What would it cost to finish restoring this boat

+1 on the formula.

Some comments from looking at the links:

1998 Air - this has closed cooling so will probably have been used in salt at some point, not a problem for the engine with the closed cooling but you would need to check the condition of everything else and the maintenance history, good price and looks very clean in the 1 pic.

Pro Air - looks very nice but difficult to see from the limited pics.

1999 Pro Air - I think its sold and the new owner posted about the amount of work required !! lots!

98 Air new tranny - Why was a new tranny needed? more information required for this one, the comment "GREAT FOR GOOFY WAKESKATING RIDERS BECAUSE OF REVERSE PROP ROTATION" confused me as a goofy rider !!!

1999 pro air apex - Looks very nice from the comprehensive pics and very clean - sold

95 Sanger - Not sure

98 Sanger V210 - 18k has you budget gone up? A quick search on google gave some very high praise for the V210 and the wake looks massive from the limited searching. Same hull from 95-now on the v210. I am sure you can get a very nice CorrectCraft for 18k though

1997 Super Sport - Looks a very strong possibility nice :) great hull and a good price, go investigate further.

2000 Air - top end of budget? but a great looking boat, although more pictures and more info would be needed.


Buying a boat from ebay auction is always a difficult one as its a lot of money to throw at something without actually inspecting and you never know if the pictures and description is 100% accurate, are the pictures new or where they taken 2 years ago? Not my preferred option unless its close enough to inspect and water test before the auction ends, different if its a buy it now I suppose. If its close enough to inspect then ok otherwise stay clear unless its a £200 project boat

bhectus wrote: Joe, here is one to check out: Air Nautique

I noticed that one. 16k seems like a great price for either of those Air Nautiques. I don't know if prices are coming down or what, but wow.

Here's the link to the PN site with a lot more pics.

This looks a lot like a boat that was torn down to give it a good clean up I wonder if it's the same boat? I looked on PN but I couldn't find the thread regarding the tear down so I can't say if it's the same boat.

Thanks.

But a quick search found this 2000 AIRfor the same price. Too much$$$ for me.

Interesting, my buddy was looking for a Sport last year, and we found a couple worth looking at down in TX. Got to chatting with one of the dealers/brokers down there and he was saying how in his mind, the Nautiques are far and above all the other ski/tow boats out there. Naturally, I inquired as to why he thought that. He said they perform best in the dam tests (I of course hear damn test). What the hell is a dam test, I questioned. Apparently on a fairly regular basis, they have floods and inevitably a number of ski boats break away from their mooring/dock/lifts and start floating down river and eventually end up going over one or more dams. On a very consistent basis, the cost to repair the nautiques is significantly cheaper then Malibu, Mastercraft and the others.

Just thought I'd throw that out there, not sure if its relevant here, but an interesting comment from a guy down that way who is in the business...

bhectus wrote: Seems like a lot. I bought mine for that and its 99.5% complete (missing center stern/bow cushions) and with a tower and 501hrs w/GT40 engine.

Stop rubbing it in!

Seems like a lot. I bought mine for that and its 99.5% complete (missing center stern/bow cushions) and with a tower and 501hrs w/GT40 engine.

No it would not have had a tower from the factory. I saw this too on PN and was wondering it's story. I'm on Don's side...it would take some serious looking into before I pulled the trigger. Hull looks clean though. I do see a little black scuff he failed to mention on the starboard side. Makes me wonder what else he feels like leaving out..Just my 2 cents

I noticed that on PN, it would really depend on wheather or not he has the parts.   If he doesn't, I would be a little concerned about what happened to them. That's not old enough to need a restoration, a good cleaning maybe. They have had some flash floods in that area 3 or 4 that I can remember since the boat was new, some history would be nice and a very good inspection would be a must.