[wubbie]

Big decision, please comment,
 Im considering upgrading to a (05'-06') 36' Sovran diesel (shaft drive) or a an (08-'09') 39 Sovran diesel (IPS drive). I am fully aware of all the differences, My biggest concern is the IPS drives. I hear all of the horror stories but would love to hear the success stories. I will be boating on the north shore of long island NY. With proper maintenance and frequent oil changes are the IPS drives as unreliable as I read about?
I would prefer the IPS version, does anyone have any successful real world experiences with the drives that they would like to share?

[Sans Peur]

I am not too familiar with the IPS drives but, the difference in a 36 to a 39 is pretty large. I always go with the larger length.

From some of the reading I do on the IPS drives i know they had some early issues (not unthinkable on a new system like that) but think they pretty much cleared those up. I would look into the maintenance records of the previous owner. That will tell you if these particular drives had issues and if they were maintained well. That should answer most of the questions.

[Mcnamara229]

I had a 2006 26 Sovran with 490 Cummins, awesome boat in rough water.
I had it for 13 seasons, Sold it because of the top dollar of the pre owned boat market.
The boat would dock itself.
Bigger boat than the 39.
The IPS are for people that cannot handle a boat and like to porpoise at cruise and in choppy water.
I  not touch one.
Look at a 38/39 open.

[reeltimebrad]

I have a friend that had one of the early sovrans with ips and remember one trip were they had to go idle speed for 100 miles due to some software glitch. Then all the high maintenance costs on top of other reliability issues. Boat went up for sale quickly. Hard to beat peace of mind that straight shafts and mechanical controls give.

[Off Line]

I have a 2008 4300 Sovran with IPS D6 pods.   I’ve had twin v drives on other boats.  There is no comparison to handling pods vs. shafts.  Pods are much easier for docking and they are more efficient.  Maintenance cost is higher.  I do my own annual maintenance and it runs about $1650 total for both engines and genset.   That is everything from oil to filters, zincs, air filters, fuel filters.  Most expensive item is the pod oil, 75w90 synthetic from Volvo.   Every 4-5 years you will need to service shaft seals on the pods.  Runs about $1500 per pod.  I run oil samples of each pod annually, cost is about $25 each.  That lets me know if there are any issues brewing before they are major.  When I purchased the boat I had a Volvo certified tech check out the engines and pods as well as prior maintenance done and upgrades.  Worth the cost to get that done.   I would not shy away from pods, and would look for the right boat that meets budget and how you like to boat.   Happy to discuss further if you would like.