2012 SAN 230 What to Look For

[s_kelley2000]

I am looking to get into a 230 and a 2012 popped up right near me. I saw it yesterday and the interior is perfect. The gel coat has a few imperfections (scratches and a spot that looks like somebody buffed too aggressively and went through the flake) in the blue metal flake. I am guessing it may be tough to repair but I am ok with living with that or having it professionally repaired. Also it looks like it will be below the waterline so it shouldn't bother me when using it. Anybody have any tips for removing minor scratches from metal flake? Can I go through compound, polish etc like I have done successfully on regular gel coat?




I am going to water test it today. I am pretty familiar with Nautiques and boats in general so I know to check fluids, shaft and rudder packings, ballast but anything in particular I should be on the lookout for with this year/model?

I don't think it is a Team Edition as it does not have the LINC screen but part of me thinks that is a good thing to have less technology in an 11 year old boat even though it will complicate adding NSS if I decide to do that down the line. However the speed control seems to be Nautique Cruise (see Pic Below) or at least I don't think it is PP or Zero Off. I can't seem to find much info on this system. Is this paddlewheel or RPM based? Will this work ok to hold wakeboard and surf speed with more than factory ballast? Could it be upgraded to GPS or would I have to swap to PP or Zero Off? If I would have to switch can any of the components be reused or is it the whole system I would need?

[jpwhit]

Personally, I think its little bit of a false argument to avoid the LINC screen. Just because there is no LINC screen, it's still not the same as older boats where everything is wired and there isn't a lot of electronics. The boat's control system is still fundamentally computerized CanBus based. The boat still has a PDM to control most electrical devices. It's actually harder to diagnosis issues on these boats because with the LINC screen you have the built-in diagnostics for both the engine and the PDM. Without it, you're actually a little bit blind to what's going on with the PDM for example. Diacom doesn't include PDM diagnostics for example.

That speed control is what they used in non-LINC boats. The display on that IMO fails more often than LINC displays fail as a percentage of units. Because it's actually rarer than LINC screens, it's already getting hard to find and expensive to replace. I can't answer your questions about how that works and what your upgrade paths are from that. I can for a LINC screen boat because it's way more common, therefore I've worked on a lot of them and so know how everything works. I actually repair LINC screens, and there are other folks entering the market that are starting to repair them too. I've never worked on that speed control unit. I think it's really fundamentally the same hardware as a Zero Off head unit but running completely different software created by Nautique. But the way eControls locks everything down, there isn’t a way to get the right software onto a standard Zero Off head unit to replace that.

In terms of your speed control upgrade options, installing a complete Zero Off system is likely the best option if that unit doesn’t meet your needs. Just keep in mind that you can't replace that with a ZO, because I think it also controls some other things like ballast, that ZO would not handle. You'd have to add ZO in addition to that if you wanted a higher capability speed control.

[s_kelley2000]

Thanks for the insight and additional information about LINC and the speed control. I don't think it controls ballast as there are separate factory looking rocker switches for that but if the gauge fails it sounds like it could be hard to find a replacement. But if it is more or less the same system as Zero Off than I think it should suit my needs well.

[srock]

2012 with no linc screen. To me, that's worth more money. Is the boat the same as the pre 2009 dash? Post a picture.

[s_kelley2000]

Here you go:

[s_kelley2000]

Here is a beter shot:


and a couple other shots of the boat and trailer:

[jpwhit]

But if it is more or less the same system as Zero Off than I think it should suit my needs well.

Nautique seems to have reused the same gauge assembly, but it's not the same speed control system as Zero Off. Like I said earlier, you don't see it discussed here much because LINC equipped boats are more common, but maybe someone with more experience with that speed control will chime in with more details.