Question re: 1997 "Air" Nautique

Maybe I'm a purist, but towers are for wakeboard boats. Took mine off the day I got my Sport, and it was still wrapped up the day I sold it.

My WB buddies had the pole when I hauled that bunch. Unless you need a good amount of board storage, over and above what you have in the Sport already, or you need a place for the massive boom-box speakers, the pole will do what you need, not get in the way of the boom and a Bimini can easily be modified to accommodate the pole.

Savings? $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

You're welcome

Lots of Samson towers in my area, likely as the factory is relatively local.     They're nice from what I've seen.   they custom make each tower, so if you need them to accommodate the BF boom, i am sure they could (if it isn't made for it already)

Correct, apparently the masters edition was the color scheme for that particular year and model. We are very excited about the boat and he came down quite a bit in price as well so we feel really lucky and the whole family is excited. We will head down this week to pick her up. Thanks again so much everyone. I just went back and read my first post in this thread and with research and all your help and guidance, I kind of chuckle at that post now and how much more I know about this era SN now compared to then. I really feel that without all your help, we wouldn’t have found this boat. You really steered us in the right direction! Thanks again!

+1 on old trailer ditch idea!

Well everyone, I think we found our next boat today. It’s the 1998 sport masters edition I linked a few posts above. It’s been excellently maintained and boy am I glad you guys pushed us toward a 1998 instead of a 1997. So much storage in that trunk!!

We actually didn’t like the look of the interior from the pictures, but we were already 4 hours south buying a trailer for our 1988 SN 2001 and we decided to drive an extra 1.5 hours just so we could at least get a feel for what a 98 felt like inside. But seeing it in person, it’s a beautiful boat and we took it out on the lake and it’s just awesome!! We already had one trailer on the truck, so couldn’t take it home today, but we put a deposit down and will head back down next week sometime to pick her up.

Once I get the pictures sorted, I’ll post some here. Thank everyone, especially @ultrarunner, for all your help and guidance!! Truly, you have all been so helpful and wonderful. We are all so excited to soon have the next new family boat.

Ahhh....well, just goes to show how much I desire to be educated in the 'other product offering' ;-)

gun-driver wrote: GT-40 is 310 stock HP

Correct Gun....

What was the change in the Apex GT-40 that got another 10HP over stock?

Don’t blame ya Matt.

Yeah, I saw that Sport pop up. Looks like a nice one. BTW, it’s either 310hp or 320hp if it has the Apex GT-40. Not 330hp ;-)

Kind of by definition, a used market is never "artificially" high or low. The market sets the prices, the prices are correct if people pay them.

New Nautiques and similar being 80 to 150k is the same - people are paying it, total unit sales are relatively small, that's just what the market it going to be. Over the years we've discussed here "why doesn't someone make a $50,000 direct drive ski boat, bare bones but capable?" Well the answer is pretty clear, the market research and sales results say it wouldn't make sense, better to sell more 100k boats and not dilute the market.

If absolute best value is the goal, we'd all buy 1993 NWZ for slalom. No wood, easily rebuildable drivetrain, could run forever with modest expense. But we look at what "more" we want in a used boat, whether it's size or open bow or better wake or more power or whatever, and find what we can afford and go for it. IMO there is zero comparison between car prices and boat prices.

last thing, we are talking about a family looking for a '99-'02 Sport. If I had to guess, in the entire country, are there 20 people actively looking for that boat? Or maybe 30? Can't be many. And how many are for sale, maybe 25 or 30? Talk about a thin market.

ultrarunner wrote: I'd agree. Having said that, I'm on my third ski boat since 2006... American Skier - Ron Tanis version ;-), my previous '99 Sport, and now my '96 SN. Made money on the fist one, "even" on the second (after 4 years of use) and I don't doubt I'll be even on the current one when the time comes. They do hold their value, a good thing. The first two, I purchased from the original owners. Current ride had one additional. At the end of the day, I'd always pay a bit more for a good-history, well maintained boat, as I think I'll get most of it back. It's worked so far. YMMV

Yeah. I think the lesson I'm learning from our experience is to get out of the boat a little sooner. Our '88 has served us well, but we held on to her too long and now have to essentially start over. From now on, I think we will look to move on to another boat every 4-6 years to stay nearer the market price of resale vs. new purchase of used SN.

Hollywood wrote: It doesn’t matter what they sold for new, $40k or $4k.

I think it does, besides the housing market (in the right area) this is the only market where a 20 year old object only depreciates a couple K

It doesn’t matter what they sold for new, $40k or $4k.

gun-driver wrote: ^^^^Way to much money for a ‘99 with 1300+ hrs and only a carb motor !!!!

Yeah, maybe a couple grand. But it's worth what they get for it ;-)

Hey Matt, this will get you started till you get approved on the FB page: