My New to me Bu
 

So many of you saw the incredible deal on a 2006 Supra I lost out on to Zimme last year. This deal is nowhere near the 2006 Supra for 16500. But i did land a 99 Sunsetter VLX for 14.5k last week. Its almost set in stone barring a test drive with the dealer sometime this week. So my question to all you Bu guys anything special i should be watching for on the test drive this week?

the one in missouri?

IMO..The sunsetter VLX is a great rig!!

yep the one in Lees summit ... probably gonna have to tear apart the stereo and rewire but it is functioning right now

I have the exact same boat and love it so far. Here's what I would watch out for.

1. The gauges. Make sure they don't flutter all over the place. More specifically the volt and oil pressure gauges. If you can, make sure the fuel gauge works as well (that might be hard to do though). I've read online that boats of our age can have gauge problems (mine does).

2. Find out where the battery is located. Sometimes it's in one of the rear lockers. If it is, ask if they can relocate it to under the passengers seat. This will help with filling fat sacs in the lockers and changing the battery should it go out (since the hatch is electric).

3. Check what type of plug they have underneath the swim platform. If it's the plastic kind, ask them to replace it with a brass setup. Trust me... the plastic one is terrible. It'll get cross-threaded and stuck (like mine is right now).

4. Turn on the stereo to a normal volume and while it's on, try to raise the electric hatch. If it makes the radio shut off for a moment, have them tend to it. I'm not sure what causes it, maybe the hatch drawing too much power, but either way it try to get it fixed. It's obnoxious and can cause speaker "popping".

5. Check all of the switches. Bilge, depth finder, stereo... etc.

6. INSPECT THE TRAILER (this is where I got burned) Look for rust on the crossmembers. Sometimes with boats this old the trailer gets replaced, sometimes not. If it's the original trailer, make sure the trailer brakes are working, that's an expensive fix if they're not (again... it happened to me). Make sure all of the lights work, that seems obvious but it's easy to overlook when you have boat goggles on.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions.

If you look at any of my videos, they were all taken behind our boat http://www.youtube.com/user/petrie141

Video of the wake with 800lbs in the rear (one 400# bag in each rear locker) and 200 ish in the center locker.

<iframe width="640" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/WYkWTyOk55U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

https://scontent-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/...68267864_n.jpg

Surf wake with 750 in rear locker and about 200 behind driver I'm 6'2" for reference.

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2874/1...034be013_o.jpg

Is this it? http://kansascity.craigslist.org/bod/4124935615.html

If so, it looks pretty clean.

I noticed it has a non-matching rim and a bracket for a spare tire, but no spare tire. Maybe the non-matching rim is the spare? See if they have the other wheel somewhere. That looks to be the original Road Runner trailer (just like mine) so make sure to check the trailer brakes and check for rust on the crossmembers under the boat. The tower looks solid from here, but give it a shake at the top anyway just to make sure.

thanks for all the advice...

Is that surfwake that good on the port side? I ride regular

I shook the tower its solid.

The front steps on the trailer are rusted. I tow this boat 2x a year for a total of 30 miles a year. once to the lake and once to the caves. So trailers arent as important to me.

I asked about the tire mismatch and didnt get a very legit answer. I will look into the trailer a bit more at the test drive.

It is a really clean boat all the vinyl is new... i'll relocate the batteries myself... the stereo is kinda a mess and if you look really close at the starboard side of the boat you can see where it was repaired in the off white section with unmatching gel. also has some beaching scars on the keel. other than the stereo and the mismatch gel tho its pretty nice.

Attachment 32438
This is the surf wake of my 96 sunsetter LXI DD.

The surf wake is just about the same on the other side. We just try to fill the sacs a little more for our regular footed riders to counter the driver's weight. No one has complained and everyone has ridden ropeless regardless of what side they're on. It doesn't need a lot of weight to surf. In fact, we only used one 750# sac for a long time (we still do every now and then). It's plenty to get my 200lb butt surfing without the rope. I couldn't notice that much a difference between 750# and 1200#, so I choose to ride with less. It's easier on the gas tank and our driver can see a little better. The first thing to do would be move that battery. You'll only be able to fill up a 750# sac about 60% with it back there.

If you're looking to upgrade it at all, the only thing I would suggest is perfect pass. Although the boat is strong and can hold speed relatively easily while wakeboarding, keeping speed while wakesurfing is a little more challenging. Now that we have it on ours, I'm not sure how I ever lived without it.

If there is rust on the steps, there's a great change there is rust elsewhere. But like you said, if you don't tow it much, I wouldn't worry about it. Just inspect it before you take off.

I think all boats as old as ours will have their scars, I know mine does. I've never been a fan of beaching our boat, but the guy before us didn't mind at all. We have some scratches here and there but over all they don't matter much. Mix some vinegar and water in a spray bottle and keep it on the boat to wipe down when you're done riding. That dark stripe that goes all the way around the boat is a magnet for water spots.

Yes PP will be going on there I'm going to be setting up a group buy again this winter with the same guy I got it from last year for MY DD so PM me if you're interested. i guess i'll have to move the battery setup to the locker shouldnt be a big deal just parts cost wiring is pretty straight forward for me.

Little high this late in the season. Especially with that tower, no wedge or perfect pass. Get rid of the electric hatch lift, we have 3 sunsetter vlx's in our crew and we all did away with them, takes too long to open. We just screwed a nylon/vinyl strap on.

Make sure it is the wake hull, hard to tell from the pictures but it does look like the wake hull. This time of year 15k OTD is fair but not really a steal IMO.

I've been wanting to do that since we bought the boat. What did they use to replace the electric actuator? Do you have a link to the product? How hard was it to replace?

What is wrong with the tower?

I am sure it is a cheaper universal tower. Grab it and pull it side to side, bet is flexes alot. Not a deal breaker, but your boards will be banging around in the racks if you get some. The titan on my bu doesn't move. I have tons of experience with the sunsetter VLX's, let me know if you have any more questions. I would get rid of the table too, just takes up space.
This is what I am talking about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww2ygM9xpT0

it had some name on the side i'll look at it when i test drive it... i pulled it side to side and the whole boat shook .. tower didnt move much

My opinion is that is a great boat and a great price. When you are talking sub 20k vdrives there are very, very few options and that boat looks pretty dang clean. IT is a wake hull just looking at it and I am not sure there was even such thing as a diamond hull VLX till 2001. Tower looks like a complete custom job to me. It looks ok and if it is solid than I wouldn't worry about it too much.

the tower had a name on it i recognized i just dont remember it. And you're right it is the wake hull. that was the very first thing i looked for. Thanks for making me feel better about price. I agree its next to impossible to find a vdrive under 20k. this boat is worth 20 in the spring easily and i'm not gonna spend 5500 on it with storage and insurance. And its local so no long drive. yeah it wasnt 50% off like the Supra but i'll take 25%

I actually have a 96 and do not have the wrap around seating and like it more than my friends with the 99's. More floor space, we ride with no more than 4 people most of the time anyway. Here is mine before i did the new wrap. I run the wedge down, maybe 500 lbs in the rear lockers and a full super single waterbed mattress in the ski locker over flowing out of the locker, 600-750 lbs. That hull likes alot of weight in the front. I have had my boat for 11 years and love it!

It's not new to you if you didn't buy it yet

Please do share the sub 15k vdrives for sale that you know of....

is that office space guy in the bow? what's he been up to lately, still doing construction?

Funny, I was playing with photoshop years ago! My friend just bought a 99 with a nice titan tower, racks, speakers, ballast in great shape for 16.5k this spring. Another friend bought the same boat for 20k july of last year, but with no ballast, perfect pass and a skylon tower. Boat prices go down in the fall.

yeah so for 16.5k this boat will have ballast and PP neither are very difficult installs and the stereo is already in it ... though i will be reworking it

Test drove today drives well. Hard to turn to the left is this common? Tower is a skylon tuna tower. Opinions?

Mine is a little harder to turn left as well. Not so much that it can't be done with one hand, but it is slightly noticeable. When getting on the gas is when you feel it the most i.e. getting a wakeboarder up but the boat wasn't straight. With the limited experience I have, I feel like older vdrives are a little harder to turn than older DDs.

So did you pick up this boat? Hows it look and run?