Geez, you would think if they wanted to sell the motors they would have made them presentable... I don't think any electronics would do well subjected to the elements for long. Those Opti's have a throttle body that point up, so if all the plastic intake garb isn't intact they may have injested some rainwater from sitting uncovered. Sounds like a good time for pause and reflection..

Actually i asked to see them. Otherwise i would never had known they way they were stored.

I called about one serial number she gave me, it came back to a 2002 Opti counter rotating 30" shaft from Boca Raton (i think i spelled it right). I know for a fact there is a 1999, and a 2001. So the 2002 may be the newest, but how would a 30" shaft affect a V20. I understand i can just move my bracket up more to compensate, but what about the stability? Would the powerhead being higher up cause the boat to roll more?

Talking with MarineMax now they say to stay away from Opti's because parts are becoming hard to get. Truth or more BS?

And finally i found this in Miami. Talked with the seller and it includes wire harness, ignition, prop, but no controls for $3900. May be worth a drive. http://miami.craigslist.org/mdc/boa/2985307886.html

And this is close, but being a 1999 I am not sure, but its $3000 http://okaloosa.craigslist.org/boa/3016491604.html

Just talked to the dealer about the 1999. It has been off since February but on a stand covered up. $3000 is just for the motor and prop. Never had a replaced powerhead or any major service. Its had all the annual service since new.

As previously mentioned I had a 2000. It was a great motor but with low hours. The only part that I am aware of as being "hard to get" is the SmartCraft style gauges, they are NLA from Merc for the older Opti's. It has been that way for a while now so all of the gauges sitting on dealers shelves have been scavenged up too.. Maybe those MMax guys opinions are based on experience, maybe they know something I don't, I am just a consumer.. dealers can be biased. LOL

I keep looking at the 1999 on CL. I have the gut feeling my money is better spent on it. Plus that leaves me with enough money to get controls. But it has no warranty. Come to think of it most used motors do not come with a warranty. I asaume 650 hours is low hours. Alot to think about.

while researching what the bluewater series Optimax was i found a thread on continuous wave. The 99 /00 Optimax did not have problems like the next two years which is linked to a different supplier of major components. Not sure of the credibility of this. But the bluewater series has a stainless tilt tube.

Ridge looking at pictures online, on none of the engines i can see the flywheel and belt. Its covered up by a plastic piece. Is this the intake garb? If so none of the engines at the dealer had that on them. On every one of them the rusty flywheel is not covered at all along with the alternator and compressor.

At this point I would PASS as fast as you can. From the sound of these engines, they have not been cared for. OPTI's are good engines, but they will NOT withstand abuse and neglect like the old carbed engines could.

Ferm what about the 1999 i linked above? That was my backup plan.

Personally I would wait until the boat is done. Buying an engine in the fall or winter will save you some money as well. Early summer is the worst time to buy an engine as everybody is trying to buy an engine to get out on teh water for summer which drives the prices up.

Like i said i wanted to wait until tax season but i found these. Now i have the loan approved and a $3500 check in the truck. Its costing me $150 a month for this loan. So i figured i might as well use it.