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What is the Value of an 08 VLX Needing Motor?


norcal_rdr

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We are very close to tossing in the towel on our '08 VLX and would like to see what you all would value her at in the "as-is" condition. We have had a series of motor failures and for us not being mechanics I am not sure it is worth throwing more money at. Here are the specs:

08' VLX 2nd owner

HH 383

600 hours on the clock

80 hours on current motor, an indmar rebuild that has piston issues

125 hours on vdrive, transmission, and accompanying parts

Beautiful interior, white with black piping. Back 3 seats re-skinned with factor skins 2 years ago. No tears, pulling seams, or holes

Carpets are free of stains, steam cleaned yearly

full ballast system including front tank

auto wedge

Acme high altitude prop

2 batteries with perko switch

12' sub, 3 RF ams, interior speakers replaced with polk audios, Kicker horns on tower in Titian II cans - system runs off eq (black box removed)

solid illusion tower, bushings replaced 2 years ago

Z5 bimini top

Tandem Extreme trailer with new tires

Gel coat in great condition, stored under cover

Fresh water only

This said, we have been offered a brand new HH 383 from Indmar for $4700 which could be included. It is just the block, someone would need to put in the labor of swapping it out. The boat has been meticulously kept. All work has been completed by Indmar certified mechanic and all records are available, not that it matters much.

Thoughts on value? Pics below:

08VLX-1.jpg

08VLX.jpg

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Q: What is the status of the engine currently in the boat?

Running, sort of. It is going through a qt of oil every 3-5 hours. From a scope you can see damage to a piston but the full extent is unknown because we have not fully tore the motor down.

Edited to note: Indmar flew a tech out to verify the piston issue and has since offered up the new motor half off.

Edited by norcal_rdr
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Great looking boat, what part of Nor Cal are you in? Was any of the motor work done under warranty?

Thanks! 45 min east of SF so we ride the southern part of the delta.

All of the transmission and vdrive stuff was done under warranty one year ago. 4 months after that (and one month out of warranty) the crank snapped in the motor. Indmar made a deal with us that they would rebuild the motor but we pay the shipping and labor to install. Now that motor has the piston issue which we have already dropped $4k into. Turns out Indmar didn't rebuild our motor, just sent us a rebuilt.

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So, the $4700 is half price for a complete new engine? Then any labor to install?

I just dont know what a good price is in its current condition, other than the boat obviously has lots of potential left. It looks gorgeous.

Any idea what caused the engine issues in the first place?

Steve B.

(edit: you posted above right as I did)

Edited by Steve B.
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Why was the Vdrive and transmission replaced?

They could not isolate what the "issue" was (noise/clunking coming from that area) so Indmar replaced everything.

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So, the $4700 is half price for a complete new engine? Then any labor to install?

I just dont know what a good price is in its current condition, other than the boat obviously has lots of potential left. It looks gorgeous.

Any idea what caused the engine issues in the first place?

Steve B.

(edit: you posted above right as I did)

$4700 for just the block. We again would be paying labor which was quoted at $4k

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Wonder if that was a damper plate "issue".

Steve B.

We have had multiple damper plate replacements under warranty. Hence them not being able to isolate the issue. Supposedly, the damper plates after '06 were redisgned and the '05 is where the big issue was.

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To clarify , you payed Indmar for a rebuilt engine that only has 80 hours on it and now it has failed. Did they not offer some type of warranty on the rebuilt engine you spent $4000 for? Seems like you would have some type of warranty on the rebuilt motor and they would be responsible for repairing it.

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To clarify , you payed Indmar for a rebuilt engine that only has 80 hours on it and now it has failed. Did they not offer some type of warranty on the rebuilt engine you spent $4000 for? Seems like you would have some type of warranty on the rebuilt motor and they would be responsible for repairing it.

You would think Indmar would step up but the best they can do is offer up a new motor at discount. They originally said it wasn't their problem because it lasted through the summer. We are not happy to say the least. I have a mouthful for Indmar but I digress. I am already 4k into a bad motor, hence another 8.5k is not settling well.

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That is crazy, not even a one year warranty on the new rebuilt engine? 80 hours is nothing, have you tried running it up the food chain at Indmar? I dont know how they can think this is a fair deal, for the cost of a new motor and what you already paid I would be doing everything possible to get someones attention at Indmar. Has your dealer stepped in to help you out?

How do you typically use the boat? heavily weighted, surfing, wakeboarding? Assuming oil level is always checked and changed at 45-50 hour intervals?

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I will offer you $23,000 right now, as is (assuming all is as you described, of course). If that's enough, PM me. Might be a low-ball, but I'm not in the market (and not looking for a project), so that's the price I'd need to make it worth my time. Figured I'd at least start the offers. :)

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That is crazy, not even a one year warranty on the new rebuilt engine? 80 hours is nothing, have you tried running it up the food chain at Indmar? I dont know how they can think this is a fair deal, for the cost of a new motor and what you already paid I would be doing everything possible to get someones attention at Indmar. Has your dealer stepped in to help you out?

How do you typically use the boat? heavily weighted, surfing, wakeboarding? Assuming oil level is always checked and changed at 45-50 hour intervals?

It is beyond crazy. This has all been going on since Oct/Nov so you can only imagine our disgust with Indmar. Our case was turned down, flat out twice. It has been ran up the food chain to as high as we can get it. Our mechanic who is Indmar certified/authorized has been lobbying on our behalf. We bought the boat out of state so no dealer involvement.

No surfing, just wakeboarding. Not crazy weighted, maybe 2x per year we have more than 5/6 people on the boat. With this new engine it had consumption issues from day 1 and we made Indmar aware of it. They told us to run it and it needed to break in. The last motor was a broken crankshaft which in no way was related to use. Funny thing, once this new motor was installed all of the clunking and noise that was originating from the transmission area had disappeared.

At this point we can pay $8.5k for an Indmar HH 383 (that is with their "discount") or for $9k can straight up get Mercruiser HH 383... If we are writing the check guess who is getting our money? Not Indmar.

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Even if I put the $9k into a brand new motor I couldn't replace it for $39k so that answers that question.

It would never be worth more than "as is" + replacement motor. Only less. Basket case will always have lower resale (esp if you install mercruiser motor instead of indmar), and any buyer would need to factor that in, plus the pain and suffering of replacing the motor, plus an unforseen issues contingency discount. Top of the market with a running HH, that boat's not worth more than $45K.

IMHO, YMMV, etc.

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Your best bet in order to come out ok would be to get it running right, or take a pretty big loss and move on. I would definitely get the Indmar engine though since the Mercruiser would throw a red flag up to me as a potential buyer.

I will offer you $23,000 right now, as is (assuming all is as you described, of course). If that's enough, PM me. Might be a low-ball, but I'm not in the market (and not looking for a project), so that's the price I'd need to make it worth my time. Figured I'd at least start the offers. :)

That's $3k more than what number popped in my head just trying to think of a rough figure.

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It would never be worth more than "as is" + replacement motor. Only less. Basket case will always have lower resale (esp if you install mercruiser motor instead of indmar), and any buyer would need to factor that in, plus the pain and suffering of replacing the motor, plus an unforseen issues contingency discount. Top of the market with a running HH, that boat's not worth more than $45K.

IMHO, YMMV,

Completely agree on the today's top value of $45k for that boat in cherry condition. Once the red flag is up on the new motor does it really matter if it is Indmar or Mercruiser? Either way the price negatively impacted.

Edited by norcal_rdr
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I'm no engine guy, can you replace it with a Monsoon? I would think that is enough motor for that boat? Hope that does not sound to stupid

We actually wanted to do that but it would involve the computer being replaced so it would cost $1k more than the new HH.

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