Would you buy

maverickofpoole

maverickofpoole

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I am thinking of looking at a boat that has 2 Yamaha 245 TRP. I know yamaha are no longer making either the inboard or more importantly the outdrives. Compared to other outdrives the Yamaha units have a good reputation although I am concerned about parts availability. My take is no point me looking if spares will be an issue or that they were overly expensive especially with 2 units.

So the question is would you worry about obtaining spares and being able to maintain the outdrives properly?

Thanks in advance
 
That's what I am thinking.

Apparently Yamaha stated they would support the units for 20 years however I would guess spares will only get harder to obtain and more expensive to buy.

Shame as the boat would suit me down to the ground however must keep the practical head on as replacing the outdrives would cost as much as the boat is worth. :ambivalence:
 
Depends on other factors,

How Cheap is the boat?
Can you negotiate the price down?
Have you established parts availability?

Speak to a marine engineer and ask them, am sure 1 will pop up at some point with advice.

You might be able to get a deal on either refurbished or new drives and transom shields.

There is a Sunseeker Apache for sale with 3 Yams, cant remember what HP they are but the boat looks great value already but I am sure there is some wriggle room on the price.
 
As you already know the yamaha drive & engines are good
I can understand your concern about parts availability but most engine parts are toyota so no problems there as long as you look after coolers etc
Drives use the same splines and transom cut out as merc bravo so if you did have a complete failure of the drives then it shouldn't be too difficult to marry to the bravo range
Personally I'd rather have the yam set up than a volvo set up any time just because of the simplicity & lack of electronics on the yams & not needing a dealers laptop for every little fault
 
not much to add to what has been said,
I've alway's liked the hydra drives and the Toyota based engines, but unfortunately Yamaha hasn't been able to get a big enough share or make their inboard stern drive diesels popular in that market.
Martin, you have had experience with a non "commonly used' engine and drive
so you're the first to know the answer to your question ;)

what other boat are you looking at ?
something to replace, and same use, like the Karnic ?
 
Whilst base engine is the very simple Toyota 1HD 12 valve engine which had no vices at all I would tread with care.

The M.O.D had a bunch of engine Yanmar Hydradrive packages and replaced them all, allegedly due to poor product support.

Volvopaul has commented about the outdrive unit in the past. I will reserve my comments for the engine side, whilst base engine is rarely an issue on any marine engine it is always marine age of the the hang on bits which bring motors down and in addition the 12 valve Toyota 1HD never suffered the valve drop issue of the 24 valve engine. However Yamaha had a pricing structure which makes Yanmar seem bargain basement. For example the charge air cooler is different from Yanmar or Nanni versions of the same base engine, MOD was paying just under 4K for charge air coolers almost ten years ago and the housing and core were not sold as separate items.

I would ask dealer to price up and provide availability of engine heat exchanger, charge air cooler and exhaust riser, just to get calibrated on your potential liabilities.
 
Having run one for 2 years I would recommend.

Things to look for (and there aren't many) oil return pipe from the turbo. Very common failure due to corrosion. I replaced with stainless. Outdrive oil is very specific and must be changed on a regular basis. Think of the drive as an automatic gearbox and you can see why the oil is critical. Comercial users experienced a few leg failures at a few 1000 hours of pretty constant use. Many fitted leg cooling sprays.

I never had one issue except a slight overheat which was sorted with a heat exchanger reverse flush. I also knocked the gimbal bearing out but that was my own stupidity!!! It's a good point that you could replace with mercruiser legs if the worst happens but that would a shame as the yamaha leg is so smooth.
 
Thanks for your replies they have been helpful but mostly confirm my fears of sourcing parts for the drive getting worse as they get older. I think I will wait a while to see whether the price of the boat which has already dropped, drops further. Another 10k would see me interested

Thanks again
 
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