I have been looking at used late model Marlins and 330's closely for the last year or two. Here are some of my oberservations regarding the generator.
A. Most of the models with the gas generator were actually a negative, unless they were only a year or two old. Even the two year old models were showing signs of aging at an alarming rate.
B. From what I've gathered from owners and members of this website and others sites is all generators don't fare well if not used regularly. Some have suggested running the generator every weekend for an hour or so at the dock with a load just to keep it from becoming problematic.
C. Very few of the boats that I looked at had the diesel generators. I can only assume the owners that spent the extra coin for the diesel planned on keeping the boat for a long time and are not selling. Or, perhaps very few people ordered the boat with the generators in the first place?
After gathering all the information I could and looking at many boats I needed to gather what my realistic needs were. I have dreams of heading off to the Canyons (roughly 100 mies from my dock) here in NJ every weekend. But realistically I may do those canyon trips two or three times a year on my boat. At the dock, there is no need for a generator with shore power. For me what made the most sense is to not pay an additional $10,000 or so for a two year old boat with the diesel generator and instead buy a Honda EU2000 for those trips that I want to run the air conditioning while out at sea. For about $1000 I can be comfortable. I can store the generator in my garage, very easy to maintain, easy to get to, lightweight, etc.
Finally, if money is not an issue get the FP diesel generator and make sure you use it.
Hope this helps a little.
