Bayliner 4087 - WANTED

[briang996TT]

We have recently sold our boat and are seriously interested in purchasing a 2000 - 2002 Bayliner 4087 which has been very well maintained by the owners and is in pristine condition.

The vessel should have the Cummins 270 or 330 hp engines with under 1000 hours and proper documented servicing of risers, turbos, after coolers, etc. Is the engine compartment exceptionally clean?

If you have a vessel that fits the description and your vessel is located in the Pacific Northwest, please send me an email and let's discuss.

Thank you

[briang996TT]

After five months and viewing 22 vessels from Portland to North Vancouver Island we have finally closed a deal on a 4087 and waiting for the survey, mechanical and sea trial.

[Traxxas]

Congrats! Welcome back. I really like the layouts of those boats too.

[JeremiahS]

I'm right behind you on the search for a 4087.

Have you successfully closed?

[briang996TT]

So with both the Seattle and Vancouver Boat Shows taking place it effected when we could have the mechanical and survey performed and everything got pushed back to Feb 10 and 11. The current owner wanted to change the oil and filters on the engines and generator and we asked for them to hold off until we had samples taken which occurred about 1.5 weeks ago. So with the mechanical and sea trial scheduled for today and survey and haul out scheduled for tomorrow I thought we were in good shape and was looking forward to attending the Vancouver Boat Show this past weekend.

On Saturday, I received the results of the oil analysis and it was quite disappointing as this vessel including the engine room really showed pride of ownership. I had a very good conversation with the owner of a diesel company that specializes on Cummins engines and I sent him a copy of the report and went over the findings of the analysis with him. He mentioned the Finning Lab in Edmonton is the most widely utilized oil analysis lab in the industry due to it's convenience and turn around time. He also mentioned that this report will remain in their databank attached to the serial numbered Cummins engine and will always be included with future reports to provide proper referencing to the client.

The information on the port engine was the most concerning with high levels of iron which were at 17 when sent in by the current owner in 2015 and now up to 140 ppm with the samples I had taken and I was told this is indicative of component wear such as piston rings, connecting rods, crankshaft, etc. In addition, there was an elevated level of silicon from 4 in 2015 to 38 in 2020 and he stated in a non-marine environment this could be a result of and external source such as ingested dirt through the filter, etc. However, not likely in a engine room on a vessel and this level of silicon along with other indicators on the report indicate possible wear associated with the head gasket, seals, etc. Finally, the other level he pointed me to was the sodium which was up from 4 to 23 and could possibly indicate antifreeze as sodium is used in cooling water inhibitors.

The mechanic knew the Bayliner 4087 and the difficulties associated with replacing the port engine due to its location under the galley and dinette. He thought we would be looking at between $40K to $50K to have this engine replaced.

So we were in a bit of a situation, do we doubt the findings of the analysis and do the mechanical and sea trial to see if the engines will achieve the 2900 to 3000 RPM without overheating to ensure they are not over propped? Or do we save the $2K and cancel the inspections and continue our search?

It was a hard decision as we are very disappointed and getting a little burned out on our quest for a new boat.

In the end, we withdrew our offer and let the current owner know that we would be interested in seeing the results of new sample testing once they have put 20 hours or so on the engines with the new oil.

What do you think, was this the right decision?

Our search continues . . .

[vr5200]

I liked post 2 and then scrolled down to read post 5...……...so sorry

I am just an average guy with a 20 foot boat but I am also a former professional car guy as well as an old car enthusiast.

I agree with your choice to withdraw the offer for the moment.

If 20 hours is the recommended next test data point it makes sense to give it a try at that point.

It is better to avoid a big, ugly surprise than to buy it and then get wrapped in time consuming and expensive repairs.

Keep looking as you wait for 20 hours to roll around.

Good luck with your search.

[briang996TT]

As a result of the oil sample analysis I thought I should look into things a little closer on this 2001 4087 that I thought was in such great condition with an advertisement indicating a newly installed starboard 5.9 Cummins 6BTA 330hp engine in 2014 with only 500 hours and the port engine with 2200 hours. The Finning report revealed the current owner had engine samples taken in April 2015 when they purchased the boat. The report shows the port engine had 1810 hours and the starboard engine had 500 engine hours at the time of the sampling. When we met the broker to see the vessel, he reiterated what was advertised on the Yachtworld listing that the starboard engine currently had only 500 hours and was replaced by Inlet Marine in 2014 due to an overheated engine. The listing also showed that the port engine had 2204 hours.

It appears that the current owner placed about 400 hours on the engines since purchasing the boat in 2015 which makes perfect sense. However, if the starboard engine had 500 hours on it in April 2015, this would mean this engine should now have 900 hours and not the 500 hours advertised. It would also indicate that the engine was not installed in 2014 as it is highly unlikely the previous owner would have placed 500 hours on the vessel in one season of boating. I suppose documents and receipts will support when the engine was installed and the hours that should be on it. So I contacted Inlet Marine Service and they have no records showing they installed an engine on the vessel in 2014. In fact, their electronic records which dated back to 2013 showed no engine installed on this vessel which has been located at the same marina as Inlet Marine Services.

I guess all of this is a reminder of the old saying "buyer beware" and how important it is to do your due diligence and scratch beyond the surface. Yes it cost me over $700 dollars to have Inlet Marine Services take the samples for me, however, this is a drop in the bucket compared to what would have likely taken place in the future.

The boat remains for sale with fresh oil and I am sure the next sample taken will reveal minor if any issues and the next perspective purchaser will have no reason to doubt the story of the new engine installed in 2014.

Our search continues . . .

[Norton_Rider]

Keep this in mind during your boat search. If an engine was purchased new or as a factory recon from Cummins, the original build date or the remanufacture date can be accessed through Cummins quickserve. A Cummins dealer can also access the information.

[Found At Sea]

Wondering if you went through with the sale and your insurance accepted the boat. Would the insurance company be on the hook for a new engine if/when it blew?

[briang996TT]

I thought I would provide an update on our search for a new vessel.

If you have read my previous comments you will see that it has been a bit of a journey trying to find the right boat for us as we near retirement. After our last experience trying to purchase the Bayliner 4087 earlier in 2020, we decided to cool our jets and regroup as we felt unsure about the process of purchasing through a broker. Then the pandemic hit in mid-March 2020 and we concentrated on other priorities for the next several months.

In early July 2020, we started looking again at some of the larger commercial websites such as Yachtworld and also concentrating more on Craigslist and placed boat alerts on these sites. I know sites like Craigslist can be challenging, but I really liked the ability to speak directly to and meet the owner(s) of the boats for sale. It provided an unfiltered ability to ask questions about the servicing of the vessel and between these discussions, reviewing service logs and viewing the equipment, we got a pretty good feeling for the owner and the vessel. This was something we missed when trying to purchase through a boat broker.

Our search during the summer of 2020 had it's challenges as it seems like everyone in the Pacific Northwest were on the hunt for a 40' diesel powered vessel that was in excellent shape and fairly priced. We found that if a vessel met this criteria, it would be under contract only after a couple of days. All the boats that were listed longer were either over priced or in less then stellar condition.

We started to drift away from our dream boat which was a later model Bayliner 4087 with twin Cummins 270 or 330 engines as there were so few for sale and the ones that were did not hit the mark for us. We opened up our search and started looking at other brands and models including sedans.

In late August 2020 I received an alert from Craigslist on a new to the site aft cabin Carver built vessel. We decided to meet with the owner and had an excellent discussion over their vessel and we were impressed with the condition as well. After some negotiations we came to an agreement on price to purchase this privately listed boat and we have the marine survey, sea trial and mechanical including oil samples scheduled for tomorrow (September 18, 2020).

We are super excited and hope that all of the oversight on the boat goes well tomorrow and the results of the oil samples from Finning reveal the Volvo Penta D6-370 engines are in fine shape.

The downside is I will have to join a different discussion group with the new 2007 Carver 41 CMY.

Fingers Crossed

[Rk6johnson]

For those in SE US, I have my 1999 Bayliner 4087 for sale on BoatTrader for $80,000. Cummins 270 Diesels with 1775 hours.