All good info.
I missed out on 1999 Formula Fastech 271 with the 502mpi. Couldn't get to the owner in time. Someone else picked it up.

Looking at a single for the ease of maintenance, simplicity and for the gas, if that makes any sense, we boat a lot at least 4-6days a week during the season.

Actually on the way to look at an 03 292 Fastech today... Price seems a little high ($58k) but that's a given these days

Looked at the boat. It's super clean, fresh water only. Twin 6.2 which are factory stock at 315 hours. Comes with trailer.

Low hours and fresh water are definitely pros!

Sounds like a good deal to me. The additional maintenance cost of twins will be partially offset by less chance of breaking a drive trying to plane out a big boat with a single. Fresh water only is a huge plus and the hours are very low. Take it for a test run.

Don't share any info on where the boat is lest someone snatch it out from under you!

Stock 6.2’s are pretty reliable engines. They won’t break the drives and if they’ve been serviced by the book, 315 hours is nothing. Bit more maintenance with twins but not as bad as big blocks. Economy is only marginally more with twins because the single 502 needs to work harder to produce the same performance. I’m a fan of a single engine but don’t be scared of twin 6.2’s.

Sounds like a nice boat, get it thoroughly surveyed before buying. Regarding price, you don’t want to pay way too much but remember, if it’s exactly what you want, the enjoyment will last a lot longer than the memory of the price. 🙂

RR

+1 on twin 6.2's. Not a fan of twin inboards, but they should be easier to work on and much cheaper parts as well. I mean for 1/2 the cost of new marine headers on a 500EFI or similar you could probably buy two sets of exhaust for the 6.2's. The gas is not 2X that of a big block, probably more like 1.2X that of a single big block.

Going back to the 271 with the 502 and even the 292. I wound drop down a pitch in the prop. I wound rather plane out faster, less stress on the drive. Then turning a big prop for highend. I'll gladly loose 5-10mph top speed to plane and get to cruising speed easier/faster.

We've all seen those loud ass boats, bow up dragging bottom leaving the sandbar. Only to plane out 45-60sec later 😁😁.

Yes!.... I'm near Lake Ontario and the Finger Lakes. All fresh water boats around me.

Lose 5-10 MPH on the top-end??

You sure you really want a “go-fast” boat?

I haven't seen that.

lol. So true. Most of us are trying to squeeze out that last mile per hour or two!