How Important Are Engine Hours on a Used Boat?
It’s an age-old question every used boat shopper asks: How many engine hours are too many?
Like a car with high mileage, marine engines with lots of hours on them may portend future problems. An engine diagnostic tool (ECU) offers insight, but unless the engine is under warranty, you’ll pay for any future repairs.
No Fixed Rules for Engine Hours
When it comes to acceptable engine hours, not all engines are equal. Buyers shopping for boats with 1,500 hp gas engines can expect a rebuild at 200 hours, while diesel engines are just barely broken in at that point. Other factors such as idle time and maintenance history are why there’s no universally accepted hour limit.
“I’ve repowered boats with outboards at 3,000 hours, and I’ve repowered outboards at 1,000 hours that failed,” said John Tomlinson, co-owner of TNT Custom Marine in Miami.
Buying a boat sight unseen on the seller’s word alone is asking for problems. Here’s what buyers should know about engine hours while researching used boats.
Engine Hours Matter (It Depends)
As a Mercury Marine service provider, Tomlinson can pull a report that shows him the time an outboard operates at every 500-rpm increment. Tomlinson said on most boats, 50 percent of the hours are basically spent idling.
“Half the hours are below 2,000 rpm because of no-wake zones, because they’re idling all day fishing or whatever,” Tomlinson said.
Recreational marine engines spend very little time at wide-open throttle, with some estimates pegging it at less than 5 percent. Tomlinson said buyers should consider the bigger picture.
“If a boat’s got 1,000 hours on it, and 80 percent of the hours are above 5,000 rpm, you know that thing has been run hard,” Tomlinson said.
Check Maintenance Records
You should seek maintenance records as a standard practice before buying a used boat, but they’re not always available. The Engine Control Unit can show what’s happening in the moment. Keep in mind that the codes can be cleared during routine service, so there isn’t a history log.
Tomlinson said TNT Custom Marine will get phone calls from people seeking service records on customer boats.
“We can’t send you somebody else’s records without their permission,” Tomlinson said. “Even if a guy already bought the boat, but we worked on it for the previous owner, I still don’t give up those records.”
Most owners should be willing to provide maintenance records. And it’s worth checking that the paperwork is for the boat in front of you. The records show how diligent the previous owners were, but Tomlinson recommends an engine survey. TNT charges $350 per engine for a certified technician to perform a compression test, check the fluids, download a run report, and perform a general engine survey.
“If an engine is out of warranty, I would absolutely do a survey,” Tomlinson said.
Corrosion Watch
When Tomlinson looks at an engine, corrosion and oil leaks give him pause. They are signs of potential expense down the road.
Some buyers avoid saltwater boats altogether because of corrosion issues, but Tomlinson said a well-maintained saltwater boat should be fine. A saltwater environment will age a boat faster than a freshwater environment, so factor that into any decision you make.
But Tomlinson has seen outboard-powered boats used only in saltwater with more than 3,000 hours on the original engines.
“That’s the towboat commercial guys, the police departments, commercial fishermen, because they’re out almost every day. Those are the boats that you see,” Tomlinson said. “I never see the weekend user with that kind of hours. It’s usually 100 hours, 200 hours a year. By the time they get that many hours on them, the engines are so old, the corrosion has taken over, and it’s time for a repower.”
Sweet Spot for Engine Hours
If Tomlinson were shopping for a used boat, he would want one with less than 500 hours on engines that are still under warranty. If the boat has more than 1,000 hours on the engine, Tomlinson said buyers need to figure in a repower.
“I would try and buy at a price that if I have to repower in the next year or two, I’m not buried in the boat,” he said.
Tomlinson has a client who will repower his 39-foot SeaVee when the outboards hit around 400 hours. The owner gets a fresh set and a new warranty and fetches top dollar for the old outboards still under warranty.
A standard gas inboard, not a high-performance engine, typically runs 1,500 to 2,000 hours before needing a rebuild. Most boat owners will never log enough hours to get there.
Most marine shops don’t work on engines more than 10 years old, unless they’ve maintained them over the years. That’s why newer engines, still under warranty, can command a premium.
“A buyer is willing to pay a premium to have the peace of mind knowing that if something does go wrong, it’s covered,” Tomlinson said.
Gregg Mansfield
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