Looking to buy a 2008 230 Nautique Advice

[Dan Batt]

Looking at at 2008 230 Nautique.. 274 hours. $49,500.

Looks good overall, a tare in the back cover and two others.

The tray on the back under the trunk cover has several cracks in it, seems odd to me.

Lastly, the big concern they replaced the transmission in 2019, again boat only has 274 hours and in the fall of 2021 had two quarts of transmission fluid added. Not sure if that is general maintenance or indication of a transmission problem as a year later the boat is for sale.

Appreciate your thoughts.
Thanks

[shag]

Pics would help. I have a 2008 230 and I think the 2008-09 SAN 230 are a very good bang for your buck. Last years of the gauges (but unfortunately you have to deal with potential gateway failure - which can render your gauges inoperable, and also the 2008 gateway will not allow your hour meter to go past 999.9 hours). Which engine? The transmission issue could go either way, Occasionally I have seen boats that don't get used much (less than 300hrs in 15 years is pretty low usage), have some issues from just sitting for so long, not sure if that is why the tranny was replaced. Come to think of it, I got mine used with about 900hrs and the transmission was replaced at about 600 I think, according to the records. Maybe the two quarts was a fluid change?? Is that $49k with a good trailer? Is the rest of the boat in good condition? Tray under the trunk cover?

[Dan Batt]

Here are some pics....
Looks like the engine is a ZR6,
Looking at the dash it doesn';t appear to have the Xero off GPS.
The trailer is a brand new hual rite see attached pic; not sure whether that is a good trailer model or not.

[shag]

It does have the Zero Off, far right large gauge. Also appears to have the heater as well, since it looks like a defrost vent on dash. A couple things I would do if buying.
1: Obviously water test if possible
a: check to see that all gauges work

2: I don't believe that was a popular color, for some maybe yes - but you may be able to negotiate a lil
3: Bimini needs adjusted (should fit much tighter)
4: If I remember right, mid year they moved the batteries to under the rear seats, this may be a late 2007/early 2008 built boat (still a 2008).
5: The Sano pad (on the flat surface of the walkthrough and platform. People either loved it or hated it. I hasted it. I dried and cracked to the point where it pinched skin if you sat on it (even drew blood once). I replaced all mine with Sea Deck.
6: Is this a 'Team Edition"? I thought most team's had the griffin carpet (matched the side of the hull decal sort of).
7: I don't see the trailer?

[bturner]

IDK, something about the boat isn't sitting well with me. Is there an interior piece missing in front of the throttle lever? If you're losing 2 quarts of trans fluid over any period of time something isn't right. Where's it going?

This seems to be a boat that just sat at a cottage on a lift or dock somewhere and wasn't owned by someone that was really into it. Miss matched batteries, cuts in the interior, saggy Bimini and that missing pad in front of the shift lever indicate to me this was a boat that wasn't treasured. I've bought a couple of these over the years including the one I currently own. All of them have needed work and a lot of detailing to get them back in shape but all have ended up being good boats. The big thing I do is make allowances for repairs when I make the offer for the boat. The wild card on this one is the trans. If they added fluid and not changed it then I would delete the cost of a trans from my offer in addition to repairing the interior.

I know we're still doing Covid pricing but honestly don't care if the money to get the boat up to spec is coming out of my pocket. $50K for a 15 YO boat that possibly needs a trans is too much money IMO not to mention getting it in for repair and the loss of on water time should you need to do this repair during the season.

On the trailer....
This kind of plays into my "the owner really doesn't care about this boat" statement. He most likely didn't buy a trailer with the boat originally as he didn't plan on doing anything to it. It probably sat on a lift all it's life and the dealer did ALL the work including any "detailing" and maintenance. As such you can assume both were the minimum. Haul Rite has been around for years so you're good there. The wild card is always the options or packages on the trailer. Base trailers always are.... base trailers. Things like aluminum wheels, better winches, tongue dollies, spare tire/tire carrier, color matched paint all can add considerable cost to the trailer. Some of these items are "nice to have items" but if you plan to actually tow the boat things like a better winch or a spare with carrier are "must haves" in my book. When coming up with an offer I take all this into consideration. As the trailer was probably added so he could actually sell the boat (I've done a couple of posts on this) you can assume you got the minimum just like the maintenance/detailing done to the boat unless proven different.

Anyway these are my thoughts but who knows, I could be completely wrong about all this.

[shag]

Good point about batteries. I always replace both at the same time. Also missing the carpet on the floor locker. BT where are you seeing the missing pad? Maybe I am blind lol

[bturner]

5th picture down of the captain's chair looking at the dash. See the brown section in front of the shift lever. Is the pad missing or is that mold or discolored from the sun. That can't possibly be by design can it?

[James]

No worries about the “brown section” in front of the throttle. That is the “WARNING”, “Personal Injury” disclaimer decal.

[bturner]

Wow, guess it's not as bad as I thought it was but needs to be replaced and furthers my statement not being a treasured item or source of pride. I mean buy a new sticker or at least clean up the old one for Pete's sake.

[srock]

Nautique loves their stickers and I removed that sticker on my 2009 230...in fact I removed a lot of stickers. That one looks original.

[srock]

Good point about batteries. I always replace both at the same time. Also missing the carpet on the floor locker. BT where are you seeing the missing pad? Maybe I am blind lol

If the boat is original you have a 1 or 2 or both on the battery switch. Unless the batteries are combined (both) or charged together, instead of individually, the different batteries will not be an issue. The problem arises if you charge them with a single charger or run both on the switch as one battery may overcharge if the other if failing. Or, the lower charged battery can parasitically draw from the other. Some people will run a regular starting battery and a deep cycle for sitting at the party cove draining the battery while playing music and toggle the battery switch to 1 or 2 only. If none of this makes sense, study up or replace them both.

[James]

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[MN Ryan]

Agree with srock on the batteries. I have one Optima blue top and a regular lead acid battery in my boat (it's what was in there when I bought it. As long as they're not tied together, it's a non-issue.