Estimated Cost of Small Boat (verification)

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Financiers

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Feb 28, 2014
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Illinois
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Hey! I originally posted this on another forum, but was told that this might be a more appropriate place to post.

Here's my original post:


"Hey everyone,


Please excuse this extremely long post. :D

I'm looking into buying a small Sea Ray boat. Something like the 185 or 205 sport. I'm trying to figure out how much it will cost by including everything that I can possibly think of. I know the whole thing with boats is that you never know what might come up cost-wise. Obviously the "first year" of ownership will be high since it includes the actual purchase price of the boat. However, after the costs, I was a bit surprised to be honest.

Here are some of the costs that I estimated, please tell me about your experiences:

Boat: 10,000 - 20,000 (obviously hard to put a figure since I don't know the age of boat I will purchase)
Tax: 625-1250
Title (trailer): 150
Title (boat): 60
Gas: 2,000 (est)
Docking: 1600-2000 (est)
Winter storage: Not sure on figures
Insurance: 1500 (est)
Maintenance: 840-1680 (est)
Safety, etc (gps): 750

The second year would only include some of these, which still turns out to be around 6,000, which would seem like a lot, especially if I only buy a 10,000 boat. I know that boat ownership is expensive, and definitely want to price out everything before I am completely serious about purchasing a boat. Honestly, i'm probably not ready for boat ownership at this point in my life, but would like to get a ballpark figure so I know roughly how much it would cost.

P.S. I'm in Illinois if that makes a difference."
 
In the safety column you have $750 for the gps. You need an anchor, anchor line, rope life vests for everyone, throwable, fire extinguisher ect.
Many costs are fixed such as insurance, boat payments ect. But so many are not. Fuel and what you have listed as dockage. That is effected by how much you use it and how you use it. Especially with you keeping it on a trailer.
 
I have had a 175 sport since it was new in 2009. Insurance is $200 per year. Oil change, oil filter change, gear lube change is less than $100 per year (do it myself). Every three years I take it in to the pros to change impeller and do drive check and maintenance at less than $300. Change plugs, distributor cap and rotor myself every couple years at less than $50 in parts. I clean and wax it myself at a $30 bottle of stuff that I still haven't had to replace. I keep it in the garage so there are no real docking costs.

Honestly I don't really notice the cost of this little boat in my life. Now if I could say the same about the 400DB...
 
jitts3 said:
In the safety column you have $750 for the gps. You need an anchor, anchor line, rope life vests for everyone, throwable, fire extinguisher ect.
Many costs are fixed such as insurance, boat payments ect. But so many are not. Fuel and what you have listed as dockage. That is effected by how much you use it and how you use it. Especially with you keeping it on a trailer.
Click to expand...

Yes, I was figuring in a relatively inexpensive gps with life jackets, but thank you for the other suggestions, I hadn't thought of that. Also, I plan on paying the boat in full, I really don't like the idea of taking a loan for a hobby. If I had a boat I would definitely use it at least twice a week ideally, depending upon work. That is why I really want to have the boat docked. I don't feel like I would get as much use out of it if I had to tow the boat every time. If it were docked I could just go after work and relax. Thanks for your experience!

ZZ13-

Thank you so much! Expenses like that would be a dream! Just curious, where do you store your boat when it's not in use? Does it fit inside your garage w/ a trailer? Also, what kind of insurance do you have that is only 200 a year? Maybe I haven't looked into it as much as I thought, but my estimates were between 1200-2000. If I could get prices like yours, ownership is definitely doable for me. I'm not afraid of dirty work and would actually enjoy working on my own boat.
 
Call NBOA and have them work up an insurance estimate for you, if you already haven't

Here is the boat as of 5 minutes ago. Trailer has a swing tongue that folds so that it fits on my 21'+ deep garage. A 185 would also have fit straight on, but a 205 wouldn't. ImageUploadedByTapatalk1393631279.985320.jpg
 
I only pay $350/year for my 2012 185 and $650/year for my 2003 320. I am insured through Global Marine and both policies are for "agreed value" so no depreciation if I have a total loss.


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The 175 sport is under rated by most on this site because it only has a four cylinder engine. Folks here like power, more power, and even more power. Plus big. The bigger it is the happier they are here. But I can do anything I want with this boat even with 6 adults on board. It makes a great starter boat because it's easy to trailer (don't need a trailer with brakes and only need one axle), packs enough of a punch, and is light on maintenance costs because of 4 cylinders and Alpha 1 out drive (them Bravo things are money pits - I know I had two on a previous boat). And it's 21 gallon tank usually lasts me an entire day.
 
ZZ13 said:
Call NBOA and have them work up an insurance estimate for you, if you already haven't

Here is the boat as of 5 minutes ago. Trailer has a swing tongue that folds so that it fits on my 21'+ deep garage. A 185 would also have fit straight on, but a 205 wouldn't. View attachment 34371
Click to expand...


Thanks for the picture. I might have to rethink my stance on docking. Besides the savings of docking, having it at home would probably also help me maintain it better.



Also, it seems my estimates were far too high for insurance. I definitely have to get some quotes from Global Marine and NBOA. Thanks for the suggestions.
 
I don't understand the dock fee. If you are buying a sport then it should have a trailer. In fact you have a cost for the trailer in your items. Park the boat on the trailer and save 2000 per year. Storage is the same. OldSkool is beside the house on the trailer. If you don't want to store it outside, a storage building should run about 75-100 a month for 3-4 months.

10-20K should buy a pretty decent sporty. 800-1600 seams high. OldSkool is a 1976 and I haven't spent 1600 a year on her since I bought her 5 years ago. Yes she was in great shape but still my total interior redo was on 800 in materials. (I did do the work)
 
Financiers said:
Thanks for the picture. I might have to rethink my stance on docking. Besides the savings of docking, having it at home would probably also help me maintain it better.



Also, it seems my estimates were far too high for insurance. I definitely have to get some quotes from Global Marine and NBOA. Thanks for the suggestions.
Click to expand...

The most fun part of keeping it at home is rolling it out of the garage and firing it up on muffs for all the neighbors to hear.
 
Yeah I'm honestly not looking for the fastest boat, just something to relax and have fun with. Do you think the 175 has enough power to do the occasional wakeboarding/tubing. Assuming there would be 3-5 people onboard. Also, the whole act of trailering scares me a bit, but I assume after some experience I would get more used to it. My family used to tow a fairly large boat all the time, but I was pretty young to remember it. I could definitely get my fathers help at the beginning. I just wanted to thank everyone again. You guys have been very helpful and welcoming.
 
Yes, I know trailering would be the smart thing to do. However, I feel that I won't get as much use out of the boat if I trailer. The reason being that I might not use the boat as much knowing that I have to trailer it. For example, if I were to trailer I would go on the weekends. If I had a slip, I could just go to the marina after a stressful day of work and go out for a couple hours. I definitely have to reconsider trailering though, the savings is just too much to ignore.


Edit: I said Trailer too much in this post :D
 
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Most everyone has their own perspective of a boat. I recommend you find a way to try out a 4 cylinder 175 or 185 and a 6 cylinder 185, 190/195, 205 and see what fits best for you. Try to test them out the way you would use it, including the number of people you usually would have on board.
 
I can tell you from experience that a 18" Arrow Glass bow rider with a 130hp OMC 4 cylinder GM engine was underpowered. But that was a 1987 year boat and carbureted. It was fun but a dog getting skiers up.
 
ZZ13 said:
I have had a 175 sport since it was new in 2009. Insurance is $200 per year. Oil change, oil filter change, gear lube change is less than $100 per year (do it myself). Every three years I take it in to the pros to change impeller and do drive check and maintenance at less than $300. Change plugs, distributor cap and rotor myself every couple years at less than $50 in parts. I clean and wax it myself at a $30 bottle of stuff that I still haven't had to replace. I keep it in the garage so there are no real docking costs.
Click to expand...

+1 :thumbsup: Friends of ours have had a similar boat for a few years now. The costs they incur are the same as Bill's. The guy who owns it can ski behind it with 4 other adults in it, (with a 17 pitch prop) - and he weighs 230 lbs. When they're using it just to cruise around and not doing any water sports he has a 21 pitch prop that he uses and can boat all day for about $45.00. Doing your own maintenance on these boats is a piece of cake. And you can launch and retrieve these boats single handed and wash and wax the whole thing in less than an afternoon, by yourself. Store it in your driveway for free or about $100.00/month gets you a secure RV storage space at "Space Centre" or similar businesses. Throwing a tarp on it after it's winterized is all it takes to store it for the winter. If you faithfully do the maintenance these little boats with the 4 cyl and alpha leg will give you many years of trouble free use. There's always a way to afford to go boating. If moorage is too much, then trailer it. If a GPS is too much, then buy a chart and learn how to use it. If you can't afford to go out every day, then go out every second or third day. JUST DO IT. And then start looking at 240's.
 
I only pay $60 a year for insurance for my 190 sundeck. I use progressive thru USAA. I have insurance for liability.

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2
 
A 20ish foot dock should be pretty affordable if you can find it. You could probably keep it at a dock for under a grand at the right marina for a boat that small.

We put 65 hours on ours last year and spend ~$1200 in gas. So, I cant imagine yours would be anywhere near that much unless you out 100 hours on it.
 
ZZ13 said:
The 175 sport is under rated by most on this site because it only has a four cylinder engine. Folks here like power, more power, and even more power. Plus big. The bigger it is the happier they are here.
Click to expand...

ZZ I must respectfully disagree on this point. OldSkool is only 20ft and I have been posting with the big boys with no disrespect about my canoe size. Further more it is a 1976 which most might call an inexpensive (cheap) boat but many have commented on her good condition. I run a 5.0 but your 4 cylinder probably makes as much power today as the old 5.0 did back in the day. Besides it not the HP but what you can do with it and it sounds like you can get all you need from it.

I love your boat design. Great to be able to get it in the garage. If I lower the drive and remove the hitch from the tongue I can just fit OldSkool in the garage. Way better to work on it than having to travel to the marina every time I want to do something to her or working under a tarp when wet outside.
 
My 185 Sport has the 3.0L 4 cylinder MPI and I have ZERO complaints on power. I've been out with 5 adults plus myself and not struggled to get even a 240 pound 6 foot 5 inch teenager out of the water on skis.


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