98 Four Winns 24 Horizon

[thegoodlife]

Without brand bashing, I am looking for some thoughts and opinions on this boat. I have read some pretty good things about them, but have some friends in the boating world that arent as keen on them. This would be the 5.7 with the duo. Overall pretty happy with the styling and options of the boat. Quality seems pretty good (as far as I can tell). Not a huge fan of the automotive style instrument pannel.. I see bad gauges never getting replaced.

Thanks!

 

[etracer68]

Re: 98 Four Winns 24 Horizon

Four Winns has been making boats for some time, and are good boats.

 

[RotaryRacer]

Re: 98 Four Winns 24 Horizon

I may be biased, but, I like Four Winns.

I personally like the ones built before 1986 or after 1996 best...especially if its an I/O...any guess why?

That 1998 24' Horizon should be a good boat. Does the particular boat you are looking at have a fiberglass floor/sole/cockpit liner? If not make sure you check the deck for rot. Look especially around the ski locker and near the helm seat.

I have not personally dealt with the automotive style gauges, but you are correct. When one goes bad you are in for either a total gauge replacement or expensive repair. Or you just live without it. There are many owners that convert to traditional guages if they have problems. That would NOT be a reason to not buy the boat in my opinion. If there are already guages that don't work, I'd just use it as a bargaining tool, not as an indication to walk away.

 

[MarkSee]

Re: 98 Four Winns 24 Horizon

You're looking at a 14 year old boat not a new boat so if the hull checks out without any issues, the engine and drive have been properly maintained and is the sytle of boat you want, buy it and have fun.
Mark

 

[Slip Away]

Re: 98 Four Winns 24 Horizon

If it has the VDO gauge cluster, I would seriously consider looking elsewhere. You can't get a replacement cluster any longer from FW or VDO. They cost up to $400 to repair the faulty gauges, IF you can find someone to do it. Four Winns does make a very nice boat, I owned one for 9 years and were very happy with it, but it did not have the VDO cluster.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 98 Four Winns 24 Horizon

I personally like the ones built before 1986 or after 1996 best...especially if its an I/O...any guess why?

Because when I saw this one I immediately thought "bet it's got an OMC in it" then I processed and realized '98, we're good

Four Winns makes a nice mid-range boat. Certainly not immune to wood rot so check carefully.

 

[thegoodlife]

Re: 98 Four Winns 24 Horizon

I had the feeling any gauge issues wouldn't be a good thing. I am sure I could live with a few not working (at this point I have only seen the boat on the rack so it’s hard to say if there even is an issue or not).

No OMC here! It is the volvo 5.7 with the volvo duo. I have heard some good things about the reliability of that setup, but have also heard the parts tend to be more expensive to replace.

This boat has a fiberglass floor, which is a must on my list of requirements.

All and all the boat seems clean and up to shape. I have another post going about moisture after they took the wrap off. This is a bit of a concern for me, but it may not be anything as I don't think the wrap was vented very well.. but that is another topic for my other post.


The price seems pretty good on it at around 11.5k asking w/o a trailer. I could be completely wrong though because on a quick search I have seen one for 9k and several much closer to 20k.


And yes I would plan on a full survey before I would buy.


Great info so far.. keep it coming!

 

[tpenfield]

Re: 98 Four Winns 24 Horizon

Make sure you are checking NADA and/or BUCvalue on the prices. The model note on NADA shows about $11k with trailer. A used trailer can be hard to come by, so you may have to buy new ($3k +/-)

I have not heard anything good about the VDO all in one clusters. . . So make sure you check that out.

Shrinkwrap does not breath, so you will find moisture when it is first taken off.