Offer to buy a boat that needs service - strategy

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GregR

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In my endless search for the next boat I decided to look at a 2005 Formula 31 PC yesterday, I absolutely love it. The quality shows. It's in good condition overall. The seller is looking to move up to a bigger boat, so I don't think I have a motivated seller. I can tell they use the boat frequently still.

It has Mercruiser 496s with Bravo 3 outdrives, 630 hours, fresh water use. The risers and manifolds have never been replaced. Manifolds are raw water cooled. Engines are closed cooling.

My best guess is I am looking at $5000 to have them replaced. I could do it, but that's a job for the mechanic. The seller does not come across as mechanically savy and has probably listened to his dockmates in my opinion tell him "it's' fresh water use, they are ok and do not need to be replaced". At 14 years, i think it's time.

What kind of strategy would you use in your offer? Ask the seller to replace them (I know he will not)? Reduce your offer by $5,000? Look for a compromise? If a compromise, what options can you think of?
 
It all depends on the asking price. If the asking is on the high side, then make an offer at least $5000 below. If the asking price is competitive, the boat is in good condition and you like it, then offer $5000 below but be open to negotiate to end up somewhere in between.

Try getting an estimate on replacement, $5000 seems a bit high but it depends on access and how stubborn the bolts will be

That said I haven’t dealt with gassers in over 20 years so is it possible that in fresh water the manifolds are just fine?
 
Certainly have a survey done on boat and engines. Knock on wood; my 4.3 Mercs are 19 years old, always in fresh water, raw cooled, and are just fine.
 
Numerous fresh water cooled boats in my marina are 20 years old and still using original manifolds and risers. You may be looking for a $5000 problem that does not exist.
 
The manifolds and risers should be just fine. I would be way more worried about those B3's. Even in fresh water those things still corrode and not just on the outside, they corrode where you can't see. My slip neighbor just went through a very expensive repairreplacement of his 2001 B3.

Good luck
Niles
 
Agree with above. In all my years of fresh water boating , I never knew of anyone , owner, mechanic or marina that was routinely changing manifolds, elbows and risers on RWC engines used only in fresh water. Agree, you're looking at a problem that doesn't exist in reality. When I converted my RWC Crusaders to FWC after 15 years of exclusive fresh water use, the elbows still had factory paint on the insides and no corrosion.
 
I am also in the camp of manifolds and risers never need replacing on a freshwater boat - at least not as a maintenance item. They might freeze or crack for some other reason, but not rust or corrosion. Can't hurt to try and negotiate on it, but if I were the seller, that is about the last thing I would negotiate on.

I have owned a half dozen different boats, all in freshwater and never have replaced or even looked at an exhaust riser or manifold. Current boat is 20yrs old, original engine with 700hrs, not even thinking about the manifolds.
 
I am not sure where you are located but if you are on a river, and the brine line is near by, the water could be brackish. Risers do fail in that environment.
 
Brackish water is different. I'm in brackish most of the time and change elbows every five years. Just changed them out last week and was surprised at how good they looked inside. I must get a pretty good fresh water flush on my way back from the salty bay.
 
Actually, I replace mine, all freshwater at 16 years. Not in imminent danger of failure, but they would fail in the next 5. I can also tell you that despite yearly servicing and TLC the life of a Bravo III drive is about 20 years then it is gone.
 
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