35 Lightning running costs
 

New to the forum so hello :)

I've tried searching for what I guess is a common question but can't find an answer, so please if there is a similar thread feel free to point me to it and tell me to go forth...

Completely new to ownership I'm looking at getting a lightning 35 (pre owned) and am trying to get a rough estimate on costs. I guess the 2 most obvious are l/hr fuel consumption (most im seeing are 2x525EFIs) and annual costs like servicing/checks and contingency costs. I guess there are no end of other costs so any and all info much appreciated. (boat will be used in carribean - i guess salt water costs more!)

thanks

francis

Yes salt water increases cost. Salt adversly affects everthing from the finish to the mechanicals to the value. Its obvious the engine raw water cooling syetms and all exterior mechanicals will have a shorter service life. I have found that the biggest costs are insurance, marina fees, fuel and then maint. The maint cost are a variable depending on the state, care and condition of your boat. Todays engines if cared for proplery and not abused have a substantial service life. the secret is to do the required maintenance and when the first hint of a problom arises take care of it ASAP before it manifests into a bigger issue.
one fruther word of advice>> buy some light residue spray silicone and spray your engine and rubber goods once or twice a month. the light residue spray
does not leave a thick film and keeps down rust and extendeds the life of all the rubbre goods. It also keeps the engines looking good.

thx gcat, i'm looking at about $10k marina fees, no idea about insurance, is there a rule of thumb (like high end cars are like 3%). can you tell me what you spend on maintenance and l/hr, if you don't mind talking $ in public?

edited to add, i know the costs are variable, lots of factors etc... but i really have no idea at the moment so any indication most useful

many thanks

If you go down to the thread "done boating revision 1" there is some very good info.
I will quote CarCrash
"If you use your boat: The rule of thumb is you should expect to spend 10% of the new boat cost (not what you paid used) each year. Some years less if you are lucky and/or you are delaying maintenance. Some years more. 25% will happen probably 1 or 3 times per decade.

If you are passionate and particular about your boat, you may find -- like I do -- that the typical yearly budget is more like 20% the new price of the boat, and the high years are more like 35%.

The costs of owning a boat, from cheapest to most expensive:
1) The girls
2) The booze
3) The payments (or cost of lost opportunity when you pay cash)
4) The fuel
5) The depreciation
6) The maintenance.

If its a sailboat, then the cost of sails is number 7: a sailboat has exactly all the same costs as a powerboat, but more."

I have a 2000 Lightning Classic 35' and I would say that this formula is pretty correct.

As far as fuel costs go it depends on how fast you go. I usually cruise at about 3000 rpm, that gives me 45-50 mph and I burn about 20-24 gallons per hour at that speed. If you have more idleing time and going slow (like I have sometimes at Havasu) it could be more like 16 gph. If you run hard, then just open up your wallet and let the $$ fly out.
Insurance isn't too bad for mine, I pay about $900 per year.
I hope this helps.
David

You can expect fuel costs to run $75-$85 per hour at cruise speeds around 3000 rpm. :D

hmm so fuel is actually far less than i imagined, less than my car anyway :)

but maintenance, eeek, where's the shock horror smilie? so a l35' is about 280k new... meaning at VERY best 30k a year on maintenance, probably more like 60k and every 4-10 years 100k ?!?! really?

thanks for the replies so far

Well, I don't think it is that bad. My 2000 lightning with HP500EFI's was more like $180K. I think that the figure quoted (10%) would include gas, dock, maint, etc.

I bought my boat just one year ago, it had 200 hours on it, it looked very clean, and ran well. When I took it in for a full service it cost about $8,500. They replaced all of the rubber on the drives, it was original 6+ years old, and when they took the drives apart there were a couple of bearings that were close to failing. If it had been run much longer I would have had to buy some very expensive castings. So I don't think it had regular maintenance before I owned it. Now the drives come off every 100 hours, oil changed at 40 hours, and drive oil at the same time. My last service was about $2K.

So it isn't inexpensive, but good maintenance is much less costly than poor maintenance. Most important thing is find someone who you can trust, who knows Mercruisers, and has been to the MecCruiser schools and has a good reputation.

thanks kahn, now we're talking
so, roughly per year...
10k mooring
5k fuel (50hrs ish)
10k maintenance (remember salt water)
5k random stuff
-----
30k roughly + insurance
and a bigger hit every 3-4 years when something snaps

look about right?

cheers

Hi Francis,
Yes, I think that those numbers are probably a good fair estimate. Are you going to keep it in the water all the time, if so will it be on a hydro hoist? Most Fountains have a built in flush system so all you have to do is hook a hose up and open some valves and you can flush one engine at a time.
Enjoy your new Fountain, they are great boats.
David

khan, gcat, indy thanks very much for your advice