Boat question and thoughts
 

Hello, I'm considering buying this boat and just wanted some feedback from you guys in the price and etc.

1996 MariahSki Boat

Re: Boat question and thoughts
 

That won't be around long at that price!

Re: Boat question and thoughts
 

I think that its a 180 Shabah but its hard to tell just by those pics. I dont see any tops/covers in the photos and.....it seems to be missing a big chunk of the skeg along with having one of those damm ugly whale tails on the outdrive@@. People have been tarred and feathered for less.

Seriously though, look at it closely to see how well it was maintained. Copies of service records should be asked for, check the engine hours (should be a meter just behind the rear seat on the port side), check that all of the electrics work particularly the outdrive trim & tilt switch, trailer switch & gauge cuz replacing the sensors require removing the outdrive. Check that all of the interior trim pieces are there as they can be hard to find and above all, get the boat on the water to see how it performs. The ad doesn't say what motor it has but if it has a 3.0 you should get into the high 30's and maybe very low 40's while the 4.3 should get you into the mid-high 40's. The 4.3 will be a much better "ski" boat than the 3.0

The price is simply 'reasonable' (just note that Andy B lives in very expensive Britain) for that year/model. Let us know what you find!

Re: Boat question and thoughts
 

very valid piont mikey, that boat comes in at £3423
look at what this one in need of a bit of TLC sold for over here
mariah shabah 186 speedboat | eBay
thats $8,063.51
(mind you she is red :-) )

Re: Boat question and thoughts
 

Give the out drive a good wiggle left to right and up and down. Broken skeg can be a good indicator for potential damage else where. Example being the gimbal ring, prop shaft etc. Put that puppy in forward and reverse when its running. Look for shaft wobble and prop wobble. That happened on a boat I just recently purchased and was able to negotiate a considerable amount off the sale price. Im still working on mine so I can help you out with info if you have any issues with that kind of stuff.

Re: Boat question and thoughts
 

Thanks for the advice, it's the 4.0, FYI, I will be testing it on the lake sunday

Re: Boat question and thoughts
 

I'm not familiar with "skeg" but I looked it up and I cant see how you cant tell its got a chunk missing. If it does, should I pass on the boat or what cost should I expect to fix it?

Re: Boat question and thoughts
 

Here is a skeg, located at bottom of out drive. Its visible in one of the photos off CL.

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewi...id=34131611274

They protect your prop from damage weather its loading at the boat ramp after a long day on the lake an forgetting to raise the trim or underway on the water. As for expensive, depends. You can use the skeg guard in the link I showed you to cover the broken one. You can have a new aluminium one welded on an then painted -see aluminum painting-. OR if the prop an prop shaft got damaged the cost can increase quickly.

Just check it out. Furthermore See if the out drive will wiggle. If you are really not sure higher a surveyor to look. Others on here pointed me in that direction when I was looking. I learned a lot!

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2

Re: Boat question and thoughts
 

Or at least take someone with you that is knowledgeable about boats. Buy him/her lunch cuz i'm assuming that you will not want to get stung by a boat with hidden defects.

Re: Boat question and thoughts
 

Taking the bro-in law so I should be fine. Thanks for the input and ill let you guys know how it goes.

Re: Boat question and thoughts
 

Mikey has a great point. Maybe the current owner can take you out to show you the boat an how it works. I'll be selling one of mine soon. I would hope the buyer would like to go out so I can show them at least the basics.

Re: Boat question and thoughts
 

Did you end up buying the boat? I noticed the link was deleted on craigslist.. so i'm guessing someone purchased it

Re: Boat question and thoughts
 

I didn't, it was a total pile of **** and the owner misrepresented the boat in every way. I bought an 05 stingray 195 lr that I love

Re: Boat question and thoughts
 

Glad to hear you avoided a 'dog'.