[Alamo28]

A guy down my canal has a 35’ with 3208 cats. Anyone have any experience with the Cat 3208. Thanks in advance.

[Sans Peur]

I had a pair in my 2000 41 Open. They ran really well with little problems. Sold the boat 3 years ago with around 2,000 hours. I spoke to the new owner a few weeks ago and they are still running strong. They were the high output 425HP ones.

[Alamo28]

Cool thanks for the input.

[MC1600]

I have two in my ‘99 4000 and (knock on wood) they have been great. Just keep fuel/air filters clean and do regular maintenance (impellers, after cooler/HEX cleaning, etc) and they do great. Biggest thing to keep an eye on is temp. Mine are consistently at 185-190ish and seem very happy. Anything above that indicates an issue that should be addressed immediately.

[Alamo28]

Thank you very much. I need to see what they are selling for. The guy is asking 100k which seems a little high for a 25 year old boat. However it seems like there are plenty of people looking for the 3500 with diesels.

[MC1600]

A quick check of YachtWorld seems to indicate $100k is a pretty good deal for a 35 right now. Although any boat is only worth what someone will pay for it.

Be sure to pull oil samples and have an engine survey done by a Cat tech.

[hiccup]

100k for a 3500 open is on the low end.

3208 above 385hp have a poor reputation but if they're run lightly (underpropped) they will be OK. With these well used diesels, how they were propped and how they were maintained trumps everything including brand/model. A question for the 3208 owners would be how is parts availability and cost?