Offshoreonly.com - Need boat advice.

Im looking for some advice on what to do with my boat situation. My current boat is a 1987 Four Winns Liberator. It has a fresh 540 putting out 585hp. The drive is a bravo one with 40 hours on it behind the 540. It has a hardened prop shaft, drive shower, and Ive been easy on hole shots.

I like the boat, it does about 65mph, and its in good shape, but I would like something newer such as a 271 fastech, 288 sunsation, or similiar 27-29 with single engine. My options are to sell the boat with 540, ask 20k for it, sell it with a rebuilt 454 for 12500, or trade it in (tax break) with 540 or 454. I would think my 540(16k new) could be sold outright complete drop in for 10k to someone.

As for the new boat, I like the fact that formula and baja offer 1.9 for the first 3 years of the loan because I get rid of stuff fast, and it keeps the payments low and more comes off the principle in the first 3 years.

The bottom line is I want a newer or new 27-29 ft that will do 70 on gps. I can afford a monthly payment up to 400-450 a month. I cannot to buy a boat that costs 300 a month but a month later the engine blows or drive and have to come up with 5-10k cash for repairs. If you know what I mean, cash on hand is just not always available for those big repairs. Like my liberator, I paid 18500 cash, took it out one time and motor needed a rebuild at $7 grand. I spent all my available cash on the boat, then had to borrow 7k on the title to get engine done. I would rather buy a new or almost new boat, that is stock merc, finance all of it, and save my ready cash for fun stuff like fuel, accessories, props, etc. Sorry my story is so long, but you guys are always great for advice, and I appreciate it. MT