First Time Buyer Advice and guidance (used v-drives)

[rmortime]

Hey guys, first time poster and new guy to the forum, this a great site...lots of CC love.

Anyways, I have had Nautique fever ever since my father sold our last ski nautique in the fall of '11, both my brother and I have moved out state so the boat was just not getting used. However, I am now looking at purchasing. I am not interested in ski nautique or any direct drive. I made the transition to wakeboarding over a decade ago but had to resort to boarding behind ski nautiques as my father is an avid skier. Time has come to get my first boat. And I need advice. For everyone’s knowledge I am not completely green when it comes being on the water. I grew up in Michigan and spent the majority of my summers on the water, mostly on '90s ski nautiques. I have a B.S.E. in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineer from the #1 program in the US, so I know hydrostatics, hydrodyamics, ship and small boat construction and marine engineering very well and have worked in industry on the ship side for over 6 yrs now. That being said, I know the superb craftsmanship of CC and will only buy CC.

However, being a first time buyer, I still have plenty of questions especially since I will be buying used. I am looking for a V-drive most likely an early 2000s 210. I would like to keep my purchase price under 30k, ideally around mid 20s. So here are some questions I am need help with from all the nautique experts here.

-For this price, what am I looking at boat wise? and hours wise? 2003 SAN? etc

-Best places to shop? (I am currently looking here, ebay, boat trader, and at onlyinboards.com...am I missing any other good markets to look at?)

-What are the pros and cons between the early 2000 Air nautiques, SAN, and SANTE between model years? I am unfamiliar w/ the slight design changes between the years.

-What do I need to pay close attention to with these boats? What problems and issues are common with certain makes and models? (ie I know the gauges and hour meters are know to be go bad on the '00-'03 boats, what other similiar issues have there been? Any issues w/ certain engines, gel coats, etc)

-When do the number of hours become just to much for these boats? I've seen boats w/ 1000+ hrs and that just seems incredibly high. We typically sold our ski nautique when they were getting around 400-500 hrs and never had an issue w/ any of the 3 boats we went had.


Any advice or direction to purchasing used or to any of these question would be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone.



Ryan

[obd666]

-For this price, what am I looking at boat wise? and hours wise? 2003 SAN? etc

-Best places to shop? (I am currently looking here, ebay, boat trader, and at onlyinboards.com...am I missing any other good markets to look at?)

-What are the pros and cons between the early 2000 Air nautiques, SAN, and SANTE between model years? I am unfamiliar w/ the slight design changes between the years.

-What do I need to pay close attention to with these boats? What problems and issues are common with certain makes and models? (ie I know the gauges and hour meters are know to be go bad on the '00-'03 boats, what other similiar issues have there been? Any issues w/ certain engines, gel coats, etc)

-When do the number of hours become just to much for these boats? I've seen boats w/ 1000+ hrs and that just seems incredibly high. We typically sold our ski nautique when they were getting around 400-500 hrs and never had an issue w/ any of the 3 boats we went had.

00 to 03 is about right with your price range. the sources you mentioned and anywhere else on the net are good places to look, you might have to travel to get one like you want.

i believe the 02 got an interior redesign resulting in more room, but the 03 got the modern dash and gauges that they continued to use for several years after that. they began using the GM engine as opposed to the Ford at the end of 02, with all the 03's having it. the GM engines are able to report the true hours, whereas the Ford motors cannot. thus, if the gauges don't accurately record the hours (the dreaded teleflex gauges in the pre 03's) its a guessing game.

there's really nothing particular to be concerned about outside of the typical boat condition considerations. there are plenty of threads on here spelling out what to look out for.

regarding the hours, these boats are known to go well beyond 1000. we have lots of guys on here with 1500 plus on theirs still running great. i would say anything under 500 on what you will be looking at would be ideal, but wouldn't rule out one with more until i saw how it had been cared for. lots of threads on here concerning hours also ...

good luck, now go find your nautique !!

[jbach]

don't forget about the the '99 SAN. best year until the smaller gunwale of the 2003. no teleflex, ford powered, full wrap around seating and no stupid looking N on the side of the boat.

[s_kelley2000]

^^^agreed, love the 99s. Although mine has a Chevy....a big Chevy.

If you do look at 99s you might have the older tower and if so make sure you check it out good for stability. The newer tower is much better so I would target that if you look at pre 2000s. That's my one complaint with my boat but I plan to update that sooner or later.

[perry386]

90's had its own hull. Then it changed in I think 2003. It changed again in 2007, and 07-13 is the same for the 210/230. I HIGHLY doubt that you will find an 07-current 210 for 30K but I can assure the extra 10-20k is well spent. If you really cant go any higher I would definitely try and get SANTE; the team edition adds some cool features like zero-off, hydro-gate and stuff. If you get pre 2007 I highly recommend investing in some fat sacs because those hulls work really well with weight.

[s_kelley2000]

95-2006 is the exact same hull. The deck and seating arrangement changed in 02 but a 1995-2006 super sport/super air/210 will have the same wake.

[perry386]

95-2006 is the exact same hull. The deck and seating arrangement changed in 02 but a 1995-2006 super sport/super air/210 will have the same wake.

Oh, my bad...I think the seating change was where I got confused and assumed they changed the hull.

[HS]

Here is some (Erik's ?) insight that I found of interest and you'll want to see the section "The Super Sport Nautique or Super Air Nautique 210 Classic"

http://www.facebook.com/notes/wakebo...15822265107993

[TX-Foilhead]

I would personally worry more about the overall condition of the boat than the hours. I've seen more problems with boats that don't get used than I have with boats that do get used. My 93 with almost 1000hrs runs as well as the day I brought her home.

[obd666]

Here is some (Erik's ?) insight that I found of interest and you'll want to see the section "The Super Sport Nautique or Super Air Nautique 210 Classic"

http://www.facebook.com/notes/wakebo...15822265107993

wow, thats a great write up

[rmortime]

wow guys thanks for all the advice. Haven't had time to quite digest all the information yet but I will and am looking fwd to the reading Erik's post. I ran across that post on another thread on PN but the link navigated over to wakeworlds website and the article had was old so it was no longer good.

What years did the SAN have the wrap around lounge seating that went behind the drivers seat as opposed to the L shaped lounge. And what do you guys prefer? I like to hear from some owners of each...

[perry386]

wow guys thanks for all the advice. Haven't had time to quite digest all the information yet but I will and am looking fwd to the reading Erik's post. I ran across that post on another thread on PN but the link navigated over to wakeworlds website and the article had was old so it was no longer good.

What years did the SAN have the wrap around lounge seating that went behind the drivers seat as opposed to the L shaped lounge. And what do you guys prefer? I like to hear from some owners of each...

Not sure on the year they came out with it but my 08 230 has the wrap around all the to the driver seat and I love it! The 2 rear facing seats are long enough that I can comfortably recline on them. (im 5'8")

[s_kelley2000]

I think the wrap around seating ended mid run 2001 because I have seen some pics of 2001s with it and some without it. 2002-2006 definitely have the L shape. I prefer the wrap around because its easier to balance passenger weight to keep the wake clean. It also allows one or maybe two more people to sit comfortably in the main lounge. The downside is that the space behind the driver is a great spot to store a big cooler or other gear. I know NautiqueJeff and some others have made their own seat to convert the L shape into a full wrap around and it came out great. It's a great spot to hide a sub if you build your own.

[ss396s]

regarding the hours, these boats are known to go well beyond 1000. we have lots of guys on here with 1500 plus on theirs still running great. i would say anything under 500 on what you will be looking at would be ideal, but wouldn't rule out one with more until i saw how it had been cared for. lots of threads on here concerning hours also ...

good luck, now go find your nautique !!

I have a friend who's mom was a trick skier at Sea World in her younger days. When she sold her Nautique it had 1900 hours and the only thing they did was replace the steering cable. They later had a sport Nautique. My friend abused the boat. Fat sacs, too many people... They wakeboard in the rain, beached the boat... He told me they sold it with around 1,900 hours as well. Only thing they did was replace the steering cable. I think they use a better steering system now-a-days, so you should be fine

[rmortime]

OK guys so I'm looking at a 2000 SAN, GT-40 with the wrap around seats, ~430-ish hrs. Are there any known issues with this year SAN? Personally, I'm a GM guy (Michigan native, and father is 3rd generation GM employee so its in the blood) so the GT-40 isn't ideal but I'm ok with it. Are there any known issues that typically occur with these engines? Are replacement parts easy to come buy since i beleive the engine has been discontinued.

Also, this boat in particular has newer Teleflex gauges (replaced the older Faria gauges) on it however the current owner (2nd owner) bought the boat like this and does not know how many hours were on the boat prior to the new gauges being installed...when did they tyipcally go out on these boats? ~300hrs ~400hrs etc