New interior what should I do?

[jlowden]

Okay so here's the deal. Have a 1994 Sport Nautique. 3rd boat I've owed 2nd Nautique. I need to replace the back seat as it is starting to fall apart. The rest of the interior is okay a scale of 7.5 out of 10 for its age. Here's my internal dilemma I'm a perfectionist but don't like spending extra money if I can avoid it. I can get the whole boat redone for $2000 without the 3 logos from a guy locally that I've used for years. He just can't do the logo and I don't want to hunt someone down to try and sew it for me. I have talked to Christine's and they of course can do it and send them here to the west coast but it will take a couple of months and I'd have to spend $3000 just for all the covers and I'll still have to get it installed. Reason is it could be fought to only by logo covers and match the rest of the interiorSo installed price about $3,600

silly question I know but I really would like the logos as they look great and factory but I really don't think it's worth another $1,600 +\~.

What at would you guys do? Will a new buyer really freak out if or when I sell the boat? The thing is if I really didn't care I'd just do the rear seat and live with it, but it will bug me because the colors won't match so I will do the whole thing, but are the logos really worth it. I don't think so but I had to ask.

[NautiqueJeff]

I totally understand. I would want the logos too.

That being said, I believe dealers and Christine's are the only places that can LEGALLY sell upholstery with the official logos.

[SkiTower]

New interior what should I do?

Completely understand about wanting the logos but the next seller buying a 20 year old boat in great condition but missing a few logos isn't going to blink IF they even notice. They would be thankful the vinyl isn't full of cracks.

That being said, if you're this worried about it (understandably) it will probably bug you silly until you sell the boat. The missing logos will be all you see.

2007 SV211 SE

[jlowden]

Thanks guys. Ski your spot on...... I'll have to let it go and not let it bug me

[pe4me]

I did the whole interior on a 94 PS 205...same logic as above. I sprang for MC factory skins and to my dismay, they came without the logos. Initially I felt cheated as I spent 2600ish back in 04ish thinking dont mess around and just get the good stuff, factory fit + you get the logos. I justified the expense because I put them on myself so in the end it was a wash except for my time. Shop with vinyl and install 3000 with labor or skins for 2600. I ran the boat with a brand new interior for 5 years and it looked like new when I sold it. I believe it helped with the sale. 1st buyer/ test driver closed the deal.
For your purposes, I got over it ... fast. The only thing I wouldn't do is get a lesser quality vinyl to save a few bucks. Do ask the pertinent questions. Logos wouldn't be a deal breaker in IMHO, but having Nautique quality vinyl is a must. IF I knew I wasnt going to upgrade and keep the boat for a while the OEM logos are a nice touch, inexplicably the pride in ownership? the justification of having spent the $ on a Nautique? It does seems petty but it certainly is a factor.
Ultimately, trading in the crusty seats for new vinyl totally rejuvenated the boat and the experience on the water.
good luck

[jlowden]

Thanks PE. Well put

[shag]

I did the whole interior on a 94 PS 205...same logic as above. I sprang for MC factory skins and to my dismay, they came without the logos. Initially I felt cheated as I spent 2600ish back in 04ish thinking dont mess around and just get the good stuff, factory fit + you get the logos. I justified the expense because I put them on myself so in the end it was a wash except for my time. Shop with vinyl and install 3000 with labor or skins for 2600. I ran the boat with a brand new interior for 5 years and it looked like new when I sold it. I believe it helped with the sale. 1st buyer/ test driver closed the deal.
For your purposes, I got over it ... fast. The only thing I wouldn't do is get a lesser quality vinyl to save a few bucks. Do ask the pertinent questions. Logos wouldn't be a deal breaker in IMHO, but having Nautique quality vinyl is a must. IF I knew I wasnt going to upgrade and keep the boat for a while the OEM logos are a nice touch, inexplicably the pride in ownership? the justification of having spent the $ on a Nautique? It does seems petty but it certainly is a factor.
Ultimately, trading in the crusty seats for new vinyl totally rejuvenated the boat and the experience on the water.
good luck

Wow, Factory skins w/o the logo? I would've been in someone's ear....

[bhectus]

$2000 seems awful cheap for a full interior, especially given the fact that you have a Sport with bow seating. Not that it's impossible, but I'd be asking a lot of questions, make sure you get them to tell you the specific vinyl they are using, what type of stitching they are using, and what kind of seams they are going to use. I've seen an awful lot of sub-par to downright awful interior jobs, and even at $2k, that's a lot of money to spend to wind up unhappy. In the end you get what you pay for. Sounds like you are very anal, like me. So do your due diligence and shop around, get some quality references and make an informed decision. Peace of mind is priceless.

[TRBenj]

$2000 seems awful cheap for a full interior, especially given the fact that you have a Sport with bow seating. Not that it's impossible, but I'd be asking a lot of questions, make sure you get them to tell you the specific vinyl they are using, what type of stitching they are using, and what kind of seams they are going to use. I've seen an awful lot of sub-par to downright awful interior jobs, and even at $2k, that's a lot of money to spend to wind up unhappy. In the end you get what you pay for. Sounds like you are very anal, like me. So do your due diligence and shop around, get some quality references and make an informed decision. Peace of mind is priceless.

^^This.^^

Upholstery costs vary widely depending on the area of the country that youre in, Ive found. Christines is not cheap, but they have the factory patterns (so theyre not relying on your damaged/stretched originals for patterns), they use top rate materials, do great work, and have permission to do the logos. I have had some older interiors done locally (which never had logos) that Christines does not have the patterns for... and pricing was comparable. Actually, my local guy was a little bit more $. He too, uses high quality materials and does very good work.

If you can find someone to do your interior for a significantly lower price point, I would proceed with a great deal of caution. Theyre saving the money somewhere- either on lower end materials, theyre taking less time to perform the job, or theyre paying themselves a lower hourly rate. Maybe they need to lower their labor costs to compete with other local businesses, but its also possible they just dont do the same type of high quality work that you can get elsewhere.

It takes a lot of skill to get an interior looking right, and I'd say 90% of aftermarket jobs can be spotted as such immediately... Cushion shape, alignment, stripe style, etc. It is not easy to get an interior made to factory specs.

If price wins this battle and you decide to go with the local guy and no logos, I would give a lot of consideration to just recovering the cushions that need it rather than the entire thing. Get vinyl samples and you can usually get a pretty reasonable match on the color and grain pattern. A discerning buyer may rather have a 3/4 original interior in decent shape than a 100% new interior with mis-shapen cushions and no logos. I know I would.

[AirTool]

I didn't read the responses but maybe I should (have)...maybe later today.

But my thoughts as a perfectionist with the money to pay for logos.

1. If the boat is near perfect and has all factory parts and should be preserved for beauty nastalgia, heirloom, etc. Probably drop the coin for some logos.

2. Otherwise, life is too short to worry about some logos. Save the money for gas and days off from work.

[Chexi]

Logos are actually a potential weakpoint as they can damage the integrity of the vinyl. However, that may occur many many years down the road, if at all.

For a boat that old, I would not bother with the logos unless you are trying to keep the boat mint as a collector's item. As others have said, concentrate on the quality of the vinyl, and just as important, the thread. Cotton thread will breakdown. You want teflon thread or its equivalent (that Christine's will do for a modest upgrade charge).

I re-did everything on my old 99 Air with Christine's skins (with logos) and it looked incredible, and when I sold the boat, I am sure that helped the value quite a bit. That said, I will not do it myself again for a couple reasons. First, it took way longer than I would have ever thought. Learning how to do it, then doing it, then re-doing it to get it to look just right... I would have been far better served hiring a pro and spending all that wasted free time working at what I know how to do or just enjoying the time on the water. In fact, it was this project that really started me down the path of breaking my mid-western mindset of having to do everything myself.

Second, I replaced my 99 Air with a 2000 SAN. My 2000 SAN has a few cracks in the interior and definitely does not look as nice inside as my 99 Air after I redid the vinyl... but now I am not super anal about it. It does not look awful, but it is not mint like my 99 Air. At any rate, now I can enjoy my boat and not worry about the vinyl everytime someone new gets in the boat.

So, I say fix the one bad seat if you plan on keeping the boat for several more years and just have fun. Heck, I know somone who has all his seats covered with terry cloth material, and it's great. If you do re-cover everything, consider a simple all white interior (with the same Nautique piping pattern). It is so much cooler than colors. Even very light gray would burn you in the Texas sun.

[jlowden]

Thanks. Good points... he has done 1 other boat for me complete which was excellent.

[jlowden]

Chexi great advice and I had thought about doing it myself and as I get older & hopefully smarter I was thinking what you experienced. After reading everyone's advice I think I'm going to just replace the backseat for $300 or $400 and call it a day.

[99SAN]

I took the piece of vinyl where the logo goes to a local embroidery shop with a picture of the logo and they sewed it on there for me, then I took the piece to the upholstery shop for them to install... looks great cost about 100$ for 3 logos

[jlowden]

That is a great idea and I have already talkd to a good friend of mine that does it. Done deal! Thanks 99San