The do's and don'ts when buying a new or used boat.

So your buying a new boat whether it be new or second hand you should always get someone to look over the boat for you. It will give you peace of mind that the possibility of major repairs can be avoided. 

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Recent inspections carried out have found : 

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-Exhaust manifolds and risers needing replacement totalling $2600

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- Incorrect application of anti-foul applied causing major structural damage in excess of $15000

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- Blown gimbal bearings and gimbal plate in excess of $11000 

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- Plenty of unserviced engines, this can cost in excess of $1000 to get an engines components back to a serviceable standard 

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- Engines with low hours that haven't been serviced in 10 years

THE RED FLAGS

THERE ARE MANY RED FLAGS WHEN BUYING A BOAT THAT YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OF. REMEMBER THE OWNER IS SELLING THE BOAT FOR A REASON!

Things that always stand out for us which should make you very weary of buying a used boat privately :

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-( Owner) "I serviced it myself I'm a mechanic"

Plugs, fuel conditioner and a wash is not a service! owners tend to make their boat look the part to fool unsuspecting buyers into thinking everything is ok. 

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-( Owner ) "yeah mate she's regularly serviced"

You need to see all the receipts ! Anything under $500 most probably is not a service.

- ( Owner ) "yeah had it serviced and haven't used it much since."

So we are all on the same page most outboard and inboard engines need to be serviced yearly or every 100 hours, even 50 hours in some cases. The maintenance plays a major role in the protection of the engine to ensure it runs for the optimum service life of the marine engine and it's components. 

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These are just a few of the common red flags we see week in week out that usually amount to quite a hefty repair bill. It always pays to get someone out who looks at these day in day out and knows the potential issues you may come across

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A good starting point is to keep it under 10 years old with an owner being able to provide your service receipts for the life of the engine. Alway get your new investment checked - a little now saves a lot later

Inboard engines can be quite an expensive engine to maintain especially an engine that is ten years old as we mentioned, you can run into trouble with various expensive maintenance items. this is generally a very common occurrence we come across in our inspections. Approx. 70% of the inspections we conduct fail to show an engine that requires non high ticket maintenance that is required . failure of many of these items can result in serious engine damage. for instance a flooded engine due to manifold failure can cost upwards of $15,000 to repair. 

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Mobile Marine servicing perth, Mobile inboard Repairs , 24hr mobile mechanic.