Bayliner 288 good or bad

jamie langstone

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Just after a bit of info on the bayliner 288 good or bad please. Some of them are powered by a mercruiser diesel how reliable are they and is there any known faults to look out for.
 
Very nice little pocket fly bridge.

Elessar had one which he converted to diesel. Surprising amount if space and quite good looking.

Fab boat. Clever design means flybridge only 3 steps up from cockpit, so it is a stable boat. The helm seat is actually only 6" higher from the water than that on the sealine S37 sport boat i replaced it with.

Its a bit slappy in a head sea compared with the best brit boats, but i still survived the north sea in a F8 so it is ultimately capable. Twice i had mine out in an 8. I had confidence in her.

I did many miles in mine, on the Thames, and across to France and the Channel islands. I had a 300 hp diesel in mine so it went well.

The only substantive poor thing about it, it common with other bayliners, is the hull/deck joint. Check for leaks or bodged sealant on the rub rail, and if it does leak budget a couple of thousand for a permanent repair. Let me know if you want to know how to mend it.

Oh and as a single engined fly a bowthruster is a nice to have option, having said that I didnt have one and I survived, including lots of Thames locks, but it would save a lot of mucking around springing off etc.
 
Fab boat. Clever design means flybridge only 3 steps up from cockpit, so it is a stable boat. The helm seat is actually only 6" higher from the water than that on the sealine S37 sport boat i replaced it with.

Its a bit slappy in a head sea compared with the best brit boats, but i still survived the north sea in a F8 so it is ultimately capable. Twice i had mine out in an 8. I had confidence in her.





I did many miles in mine, on the Thames, and across to France and the Channel islands. I had a 300 hp diesel in mine so it went well.

The only substantive poor thing about it, it common with other bayliners, is the hull/deck joint. Check for leaks or bodged sealant on the rub rail, and if it does leak budget a couple of thousand for a permanent repair. Let me know if you want to know how to mend it.

Oh and as a single engined fly a bowthruster is a nice to have option, having said that I didnt have one and I survived, including lots of Thames locks, but it would save a lot of mucking around springing off etc.


Thanks for the reply that's helpful info for when i go looking at a boat .
 
We had a 288 before the Snazi, great boat did miles in it. only a couple of bad points I remember one was changing the PS belt on the Cummings D Tronic, you had to remove the water pump and alternator belts, the other was the MAF sensor, if it fails (and ours did 3 times) the motor goes into limp mode, the only way you can tell is the consumption goes astronomical. No other issues and as stated previously loads of storage space. I remember finding the space behind the seat after a year of ownership, the admiral soon filled it up. I still have a Rinda scan tool in the garage, if you get the D Tronic version, PM me and make an offer a very useful tool to keep in one of the many cupboards (to keep an eye on the MAF sensor). Good luck, if you find one they are a good boat
 
You have the option of both diesel and petrol on these boats - the one we imported were all diesel so I am guessing you have one of the SLP series. They often struggle to cruise at economic speed when loaded with more than 3 adults or lots of junks on board. There aren't many of them in the UK so your best bet is to join Bayliner owner club and get advice from our fellow boater across the Atlantic as 288 did sell really well in the west coast,
 
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