Question on hours

[bks223]

We are in market for a 21 foot Yamaha. We are looking at used ones that we can find and I had a question on hours.
How many hours are too many hours??

We have seen some ranging from 95 hours up to 323 hours.. Not sure the life expectancy on these engines these days.
Not knowing the true maintenance history other than what the owner is telling us. How much is too much?

Hopefully this question does not come off as dumb....=)
Thanks in advance...

 

[HangOutdoors]

@bks223 Your question is not dumb and is a very valid one. Of course typically the lower the hours better. These engines can run over 1000+ hours if maintained properly and then some. It would all come down to the maintenance and care the owner has put into it. Oil changes, winterizing, etc. The higher the hours you would want to have it checked out and compression tests done as a starting point. Usually a good indicator is how well the overall boat has been cared for as well as the trailer, if that isn't maintained properly it goes to question how the engines were maintained.

 

[EricE]

I would also look to see if the hours are appropriate for the year of the boat... Too many hours for how old the boat is could mean it was a rental etc... Too little, and I would worry it sat unused for long periods. This also depends on where the boat was used... Up North we only get a few warm months so hours are lower than a place like Florida. I know we put ~50 hours a season on our boat every season which seems average for where we live (upstate, NY).
Anything out of the ordinary would probably make me look more closely at checking if proper maintenance was done. Its also worth asking the seller for any maintenance records they have. i.e. dealer invoices, oil/filter receipts etc...

 

[bks223]

there is a couple that we like. One is a 2014 with 95 hours. The other is a 2015 with like 98 hours.
They are both in Texas. One has sat in a slip in fresh water a good portion of its life. Other I’m still investigating.