HPBCANADA.COM

Once the cost of the new 4 stroke outboards jumped a few years ago the asking prices for the favorite 2 stroke models doubled and tripled in some cases. Motors that sold for under $1000.00 were now selling for over $3000.00 in some cases.
Unfortunately for many buyers these costly older 2 strokes were nearing the end of the life span and failed shortly after purchasing.
Now 3 years later were are seeing a lot of 2 strokes on the market with issues. Many sellers describe the problem as minor.....low compression....one bad cylinder....stalls when in gear etc.
Those problems can be serious internal issues requiring a costly rebuild. Rebuilding is costly and generally the more cylinders the motor has the more expensive the rebuild.
Many do it yourselfers jumped into the resale “Flip” outboard 2 Stroke market and immediately purchased the bargain priced desired models and resold them quickly to make a good profit.
That really hurt the long established resellers who did the necessary repairs to the motors before putting them on the market.
This spring we started to see a much wider range of asking prices for exactly the same model. We are also seeing very low cost under $250 for some of the popular 2 strokes models selling as parts motors.
The problem many are seeing now is that many of the motors have exactly the same issue and the replacement parts are expensive. “flippers” are now finding it takes multiple outboard purchases to make one complete motor.
Dealers are not interested in rebuilding 2 strokes unless the customer is willing to pay their price. Many dealers will not take in a 2 stroke trade in or their trade in offer is so low the customer decides to sell it themselves .

I was asked by a few T boat guys to comment which is the reason for the thread.

My advice is:
If your not knowledgeable about outboards your better to buy from someone who is and well known by others as being honest and fair. Seller’s that specialize in certain models and have good inventory of motors and parts for those motors are good people to deal with.

If your wanting to rebuild your own motor from a parts motor take a knowledgeable person with you to check the motor out before you purchase.

Some racers spend a lot of money on motors. Timing is everything when buying from a racer. Things change and racers are no different. You will likely pay a premium price but buyers are genuinely very pleased in the long run.

BE PATIENT! Good motors do pop up and you have to be quick to buy them.

Sometimes it’s motors in the background in a listing for an outboard that are even more interesting than the outboard for sale in the ad. I am always checking the marketplace for 90 hp Yamahas.

Here is an example
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... _type=post

Notice the short shaft mercury inline six
A 40 or 50 Yamaha 3 cylinder short shaft
A Pro 50 Yamaha
A tiller OMC 3 cylinder
There are others there as well.