I want a Ski Nautique

[Randrx2]

Hello,

I am new to the community. A little background. I grew up skiing a long time ago (80s and 90s). I learned on an old outboard boat with 55hp when I was a kid. I always envied the SkiNautiques I would see on the lake. We also owned an 250hp I/O and I skied, knee boarded, wake boarded, and tubed behind that boat. I have skied behind Nautiques before and the pull is indescribable. Getting out of the water from a deep water start feels like cheating!

Skip forward many years without a boat. We moved to Florida with many lakes around and I thought it’s time to start skiing again and look at boats. I started looking at new and was floored! When did these things get so expensive? They are more than the price of some RVs!

So we are going to look at used. I really like the looks of the 99 era boats. The direct drive in the center of the boat seems like the easiest to work on. There will only be 3 of us on the boat mainly. We will mostly ski, but I see wakeboarding in the future for my son since that is the trend. But that is a few years down the road. Hopefully he will get the skiing bug.

It seems that most people care for these boats, but I know there are exceptions.

I can do a lot of work myself, mainly cosmetics, minor repairs, oil changes, etc. Major repairs are left to the pros.

Where should I start? If I am looking at around 99 year boats, what other years are compatible?

Are there mobile mechanics who can go out and check the boat out on location?

I thank you in advance!!!

[Michael Crouse]

As an owner of a (Bubble butt) 97-02 Ski Nautique I'm biased, but it's one of the better ski boats out there for a small crew. Prices aren't too bad if you can travel. The GT40 engine is a great pull and fairly bullet proof. Up in the northern states you can find them with under a thousand hrs too because of the shorter seasons (50-60 hrs a year).
Be aware that 2000-2002 might have bad guages because of lousy guages used at that time
Good luck

[Randrx2]

Here is one I am looking at. A 1999 closed bow with 126 hours (seems very low). All regular maintenance has been done and all mechanical and electrical components are in perfect working order. Master's Edition graphics with bimini top. Upgraded GM PCM 5.7 320hp APEX EFI engine option. Price is $16,500 (seems very high).

Any thoughts?

[NautiqueJeff]

That's not that high for an extremely nice boat. I just sold my '99 SNOB for more than that about a month ago, and it had more hours.

[fsts2k]

16,500 for a SN is fair if it is in great shape. I will be into my 2002 for a bit more than that getting it to look decent

[Randrx2]

OK. Thanks for the pricing info. I am going to try and look at on Saturday. Besides the obvious cosmetic stuff and looking underneath everything to see how it was really taken care of, what other mechanical items should I look at before I make the decision to have a mechanic check it out?

[spunkie202]

OK. Thanks for the pricing info. I am going to try and look at on Saturday. Besides the obvious cosmetic stuff and looking underneath everything to see how it was really taken care of, what other mechanical items should I look at before I make the decision to have a mechanic check it out?

Saw that boat on Craigslist here - looks like a nice boat and well cared for but I would def get it out on the water. Remember it also needs a trailer and I think his neighbor has one for around $1,500. Good Luck!!!

[Randrx2]

He told me he had a buyer. Oh well, onto the next one!

[aupatking]

I’ve got a 2001 196 I’m rebuilding right now. Could let it go cheap but it won’t be pretty yet. The hull is almost perfect, but the interior is rough

[SilentSeven]

One thought from my sale of my 97 Ski Nautique - there is pretty low demand for the 19' direct drive closed bow models. People are buying v-drive wake and surf boats with open bows and towers.

Personally, I love the closed bow tournament boats but I would be careful on what what I paid for one right now....especially if you have any thoughts of a shorter than longer ownership period.

This can work to your advantage - you have the chance to pick up a nice one on the cheap. If it was me shopping for a 19' direct drive tourny boat - I'd be looking only at clean boats, well optioned (ie: PP stargazer, etc) and wouldn't hesitate to pass if the owner wanted big $. Based on what I saw, market seems to get pretty soft after $10k or $11k. Not saying their aren't boats out there worth that but it's going to take a special buyer to spend much over that amount.