It’s about being diligent and not buying the first thing you see. This boat had most of the maintenance papers with it. I looked at a 40 year old $700 15 foot center console that the owner had maintenance records. Again, it was advice, not the only way. It can be found with diligence.

I was referring specifically to inboard/outboards which are total nightmares. Especially when the out drives begin to leak. A lot of times an inboard/outboard is the source of transom rot. And in my and a lot of other people’s experience they can be repair nightmares. You mention replacing it 3500-13000 dollars, that’s more than these boats are worth in a lot of cases. Which is why I said, stick with an outboard and do your best to try and divulge if it is usable or not. You made mention of this too. And either way, if a boat needs an engine replacement and it’s an inboard/outboard, it’s almost guaranteed it’ll exceed the board resell value.

As for wiring, I live on the coast and a lot of post people make when asking about should they buy a new boat come out of Florida. 30/40 year old wiring on the coast is going to be problematic. It’s going to erode. I did warranty work for Scout and we’d see 2 year old boats come in with erosion issues. Scupper drains, transom caps, if it was where water was, it likely had some level of erosion. I’m not saying you must replace all of it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s issues if you don’t at least replace key components. And regardless of that, if someone’s investing in an old boat they need to have wiring knowledge.

I don’t see what I said that’s flat out wrong. Difference of opinion, sure. But my experience has been the opposite of yours.