Maintenance costs of a GS 259?

[Chris9183]

Hello...I'm new to boating, planning to purchase a GS 259 in the future.

I've had friends tell me that I should expect to pay 10% of the boat's cost in maintenance/repairs every year. Well for a GS 259, that is gonna be quite expensive, especially with the options I choose. My question is, with proper care, "babying", and preventative maintenance performed by myself occasionally on the boat, should I really expect to be spending $10,000+ just to maintain a boat like the GS 259? I'm handy with engines, and I'm a quick learner and would enjoy maintaining the boat myself. The boat will be garage kept, would only see about 1 or 2 weeks of sal****er use every year, and I would naturally do preventative maintenance before and after the sal****er use, really any water use though. I know that sterndrives need extra care for sal****er use though.

Would any 259 owners mind sharing their experiences maintaining the boat, repairing it, etc? Maybe give me an idea of annual costs? Difficulty of maintenance? Etc? Because I can't find this kind of information anywhere after tons of googling...or maybe I'm just not googling hard enough.

Anyway, thank you.

[Merlin16]

I don't own a 259 and don't know much about them. It does seem they come equipped with a single V8 engine and an outdrive. So no different than any other boat.
Maintenance to me means oil, fluid and filter changes. I spend about $100 a year on those products and do the work myself. Not sure where this 10% comes from??
On the 259 there will be a few more misc costs, depending on the extra features, plumbing, genset?

Now if you're talking how much to run/own the boat that is a different story. Fuel, insurance, registration, storage, tow vehicle, repairs, etc etc. will add up real quick. Also if you bring the boat to a shop for any service work, winterize, that too will add up.

My last boat was an 18' that I bought new. After 8 years of ownership, I never spent more than $100 a year for maintenance supplies. And never did any repairs because nothing broke. Did one impellor change for preventive maintenance and that was like $50.

Now if my new boat works like this, I'll be very happy.