Monterey Boat

[bowrider]

I'm considering buying a 2005 Monterey 208SI boat. It has less than 70hrs, Mercruiser 5.0 MPI motor and alpha 3 outdrive. I currently own a 1850 bayliner which I have had for 5years and looking to upgrade. Relatively new at boating. Any comments good or bad about Monterey boats to include engine and outdrive will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

[Obsession]

What is an "alpha 3" outdrive? I'm only familiar with generation 1 or generation 2 alpha drives. With bravo 3 that is a twin counterrotating prop like a duoprop; never heard of an alpha 3 though...

[marshmat]

As Obsession points out, "bowrider", you're looking at either a second-generation Alpha, or a Bravo III. Either can be mated to the 5.0 V8 (a very common engine, for which you can find parts and service quite easily). The Bravo is much more expensive but should provide more thrust and better control, and some say it may be more reliable.

Monterey seem to have a reasonably good reputation, but as with all production boats, your example may vary. At the last few boat shows I've been to, I've seen at least a couple of major bloopers from just about every builder present. And most of them also had at least one really well-executed design as well.

This would be the boat's sixth season; it's well beyond the point where the manufacturer ended the warranty and stopped caring about what happens to it. Forget about reputation and the reviews when it first came on the market in '04. Look at it in terms of how well it's set up and how it's been maintained. For example: Is the engine mounted properly, or is it just lag-bolted to the tops of the stringers? Can you trace individual wires from the helm to the motor, or are they all a tangled mess? Have extra systems been piggy-backed, or properly installed with their own wiring and breakers? Are there spongy spots where there shouldn't be? How solid do the hull and transom feel (from both sides) around penetrations and bolt holes? Do the maintenance logs look reasonable (oil change intervals followed, etc.)? Do you have a trustworthy mechanic you can ask for an opinion on the engine and drive?

[gonzo]

Monterey build nicely finished boats. The gelcoat is shiny and doesn't fade more than is normal. They are usually accessible to work on engines too.

[bowrider]

I did mistakenly identify the outdrive. I looked over my notes and it is a bravo 3 w/the duoprop. I thought of another question concerning this boat and it involves engine size. Does a 350 V8 MPI use significantly more gas than a 4.3 V6 MPI? I know the equivalent engine comparison for a car would result in a significant gas milage deference. Does this boat/car comparison apply to boating? I currently have a 190hp V6 which I find to be very resonable with gas consumption. I don't want to buy a gas hog that would cost me too much money to run.

[Obsession]

As long as the outdrive is in good shape, that's great. The bravo 3 is worth an additional $3500 over an alpha in my book. (the converse is that if you buy one that is in poor shape, it could cost that much more to replace, so condition and maintenance is always key when buying a used boat out of warranty)

There are a couple threads here regarding fuel efficiency of different displacement engines in the same boat, including:
fuel efficiency changing from small blocks to big blocks?
I think you can use more gas with the v8 than the v6, but my take is that in a boat it makes a lot less difference than in a car because there's no idle time, no coasting. In a sense it takes x gallons of gas to make x horsepower to make the boat go x mph. And as a plus to offset the slight additional fuel burn, if you're running the engine at a better range for it (vs. running closer to wot on the v6 more of the time) you might get noticeably more life out of it. That's my opinion anyway.

[gonzo]

If you run the boat at the same speed the difference is negligible. It is tempting to go faster and use more fuel.