Info about 242 formulas
 

Hi,

I'm looking for a 23-24 sport boat. The 242 formulas seem to be a good match. I'm looking for a 23-24 boat with a 454 engine; I'd like to see 60mph. I would also like to have stand up bolsters instead of sit down seats.
I understand the SR-1s had twin 260s with bolsters, but that the 242LS and SS had seats. Or where those boats available with bolsters?

My budget is $25K and I boat on the Chesapeake Bay.

Any recommendations about other formulas I should consider?

Chuck

I had a 242LS for a few years - its a great boat. Mine had manual drop out bolsters and single 454. Bone stock it would make 62 - 63mph. I sold it and bought a 2000 271 fastech. The 271 is faster, but the ride in the 242 was a little better. Formula is a great boat.

OK, I've found a couple 242LS formulas (late 80s) online. The listed prices are several thousand (or more) over NADA retail!

Chuck

What they are asking and what they will take/get are two TOTALLY different things. ;) ;) ;)

Jon

When shopping online hardcore last year for my boat, I found that people were asking an average of 25% higher than what their boat was really worth. I bet if I did some searching, more than half are still for sale a year later. I know several people personally who list their boats for sale from the day they buy it to the day they sell it (sometimes years later) for crazy money, and heck, if someone will pay their price they can have it. One of the local Formula dealers was selling a trashed '89 F272 SR1 for almost $40k, no trailer. The only thing solid was the hull, everything else needed serious rehab. It was actually the dealer owner's boat which horrified me for 2 reasons - how could they be so unrealistic about the price (later found out the boat had been listed for 3 years), and how could the owner of the dealer let his own boat get in such poor condition. I walked out, and vowed never to buy a boat from them.

It does make shopping a pain in the rear, so try to "weed out" some of the ridiculously priced ones first. Good Luck!

Thanks for that feedback. Of course I understand that the seller wants to get as much as possible for the boat and I want to buy it for as little as possible. You would think in this economy that now would be a good time to buy. Some sellers tell me how much they paid for the boat 10 years ago and how much they still owe and that they can't lower their price. Depreciation stinks, I can't help it if these folks are upside down on their boats. So there they sit until someone comes along and pays the price I guess.

This must be the fun part about looking for a boat. :)

I have an '89 that I bought in 2000. During my search I checked a '91 272 at a local Jersey dealer...it's STILL for sale today. Back then the price would vary from 39,999 to 43,999 depending on the time of year. Last check , the price is still the same. No trailer and painted bottom:(

The 242 is a great boat. You should be able to find a nice example in your price range pretty easily. Once the weather starts to break, you'll see a lot more coming onto the market. Will always be some overpriced examples, and a few annual sellers just fishing.

The bolster were an option on the SR1-s and LS's. Buckets were standard.

http://www.saltydogsearch.com/detail...id=22287&pic=1

This '89 242 is local to me. Has a 96 454 magnum (how much HP?) and a rebuilt Bravo drive, and bolsters. Received some additional pictures, sides are a bit faded, wonder if they would "buff out" with some wax?

Asking price is $16.5K and does not include a trailer. Nada retail is like $14K. Any thoughts on this one?

Another pic

one more

I sold my 85 242 LS last year. It was in decent shape, twin 1999 350 mag with around 70 hours on them on a 2001 tandem axle trailer. Sold it for $11,500. No bolsters. Great boat, I just needed something bigger when I joined our boat club. Those 38 footers in the club were killing me with their wakes.

I looked at the formula pictured above over the weekend. Aside from the faded red stripe the boat looks good and I hope to have it surveyed for soon.
I am a bit worried about the swim platform. It is big and heavy. Seems live over time the bolts that go through the hull would loosen and could possibly allow water into the transom. I think a survey will tell me if this has happened yet...but how do I prevent this from happening down the road? Seems like many formulas in the late 80s and early 90s had the same design before the platforms became integrated into the hull. Was this a problem? Or should I not worry about it?

As for the boat, it seems to be just the size I'm looking for and I like the styling. Boat has a really deep v, looks like an offshore boat. Other boats I have seen don't have the such a deep v.

I've searched traderonline and yachtworld; there are a number of these boats for sale but only a couple with bolster seats.

Where else should I look?


Chuck

That doesn't seem like a bad deal if the survey checks out. Also hire a mechanic to check out the engine compression, drive, steering, etc. as most surveys don't include that. It will be worth the $$, especially if they find something major wrong.

As far as HP, that engine probably is rated for 365 hp, though there were several models, but I think that is what the 454 mag had around then.

The red fade- that could cost some $$ to have that resprayed. You probably could have it heavily buffed, or wet sanded, but with red that old be prepared to repaint it if you don't want it to look chaulky within a month or so. Get some quotes now to include in the overall cost.

Jaybird thanks for your thoughts. Good point about checking the drive and motor.

Re: red fade. Yes I am a bit concerned about it, but on the other hand perhaps I can get a better deal on the boat, use it for a season and then restore when the cash flow recovers. The rest of the boat seems to be in good shape. We shall see I suppose. I'm also noticing with the warmer weather that more boats are popping up for sale.

Many people have told me the best time to buy is in the dead of winter. I'll have to go ahead and disagree with the conventional wisdom. I've encountered some sellers that don't want to even uncover the boat to show it to me. One boat local to me on ebay was shrink wrapped. He said that he would only cut the wrap if I gave him a deposit(!) Plus when the river is frozen it makes it difficult to sea trial the boat.

How about this one?

http://ipswichbayyachtsales.com/core...bys&&ywo=ibys&

I'm a bit weary of buying a boat long distance though.

Chuck, the one in ipswich is very nice looking I would take this one over the other. This one here was probably run in salt but looks very good for 17k with trailer is very good. Sorry I am just concerned about the red unless you have it done over you may not be happy with it. I wish I didn`t live 2 hours away, but there my be another OSOer who lives closer.


Remember this is the fun part, summers is coming!!

Good luck

Masi242, is that your boat, looks nice.

Shipping from NH is $1000 or so that needs to be factored in as well.

There is another boat in PA that is listed for $23K but is supposed to be mint. Thatsalotdough for a 89 boat.

Chuck

I'm gettting the red/white boat surveyed this Saturday. Owner has dropped the price $1K. We will see how it goes. Motor supposedly only has 100hrs on it since it was installed 1996. When I checked out the boat last weekend the owner showed me the receipt for the new motor in 1996. $10K installed..whew!

Chuck, Congrats on your new purchase, you will love it. Once you get it cleaned up post some more pics.:D What prop is it currently running?


Good luck

Well I'm not there quite yet. I'm hoping that the survey goes well. The surveyor needs a week to write up the results. Once that is done I can finish the loan application. I've been "pre-approved" by the bank but they have paperwork to push before they cut a check. The owner still has a lien on the boat so I'm not sure how that fits in the process. I also need to secure insurance, title the boat in Maryland, and get new registration stickers. Boat US wants $1000/year for insurance...so I need to shop around. Then I need to drive it down the bay to my marina. It is still cold here so I may have to wait until it warms up a bit. I didn't realize how complicated boat buying could be! The "sea trial" is part of the survey on Saturday...high temp will be like 49 degrees. Hard core boating :)

Of all the Formula colors , red seems to be the one that fades the worst:( . On the other hand , they do look good when polished up;)
I would tend to lean toward the NH boat , but I'm a little closer and would have no problem towing it home myself.
Good luck with your purchase:)

Typically your bank will issue the owner's bank a check for the balance of his loan, and a check to him for the remainder of the money.

Shop hard for insurance - Boat US always has the highest quotes that I've found. The best is the last place I looked - through your homeowner's or auto insurance company if they offer it. I pay half of what any Marine Insurer wants.

That insurance sounds high to me. Check a thread by Baja Daze about his insurance man. I think he's paying 800 something a year for a 25 Outlaw.

I've found the same thing. Boat US was high for me, but they made up for it with really crappy service when you make a claim..:hothead: :hothead: :crazy:

The survey was done today and then we did a sea trial. I was very impressed with the ride, slices right through a 1 1/2 chop.

But as we were coming back in at WOT, something went "snap" and the motor revved up. Owner pulled back the throttle. Motor runs fine but when put into gear boat doesn't go. A passing boater towed us to a marina nearby. Then we called Tow BoatUS and got towed back to his marina. I wonder what happened. Stern drive was recently rebuilt (I saw the receipt) and this is the first time that the boat has been taken out since the work was done. The search continues...

Drive coupler most likely. Did you smell any burning rubber?

I didn't notice any particular smell. Whatever broke sounded expensive.

And I'm glad I wasn't driving.

Probably the splines in the coupler. They make that noise and no burnt rubber smell. Been there , done that:rolleyes:. The shaft is steel and the splines in the coupler are aluminum. Must have good alignment and be kept greased.

Oh, one more thing about this boat. A repair was made to the right rear corner of the boat. Interestingly now there is no hull ID number. Why would someone do that. Owner reports that it was like that when he bought it. hmmm.

Chuck,
Maybe a trip , or at least a phone call to New England might not be a bad idea:cool: . 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

242
 

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