Chuck,
Maybe a trip , or at least a phone call to New England might not be a bad idea . That lack of hull number would scare me a bit. Might come back to bite you in the a$$ later

Yeah I think you're right. There's also a boat in PA that I'm going to check out. Supposedly only has 250 hours on the boat and low hours on a new motor.

http://adcache.boattraderonline.com/6/5/4/65743654.htm

I am on my 4th Season with a 1988 242LS.
We have owned several boats over the years this is the
1st that my wife loves. For those that know my wife
that says a lot!

We have the 454 mag and on a good day might see 65mph. We have modified heads and a 23' SS Mirage
prop. The boat is well balanced and easy to manouver.

As for the blue book values you can find a blue book to
support or justify any price. IMHO blue books on boat values are worthless. A boat is worth what someone is willing to pay and seller willing to sell. There is simply not enough empirical data on boat sales to make any
blue book valid. NADA is used by many lenders because
when they repo a boat they usually get burned. So they
use the lowest value they can find and that comes from NADA.

Many boat owners just don't take care of their boats
and some of the cheapest boats turn out to be the most expensive.

In my part of the Country ( So Cal) The 242 is pretty rare. It took me several years to find mine, when I found it I got it for a fair price. That price was well
above NADA and the lender required 3 other
ads around the country of the same boat to justify the
lending price.

My boat had been stored under shelter, had
very low hours, used mainly in fresh water and looked
brand new. The deal was contingent on a sea trial
with my mechanic and everything was tested.

We ran the boat for 2.5 hours at all speeds and
my mechanic had a laser temp gun and measured
the critical check points on the motor throughout.
Risers, manifolds water pump block etc.
We also turned the outdrive hard over port - starboard at different speeds and listened for any noise.

You bring up a good question regarding the swim platform. The top support bolts started to pull through the fiberglass on the top because of the weight.
What I did was fabricate two Stainless metal backing pieces and placed them under the bolts to ease the
stress.

They work great no worries about that anymore. I'll
attach a pic and if you look at the very bottom you will
see the tops of the supports. Cost was ~$20.

The boat is well balanced and runs ~60mph with the
454 23' stainless. We just returned from an offshore run to Catalina with the big boys. With on the water gas
at ~$3.60 I was glad to have a single. Also it's a nice size to trailer without having to make it a big event.

I believe you should be able to add bolsters without to
much trouble. I have often thought about it but a new
sound system I think is in my future.

Hope this helps

Ray


Here's a movie of our trip to Catalina, 242

Does anyone know how much these boats sold for in 1989?

I have the original invoice to my 85 242, it was $48,000.

Wow, so that is like $75K in 2004 dollars? Does that sound right?

My memory is a bit foggy, but I think I remember seeing the original factory invoice for a '89 242, and it was like around $90,000 list! I couldn't believe it! Formula prices went way up in the late 80's vs the mid 80's I believe. I have the original invoice for my '87 311, and it sold for $100k - not sure what the list was.

The list on my 302 Kamma was $148,000 I believe. I have it here somewhere.

Welly, great looking boat. Any side shots. Mine is an 87.

I put a deposit down on this boat....



So, how many horsepower do I need to see 70mph? Boat has a 454 magnum, owner reports 60mph top speed.




Chuck