Opinions on this used boat - 93 Ski Nautique Open Bow

[sandman24]

Morning folks - me again. The annoying guy that keeps asking for opinions on boats!

I've been in the search for an open bow boat with ability to ski and wakeboard behind. Came across this 93 Ski Nautique. Price was originally ridiculously overpriced and has been reduced down to $9950 but have a feeling it could still be chopped down. According to the owner it has a new cover, interior is in good condition, and 'needs nothing'. Any red flags known to these boats?

http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/boa/5032084914.html

 

[airdvr1227]

I've never owned or sold a boat that needs nothing.:joyous: Boats rot from the bottom up. Take someone with you who knows boats or hire a surveyor to inspect it for you. It's a 23 year old boat. The issue now is not the manufacturer but how well it was taken care of.

 

[southkogs]

That boat would be over priced in my area. Otherwise, it may be a nice ski boat. Condition is the ruling deal.

I would think it's more of a ski boat, as opposed to a wakeboard boat. Wake boarding requires more ballast to dig the hull into the water and make big waves. That boat is probably designed to set out a nice ski table and leave the wake kinda' small. You can add ballast to it to give more wake, but I don't have any experience with that.

It looks nice in pictures. You'll want to see what he means by checks and scratches. Might just be normal wear and tear, but who knows ...

 

[Ned L]

Nice & clean looking in the pics. It doesn't look like it has been left out in the weather.

 

[bmowers]

Ski Nautique is THE standard for ski boats. The wake in those years are not that much different than todays 2015's. I have skied behind both and only a pro can tell the difference. Price seems about right for Michigan.

 

[UncleWillie]

Keep in mind that you are looking at a 23 year old Specialty boat.
It is designed to pull slalom skiers across flat water and produces a minimal wake.
A wake-board boat is designed to produce the largest wake possible for the boarders to catch Big Air.
Those are two opposing goals.

The ski boat has an inboard engine that is located right in th middle of the boat and takes up half the cockpit.
The ski boat is flat bottom and will ride hard as the chop gets heavier. It will not be a Lake Michigan boat.

If you are not an advanced Skier or Wake-boarder and can appreciate slight differences in the wake shape;
Any I/O bow-rider is going to more in-line with your goals.

It will pull amateur skiers, boarders and tubers all day and have plenty of room for a lot of friends.
The bow seats will be larger and the V-Hull will ride softer as it will go through waves instead of over them.
An 18ft or over, bow-rider will handle the Great Lakes.

The Ski boat does one thing extremely well. The Bow-Rider does most everything at least OK!

 

[tpenfield]

In the engine compartment . . . it is looking like the exhaust manifold gaskets (between the exhaust manifold and the riser) needs some attention. Not a show stopper, but it would need some attention in the near future.

 

[oldjeep]

Looks pretty good in pictures, ski boats typically get taken care of and that one shows it. Price seems average to low for an open bow which are not as common. As for rot - pffft - there isn't any wood in those boats.

Here is a similar one at around same price and maybe a little nicer condition.
http://www.ski-it-again.com/php/ski...&topic=Search&category=Comp_Boat&postid=31403

 

[sandman24]

Thanks for all the responses... I just wanted to give an update on how HORRIBLY wrong this experience went...

The location was about 1.5 hrs from my house. I left work early, grabbed cash, and headed for the destination.

I pull up to his driveway and he has 6 boats total ranging from Mastercrafts to Malibu. I'm thinking 'this is probably a good sign. He loves boats, takes care of them, may let it go cheaper than priced'. Take the cover off and there is spider cracks EVERYWHERE and a huge chunk missing from the left hand side from what I assume was them loading it onto the trailer wrong. Interior was nice so I ask to take it out on the water.

He hasn't started it all year. Toss a battery in and get ready to go. There is a lock on the trailer and it took him TWENTY minutes to find the right key. We get to the boat launch, put the boat in the water, and he realizes it's absolutely empty on gas. We take it back out (by pushing it onto trailer), head to the gas station, and he doesn't have his wallet on him. I say screw it and toss $15 in it so we don't have to go back to his house.

Boat finally gets in the water and takes about 10 minutes to start. I jump in and it's running like absolute ****. Dies when idling, very sluggish when accelerating, engine doesn't sound good. At first there was a very high pitch noise that slowly diminished as he sped up. The entire time there was a loud knocking as well. I don't know much about engines but I would have called it quits. He insists that we swing by his house to grab some type of fuel cleaner. Toss that in and by the time he goes to restart the boat... nothing.

Ended up spending 3 hours driving and 2.5 hours dicking around w the boat. Who the hell sells a boat without trying to start it that year and do a little prep work? Lesson learned, I'll now ask if it has ran this year!

After it's all said and done he still asks me if I want to make an offer...

 

[JaCrispy]

One thing I learned when shopping for my first boat is: internet pictures and sellers description mean squat. You HAVE to see the boat in person. I got to the point where I didn't even ask questions over the phone anymore, just setup a meeting time.

 

[oldjeep]

Thanks for all the responses... I just wanted to give an update on how HORRIBLY wrong this experience went...

The location was about 1.5 hrs from my house. I left work early, grabbed cash, and headed for the destination.

I pull up to his driveway and he has 6 boats total ranging from Mastercrafts to Malibu. I'm thinking 'this is probably a good sign. He loves boats, takes care of them, may let it go cheaper than priced'. Take the cover off and there is spider cracks EVERYWHERE and a huge chunk missing from the left hand side from what I assume was them loading it onto the trailer wrong. Interior was nice so I ask to take it out on the water.

He hasn't started it all year. Toss a battery in and get ready to go. There is a lock on the trailer and it took him TWENTY minutes to find the right key. We get to the boat launch, put the boat in the water, and he realizes it's absolutely empty on gas. We take it back out (by pushing it onto trailer), head to the gas station, and he doesn't have his wallet on him. I say screw it and toss $15 in it so we don't have to go back to his house.

Boat finally gets in the water and takes about 10 minutes to start. I jump in and it's running like absolute ****. Dies when idling, very sluggish when accelerating, engine doesn't sound good. At first there was a very high pitch noise that slowly diminished as he sped up. The entire time there was a loud knocking as well. I don't know much about engines but I would have called it quits. He insists that we swing by his house to grab some type of fuel cleaner. Toss that in and by the time he goes to restart the boat... nothing.

Ended up spending 3 hours driving and 2.5 hours dicking around w the boat. Who the hell sells a boat without trying to start it that year and do a little prep work? Lesson learned, I'll now ask if it has ran this year!

After it's all said and done he still asks me if I want to make an offer...

Should have told him $10

 

[UncleWillie]

You can take the description with a grain of salt.
Pictures! ??? Who nows how old the pictures are and even if they are of the same boat that is for sale.
Pictures and descriptions exist to get a buyer interested. And it worked!

You know have $15 and 6 hours invested in a boat buying education. Priceless!

 

[Augoose]

Sorry for your troubles - like others mentioned, you would have also had to deal with the manifold at some point too - there are better boats out there

 

[southkogs]

... After it's all said and done he still asks me if I want to make an offer...

I'm not saying this was the boat to do this with, but every so often a situation like this one happens and when they hit you with that question you can take a stab at it. If you like the boat, and the stuff that needs done to it isn't an over the top killer (price and effort wise), low ball him. When he counters, you've got your reasons and nothing to lose.

That said - based on everything you said, it sounds good that you walked away. Seems like a pain now, but it was ultimately a good experience for you.

 

[Bamaman1]

Such boats are in the $6K range in our area. My cousin has a Ski Nautique sitting in my lake house yard. He bought a Nautique 2001 replacement from a used Ski Nautique dealer at the Lake of the Ozarks. He felt much better dealing with someone that really knows Nautiques than just some yokel off the street.

Straight inboard boats last a long, long time if they're properly maintained and winterized. There's no replacement for having a boat professionally inspected, including a complete engine scan and compression check. Even with a cracked block, they can "sound" good.