Newer boat or lower hours?

[blaize]

Hey all,

I'm looking to buy a used ski nautique closed bow. Within my budget, it looks like the options range from a 1997 with very low hours up to a 2002 with 920 hours. All the boats are similarly priced and look to be well maintained / taken care of.

Should I go for the newest boat with the most hours? 920 hours in 5 years seems like a lot. What kinds of problems might I expect?

Thanks in advance!

[DanielC]

RE: Newer boat or lower hours?

The engine with 920 hours could be in better shape, if it got regular oil changes. A boat with very low hours probably sat for a long time between the times it was ran, and it had more time for oil to run off of internal parts, and definately had cold starts when it was ran. The boat with 920 hours might of been started warm more often, and did have a layer of oil covering the internal parts when it was started most of the time. The high hour boat probably has a better engine. Check for fuel seepage on the top of the FCC on the high hour boat, the fitting where the wires go into the FCC.
The low hour boat will have less wear and sundamage on the interior and upholestry.
The 2002 boat has the Teleflex digital gauges that are hard to read with sunglasses on, and the tachometer has been know to lose the hours the boat has been ran, and start again at zero. If the low hour boat has the Teleflex gauges, ask for service records to confirm the hours displayed on the boat.
You could also pay a mechanic to do a compression test on the motor, to help you assess the condition of the motor. Again, ask for service records.
I have a 1997 Ski with the GT-40 motor, with 1821 hours on it. I work on a 1998 Ski that my church owns, with about 1200 hours on it. Both engines run fine. both engines I had to fix the FCC at about 900 hours.

[Hydrofoilmaniac]

RE: Newer boat or lower hours?

If you plan to own it for 8-10 years, the hours are low (350 hrs??), the interior is in good condition and it's in good mechanical condition, I'd probably go with the 95.

In fact, if the condition of the boats are equal, I'd still go with the older boat with less hours. This assumes you are paying much less for the 95. I can see no reason to pay 8-10K more for something that's newer when the condition of each is equal and the newer boat has considerably more hours.

My brother has an 89, my Dad has a 95, I have a 76 and my uncle has an 83. The one thing that's clear, SN makes a great boat and you're not going to necessarily get a better boat just because it's new.

If it was a Malibu, I'd go with the new boat.

[NCH2oSki]

RE: Newer boat or lower hours?

I would at least make sure that you get the tsc 1 hull, and not the pre tsc 1 hull. When I purchased my boat it was 3 years old and only had 15 hours on it. We have had it for 4 summers and put about 40 hours a summer on it. So a 7 or 8 year old boat with around 200 hours might be a great deal.

[ScarletArrow]

RE: Newer boat or lower hours?

If the boat was a '96, I would say go with the newer b/c of the TSC hull. Since the TSC came out in '97, the major differences between the boats (other than hours) would just be in the options package. I would not let the TSC2 hull (on the '02) influence your decision.

I bought a boat w/ 1,500 hours on it (GT-40), and it runs like a champ so I wouldn't be afraid of an engine w/ higher than average hours. I would try to find out what conditions the boat w/ the higher hours was run under and pinpoint the maintenance routine of the owner. My boat belonged to a family of 8, who belonged to a ski club, who skied year round. Thus the boat was run at low rpms, was regularly maintained, and was used by very knowledgable skiers.

I wouldn't necessarily suggest anything beyond a normal and meticulous investigation of any pre-boat purchase, but a couple of things I might pay attention to more than others are:

1) The vinyl, especially the seams - how are they holding up? 920 hours is not just engine use, it also means someone was sitting in the drivers seat for the same amount of time.

2) The gelcoat - how much TLC was given? With 920 hours, there will be imperfections; but how often was it waxed, what is the condition of the transom, was it stored on a trailer or on a lift?

Hope this helps

[blaize]

RE: Newer boat or lower hours?

Thanks for all the responses everybody. Very good points about the engine and additional sources of wear and tear (920 hours is a lot of time in the drivers seat!).

I guess I should just post a few boats I've found (I'm in California and I think Texas is about as far as I'd go to trailer it):

1997 Open Bow no PP - 198 hours - $18,500 - CA
http://adcache.boattraderonline.com/6/3/2/87406532.htm

2000 LE w/ PP - 450 hours - $19,500 - TX
http://adcache.boattraderonline.com/6/2/6/88124826.htm

2002 SE w/ PP - 920 hours - $21,000 - CA
http://adcache.boattraderonline.com/6/3/6/88134736.htm


For now I've limited myself to 1997 and above because of the TSC hull, but here are a couple others as a point of reference:

1995 no PP - 586 hours - $15,000 - CA
http://adcache.boattraderonline.com/6/6/7/87606567.htm

1995 no PP - 136 hours - $17,500 - CA
http://adcache.boattraderonline.com/6/2/0/88106320.htm


Sorry if this is too much information. I really do appreciate the advice!

[darrel409]

RE: Newer boat or lower hours?

Are you a competitive tournament skier (slalom course)? If not you probably wont notice the difference of the tsc hull. If you plan on doing any wakeboarding the pre tsc hulls, in my opinion, provide better wakes with and without ballast. When I was shopping I found many available Nautiques up in the Bay area, closer than a Texas marathon run.

[NCH2oSki]

RE: Newer boat or lower hours?

I think the TSC hull will make the resale much easier, and higher. PP is an easy install, and you can get one from Brandon at Central KY inboards at a very competative price, so dont let lack of PP make a huge impact on your decision. I would look for standard or faria guages, and stay away from the digital ones as mentioned before, then its just up to finding the one in the best shape, closest to you for the right price. Shopping for a boat is a lot of fun, just dont take to long, its time to ski soon!

[ScarletArrow]

RE: Newer boat or lower hours?

Blaize -

We purchased our boat last year about this time and faced many of the choices you do now.

I had 3 "must haves"...GT-40 motor, TSC hull, PP...all for resale reasons. I only slalom ski, so I didn't consider the pre-97 hulls.

Of your choices above - IMHO you can't go wrong with the first 2 choices.

The '97 SNOB (open bow) is great...I have a '99 SNOB and really enjoy it. I would ocnfirm the motor is EFI, I thought the Pro Boss was carb. The boat also has some nice extras that are desirable...boom...bimini...tandem trailer.

The 2000 LE is seems to be priced well at <$20k. While you can pick up PPS later, but it nice to have it from the get go. I use the heater often, but that b/c of my location. Shower is a $300 option that most people only use sparingly. The only drawback to this boat may be the swooping "N" graphics. I think 2000 and 2001 were the only years to use this, and from a resale perspective, it's generally not considered to have the classic look of the 196 people desire.

Hope this helps

[surroundsound64]

RE: Newer boat or lower hours?

I'd go with lower hours.

[coach]

Decision should be no brainer..........2002.......best boat hands down. Fuel injected w/hp, easy handling, best wake and will last for many more years. That engine can go 3-4K hours with regular oil changes. You just can't make a 97 into a 02, but you can always fresh'n up the motor. On a budget now......best choice. 8-)

[chris196]

I just bought a 98 196 with 655 hours. I'm not concerned about the engine, it was well maintained. I don't consider that excessive hours for a 98, but it's not low either.
My only concern is resale. I don't plan on selling the boat anytime soon, but if I did there are certain buyers who will write the boat off because of too many hours.

I have no idea if this is a concern or not, but we know some folks who are serious trick skiers. They all say that the 97,98,99 196s are great for trick, but the 00-05 are bad for trick. Not sure if the end of the range (05) is exactly right, but I definitely remember them not liking the early 0x boats. This was strictly because of the shape of the trick wake. They said the slalom wake was great.

[ScarletArrow]

Congrats! And welcome to the family!