www.iFourWinns.com

Can anyone give me some feedback on their experiences with the Vista 288, I am looking at a 2007 model with twin 5.0l Mercrusiers and it would be good to know the following:

1. Fuel consumption (Cant find anywhere that would give me the range for this boat and engine)
2. Build Quality
3. Any issues experienced
4. On water handling in sea conditions
5. Changing the Navman plotter/sounder to something else. (Current one is hard to read)
6. Vacuflush toilet reliability?

Your feedback would be greatly appreciated, thank you

I'm not familiar with the 288 but to start the discussion I will comment on the Vacuflush. Scroll down to the recent thread "how many duck bills" where I participated and provided a link to a Vacuflush manual.
I am very pleased with my Vacuflush but it does need a bit of care. Apart from marine grade toilet paper (or one-ply paper that quickly disintegrates in water) and water, nothing should put in it unless it has been through a person's body. No Kleenex, etc.
Assuming you have a model like mine, prepare to change the duck bill valves about every five years, the bellows every ten years, the pressure switch less often. There's a filter on the air vent from the holding tank which needs changing every couple of seasons unless you get an overflow of the system which will destroy it immediately.
A reasonable amount of flushing, empty the holding tank as required, read the manual and you will enjoy an efficient and smell free unit probably with a bowl and seat at dwelling house standard.

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John
2006 Four Winns Vista 278 (sold)

Our first boat was a 2004 V288, which was the first year of production. I think the build quality was/is as good as anything in its class...Sea Ray, Cruisers, Regal, Chap, etc - Yes. Tiara, Cobalt, Formula - No. We only had the boat two years so nothing beyond the normal punch list items (two biggest surprises were from some poor quality control on FW part...1) first weekend on the boat wake up to the dog barking at the floor in the saloon and notice water seeping up all over, after some well deserved panic and following the sound of running water turned out they did not seat one of the water quick disconnects very well, we were hooked up to shore water and it popped off...if we were not there it could have sunk...learned that valuable lesson about NOT leaving it on shore water. 2) After a couple weeks of using the boat noticed the waste tank guage not moving off empty..figured bad guage until I opened engine hatch and had the unmistakable smell (lucky for the no #2 rule on that boat), FW did not actually attach the the waste hose to the tank so it drained into the bilge...dealer did a steam clean...twice!) Seakeeping I would say was OK...handled very well and was quite dry, but the narrow beam did cause some uncomfortable moments from beam on waves / wakes. Had a Raymarine plotter that was fine, can't help there. Can't remember specifics on fuel (had twin Volvo's and don't remember the size) but thinking something like 14 - 16 gph at cruise of just under 30mph. Hope this helps.

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Joe B.
Ruff'N It 4
2011 Regal 42 SC

Previous
2008 FW V358
2006 FW V318
2004 FW V288

The 5.0 liter engines average around 8gph around cruise (3000rpms). So in your case you can figure around 15-18 gallons per hour at 30mph. If you found a boat with twin 4.3GXi's you might get 14-17. Personally I'd rather go with the V8's. Cheaper to fix, bulletproof reliability.

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1981 Columbia 8.7
2015 Yamaha FZR - 87mph - sold
2006 Yamaha GP1300R - sold
2003 Chaparral 215 SSI - sold
2009 Stingray 195CS - sold
2000 Four Winns H180 - sold
1976 O'day Daysailer II - sold
Rick's Four Winns H180 Mods/Upgrade Thread

The toilets are pretty reliable. But they do have rubber parts that can require service. Our 2005 hasn't needed anything yet and we've made reasonably regular use of the system. Just know that eventually the waste hoses themselves can start to be permeated and need replacing. It's not an impossible job, just not terribly pleasant.

Switching chart plotter hardware varies in complexity. Depends on if you've just a display or if you've got a lot of other sensors. Most boat have only another depth/temp sensor. And it'd depend on what sensor you had in there if you wanted to connect it up with another brand. Then there's the question of having room for different gear and cutting the hole to fit it. I don't know what's available on the helm area in that boat, but I'd start by comparing the specs/dimensions on the existing plotter and comparing that against new stuff.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Great feedback, thanks guys

I guess I am still a bit concerned with the fuel consumption as I am getting all different figures presented

Mine is a 2007
If you keep a eye on this post i will within the next week let you know what you fuel consumption is at diff speeds/rpm's. I have fuel flow sensors installed and for whatever they are worth i will be able to tell you your fuel rate at certain rpm's. I have twin 5.0's. As for the vacuflush they are good as long as you use 1ply toilet paper and nothing else in the toilet

Thanks Thalasso, I will look foraward to see what you can find out for me.

What sort of maintenance have you had to do to your boat, The one I am looking at is only 175 hours on the engines so I am interested to see what items you may have had to replace/ maintain since you have had it.

If you are serious about a 288, search these ladies posts for a "worse case" scenario of their experiences with the boat.
Most issues are with Volvo engines and drives, and not related to the boats' build quality and features.
gulls@play
Vista 288
Or their most recent post.
Finally Giving Up

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2005 H200

Don't be listening to all the nay sayers. Not a thing wrong with Volvo's other then the lack of dealer's for repairs if you can't do it yourself and parts are expensive.
175 hrs, there still new. Only thing as far as the engines is raw water impeller's and normal maintenance. Oil/filters.As for the fuel pump issue that some seem to have, as of yet i haven't had this problem and mine is 07. I think the pumps are manufactured by Carter for Volvo.I have the DPS-A drives and no problems with them either. Just pull them every year and check bellows and grease the splines.I change the gear oil every other year. Going to the boat Sun if it doesn't rain.

I've got twin 5.0 MPI's in our 298 and track via a spreadsheet every drop of fuel that goes into it along with engine hours and fuel cost. After 2 full seasons of logging we see our yearly average fuel consumption is extreamly close. 1st year was 10.5 US gallons / hour, the 2nd year was 10.8 US gallons per hour.

I would imagine with the 288 being a smaller boat you would do better then our 298 and it also depends on how you use it obviously. We spend a lot of time up on plane at about 3400 rpm's in our yearly averages. Hope this helps.

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2004 Four Winns 298 Vista
"Last Minute"

Thanks Guys, invaluable feedback and great to see that everyone had some decent feedback, rather than just rubbish that you see on some forums sites

My current boat Campion 595 has a 4.3l Volvo and it hasnt given me an ounce of trouble. I guess there is good and bad for all engines and sometimes you are either luck or unlucky.

10.5 average on twins??? You must be doing ALOT of idling around. I have one of those engines in a 22ft boat and at 3200 rpms it drinks around 8gph. On my local lake where I spend most my time at 1200rpm yea a 5 gallon can of gas lasts 2 hours.

_________________
1981 Columbia 8.7
2015 Yamaha FZR - 87mph - sold
2006 Yamaha GP1300R - sold
2003 Chaparral 215 SSI - sold
2009 Stingray 195CS - sold
2000 Four Winns H180 - sold
1976 O'day Daysailer II - sold
Rick's Four Winns H180 Mods/Upgrade Thread

I hear what your saying Rick, it does sound pretty low for twins, but we barely spend any time idling around, honestly. The areas we frequent to anchor out are typically about 45min. to just over an hour away while driving on plane. We basically chug out of the marina until it's fully warmed up, pick it up onto plane and we take all the outer routes through the islands so we aren't continually having to drop off plane. We cruise at 3300-3400 for the entire time basically. The only time it's idling around is the final 10 minutes going into a bay and setting the hook.
I do find the times we travel are typically in calmer winds which helps fuel economy a lot. If you have 3-4 foot waves to deal with, fuel mileage goes out the window.

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2004 Four Winns 298 Vista
"Last Minute"

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