First CC purchase, need opinions

[AuMDLST]

My wife and I looked for a year and a half before we found our first Nautique - Could not be happier with the decision on that 94 SNOB. We have moved on to our current 06 SANTE but you need to decide exactly what you want and what you are willing to pay and keep looking. Don't jump on the first one, I'll bet you can get better for the same $$$. Back then I was under the impression that 94 was the first year on no wood (was not aware of this site either) and that was my minimum year (94 was the first for the folding trailer tongue, I believe as well). If I purchased a Nautique it had to fit in our garage (the previously listed ebay Nautique has spent quite some time left in the elements, IMO) and the fold was the only way. We owned that boat for two years and I sold it for the same as my purchase price.

[timmyboy]

Chris196- That Sport in Austin you posted is one of several that I have looked at where the owners would not budge from their price. He had come down from $15K, and claim he could sell it for that in the summer if he was able to hold out that long. That boat would have been sitting in my driveway now if he would have bargained with me... its gorgeous.

The others: '93 Excel in Temple, TX being sold on consignment for $13.9, and the dealer told me the 80 yr old owner had already rejected an offer of $12K when I offered $10K.
'94 Sport listed at $14K, sold for ?? but wouldn't accept my offer of $10K. Another beautiful boat.
'91 Malibu Sunsetter- Owner won't budge from $14K. Granted, it looks like it came off the showroom floor, but good god, its a 91.
There was another 'tique, but I forgot what it was. Owner was offended by anything lower than his deemed value.

There's an old standby that I could get for $7-8K in very nice condition- its a Mastercraft Tristar 220 with the 454. Super roomy, everything in great shape, runs and sounds great. its just, *sigh* its not a nautique. I know MC owners are just as proud of their rides, for good reason, but something about it makes me hesitate and I'm not talking about something wrong with it. I'm just not convinced i'd be happy as a Tristar owner.

I'm very grateful for all the opinions, guys. Its stressful making a decision like this without having other voices of reason or opinions!

[JohnE]

The tristar line were good boats, but is sort of the red headed stepchild of their production history. Just never was popular. You would not want to slalom behind a 220. I had a tristar 190 and it was a great boat imo, but smallish interior.

I would keep looking. You will find a good deal if you do. The more you look the more educated you will be.

Look for condition in an older boat. Saving a thousand not to buy one you really want will possibly result in you dropping more than that in repairs.

I don't think values of the older boats will drop. With the state of the economy the demand on them will increase.

I hate to say it on the cc site, but don't rule out an older MC. They have not used wood stringers since '83. The floors were wood though for much longer.

From what I've read, I would be leaning towards that $12K boat in the OP. It appears that the owner maintained it properly and that is worth a lot imo.

[chris196]

Take a look at this one:
http://austin.craigslist.org/boa/998999503.html

seems to be what you're looking for.

[timmyboy]

thanks for the advice JohnE.

Chris196, thats Boat #2 in my original post!

[jwchapman]

I bought a '91 Sport last spring and had a great time with it all last summer. I paid just under $11k. It came with a Monster Tower, single axle trailer w/surge brakes, the Pro Tec ignition had been changed out for distributor and the interior and exterior were in great shape - no tears in the vinyl and only minor scratches in the hull. The engine had about 550 hours. I won't try to talk you into or out of any boat but just want to share my experience with the Sport.

I have two kids and we regularly filled the boat with friends and family for skiing, boarding and (gasp!) tubing. I wanted a boat thay you could easily get to the bow so I didn't consider the SNOB - if lots of people will be moving around in the boat (kids, friends who like to sit up front, etc.) you may want to consider this. Also, my wife really likes to face forward when we are riding around - the observer swivel seat is very nice. She commented at the boat show this year that there aren't many like this.

From a performance standpoint, the wake is not as good as the SN/SNOB but it is a great all-around boat and a little more comfortable in choppy water. Many people also consider it an excellent wakeboarding boat for an older hull. Any of my friends that usually ski behind I/Os couldn't believe how great the wake was. I found it to be just a great all-around boat.

While I would like a boat without wood stringers, I wasn't going to let this determine the boat I bought (since I also had a price point). You can check for obvious rot and will find opinions (on this and other sites) ranging from - if you have wood stringers your boat will disintigrate from rot tomorrow costing you thousands of dollars and causing you to lose all your friends - to - boats have had wood stringers for decades and if cared for are much better than fiberglass for strength and dampening. If reasonably cared for, boats with wood stringers will be fine for many, many years.

Considering the economy, I'm a little suprised he didn't take $10.5k. I don't know if the seller is close by, but if he is, it might be worth a trip over in person with some cash. The seller of my boat was asking a lot more (this was last spring before the economy tanked) but came down quite a bit to what I thought was a good price when I was there with cash in hand. Good luck with the purchase and let me know if there are any other questions I can answer about my Sport.

[gschmieler]

I concur with jwchapman. I am a SNOB owner (it is for sale). The sport is a roomy boat and is very good for the wakeboard, kneeboard, air chair ect. You will sacrifice some performance on the wake in the ski course and barefooting. With a fly high and a fat seat you can make the SNOB a very good recreational wake board boat. You will get a ton of air. My mom doesn't have any problem getting into the play pen area of the SNOB. With the included fly high you can sit anywhere while tubing, wakeboarding or whatever else you do from the fly high. My 97 SNOB is a great deal for a skiing family for the price. You can't go wrong with either boat. I will say I believe families are better suited for the open bow CC than the closed bow......that is if everyone wants to watch from the boat instead of the shore.
Cheers,
George 803-422-1815

[timmyboy]

Jwchapman, thanks for the opinion. That's basically what I have been thinking and what I wanted to hear from somebody. Having a family that is used to I/Os with walk-through open bows, transitioning to an inboard with a step-over bow like the SNOB would be cumbersome at best. Easy access to the bow is pretty important. Also, we aren't by any means hard-core or even medium-core skiers, so a world-class wake is not as important, either. An all-around boat would be ideal.

[timmyboy]

Hey guys, what do you think about this deal... This boat was posted previously in this thread, but the owner wouldn't budge from $12.5K. Now he will a little.

$11.5K for this sport: http://austin.craigslist.org/boa/994832045.html

I have checked out the boat in person and its very clean. The owner was very meticulous with the boat and has put a lot of extra $ into it. The tower is custom with a matching bimini. Engine and drive are in top shape, even though engine has high hours.

Is $11.5K reasonable?

Thanks, Tim

[Trevorg7]

Seems a bit high to me. I paid 10.5 last June for my '93 w/dual axel trailer and 350 hours. It came with the 10ft pole and bimini, etc.

T

[Chris4x4Gill2]

It still seems high on the price to me.

Thats a lot of hours on it, but it does seem to be in good shape from the pics.

[timmyboy]

Trevorg7,

Thanks for the reply. Not exactly apples to apples, though. Your boat is a closed bow SN, and the one I posted is a Sport. Everywhere I have been looking the Sports generally go a little higher than the SNs. Mind you, I say generally- there are obviously exceptions to that statement. Yours seems on par with what I've seen, and actually pretty darn good considering the hours on your boat- very nice. I passed on a '93 SNOB for 8.5 (its listing is posted elsewhere in this thread); it was a bit worn interior-wise but hours were under 800. I wanted a bigger boat, though.

Thanks again.
Any other thoughts?

[timmyboy]

Chris,

Anywhere else in Texas that boat would go for a little less. Problem is, demand for inboard ski boats is arguably higher in the Austin area than anywhere else in the state. Lots of money in that area, so folks will pay a little higher especially in the summer. I'm in the Dallas area, and while there's lots of money up here as well, the demand up here leans more towards bass boats it seems.

[Trevorg7]

Timmyboy - Agreed, not completely the same as mine is a smaller boat. Bottom line it does come down to what you are comfortable with regarding price. If you feel it is the best deal, go for it. That said I still get the sense and see here in CA that prices are still coming down.

Good luck.

T

[chris196]

Timmy,
Only negative about that sport is the hours. If it was a pre 93 with high hours I might keep looking. But if it's exactly what you want an it's in great shape, might be a good deal.
PCM says the engine is good for 2500 hours before rebuild. If you put 100 hours a year, that's 10 years. Now, if you plan on selling in 2 years to upgrade it might be hard to move it with high hours. BTW, lots of folks report going longer than 2500 hours on the 351 with proper maintenance.

I live in Austin, I know in general inboards are higher here. I bought a 98 SN with GT40, 695 hours 2 years ago for 18K. The boat was impeccable and I was happy to get the deal.