1997 Formula 280 SS
 

1997 Formula 280 Sunsport help
I just bought a 1997 Formula 280 Sunsport on eBay. I am having a marine survey & mechanical inspection performed tomorrow or Monday. Here is the link to the eBay listing.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd=...#ht_512wt_1021

Everything looks in order except for the 454 mag mpi engines. Should they look that rusty being installed in 2007 or is it old parts put on the new motor. The price is fair if all checks out. He threw in the trailer with it. I have not seen pics of the trailer but it should be decent shape from what the guy said.

Lastly I will need to rent a 3/4 ton truck to pull this to Cleveland, Ohio from lake of the ozarks in Missouri. Am I better to do this or pay someone to haul it back?

Link does not work, as far as getting it home you better pay or get a buddy to go and pay him,

Also I have a reputable guy that hauls boats licensed insured the whole bit, I'd have to dbl check exacts, but to give you a idea he's around 2.50 a mile

The engines are older than 2007, you can find out what year from the serial numbers. A tech can also hook a computer to them and find out how many hours and at what RPM levels they were operated at and for how long.

+1,yes it reads new 454's were installed in 2007,,''new to him''

If the survey came back good would you still buy the boat?
I'm almost ready to walk away because the guy is either really busy or not communicating well.

If u get a bad feel move on, these boats care everywhere, all they need is twin 350's so not sure why someone would stuff 454's in there, these boats are every where and honestly you were border line on the price.

Typically 'new' engines installed during a re-power are remanufactured engines. You still can get the 7.4long blocks as new marine engines. The other parts were most likely transferred from the old engines, which is common practice with a new or reman. Long block replacement. It would be best to find out exactly what was done in 2007.

The 7.4's were an option on the 280SS over the more common 350's. It will probably do 60 mph with the 7.4's . . . Mid-50's with the twin 350's.

Is it the one that sold on eBay August 2nd?

The rust is the picture looks to be in the hatch lift . . .

Your winning bid price is about in the mid-point for the range of retail prices for a 1997.

Only the total hours on the engines can be scanned on that model year. If the engines were replaced or rebuilt that would not have reset the engine hours on the ECM unless they sent it out and had it reset by one of the mefi tuner. (which i highly doubt they did ) Usually people just replace the hour meters when they replace an engine. The rust on everything would be a huge deal for me. Looks like it spent a TON of time in salt water. What do the drives look like??? I think you could find a boat with a third of the hours for the same price. If you have a chance to get out ,I would. The end of the season is very near. You will be able to get a great deal on something else in just a few months. I would continue to look for a Formula. I have been very happy with mine. Jeff Wurl

It is the one on eBay. They guy pretty much stopped responding when the surveyor contacted him. Suprised because he has 100% feedback. I am walking away from this. I found another cleaner boat in NJ.

you after an SS or a BR?

I'm after an SS. Think I found one in NJ I'm gonna look at.

Where in NJ? I know that there are a few on the market in NJ, and there is one in CT and one in western NY, some newer ones in NH. . .

This boat is clean. I will be going friday to sea trial it. If we like it then I have a surveyor lined up for Monday. Got a good deal on it. Motors have 960 hours on them but the broker claims the owner is a doctor with alzheimers and he would forget to turn the keys off. Likely story but the surveyor can hook his computer up to the motors to see how many hours are actually on the boat. He had it at this place the whole time. They have all the service records which is a bonus.

http://www.dredgeharbor.com/shopexd.asp?id=418015

Yup, I had my eye on that one, but did not make the trip out to see it. Looks clean. If anything, the surveyor should be able to see the hours at 0 rpm.

I am curious if you are getting it for a similar price to the boat on eBay. PM me if you would like.

$500 cheaper then the eBay boat.

I have an couple of boats at Dredge Harbor and have seen the Baroness III there. As of Saturday she was outside on the work racks. Before that she was inside on the showroom. It looks like a clean boat. Don't know anything more about it as this is my first year there at the marina. Good luck with it!

after a couple of weeks of seeing this boat still listed on boats.com, I called that sales office at Dredge Harbor . . . the boat (1999 Formula 280SS - Baroness III) was not under contract. So, I guess neohiofan did not proceed with buying it.

So, I put an offer in on it. That was a couple of days ago, and I have not heard back from the sales manager. . . . :silenced: So, I wonder what's up with that ???