Need advice on low hours

[becdan3]

We are ready to purchase another boat and one of the boats we have been looking at is a Carver 410. It is a 2002 model and has very Low hours on Cummins 6BTA 5.9 M3. It only has 350 hours on each engine. It looks like the boat has just not been used. Should we not even consider this boat?

[pepmyster]

Personally, I would get them checked out by someone your trust. They could have been dock sitters. A machine needs to be used and worked. Consider, of coarse. If all the oil changes have been done etc....I just hope the fuel is not spoiled. If it runs great, the fuel should be ok. Have all systems checked out.

[bud37]

Welcome to the forum....of course you should consider the boat, there can be some great bargains out there....as always you get a surveyor and in this case a diesel mechanic that is familiar with Cummins, have him go thru them and their systems, oil analysis on engines and gears.....generator as well...and the mechanic comes on the sea trial to plot performance etc.......good luck with your boat hunting.

To add,I think that if you have looked at lots of boats, after a while you get a feel for whether something has been looked after or just used up. Even the dock queens show whether they are maintained or not.

[becdan3]

Thank you for the advice. We have been looking for 2 years and have been on a many a boat during that time and have a pretty good feel for whether or not the boat has been cared for or neglected but never found one with such low engine hours. We would definitely have it surveyed but wondered if it was worth the expense of the survey if there was no hope for the engines lasting a long time.

[bud37]

Source of the post We would definitely have it surveyed but wondered if it was worth the expense of the survey if there was no hope for the engines lasting a long time.

Unfortunately there is no easy answer for you here, except that, the question you have can only be answered by a Cummins diesel mechanic looking at your choice. There are no guarantees with any boat purchase, just try and protect yourself.....there is a site called "boat diesel", real knowledgable people.....perhaps a search there for those specific engines might give you a better idea.

[km1125]

Low hours shouldn't be a cause for immediate dismissal!! At one point, I had to store my boat for 4 years. The engines were prepped and it was stored inside a building, but I lost 4 years' worth of hours on the runtime. Looking back, I should have just sold and repurchased when we were ready, but we really didn't know the 'hiatus' was going to last 4 years.

[tomschauer]

about four years ago, we bought a 1999 carver 355 (gas) with well under 200 hours since new. Had all fuel tanks drained and filters replaced before trying to start it, as it had been sitting for 4 years. We have had no issues with it in the last 80 hrs of run time.
Knock on fiberglass.

[waybomb]

Five years ago we bought the 1987 3697. Sat for ten years and only had 220 or so hours on her.

Prepped everything considering the ten years and all has been good.

[mjk1040]

You could have it surveyed and have a Cummins mechanic go all through it and still have an issue. You have been looking for 2 years. At this point I would take the leap of faith and pull the switch on this low hour gem! Just my opinion!

[Marty]

Last fall I bought a 2000 326 Aft with 290 hrs on engines and less than 3 hrs on the kohler 6.5kw genny. Just boiled down to owners who did not use the boat for its intended purpose. First owner was too busy to enjoy and 2nd owner stopped boating due to the wife. Needs a little TLC - carpet/canvas and a few other minor maintenance issues, but otherwise in great shape.