Hi all,

Looking at a used 1993 Four Winns Freedom...18 foot 4.3L. Since I'm
new to boating, I was wondering if there were any recommendations on
what to look for when inspecting the boat (this Sat). If I like it
I'll setup a time later for a test drive...

I know Four Winns is a pretty good brand. My questions are, Does
anyone own a Four Winns, possibly even a 1993 year model? What did
you like? Replace? Hate? Were there any problems with this model
year?

Any info or recommendations are welcome?

tia,

adym

On 7 Aug 2003 17:43:48 -0700, (alincoln) wrote:

Hi all,

Looking at a used 1993 Four Winns Freedom...18 foot 4.3L. Since I'm
new to boating, I was wondering if there were any recommendations on
what to look for when inspecting the boat (this Sat). If I like it
I'll setup a time later for a test drive...

I know Four Winns is a pretty good brand. My questions are, Does
anyone own a Four Winns, possibly even a 1993 year model? What did
you like? Replace? Hate? Were there any problems with this model
year?

Any info or recommendations are welcome?

Funny you should mention--I just picked up my 1992 Sundowner 195 yesterday! I
looked out my front window and saw this monster sitting in front of my house,
got a bit of a start (so it WASN'T a dream...).

My boat has the same engine (and presumably outdrive) as the one you're looking
at--4.3L V6, OMC Cobra.

I've heard only good things about Four Winns boats, and my close inspection of
the quality and condition of the boat bears that out. When I did the sea trial,
I was particularly interested in how well the boat came up on plane and how it
would handle chop. Even though the carburetion was a bit iffy from sitting for
a long time, it gave me 38 mph on the GPS and handled the chop very smoothly.
It comes out of the hole quickly, so there's a very short time of reduced
visibility.

I spent $500 on engine, outdrive and hull survey. One recommendation was a
carburetor rebuild, which was done at the seller's expense. The zincs had not
been replaced for some time, so there's evidence of corrosion on the outdrive.
The surveyor recommended sandblasting and repainting the drive. I'll do that
work myself.

As far as I'm concerned, the money I spent on the survey was well spent; even if
it came out with no discrepancies, I'd have the peace of mind in knowing the
boat was sound from the outset.

HTH,
Joe Parsons