Mine was a turd out of the hole. Added 175hp. Planes quick now.

I could see paying $9500 if it was pristine, on a perfect trailer, and truly a turn key boat. As in all new hoses, bellow, bilge pump, clean wiring, belts etc. It never ceases to amaze me what kind of problems turn up on a 30 year old boat.

Ended up passing.. I'll keep my 86 242 ls for now.. She's only a 350/260 I'll find one in better condition eventually

I think that was a good decision!

Good thing you held out, cause there is a beautiful 242 listed on craigslist at Lake of the Ozarks for like $9800. It is blue/black/white and looks super clean in the pics!

I just looked up that boat.. Wow it's beautiful!! Unfortunately it has no trailer and its across the country haha I would have to get it for 7500-8 just to be able to get it surveyed and shipped and keep it at 9500 and I still have to find a trailer if it was close to me then I would be all over it!

If it's that nice make it happen. Coming up with 1 or 2k more now and being happy is easier then 4-6k to repair and get one up to the same level. I get it when budgets are set, but your budget for a boat should never be all in to the purchase price

Unlimited is 100% DEAD ON! These boats are getting harder and harder to find, i looked around real quick last night on LOTO and St. Louis craigslist and found a couple junk boats on nice trailers for $1500 +/- where you could buy it to get the trailer, not to mention that there is a ton of people at the lake that so build youa new trailer for cheap and have it ready for you when you want. Just search "trailer" in Ozarks craigslist under the boat section and there are ads for it, very reasonably priced when i called a while ago! Its a beautiful boat and to miss out on it over 1-3k would suck

As far as a survey goes, there are tons of people on here that live down there, and quite a few people i know that could check it out for you if you are serious. Good boat guys help eachother out you'll find, let me know if i could help, I'm down there quite a bit

I agree that good used boats are getting harder to find. The ones that need work are usually worth more dead than alive. Those boats usually end up as parts boats. Clean, turn key boats end up bringing good money. My boat is a very clean 86 242, it has a bravo conversion, bolsters, a desirable paint scheme, nice 2008 trailer, and a fresh 525sc. People ask what it would take to own it. I tell them "high teens". They say I am nuts. I tell them " go find a new, 525hp, entry level, performance boat to buy".