Newbie Entering the Used Boat Market - Seeking Advice!

[Stev0347]

Hey All-
Experienced boater here looking for any advice on finding a new-to-us boat. Bit of background: grew up with a cabin, skied three-event in college then a couple of seasons in show skiing. Have been fortunate to have access to skiing/surfing community but wife and I are looking for our own boat for the family (8/6/3 y/o) and the option to host a family for boat days. Lakes nearby range from 100 acres to 14,000 acres so trailering is likely the name of the game.

For all of those reasons I’m pretty locked in on the 2018-2020 GS22 (I won’t be chasing buoys behind it but would still like to slalom/barefoot). I saw some posts about the hull redesign to make the GS22 a better surf wave. I’m not looking to go pro in surfing so any major concerns there?

And in general, any look-outs to be aware of with that era boat? I’m familiar with general mechanical and cosmetic issues to be aware of so really seeking to understand if there was anything in that timeframe.

Appreciate any guidance and looking forward to official join the PN Crew!

[bturner]

You should be fine with anything that starts with a GS. Shaun Murry does a ton of boat reviews, I would check on his channel to see what he's done and go find the reviews of the boat on YouTube including the Nautique promotional videos. Tons of great information you can sit back and watch.

What to look for?

In general lower hour boats in these years/price range should be in exceptional shape but be prepared to have a dealer look at anything in that price range before purchase. A survey is also a safe bet if you can find someone that's familiar with Nautiques. Anything with a remaining warranty if just for a year is solid gold in my book. If no warranty, then you need to check every single feature/function on the boat with particular attention being paid to the screens as they are very dear to replace. The more junk (features) they load on the boat the more there is to go wrong and there's a lot to go wrong on the newer surf boats. Those features are great when they work but expensive to fix when they break.

This is a buyer's market so you should be able to get quite a good deal with a considerable stock of boats to choose from. I'd even check in with your dealer to see if they have any broker boats or deals being held up on a trade.

[Stev0347]

Quote removed by Admin for not following the Guidelines for Quoting Previous Posts in a Thread.



Thank you so much! I've already been drooling over the Nautique boat review videos with Shaun/Adam. I'm looking at two boats right now, one private sale (2019, local) then another one from a non-CC dealer (2018, about 10 hour drive). Would you have any concerns with buying from a non-CC dealer? It looks like they sell other wake boat mfr, just not CC.

[bturner]

It's all going to depend on the dealer. My personal preference would be a Nautique dealer as they work on these boats every day and there are differences in the brands. I would also prefer to establish a relationship with my local dealer by buying a boat from this at this price range so as to get access to quicker service and consideration. If both boats are acceptable to you I would go with the one at the Nautique dealer even if it were a bit more expensive. It only takes one "I have to have it back before vacation" moment to justify paying the extra money and having that relationship with the dealer. Ask me how I know......

[Stev0347]

Copy. All makes sense! I chatted with the dealer that's 10 hours away and they said they don't do test drives for used boats, so just saved myself 20 hours of roundtrip windshield time and who knows how many headaches down the road with that vessel!

Thanks again for the tips!!

[MN Ryan]

Curious where in MN you are. Nautique dealers here, as I'm sure you know, are scarce. I have been unimpressed with the big one in Rogers.

[Stev0347]

I’m not far from their other location closer to the metro. I’ve had friends go there and have a decent experience. Fingers crossed I do too…

[MN Ryan]

Gotcha. They probably treat people better when they buy $100K boats. I now use Midwest Watersports--though not a Nautique dealer, they always treat me very well.

[Stev0347]

They sponsored my 3-event team in college so I got to know Andy pretty well. All good folks over there!

[FMSKI]

I am not sure you'll be able to execute a proper pull phase, wake crossing, and then setup for a turn behind a GS20/22 - keeping slalom rythmn going. Opinion is based on how Charlie looked skiing it on youtube. Also a owner of a GS here on the lake says they use a buddy's boat for slalom morning sets and never ski behind the GS.