I don't get it....

I've lately seen posts of boats for sale with very low hours (under 100) and the boats are anywhere from 4-6 years old. How or why do people buy these beautiful and fun boats and only take them out maybe 5-10 times per year it seems. Why even have the boat? I guess being that I'm an average working man (law enforcement), I value my time/investments and try to make the most of both. Do you guys think that some of these very low hour boats were impulse purchases?

as far as i'm aware its easy to turn the hour meters back...true indication is read from the motor. I have been searching for boats in the last few weeks and ive seen some 1980's boats with "original" engines with as low as 350 hours. So thats 17.5 hours per year for a 20 year old boat...so they have taken it out for 1.45 hours a month on average. Woudld'nt even buy it if it were true the engine would have all soughts of problems sitting for that long.

my neighbor on my lake has a Malibu SunKicker (2000 I think) with under 100 hours on it. I think people just don't use them as much as they plan

Some people just like the IDEA of owning a boat.

It's very simple. There are a number of reasons and i seriously doubt many are turning back the meters. People loose interest, have families or get involved in other things, priorities changed in their lives, all kinds of reasons. Many of those boats saw all their hours in the first few years so the monthly average factor doesn't apply. Unlike many people here not everyone that owns a boat is a fanatic, to them they are just a possession to be used when the mood strikes. They aren't worshipped or blinged out. They sit until the mood strikes. I know a few people with boats that just sit around and might get used once every 2-3 years if lucky.

I think the older 80's boats are more likely to have the low hours. Those boats were mostly small, comp ski boats. They weren't very good for cruising the lake. They also weren't $50-60k new. So, you had people who had a comp boat for skiing and then something else for cruising and hanging out on.

I put less hours each year on my boat. It got tougher and tougher to find quality crew.

I was at one of my son's friends house this September and they found out we wakeboard. The dad wanted to show me their wakeboard boat. A Centurion that they were just finishing their third summer with and it had 17.5 hours.

(Message edited by chaser on October 23, 2009)

We put on more than 17.5 hours every weekend

There are also a lot of people who take their boat off the trailer, head to party cove, park it for the day, go back to the trailer, put an hour on it for the whole weekend out. Depends on what they use it for. When you're riding, almost every minute on the water shows up on your hour meter, but if you're out chilling or partying......not so much

I'm with Jeff though, when we bought our boat (99 Tige) it had 500 hrs on it, figure about 50 hrs a year, we were glad it had been used and not just stored, and we could tell the owners took good care of it by the condition it was in. That way we didn't have to worry about all the nasty things that can happen if you store an engine/tranny for years on end without use

im also biased as I'm australian, we don't have such a flooded market of ski/wakeboard boats so the ppl that do own them probably use them alot, well i know i will be. Maybe in 10 or so years i will see boats that are just emerging now being sold with low hours.

Unless you live near a waterway, it can be hard to go out every day or even every weekend. Also remember that most boats are only used during the summer (4-6 months depending on where you live). Like dirwood said, you can go out on the boat all day and put very few hours on a boat if you like to park or anchor. Even when we wakeboard, I only put three hours on the engine before it gets busy or blown out.
3 hours every week for four months= 48 hours a year. I do more than that, but it’s an example.

Exactly Shooter, if you have to tow an hour or more to get to water you won't see anywhere near the hours of someone on the water or close to.

I think 17 hours a year is plenty to keep the boat in good mechanical shape assuming the fluids are changed every year and it is winterized correctly when the boat really takes a long period of time off.

My dad just bought his old friends 83 Mastercraft. My dad's buddy was the original owner and a professional water skier. By 89 the boat had 600 hours. He passed away in 89. The boat went to his wife who then passed away and then to her new husband. That is who my dad bought the boat from. When my dad bought it a year and a half ago the boat had 650 hours on it. So in 6 years is got 600 and then in 18-19 years it got 50. The boat was tuned up, fluids changed and winterized every year. When we bought it we put gas in it and started it right up. The boat boat runs like a top.

I agree with SS as well on the older comp boats. Most people who bought them in the 80's used them as hardcore slalom boats. It may take 10 minutes to get to the ski area. Then 10 minute runs for 3 people then back to the launch/dock. There is less than an hour an outing. If your friends had boats as well you could go out 45 times in a year, rotate the boats and end up with less then 17 hours a year on your own boat.

Also, boats that come from the norther climates only get 5-6 months of use a year. This inhibits higher hours.

My boat is an 07' and I have less than 100 hrs on it right now. I also hang with a big group that has boats. We switch off on whos boat we are going to use.

As others mentioned, one detail that seems to contribute is how far people tow their boat to the water. I'm always surprised to hear about you guys who tow an hour or two to the water anytime you want to get out.
The last 3 houses I've lived in, the distance to the water was a major factor in choosing it. When the boat is just a minute or two away, moored in a boat slip, the ability to just grab our foil / board & go out for an hour or two is huge & allows us to use the boat more. I wonder how many people buy a boat, use it for a year or two, then upgrade their house & it's too far away to go out very often.

We're 30 min from the Canadian border & still put 75 - 100 hrs on the boat every year. And we live in an area that is one of the highest number of boats per capita in the nation. I'm sure the location contributes too, but I think it's more climate related. We don't have nearly the cold weather as in the midwest & east coast.

(Message edited by bill_airjunky on October 23, 2009)

If you live in the northern half of the US, some folks only get out two weekends a month, three months a year. That is under 50 hours a year.
But they probably used it more when they first got it, and then little or not at all for some years later in their ownership.

Our 87 Supra SunSport had 600hrs when I bought it in spring of 2008 which is only 30 hours a year. Makes for a cherry purchase!
We put on ~100hours last summer and again this summer. See profile pic. She makes a great surf wave.

I put 75 hours on my boat the first year I bought it. Then this year I have a friend that has a 09 X-star and one with a 06 X-2. I have only put 25 hours this year because I am on there boats. I would assume that when people get on the water they make friends on the water and one boat gets used most of the time and others stay on the lift or trailer more.

I envy all you guys who store your boat on a lift or are minutes away from the lake. I would board every day.

Bill, I would love to move closer to the lake, but then I would have to drive 2+ hours each way to work every day. Our lakes in So Cal really suck, so I look forward to trips for good water. Thats a 5 hr drive so I need three days off to make the trip worth it.

I can go surf, wakeboard and snowboard on the same day during the winter, so I cant complain too much.

I plan on moving when I retire or hit the lottery.

I hear ya, Shooter. We liked living in the Seattle area for the same reasons... work, riding on the lakes, and ski areas within an hour of the house. And surfing a couple hours away.
But after 20 yrs of it, gave up the rat race so & sacrificed the surfing by moving inland. Now work, the lakes & the ski areas are less than 30 minutes away. And we get more house/land for our money.
Whatever works to get you on the lake as much as possible.

(Message edited by bill_airjunky on October 23, 2009)

In our case the lake is used to irrigate cotton crops and can drop twelve to fifteen feet in a few months.When that happens we have to drive 1.5 hours to reach water and after work trips are a no go.Some years we pull over a hundred hours and others thirty or so.

I live in Vancouver Wa and have a buddy that just sold his 07 VTX that only had 34 hrs on it.
He ordered it at the boat show in Portland in 07 but did not put hours on it due to his work schedule and kids sports.

some people work too much to get out on the lake every day or every weekend. i'd love to get out there every weekend, but it just isn't possible.

I live in Vancouver Wa and have a buddy that just sold his 07 VTX that only had 34 hrs on it.
He ordered it at the boat show in Portland in 07 but did not put hours on it due to his work schedule and kids sports.
I live two miles from the Columbia river and get 60+ a year on our Avy. Most of the hrs is riding.

I am ashamed to say that I only put 9 hours on my boat this year. I grew up on the boat going out 6 days a week and almost put that many hours riding a wakeboard (not boat hours but me riding) in a week. Add a new job that demands 60-70 hours a week and a newborn baby that can not take the heat and that is what happens.

Looking forward to next year when the baby will be able to take the heat and hopefully enjoy it as much as I did growing up. I imagine that the hours will get back to 50-100 a year.

I live in Vancouver Wa and have a buddy that just sold his 07 VTX that only had 34 hrs on it.
He ordered it at the boat show in Portland in 07 but did not put hours on it due to his work schedule and kids sports.
I live two miles from the Columbia river and get 60+ a year on our Avy. Most of the hrs are riding.

I have to put the hrs on to justify the purchase.

Sorry for the double post.