Considering purchasing a 2013 jet boat with rebuilt engine

[alexandermyers27]

Hello all! I love having this forum as a resource. As a reader and finally now a member I am considering purchasing a jet boat. I grew up going out on the water every summer with family so im familiar with boating but not so much with jet boats. Im a bit unsure if i should make the 6 hour drive to investigate further. Here are the details... thank you in advance for your expertise and replies! : )

2013 yamaha AR190
Engine hours are 383 hours, but 60 Hours on rebuilt engine (Engine was rebuilt in 2022 along with a new starter, new stator/pulse ring). Claims they have receipts from SBT and from dealer who did the rebuild. I believe its seen mostly brackish waters.

They have a ton of extras such as...
Ride steady gps speed control, Lowrance GPS, L13 Cone to reduce cavitation, Lateral thruster, Thrust vector wake, quick release wake board rack, detachable fishing pole holders (mount to the tower), profesionally installed seadek flooring. comes with galvanized trailer with new tires and boat cover.
Boat looks to be in excellent condition for being 13 years old. No tears in the seats, hull appears solid, and apparently its been stored indoors every winter.

They have been quick to respond. But they said the engine was rebuilt just before they bought it so they do not know what the need for the rebuild was. They said they would prefer not to do a seatrial as they just had it completely cleaned and detailed ready and for sale and its currently in a warehouse, but said if it was a deal breaker that they could work something out. They said they have a shop that has professionally evaluated the boat in September of '25. They are asking $18,500.00.

I dont expect you folks to make the decision for me. But what y'all think? Thanks for your time and help!

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

No, as in No Way, as in run away.

 

[alexandermyers27]

No, as in No Way, as in run away.

I was looking at the rebuilt engine as a positive if everything checked out. Is that a negative in your opinion?
Or do you think asking price is too high

 

[Neutron]

Price is way too high. And even if they came way down, no sea trial, no deal.
If that boat had much lower hours it would be only worth 16k tops in the current market

 

[alexandermyers27]

That’s a big help! Thank you.
Able to tell me what a 2014 with 315 hours is worth? Seats have some rips. Just got a new impeller and wear ring. He’s asking $15. May check it out tomorrow.

 

[Neutron]

That’s a big help! Thank you.
Able to tell me what a 2014 with 315 hours is worth? Seats have some rips. Just got a new impeller and wear ring. He’s asking $15. May check it out tomorrow.

If you were willing to spend 18500 on the 2013 ar190, you should be able to find a newer, lower hours ar190 for that price range.
They are out there

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I was looking at the rebuilt engine as a positive if everything checked out. Is that a negative in your opinion?
Or do you think asking price is too high

The overwhelming evidence I’ve seen here about sbt engines is bad.

And there is no way I’d buy a boat without a serious sea trial. Just like I wouldn’t buy a new or used car or truck without a test drive.

 

[alexandermyers27]

I can’t thank you all enough! I’ll be patient and wait for the right one.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I can’t thank you all enough! I’ll be patient and wait for the right one.

Here’s another thing to watch out for.

When you find a boat that you like, go onto boats.net and look up the parts for that boat and see the electronic gauges and see if they are available. Unfortunately Yamaha has a bad habit of no longer producing older electronic gauges, some of these gauges have lcd screes with things like fuel level in them, and if that gauge breaks then you loose that visibility. Same thing with the connext screens and some late model tachometers that are vital to boat operation. The boat will still run without them but you cannot see alarms like over heat, speed, fuel level etc.

You should consider that in your purchasing decision.

I know of at least one court case that is in progress from an owner of a 2025 model year boat who is suing Yamaha due to no parts being available for that boat and its in a state where there are no lemon laws. This type of thing is so UNFORTUNATE, Yamaha produces a good product to get people out on the water but they seem to be falling on their face in terms of parts support.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my little boat more than I thought I would. I recently looked at the connext screens for my boat, none in the US, none is Japan and no ETA on availability. I could see that during the stupid virus stuff, some people waited two years to get a connext screens for their boat and that quite frankly is bullshit.