New boat time. Looking at a 2016 G25 with 500 hours. What to be concerned about?

[Proedge]

Hey guys, new here, been active on the MC forums, had a MC X-55 for a few years. It was a really good boat, but being an older design, it wasn’t really suited for surfing. I had recently sold it and am looking for a replacement. This year has been crazy for boats, as I’m sure everyone knows. Hard to find something good that’s not overpriced. I’ve been looking for a 16+ G23 or G25, had a 16 G23 in mind, but it sold before I could get to it.
I’ve been doing some reading about the G boats and the consensus seems to be that the G25’s need more weight than factory to put out a good wave. I’m really now wanting a boat that I can just surf from the factory. After adding all the extra ballast and lead all over my X-55, I’m kind of over that whole thing.

Anyway, I’ve come across a 2016 G25 that caught my eye. It’s an all black boat, looks really sharp. My biggest concern about it is the “high hours”. My last boat was a 2010 and I sold it with 260 hours. Now looking at this G25 having almost double the hours and being half the age concerns me. What do you guys think? Reliability issues? Future resale issues?

Also a few questions about the 2016’s as it seems to be somewhat of a crossover year.
1. I understand that the hull was redesigned in 2016 on G23/G25. Same hull from 2016-2020? Any changes to hull, running gear, engine, transmissions?
2. The boat I’m looking at has JL interior speakers with the speakers behind the windshield. It also has 6 Focal tower speakers, 3 Wetsounds amps and two subs. I’m confused about the tower speakers. Was it possible to have JL interior speakers and Focal tower speakers in 2016? It’s obvious the PO added two more towers and changed out the amps/subs.
3. 2016 has the LINC 2.0, as far as I can tell. Apparently it’s essentially the same as the original system but with the side buttons removed? 2017 boats have the LINC Panaray system. My question is, was the 2017 update a big improvement? It seems there are issues with all systems, which ones are best? I’m a bit confused why they would release a “new” boat in 2016 with an “old” screen and then put a whole new screen in the next year. Should I be trying to get a 2017 instead?
4. We don’t usually have a very large crew, but I’m used to having a lot of room on my X-55. Should I be looking at a G23 instead for a better surf wake? I don’t really need a 19 person seating capacity, but having the extra room is always nice.

thanks for reading and I welcome all your comments

[Proedge]

Some photos of the G25 I'm looking at






photo uploader

[jjackkrash]

Get a good set of buffers and wool compounding pads. That is a lot of black.

[jjackkrash]

Get a good set of buffers and wool compounding pads. That is a lot of black.

Looks awesome though. 500 hours doesn't concern me all that much if it was taken care of and you are not going to pile the hours on, but the price should reflect hours similar to milage on a car.

[bturner]

Depending on where you live 500 hours on a 5 season boat isn't that many hours. Now in MI that's a lot of hours but still nothing to be concerned with if the boats been taken care of. The pictures of that boat would tend to lead me to believe someone took good care of it. Unless you're really good with boats (and a lot of times even if you are) paying for a professional survey is a good idea. Having one done by a dealer is even better as they know the weak areas to focus on.

I always worry about "boy racer" stereo installations like these. Tons of gear that may or may not be installed well. With that many amps my main concern would be if they upgraded the electrical system (including the alternator) to keep up with the power those amps are drawing. Then there's the installation itself. It may be the best professional installations ever or it could be a local car audio special (much more likely), no way to tell without digging in. I have no idea why anyone would need 3 pair off tower speakers but that setup is on the verge of comical.

[Proedge]

Well from the sounds of it, the previous owner lived on a lake, so putting 100 hours/season on the boat wouldn't be that hard.
The extra speakers do have me concerned a bit, as it seems it was a bit of a "party boat", so maintenance could be a bit lacking of the PO didn't care much about it and just wanted to booze cruise it.
Price wise, they aren't really wanting to negotiate much, as the market this year is crazy. They're asking $145k CAD ($107k USD). I offered $135k CAD, ($100k USD) and they aren't willing to take that.
I had a look at other 2016 G25's for sale currently and most of them seem to be going for around $125k USD mark, but they all have much lower hours. Where do you guys think this boat should be priced at?
Also, does anyone have any answers to my original questions?

[Proedge]

Well I'm back looking at Nautiques. I've got a deposit down on a 2019 G25. The way the prices have gone I sure wish I would have bought that black 2016 back then. That boat sold for $145k CAD, now it would easily be worth $160k.
Not sure if I should make a new thread about the 2019, curious if there's anything I should expect to do to it to get better surf waves or anything. Any need for extra balast? Lead, etc?

[Proedge]

some pics of the 19... I'm just not sure about the interior. I reached out to NautiqueParts and priced out new skins. I think worst case if I don't like the interior in the long run, I can get all new skins. They quoted me $8500 to replace every single skin in the boat

[bird_dog0347]

Congrats man, I bet that interior grows on you and I like the colors on this one much more than the 16. Now you just need that white stuff to turn into warm liquid and you're all set.

[BYLKN]

I like both boats and think both are good choices. I wouldn’t be concerned about 500 hours either especially a 16. I put 700 hours on my 16 and was running great when I sold it and my buddy who bought it has probably put another 100 on it last summer. As far as additional weight, in my 16 I had 500 pounds under the tower, 250 on each side and it made a great difference and surfed awesome.

[Gwozhog]

Why buy a high hour boat? Their will be a million low hour boats for sale in few months when the weather warms up.

[bturner]

I think the gas price thread should be a must read before buying a G this spring. There are no shortages of G's on onlyinboards.com right now and I bet once the season starts there will be a lot more on the market. 65 gallons @ what? $7.00 US a gallon in ON Canada right now? And that's on shore lord knows what marina gas would be there. So from what I can tell online a G23 burns between 8 - 11 GPH. If you plan to do say 40 hours a season and your season is 4 months (to make the math simple) you'll burn 80 gallons/month (10x8 GPH) @ a cost of $560. Do that for 4 months and you'll be in for $2240 for the season. For every 10 hours more over the planned 40 hour season you'll burn an additional 80 gallons or $560 in gas. I guess if you're buying a $120K you should be able to afford the gas so there is that but that's way to rich for this poor old boy. I'm willing to bet it'll be too rich for a lot of others out there this year as well.

Take your time, I have a feeling there'll be several more options out there for you if you're willing to wait until mid June. The difference in price could easily be a season's worth of gas.