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

Numbers sound high??? I live on the Gulf Coast where all the experts say that we should be getting 3-4 cat 3+ h-canes a year. Yea right>> it aint going to happen. BUT the insurance companies in all their wisdom are (profitering)killing us on premiums, if you can even get it. A new 38 ft Lightening with 1000+ HP valued at 300K will cost you 5500 per year with windstrom. compared to a one year old 35 Lightening with <1000 HP (2x496s) valued at 180K runs 1700 per year. Based on 90 hours of operation a year and you dont live at WOT your avg fuel costs (@3.35gal) should around 2800.00. A gated marina, coverd slip with a 15K lift runs 400.00 per month. If you can do the bulk of your more simple maint you will save big time. However, when major problems arise they can get costly. I rotate/change boats every 3 years, staying with 1-2 year old or newer boat with low-low hours. Its a little costly but it keeps me out of the big time maint costs we tend to find on go-fast boats. I have found that maintenance cost skyrocket at the 3-4 year point. And I am of the opinion that I
do not want to turn my hobby into a job, when I get the compunction to go boating> the boat is always ready.

Here were my costs last year - 04 35 Executioner 2 x 496HOs

Payment - $3912 - $326 per month
Marina Fees $3350
Insurance $900
Maintenance $3500
Gas $6000 - 87 hours

Total was $17,662
Now add in the very real depreciation cost of $10,000 a year and you have it at $27,662

Two words that do not go together> Economical and Boating how about the phrase>> I got a great deal on my new boat.
or when you go to the mechanic with a problom and claim
Oh its proably somthing simple and should not take long to fix:evilb:

I have a 2000 35 Lighting with 500 EFI and the boat cost about 30K a year when it is all said and done. :eek::D

Ive always said up here that a 4 month long boating season aint nessesarily a bad thing.........:D

(un)fortunately its year round in BVI :D

That looks like an excellent price for insurance! What is the company or underwriter?

fbrs glad to have you as a new owner. you got a great boat. FOUNTAINS ROCK!!!!!!

David, sorry was calling you Kahn earlier... doh , yes i hope to, in my nearest marina there's a fountain centre console fisher, i guess about 31', (im sure it was twin 300's :-) ) - thats on a hoist, on some floats, all looked a bit flimsy to me - couldnt figure it out. theres loads of secure 'parking' near all the marinas here, (hundreds of yachts), so might end up just trailering it out the water each time and leaving it very close by... not absolutely convinced my little grand vitara is up to hauling 4.5 ton up a ramp though!

... not absolutely convinced my little grand vitara is up to hauling 4.5 ton up a ramp though![/QUOTE]

Hi Francis,
I don't know too much about a Grand Vitara, but it is small and light. My Fountain on an Aluminum trailer has about 1000pounds of tongue weight, and you are correct it weighs about 10K on the trailer. I think a 1/2 ton 4x4 pick up might be the minimum that would do the job on a launch ramp, and even then you wouldn't want to go too far or too fast. I tow mine with a Ford Super Duty Diesel long bed crew cab 4x4 and it does a good job.

Pook - I have it insured with Allstate. I am sure that takes into account that the season here is from April 1 through October 31st. $500 deductable. The only thing you have to be careful with is this is an "actual cash value policy" which means that in the event of a total loss, you get the book value of the boat. That is ok as long as you paid less than the book value for it. I have found that the stated value policies cost a little more - Progressive wanted $1450 for their stated value policy but with this type of policy you have an agreed value that you would get in the event of a total loss. The agreed value would probably be the way to go if you bought a brand new boat that will get hit with severe depreciation over the first 3 years.

v6 vitaras curb weight is 3500lb and towing capacity 3000lb haha so way out of spec - that said it has low ratio transfer case and lockable diffs - theres a chance....not a major worry at the moment though, prizing a couple of hundred k out the wifes bank account is! i wonder if vitaras float? ;)

Son - vitaras dont float and that little toy aint gonna yank a 35 fountain (or anything else 35') up a ramp. Why is all the money in the wife's account? A few of myfriends had that arrangement and when it went bad guess who ended up with the money. Get that cash back now and blow it all on a boat. Dont ask for permission - much easier to ask for forgivenes and at least you will have your boat - where is the down side here? You get a new boat and a new truck and your wife is broke - all sounds good to me

haha - i didnt say all the money was in her account.... there's no harm getting her to pay for it though! :D

I have a 35 Lightening Classic, 525's SC's, I don't keep track of what it costs.
The only reason I work hard is so I can have a boat like this, and it's worth every cent.
Good luck, I hope you enjoy your boat as much as I do.
~~ Reggie

Thanks Reggie, i was the same with my cars, far better not knowing, but I always thought boats were far worse, actually not much difference it turns out. I guess costs escalate pretty rapidly as you get up above the 35' range... one day :)

Same here, someday there will be a 42 sitting on my lift.
But until then, it's all good. :D

Keep in mind what BOAT stands for:
B--Break
O--Out
A--Another
T--Thousand


Marina--5K
Fuel--5-7K
Insurance--2K
Maintenance--(No major breakdowns) 2K
Poker runs--2K
Owning a 42 EX "PRICELESS"

Whatever you buy, try to get motors with closed loop cooling. Keeps the salt water out of the engine itself. Only parts that get the salt water are the pumps, heat exchanger, and headers. Less wear and tear on the internals.

My wife pays all the bills on it and I get it thrown in my face all the time but you know what? She still pays for it. Best deal going.

Amen

sorry but that ain't up-to-date anymore!!

B - Bend
O - Over
A - And
T - TAKE IT

It's still the most fun any stupid amount of money will get ya.

I like that even better, the good thing about having a Fountain is you get some vaseline when you get bent over and still look forward to driving the boat when it is done. You are right about the most fun that you can have throwing stupid money at it.