new boat...even if the dealer gives you a little less...with the savings in taxes that might get close to what you sell it for privately.

I would stay away from offering any kind of warranty. I'd feel better coming off the price a little than obligating myself to possible future expense (and headache) on something I had no control over it's use or handling. As others have stated, plenty of boats have no hour meter. Tell him he is welcome to have his mechanic look it over and let him decide. It sounds like he is just trying to get a better deal.

Jman

Typical use is 80 hours per summer in Michigan. The high end is 120 for the heavy user (Sat, Sun, one day per week). Summer camps usually rack up 300 hours a summer. Ski schools in Fl put on about 600-800 hours per year.

So...Figure about 100 hours per year for normal use in the midwest and adjust for where you are.

Another idea: Have a compression test done by a mechanic with printed results. Then find & print the factory compression stats for comparison. Offer this data to anyone worried about hours.

Sounds to me like this is one of the usual steps in the negotiation dance.

Getting a mechanic to pull and document the hours, if available, should fully address his concerns and would be helpful for future buyers and shouldn't cost you much. You might also offer to have an hour meter installed as part of the negotiations if he gets serious. If he is serious, he will make an offer with or without an hour meter and sounds like he is making this 'noise' to beat down the price some.

If you have a fuel injected motor you can have a tech read actual engine hrs off the ECM. Most family boats don't have an hour meter as a std feature so don.'t let him beat you up too bad about it

Thanks, I did call and found a place that can read the engine hours. I am pretty sure it's fuel injected, but not positive. I couldn't get a price on what they would charge me though. I am going to wait and see what happens after this guy test drives it, I think all his concerns will be alleviated after that. If not, I will get the hours off it and maybe put a meter on it myself! Thanks for all the great advice! wish me luck he is looking at it Saturday!

I would just take it top the shop, have them plug into the computer and print out a hour reading with the date on it. Problem solved whether this guy buys it or another, you have an accurate hour reading

It takes about 5 min to pull the hrs off of a EFI engine. What make and model do you have in your boat. For Example 4.3L GL volvo? If there is an "I" in the name it is injected and can be checked. Such as Mercruiser 5.0L MPI or 4.3L GXI Volvo

bad news, just checked out the engine and its not fuel injected. Back to square one!

Its a volvo 5.0gl

Not sure what the value of your boat is but there one possibility and that would be to buy an extended warranty. I bought one on my used Maristar from FPC. They do require copies of all your maintenance records and possibly a check up. You could get a 1 yr policy. Might cost $700-$800 I am not sure. When I sold mine the warranty was a big factor in the sale. Additionally I have had claims with this company and they paid several claims without a fight.

Have compression pulled and at that time do a mechanical evaluation which you should be able to get the hours from. If that doens't work for him, get the hour meter and have on for the next guy.

Wish me luck, we are finalizing our boat sale tomorrow. I pray this goes through!