Might be changing my mind on buying a rib from Ribeye to a R8 Cougar.
I have had some fantastic advice from people on this forum, and I need some more. Please
I have been offered a 2004 R8 with the Honda engine, it just had a new brain this season and has been regularly serviced.
I know from experiance that the R8 is very stable in choppy sea and is fast, but is 2004 an"old" rib ie is the hull coming to the end of it's life ( I just don't know any thing) or has it loads more life left.
As always any help much appreciated
. Hulls will last ages .. 20 years plus no problem even longer, it depends what you do with them that affects how they age .. left in strong sunlight all the time, or covered ? Over powered ? rough handling ? beaching regularly ? .. poorly fitted internals? .. all those sorts of things will cause fatigue .. its the tubes on the boat that will require attention usually first, but even then 15 years plus wouldnt be unreasonable, depending on who made them and again how theyve been used, for example an old thrashed dive boat will have a much harder life than a leasure craft. Others may hold a slightly different view on timescales, but I wouldnt be too concerned of a boat aged 8 years, but I'd consider getting it surveyed tho 
