need boat purchase advice

[archcityblues]

Hello, I currently own a 2014 210 with 400 hours. Bought the boat new and Its been great. We've had it for 9 years and need to decide what to do. Unfortunately, we just won't be able to afford a new 21' Nautique, but a new, or newer boat makes sense, I think. We've been offered a good trade in value from a local MB dealer for a f22 Alpha. It surfs really well and the difference between my trade and the new 2022 MB is about 65k Canadian. My 14 210 is paid for and has been hassel free. The MB surf wave is amazing, but I'm new to the brand at its back to boat payments on the balance. Sometimes we feel that a move might be smart just to stay in a newer boat, not falling too far behind with these crazy prices industry wide. Other times I think it might be better to keep my 14 for the long haul. We pretty much use it for surfing. We've kinda outgrown the 210 wave a bit as we tyically dont have a lot of people in the boat, but maybe we start to foil an it wont matter as much? Thanks for your thoughts.

[Nautiquehunter]

The Nauti is a premium brand and will always bring top resale value. The MB is a entry level brand . The market is starting to collapse by next year you will be able to get a great deal on a better boat. In a nutshell you are talking about trading a BMW for a KIA.

[bturner]

Agree with the above. At some point the Nautique you trade in will be worth more than the MB you're now buying IMO. There's always many ways to look at boat buying and timing. Here's some of my thoughts on it.....

• Fall is typically the worst time to sell and probably the best to buy. If you're positive you want out of your existing boat and money is in the equation, consider selling in the spring and sitting out part or all of the season. I've found that by Fourth of July here in the states the balance hits the turning point and by August those selling will take much less than in May or June.
• Unless there's something wrong with your current boat, I would advise selling it yourself. Yes there is more effort as to do this to maximize your ROI you'll need to fix all the minor issues and detail the boat/trailer to the max but you'll see more money that any dealer will be able to pay you for the boat. The wild card here can be states/locations will allow you a tax break where you only pay sales tax on the difference between the new and old boat. On these $100K and above boats and tax rates the difference can be hard to beat.
• NH makes a good point about the market that I also agree with. With everything going on in the market these days now IMO is the time to sell but not buy. If you can move your boat for the right price I personally believe you'll do better next year getting a deal on a new or used boat. Go out to onlyinboards.com and do a search on 2020 and newer Nautiques. I came up with 7 pages of boats that are available. Just a year ago you might get 2 or 3. This tells me the market is saturated in $150K+ surf ships that are not moving anything like they did 2 years ago. That your dealer still has a model on their showroom floor after the entire summer is telling as well.

On your current boat.... What IYO is letting it down? Is it the interior? You mention the wake for surfing but is it really that bad that you're willing to spend $65K for a lower quality boat for? Is there anything you can do like a piggyback ballast system to improve the performance of the current boat? The point here is that you can do a lot of upgrades for say.... $20K - $30K to your current boat and not go into crazy debt.

At the end of the day only you can decide what you want, when to buy and what it's worth to you. For me the only move I would be making now if I decided not to upgrade my current boat would be to move my boat for the right price and only then start searching for a deal on something new.

[ScooterMcgavin]

Definitely some valid points here and I was thinking the same thing about asking if you have added any additional weight to your current boat?

[archcityblues]

Thank you for the responses. I just run the standard stock ballast for surfing, 1750lbs.

[ScooterMcgavin]

I have the same boat, and I can confirm the extra weight absolutely changes the surf wave and worth the upgrade. Who knows… It may by sufficient enough and save you a bunch of money.

[archcityblues]

how did u upgrade? I have the hard tanks and plug a play bags ontop that came stock with it. Thank you.

[ScooterMcgavin]

I did a few upgrades which Included
- changing pro-ballast bags to wakemakers exact fit 650’s
- 500 lbs of lead bags 300lbs in nose and 200 mostly midship
- Nautique Factory surf pipe was also installed
That’s about it and I really like the surf wave and boat in general.

[archcityblues]

Just to confirm, do you think the 650 upgrades significantly improved the wave? Is the bow and midship weight needed with the 650's? Thanks

[ScooterMcgavin]

They definitely helped the wave and to me was well worth it. It’s not going to be a G series wave but it is a really good wave for a 21ft boat, One of the best waves you will get out of a 21ft boat period. You don’t need the mid ship weight, But may want to get something for the bow, lead bags are nice because you can move them around if needed.
I already had the lead from previous boats.

[XBIGPUN66]

I think the bag we have under the front seats makes a big difference for our surf wave

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[shag]

I would echo all the above. Your 210 will be worth as much as that MB 5-7 years from now, and the 210 is a much higher quality boat... MB are ok, but I would never trade my Nautique for one. Upgrade your ballast and I think you will be much happier.