An honest opinion please, If I......

[Sishoe]

Buy a 9 year old 50ft flybridge running D9-575's with 900 hrs on them.
Would anyone consider buying it off me in a couple of years with another couple of hundred hours on the engines?
I know everyone says they'd rather high hours well maintained over very low hours, but in reality would anyone in the U.K. Actually consider buying it? Or how much cheaper would it need to be over a 400 to 600 hrs (i.e. Reasonably low hours) boat?
The rest of the boat is fine, not outstanding, but not tatty either.
On the sea trial the engines performed faultlessly pressures and temps holding fine. A few oil leaks are evident and an exhaust elbow is blowing, nothing too concerning. My main concern is the future resell options with 1k plus hours.
My last 4 boats have all been low to very low hours, they all caused me problems, but nothing serious.
Your thoughts would be most appreciated

 

[Whitelighter]

I would - assuming you've serviced it correctly and replaced stuff that breaks/stops working.

Current boat has 1800 hours on the clocks

 

[Greg2]

Wouldn't be a concern for me either as long as they have been looked after.

 

[oldgit]

An honest opinon...most folks likely to be able to afford to run that boat will avoid anything with high hours(to them) like the plague.
Just look around at the number of boats with 3 or 400 hours of the same age.
It will need to be purchased very cheaply indeed in order to able to sell on sufficiently cheaply to attract a buyer a bit further down the food chain with limited cash but looking for something above his pay grade. ?
You and me are well aware that hours really do not matter, to many it is a deal breaker.?

 

[Dave_Seager]

100 hours per year is not excessive.

 

[lisilou]

As long as the service history etc is complete and thorough then it wouldn't bother me either. Diesels are good for around 5000 hours aren't they?
L

 

[simonfraser]

how rare is this type of boat ?
if you can buy better for slightly more i would do that.

 

[oldgit]

As long as the service history etc is complete and thorough then it wouldn't bother me either. Diesels are good for around 5000 hours aren't they?
L

Might be fine on and old fishing boat with a Perkins 4108
Seriously wonder if any D9s in leisure boats have achieved anything like those hours without major surgery.
For example
My Perkins M130 develops approx 21 HP per litre.Estimated design life is around 10,000 hours
The D9 develops 60 HP per litre.

 

[lisilou]

You try selling a boat like that with that sort of hours.

Plenty of boats with low or considered reasonable hours which have had nothing but problems. Give me a boat on the high side with proven history of reliability any day.
Guess it depends how long the OP plans to keep her.
L

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

No question that, all things being equal, low hours boats are worth more than high hours boats but providing you buy this boat for less than the equivalent low hours boat and you price it for less when you sell it, whats the problem? As for who's going to be interested, well you're interested in her now so very likely there will be somebody else interested in a couple of years time. When a boat gets older, condition becomes more important than hours anyway

But the key question which will determine how easily the boat will resell is whether its a well known popular model. If the boat is a little known model from a little known manufacturer, then it will be more difficult to resell. However if it is a popular model from a well known manufacturer it will sell even with relatively high hours providing the price is right.

 

[oldgit]

Plenty of boats with low or considered reasonable hours which have had nothing but problems. Give me a boat on the high side with proven history of reliability any day.
Guess it depends how long the OP plans to keep her.
L

100% agree,but on a boat of that class hours really do matter.

 

[Sishoe]

The boat is cheaper, but not massively. I should mention the boat is coded and has been used for skippered charter, which I plan to continue.
It's a bit of an experiment to see what sort of revenues can be realised from a boat of that age/value based the south coast.
It's a well known modern model from a U.K. Manufacturer, id only look to keep her a couple of seasons.
It will be run as a business, all above board, I'd either charter it myself for personal use or pay a benefit in kind.
I suppose in Lieu of the above hours aren't really that important.
Thanks everyone for the advice.

 

[jfm]

Imho in this class of boat you get a value step down at 1k hours. Nothing to do with reality or engineering, just perception. That's likely part of the reason current owner is selling at 900 hrs. As Deleted User says above, just make sure you price it right now, and all will be fine. There are enough buyers out there, but they are only buyers at a suitably lower price.

 

[ari]

My last 4 boats have all been low to very low hours, they all caused me problems, but nothing serious.
Your thoughts would be most appreciated

For that precise reason I'd far rather buy the 11 year old boat with 1,100 hours than one the same age with 200 hours.

Yes, some people might prefer a boat with (even!) less hours. But to me it would be like buying an 11 year old car with 1,100 miles versus one with 200 miles - immaterial.

You only need one buyer when you come to sell, you don't need everyone to buy it. If it's got a good service history and is in good condition, I'd have no qualms at all about that (lets face it, minute) level of hours.

 

[Whitelighter]

I laugh when see adverts with 'neverbeen slept on' or the cushionall in the original celephane wrapping. One owner proudly told me his toilets had never been used in 7 years.
It's a boat ffs - if you don't use it it's the biggest waste of money. Why try and keep it perfect for the next owner if that means you don't use it?
Some people are just dumb

 

[MapisM]

Why try and keep it perfect for the next owner if that means you don't use it?

It's even worse than that, J.
Never using the toilets doesn't mean keeping them perfect, by any stretch of imagination.
The only occasion when I had a (minor) problem with one of my Tecmas was after the longest winterization I ever made on my boat (6 months or so), because one solenoid valve got stuck.
On a boat, the list of equipment which can run forever if regularly used, while is likely to become problematic after sitting there unused for a long time, is endless.

 

[Whitelighter]

Let's face it, you piss a load of money out the door owning a boat, you may as well use it as much as you can

 

[adey]

If I was looking at a high hours, ex charter boat it would need to be a lot cheaper than a similar 'normal' boat.

 

[Whitelighter]

If I was looking at a high hours, ex charter boat it would need to be a lot cheaper than a similar 'normal' boat.

Why? Because there is something materially wrong with it or just because

 

[MapisM]

If I was looking at a high hours, ex charter boat it would need to be a lot cheaper than a similar 'normal' boat.

Each to their own on that, but it strikes me as a more formal than substantial approach to the boat evaluation.
To me, it's a bad boat that would need to be a lot cheaper than a good boat, regardless of why one is "bad" and another is "good".