Advice on pending purchase

[mrzeeno98]

I'm looking at a 1997 Sailfish 272 with same year Yamaha 225's -- 900 hours. It's a brokerage boat. The marina that's handling the sale says both engines need PT&T replacements and water pump PM. The compression tests showed all cylinders in the 120 to 125 PSI range. Cosmetically, the boat is a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10. The seller is asking $34K but I think in the current market this is a $25 to $28K boat (no trailer) plus the $2,000 in engine work. I'm familiar with this boat/engine combo pre 1997 and I've done business with the marina before and they were always fair and honest with me. I'm interested in hearing opinions on the boat/engine combo and the deal. There is a LOT of other stuff out there for sale. We'd like to spend about $30K and already have a trailer.
Thanks

 

[striped bass]

mrzeeno98:
This is a 13 year old boat. The work you have identified is just the beginning. Make sure you have the hull inspected thoroughly by a competent professional familiar with Gradys. You can be sure that deck panels, wiring, electronics will need upgrading or replacement. The transom and stringers are a big ticket item if they are in need of replacement/rebuilding and need to be checked out by a surveyor. If you want the cosmetics fixed that can be a big ticket item as well.
A good rule of thumb for a boat of this vintage is to expect spending an additional 40 percent of the sales price to make the boat whole. If the stringers and transom need replacement then add another $5K to $10K. Not trying to alarm you just providing the facts so you can go into it with your eyes open. Naturally if do you all this work yourself the dollar impact will be lessened.

 

[JUST-IN-TIME]

also those years had bad shift shafts

add another 5K

 

[mrzeeno98]

Thanks for the information. That's why I love this forum -- honest answers and very important information. Didn't know about the bad shift shafts. Not good....I did do a little reading and the other posts I saw (different forums) said Yamaha switched to stainless rods in mid 90s. these engines are '97's. Still a problem?

 

[JUST-IN-TIME]

THEY COULD BE IF IN SALT WATER

 

[Grog]

PT&T?

The water pump should be a given when buying a new to you boat. Also change the 2S oil and clean the tanks. There's always "things" that were missed then buying a boat.