Used Ski Boat Market

I have owned a 1989 Ski Supreme for about 3 years. It has been a good boat, but I live in Texas where the wind blows all of the time. I am tired of getting the hell beat out of me everytime I go to the lake and we dont ski as much as we used to. I am thinking of buying something with a v hull design that will chop through the chop. I found a boat that I want, but I am afraid to buy it because I dont want to be stuck with 2 boats in this slow economy. What is the general feeling about the used ski boat market right now? I watch Ebay and have for several years...it seems like these old boats are going for less than they used to. What do you guys think a 1989 Ski Supreme is worth? I have tons of new parts on it. It is a clean boat. I have $8K in it and hope to get my money back, but I realize it may not bring but $6K-$7K. My fear is that it wont sell and I will own 2 boats.

Thanks

At least here in California, market is soft, particularly for the older boats. I've seen lots of supras, supremes, and centurions from the 80s going for 4-7K. I've also seen a lot of 80s Ski Nautiques in the 5K-8K range. BKH

jb_dallas wrote: Thanks for the feedback. It is a shame that the used boat market is so soft.

JB, every market is soft! The world is soft right now.. My suggestion is hang onto it until things improve, and feel gratefull that it's not a $50K dollar boat you want to spin....

Moj'

On older boats, anything not a Correct Craft is going to be really soft. Only Correct Craft has collectability. I think Brian's right on with his $4-$7k. We've got a really nice 88 Malibu Skier with a PCM 240. Everything about the boat is nice, but it has no collectability. It would definately bring a few grand less than a comparable SN. Malibu folks are only into the new boats and don't care about the old. Ski Supreme is a pretty obscure brand.

jb_dallas wrote: I have $8K in it and hope to get my money back, but I realize it may not bring but $6K-$7K. My fear is that it wont sell and I will own 2 boats. Thanks

your pretty optimistic on your price concidering NADA rates it at about 6K tops

JB,
Just sell the thing , take the grand hit, and get what you want.. No one gets out of any boat what they put in,,,, ever.. Hell the dental work and spinal disc repair is worth a hell of a lot more than a thousand bucks...

Moj'

Last spring (a year ago) 1989 supra, great hull, great upholstry, some rotting wood (not stringers) no cover, some rust on trailer, needed several breakers, needed blower. Asked $7,800, got $7,400. Just an example.

(Edit: Paid $10,500 in 1996, minus $2,500 sale of old boat = $8,000 in it. Cant complain about $600 for 11 years use!)

get a new boat there Kevin? a miamian?

nice boat but the beam seems a little narrow for the length of it.

jb,

Mojo comes up with the grand because you were willing to sell for 6, so if you sell at 5 that's a grand.

If you're selling for a grand less than you expected, you probably are also going to pay a grand less than you expected, so it may well be a wash.

Even if you've spent 8K on the boat in the three years you've owned it, it's not typically reasonable to expect to get it all back. If you spent just 50 hours per year on the boat, and you sell the boat for 5K, that's only $20 bucks an hour for the boat, which is pretty cheap.

By comparison, my boat was about 55K up and in, and it's probably worth around 32K in this market, maybe a little more. I've got about 500 hours on it, which is $46 an hour .

Obviously sell it for as much as you can get, but if you only get 5K, doesn't sound to me like it would be so terrible.

I think I'd tend to agree with HW, most people don't know and don't keep track of how much they have tied up in a boat. When you start to figure impellars, oil changes, props, repairing upholstery, blah blah blah, not to mention gas, it can get a bit overwhelming. I think most people just focus on the fun they have.

BKH

I keep a log and execpt for gas, know every cent I've put into any boat I have. You can't really charge oil changes or tune ups against what you have in a boat, that's just normal operating expenses. I look at it as price/year. If you only get $5k for your boat, that's $1,000/year. New boat owners like BK are in at $3,290/year. If you really want a different boat and you've got to sell your boat, I'd say you're not doing too badly.

eric lavine wrote: people have a tendency if you finance a boat or car, say you pay 20k for it and you finance you end up paying 30k over the life, its a factor you need to include

people do have that tendency. I do not. No cash, no boat. BKH

Well, I'm hoping it was for business. Job interview. I believe it went well, but we shall see. BKH

Moving from beautiful CA to Lewisville ...thats a change of scenery. I live in Lewisville, so I can tell you more than you want to know about this area. We (pretty much Texas in general)are one of a handful of places in the nation almost unaffected by the housing crunch. According to the city of Lewisville, neighborhood comps, and other sources, my house had an INCREASE in value of about 8%-9% in the last year.

No move JB. Company HQ'd in TX. I would run the CA business. BKH