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Old 10-29-2015, 12:18 PM   #16
Tom.B
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City: Cary, NC
Vessel Name: Skinny Dippin'
Vessel Model: Navigator 4200 Classic
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 5,841
Here is what I did on both previous boats...

Go on about your business with a regular survey. Those surveys will include a sea trial and the surveyor will spend a bunch of time looking at the engine. Should any red flags go up, then MAYBE consider spending your extra coin on an engine survey. In addition, I haven't had a seller say no to allowing me to take my own oil sample for analysis. That is extra cheap to do (like $12 at the local heavy equipment store). An oil sample will give you another very good indicator into engine health.

IMHO, engine surveys are WAY over-priced for what you get. All they really do is take oil samples, check a lot of temps, and compare speed to RPMs. All stuff you can do yourself without shelling out $500-$1000 per engine. That effectively DOUBLED the survey price and I wasn't willing to do that. Sure, some call it cheap insurance and that peace of mind MAY be valuable to some, but I think that unless a tech can start pulling off parts (which they can NOT do), you can only know the real health of the motor thru an oil sample test and maintenance records.
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2000 Navigator 4200 Classic
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