New Guy Advice

Hello there and welcome to the site.

First off, before you buy a boat of that era you need to know how to inspect it. I suggest you go to the FAQ and check out the boat buyers checklist there. You'll also find some how-to's for our boats and find some other ideas or things for which to look. In the boat buyers guide at the FAQ note the details about wood stringers. The boat you are looking at has wood stringers. They are the structural core of the boat and if the stringers are bad your boat, no matter now beautiful it looks, is in need of major, major repairs.

Second, I suggest you wander around the For Sale section here. Look at what is for sale from 1985 and see what the those era boats look like (both good and bad). I love the look of the 1985 style, personally. You should download the brochure and know what the colors looked like so you can spot if it is original or has been re-upholstered or re-carpeted.

Finally - this is only my opinion - $8,000 seems slightly high for a 1985 boat. Unless it is showroom condition.

If you post some photos here it would be helpful for us to know if this is a good deal or not. We promise to be nice and not steal it from you. :)

Welcome to CCF. Search around, read the how to buy a used boat stuff. There's a lot of good advice here.
When I bought my 86 Silver Nuatique the previous owner and I talked several times. I'm in eastern NC and he's in Jonesboro Arkansas. We tried to meet in Atlanta once but that fell through. The boat had 237hrs. on it AND had a freeze cracked block. He was honest and disclosed everything he knew about it but not a mechanic.
I took a HUGE leap of faith, drove to Jonesboro and picked it up. Then found Correct Craft Fan. With a lot of help I put together an engine installed a 542 prop and have put about 100hrs on it. It's not perfect but very nice and it's NOT for sale.

With boats this old NADA means nothing, condition EVERYTHING !
7-8-$10,000 not out of the question on a particular boat.

The 82-89(2001 hull) is a very good water sports boat. Throws a nice 20 mph wake boarding wake. 30 ish good ski wake and 40+ more guys probably foot behind a 2001 hull than all others.

I'd say before you decide on a price, check the boat.

Do as much reading here as you possibly can (or find a member in your area to bring with you) and do a thorough check. Have the owner put it in the water and test drive it. Check the stringers, gel coat, transmission fluid, oil condition, shaft alignment, vinyl condition, vibrations, starting.......ect.

I just put over $1k into my trailer alone this winter.

$8k sounds pretty high for an 85.

Just my .02

Tell the owner id like to buy that correct craft sign in his garage though.

Seriously.

The fact that he has that in his garage almost makes me wonder if this boat belongs to one of our CCF members?

All the info in here is great. If you want the classic look the 2001 is the way to go and you will fall in love with the way they drive. Getting serious about slalom you will want a NWZ 90+.

That said, that 85 sure does look pretty and the original trailer is a dream to pull and load.

The '94 looks nice. That was the first year EFI was offered, and it was the TBI + Protec ignition version (GT40 came out in '95).