[Caspersa21]

I found a 1995 Davanti 225 for sale and he's only asking $5500. He says it's in very good condition in and out with bimini, camper cover, etc. Trailer is included in that price. I'm going to look at it right away.

BUT he said the trim indicator doesn't work and the gas gauge bounces. I'm not too concerned about the needle on the gas gauge, but is there a reason the trim indicator might not work? Is that a common problem? Would he have to damage something, or hit something to make that not work?

It seems like a great price and a nice boat, I just want to make sure not to ignore any red flags.

Thanks,
C

[Dredd]

The trim position sensor going out seems like a fairly common problem here on the boards. The kit is only like $100 but, if it's an Alpha One the drive has to come off to replace it. Certainly not enough to make that price sound bad to me.

[Caspersa21]

Hi Dredd,
Thanks for your reploy, it is an alpha one and the motor is a 4 cyl. maybe that's why it's cheap? I'm ok with a smaller motor because I won't exactly be racing anything anytime soon. :P

[indykoch]

4 cyl. in a 22 footer?!?!?! You sure that's the original motor?

Dredd is exactly correct. The trim sending unit has gone bad. You will need a kit that has the sending unit and the trim limit switch on the opposite side. You may have other maintenance and/or repairs that will need the drive removed sometime soon anyway. It's very common, and not something I'd worry about. That sounds like a nice boat for a great price (even with a few items to repair).

[Caspersa21]

Hi Ryan, Thanks for your reply.
I don't know if it's the original motor... does that matter? I know that sounds like a dumb question, but if it is not the original motor, that means original motor was damaged beyond repair and he put in a lesser motor...?

[indykoch]

It really only matters to a potential buyer... now it's a boat "with a story". Like, why did it need replaced? Was it abused? Was it properly maintained? Was it fish food at some point? Why go with such a small replacement motor on that size boat?

All questions that really only matter to you, the buyer. But you might want to know some of the answers. If it wasn't maintained, chances are the boat as a whole wasn't either. If it sunk, probably has a lot of other issues. Not sure without knowing more of the details...

Oh, forgot to answer your first question fully - the trim indicator is almost always because of water infiltration. Water eventually seeps into the contacts and causes corrosion, usually through the shrink wrap around the wires. There's really no repair for it other than a new one. But again, it's common and not due to striking something.

[SEMIJim]

A 4 cyl. engine in a 22' boat sounds pretty under-powered to me. But I'm no expert.

Jim

[Phlorida]

According to the 1995 Mariah brochure the three engine options for the Davanti were the 5.7l, 7.4l and the 454 mag. It seems unlikely that this boat would have been retrofitted with a 3.0l - are you sure that it has a 4 cylinder engine in it? It might be a typo in the advertising that you are reading.

If someone made the unfortunate decision to repower the boat with a 3.0l/Alpha One, the price is high as it needs to be repowered again.

[jgreen]

I just checked the 95 brochure and the 225 Davanti came with either 5.7 of 7.4 v-8's. Nowhere does it mention a 4 cyl. The 3L 4 cyl puts out 130 HP. Don't think that will move a 225 much over no wake speed.

[jgreen]

Ha ha, Phlorida and I are on the same page. He must type faster than me.