talon Posted May 3, 2008 Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 Just got done doing the maths between my boat and my car and I thought I'd share as it's bit shocking Boat Purchase price: $350,000 Time of ownership: 1.5 years Weight: 22,000 lbs dry size: 41.5 feet, 2 bedroom, 1 bath Engines: 2 496 HO sterndrive Mercs. Fuel: 350 gallons Seats: 20 Top Speed: 50 mph Fuel burn at cruise: 44 gallons per hour Total cost of upkeep over ownership (excluding slippage and fuel): $1200 Car Purchase price: $52,000 Time of ownership: 1. years Weight: Next to nothing size: Not even enough to make out in Engines: single 3.5 liter V8 Fuel: <12 gallons Seats: 2 Top Speed: 180+ Fuel burn at cruise: 25 mpg Total cost of upkeep over ownership (excluding garage and fuel): $14,000 and counting Wow - Two engines, two bedrooms, three TV's, a bathroom, a stove, a microwave, etc. and the boat is MUCH cheaper to maintain. I can stand in the egine compartent and touch about everything I need to. Not so much with the Lotus On the other hand, the boat requires $1600 worth of fuel every two weeks. The car takes about $100 every month. The garage for the car is cheap, the slip for the boat is $500 per month. Which is cheaper? I think the end result is that I need to get cheaper toys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyliesmith.com Posted May 3, 2008 Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 Hehe I wish this was so true........ you and I would be swapping whose caught the biggest fish stories Well heres my 50cents; I assume you keep it moored in the water? to refurb a stern leg if its inboard motor yould be looking at over $10K NZD each leg and the rest. Thats if a seal goes and or salt water gets inside. I take it you havent experienced this cost yet? The seals and oil need to be replaced every year but no gaurantees it stop the problem. The everyday antifoul paint is only good for min of one year. Your boat will cost god knows to get it on the dry, sanded and painted. Large painting area the more expensive its going to cost. We do working bees every year with our friends boats and help sand & paint to save $$$. We could afford to run three Sport 350s or a new Lambo for the price of a single 40+ ft launch we worked out going off their experiences. Oh did I mention what it cost to repair gear boxes in boats, makes an Esprit box look like a cheap throw away item. I wont even go there...sod it. We spend more time on our friends launches doing over nighters than running our own, so its cost effective to pay them the gas money and go out on theirs, its a win win. They have a mixture of new and 15yo boats and they all need getting worked on. I ll give you another year and see if your maintenance bill goes up Btw I dont wish expensive boating bills on anyone its just we have seen too many tears frm our friends. Quote No.23 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talon Posted May 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 Keep in mind that I am fresh water based. The maintenace bill won't go up. I have the latest and greatest stern drives, so virtually zero maintanance( Bravo X, SeaCore) . I have the boat hauled once a year and can do all the work easily myself. Pulling the drives on the boat is a hell of a lot simpler than doing the tranny on the Esprit. I've owned boats my whole life and have found that the larger they are , the easier they are to work on. The Esprit is a whole different story... The boat is a 2006, so I don;t have to worry about replacing anything yet but even if I have to a whole new moter would cost me $5000 US. The legs cost lest than $1000 - no use in reparing them. In effect, I could replace two engines and drives for less than it would cost to rebuild the motor in the Esprit. It's the fuel burn that hurts. Shoulda gone diesel. This one is for sale and the next one will have two huge diesels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyliesmith.com Posted May 3, 2008 Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 arrh I see now gotcha, fresh water makes a huge difference. Enjoy Sounds cheaper to maintain boats over there by the sounds of it too. Quote No.23 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USAndretti42 Posted May 3, 2008 Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 Russ, Wha happens if you add the dreaded depreciation into the equations? It doesn't take a big percentage drop in the boat's value for the whole cost of the Esprit to be covered. Also, if you financed the purchases, what about the interest on the loans? I would think that the boat, even with it classed as a secpnd home and you getting tax relief on the interest, would have a bigger payment than the car. I guess you could otherwise say your house was cheaper to run. Quote S4 Elan, Elan +2S, Federal-spec, World Championship Edition S2 Esprit #42, S1 Elise, Excel SE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talon Posted May 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2008 Oh the boat is much more expensive to own (slip fees, payments, depreciation, etc)... I was just pointing out that Lotus has cost me much more to maintain in the time I've owned both of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redshift Posted May 5, 2008 Report Share Posted May 5, 2008 The Esprit may be fibreglass but osmosis is not going to be an issue. Cant say the same about boats though You want expensive toys? Get into general aviation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talon Posted May 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2008 Fortunately, osmosis is becoming a less prevelant problem with modern barrier coats. I've spent many a day sanding bottoms to alleviate osmotic blisters. My old sailboats were notorious for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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