1999 Mariah Shabah z250-7.4L MPI with Bravo 1
 

After lurking on this site for months I decided to register. Looking for a little advice about the model noted above. We currently have a 1990 larson with a 2 barrel 4.3l and alpha 1 drive. The larson was a good first boat but it is underpowered for us and the local waters can get choppy. We need a family boat that can pull a skier and, if possible, occasionally overnight with my wife and 2 kids. We typically have 2-4 adults and 2-4 children on board. I was originally looking at boats in the 21-23' range with a 5.7l because we do spend a couple hours skiing and tubing during each outing and I don't mind sleeping in up top in the cockpit.

I am guilty of stumbling across what appears to be a good deal on a 1999 Mariah Shabah z250 and not sticking to my original purchasing criteria. Most of the boats I have seen in my price range have not been fuel injected. There are only 264 hours on the boat. I am concerned that the wake will be too big for skiing and the gas consumption will be much worse (i.e. > 25% more fuel) than our larson when cruising at 25-30mph. Fuel costs about $1.50/l for supreme. I will say the motor sure does look a lot more accessible compared to the doghouse around 4.3l on our current boat - what a nightmare!

sorry if this topic has been beat to death. I know every boat is a compromise. One thing is for sure - Mariah sure make pretty boats.

Re: 1999 Mariah Shabah z250-7.4L MPI with Bravo 1
 

Welcome aboard! I'll leave this one for our Admin (ShabahZ280) to respond to since he owned that same boat.

Re: 1999 Mariah Shabah z250-7.4L MPI with Bravo 1
 

Thanks Mikeyt. I was able to find a lot of great info on this website. Seems it will pull a skier and the boat is well liked. I am really impressed with the boat based on what i have read so far.

I have hit a snag though - the owner does not have a registration for the trailer, which is unfortunate as I need to import it into Canada. Doesn't look good.

Re: 1999 Mariah Shabah z250-7.4L MPI with Bravo 1
 

Found this site that estimated the typical fuel consumption at various rpms for the mercruisers. Thought it may be of interest to some folks.

MerCruiser 7.4 Fuel Consumption 310 HP | MPG GPH Specs US Gallons per Hour | 7.4 L 454 mpi v8

Re: 1999 Mariah Shabah z250-7.4L MPI with Bravo 1
 

Make the trailer registration part of the deal be should be able to go register it without issue before you buy it.

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Re: 1999 Mariah Shabah z250-7.4L MPI with Bravo 1
 

He said he has no paperwork on the trailer. I suspect ownership was never transferred. Too bad.

Re: 1999 Mariah Shabah z250-7.4L MPI with Bravo 1
 

Here in ga if you go to the dmv with a vin you can register to a trailer. If you don't have a vin you can say it was home built and they will give you a vin plate for it. If you really like the boat and they guy wants to sell it I'm sure it can be worked out.

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Re: 1999 Mariah Shabah z250-7.4L MPI with Bravo 1
 

Did he never get a tag? If he ever tagged it the state has the paperwork!

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Re: 1999 Mariah Shabah z250-7.4L MPI with Bravo 1
 

He bought the boat used, so he would have to contact the last person that had it registered. I am guessing this trailer would have a serial number on it so you can't claim it is home made. I've run into this issue before....it would be a big risk to take to import this trailer into Canada without proper tags.

Re: 1999 Mariah Shabah z250-7.4L MPI with Bravo 1
 

What about buying the boat and taking a trailer from home and bringing the boat back on it. To have to pass up on a great boat just because of no tags for a trailer would be a real shame. This may involve some extra cost (you now have 2 trailers) but it may be easier to dispose of the "not tagged" trailer in the USA than the hassle of getting it imported.

Re: 1999 Mariah Shabah z250-7.4L MPI with Bravo 1
 

Buying a trailer for a boat I have not seen in person yet seems risky to me. The boat is about an 8 hours drive from me. If he was a couple hours away it may be feasible. As much as I like the boat, it seems too involved to make the deal work.

Re: 1999 Mariah Shabah z250-7.4L MPI with Bravo 1
 

I wonder if we have a moc member near the boat that could do a prelim check on it for you. If it's a good deal it may be worth the extra work...

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Re: 1999 Mariah Shabah z250-7.4L MPI with Bravo 1
 

Wow - that would be a very kind gesture! I think we will hold off for now and wait for another boat. We have a 21' Larson so we will still get out on the water.

Thank-you to everyone for all your input.

Re: 1999 Mariah Shabah z250-7.4L MPI with Bravo 1
 

If you're going to buy a boat for watersports, I definitely wouldn't recommend the Z250. Only for the reason that it's a cuddy. If you're only going to be using the boat for day boating, and not sleeping on it, then I'd suggest looking into the bowrider models instead. The cockpit in the Z250 is a little too small for a few kids, adults, water toys, tubes, etc. If you wanted to stick around that range, I'd suggest looking at the Z252 bowrider, or if you wanted lots of room, look into the Z272.

One thing is for sure though, the fuel injected engines are nice, but when you're looking at the 25ft+ boats, with the 7.4/8.1L blocks, the words "fuel economy" shouldn't be in your vocabulary. They're heavy boats and very thirsty engines.... Expect about 1.5-2MPG at the very best.

Re: 1999 Mariah Shabah z250-7.4L MPI with Bravo 1
 

A cuddy is must have for our 2 young girls and wife. My wife won't leave the dock on a bowrider. I also appreciate your comments on fuel economy...we just don't want a boat that burns $300 of fuel cruising for a few hours. I think your feedback confirms we really don't want to go bigger than a 23' boat. Many thanks!!