Engine hours by boat age
Across 5,259 used boats whose sellers stated engine hours, a 5-year-old boat shows a median 141 hours, a 10-year-old 251 and a 20-year-old 336. That is roughly 20 to 25 hours a year in the first decade and fewer after.
Listing data Jun 14, 2026 to Nov 14, 2026. Recomputed nightly.
Engine hours by boat age
| Age | Boats | Middle half | Median hours | Median a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 years | 85 | 14 to 87 | 38 | - |
| 1 years | 166 | 20 to 120 | 50 | 50 |
| 2 years | 269 | 30 to 236 | 88 | 44 |
| 3 years | 411 | 40 to 352 | 100 | 33 |
| 4 years | 362 | 50 to 259 | 100 | 25 |
| 5 years | 284 | 76 to 258 | 141 | 28 |
| 6 years | 201 | 87 to 345 | 150 | 25 |
| 7 years | 227 | 92 to 310 | 178 | 25 |
| 8 years | 239 | 100 to 397 | 200 | 25 |
| 9 years | 170 | 121 to 400 | 239 | 27 |
| 10 years | 172 | 143 to 385 | 251 | 25 |
| 11 years | 131 | 119 to 418 | 190 | 17 |
| 12 years | 113 | 137 to 455 | 270 | 23 |
| 13 years | 99 | 114 to 407 | 256 | 20 |
| 14 years | 70 | 139 to 592 | 272 | 19 |
| 15 years | 81 | 140 to 440 | 298 | 20 |
| 16 years | 47 | 139 to 396 | 260 | 16 |
| 17 years | 56 | 152 to 450 | 295 | 17 |
| 18 years | 116 | 202 to 594 | 351 | 19 |
| 19 years | 167 | 213 to 570 | 383 | 20 |
| 20 years | 156 | 185 to 581 | 336 | 17 |
| 21 years | 176 | 150 to 530 | 363 | 17 |
| 22 years | 134 | 238 to 639 | 415 | 19 |
| 23 years | 117 | 288 to 670 | 412 | 18 |
| 24 years | 99 | 274 to 789 | 560 | 23 |
| 25 years | 119 | 148 to 636 | 315 | 13 |
| 26 years | 88 | 290 to 700 | 451 | 17 |
| 27 years | 88 | 219 to 724 | 410 | 15 |
| 28 years | 90 | 135 to 659 | 349 | 12 |
| 29 years | 57 | 372 to 1000 | 587 | 20 |
| 30+ years | 669 | 195 to 1006 | 500 | 17 |
Hours a year by engine brand
| Engine brand | Boats | Median hours a year |
|---|---|---|
| Mercury | 1345 | 21 |
| Yamaha | 876 | 23 |
| Volvo | 221 | 23 |
| Suzuki | 202 | 17 |
| Indmar | 93 | 28 |
| Honda | 63 | 11 |
| Evinrude | 63 | 13 |
| Pcm | 40 | 36 |
| Ilmor | 31 | 31 |
Boats at least 2 years old. Differences between brands mostly reflect the boats they power, not the engines.
What this means for a buyer
- Compare a boat's hours with the median for its age above. Far below can mean little use, a replaced engine, or a broken hour meter; ask which.
- Hours above typical lower asking prices in our data.
- Hours say little without maintenance records. Our guide how many engine hours is too many covers what to check.
Method
- Hours as stated in the listing or the listing's detail fields, after removing impossible values. Age is the year we saw the listing minus the model year. Multi-engine boats show the hours the seller stated, usually per engine.
- Prices are asking prices, not sale prices. No free source publishes US used-boat sale prices.
- Listing sources: Craigslist, Rightboat, BoatCrazy and MarineMax. A boat posted many times or in several cities is counted once.
Use this chart
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Chart file: https://boatverdict.com/data/engine-hours-by-boat-age/chart.svg. Questions about the data: contact us.
