chris v and yamaha 115 owners - advice

General Boats and Motors
1

My brother is set to purchase a 2007 Tidewater w/ a 2007 115 yahama 4 stroke next weekend. The motor has 175 hours on it. The service on the motor has mostly been performed by the owner except for the last year. Herte’s a few questions about buying this used motor site unseen before the test drive next weekend…

  1. How much is a 175 hours on a 2007 motor? Is this low, normal,high, etc…

  2. I’ve been told that this is a solid motor from Yamaha and very reliable (few problems). What’s your experience?

  3. If buying this boat site unseen except for test drive next weekend, what should we look for/try… to make sure that the motor is running ok.

  4. If we need a marine mechanic to check this out next weekend, does anyone know a goood mechanic around Greensboro, NC that we could contact.

We’ve been told that the boat has only been used 2 to 3 weeks a year for beach vacations and that the motor is running perfectly. The boat appears to have been taken well care of and the owner seems to be pretty knowledgable about boats.

Thanks for your advice/experience in advance,

Tim

2

Those are not many hours on a 2007. For whatever it is worth the way I bought mine used was to contact the local yamaha dealer and have them do the 100 hour service. tell them you are considering buying it. That way they go over everything, check compression etc. Have this done before you get there for the test drive. If they say all is well, test drive is good, then you take it home and are ready to go. Otherwise, you have no idea if/when the last guy did what service and you get the dealer working for you since you are the one paying for it.

I imagine you can also pay them just to do a pre-purchase insepction, but then if you buy it you still need to do the service so why not just go ahead and do it upfront.

I also had the dealer transfer the warranty for me and do the sale paperwork before I left with it.

Peace of mind, for me, is worth a lot when buying used.

3

I had a dealer tell me that about 100 hrs a year is normal. I have the F115 and it is a great motor, mine is 04 with 350 hours and no problems and only routine maintenance. I agree with torres, … go to the local authorized dealer and do the inspection/maintenance and ask about the warranty transfer… you could search the Yamaha website for the local dealer in NC.
What size Tidewater??

KNOTHEAD

4

Thanks Palmettores and Knothead for the advice. I’m going to locate the local Yamaha dealer in that area and see if we can get it serviced/checked out before the test drive.

Any idea how long the warranty is for that motor?
Knothead - thed boat is a 19 ft tidewater.

Tim

5

I bought my boat new in 07 and went with a Suzuki, but I remember both Yamaha and Suzuki came with a 5 year warranty at the time.

'07 198 DLX Carolina Skiff
FS90 Suzuki

6
quote:
Originally posted by Jackson T

My brother is set to purchase a 2007 Tidewater w/ a 2007 115 yahama 4 stroke next weekend. The motor has 175 hours on it. The service on the motor has mostly been performed by the owner except for the last year. Herte’s a few questions about buying this used motor site unseen before the test drive next weekend…

  1. How much is a 175 hours on a 2007 motor? Is this low, normal,high, etc…

  2. I’ve been told that this is a solid motor from Yamaha and very reliable (few problems). What’s your experience?

  3. If buying this boat site unseen except for test drive next weekend, what should we look for/try… to make sure that the motor is running ok.

  4. If we need a marine mechanic to check this out next weekend, does anyone know a goood mechanic around Greensboro, NC that we could contact.

We’ve been told that the boat has only been used 2 to 3 weeks a year for beach vacations and that the motor is running perfectly. The boat appears to have been taken well care of and the owner seems to be pretty knowledgable about boats.

Thanks for your advice/experience in advance,

Tim

Don’t let that deter you. I know that there are many of us that do some of our own maintenance and use superior quality products because we want to take the best care of our engines as possible. I use the best oil (upper and lower unit), filter, and plugs and take a little joy out of doing that work myself.

“Sometimes I think it’s a shame, when I start feelin better when I’m feelin no pain…”.

GW 205
F200 Yam

7

great motor
low hours
get someone to do a compression test, spark check, and check the gear oil
any local mechanic can do it, it doesnt have to be a yamaha shop.
make sure the throtle is at wide open before doing the compression test

www.teamcharlestonmarine.com
www.joinrfa.org

8

Thanks for the help everyone… My brother’s going to get the seller to take it to the local dealer for the check up. I’ll let you know how things turned out after the test drive this weekend.

Tim