Need some info on a 2006 Tige 24Ve

Hey yall, I'm posting up here to try and help a friend out. I don't know squat about Tiges and neither does my buddy. But I know there are alot of guys with Tiges on here.

He came across this boat the other day with only 150 hrs and a price that seems to be right. I haven't seen the boat myself, just been told that it looks immaculate and seems to be very well taken care of. And I know it has an upgraded motor, which one, I'm not sure.

Are there any trouble spots on these boats? Any options to look for or avoid? Anything else that we should look at when inspecting the boat (aside from the standard checklist)?

Thin, cheap, hard to clean upholstery. Check the rear seat cushions for the seams splitting and the vinyl coming apart.

My previous boat was a 24Ve. Rock solid with the Marine Power engine. The upgrade is a 400 hp Marine Power engine. Both engines IMO are loud but a FAE will definitely help out a TON!!!!

The boat without ballast is about knee cap high but add ballast and you are talking a lot more fun.

The layout of the boat is good and the activity center in the back allows you to put the ropes, binding lube, and whatever else you want quick access to nice. The transom walk thru is the bomb but watch the watch thru hatch since the gas shocks that open the door will mis-align the hatch easily if the screws are not tight.

Does it already have a ballast system? If so, you can add onto the system to enhance the weight. Both E-tower and Z-towers seem to work well. The Wake Design racks are okay but there was a recall on them since the screws that they included in the original batch were not long enough. Make sure you buddy purchases the warranty from Tige.

The Lifetime Hull Warranty is now a 10 year hull warranty since it will be the second owner. Don't worry, there hasn't been a Tige that has been replaced because the of the hull yet.

Overall, very nice boat and I am sure you will be happy with it.

DeltaDave, you are wrong my friend. I didn't have any of your issues and owned the boat for 2 years. $.02

So Delta Dave which model did you own that had all this issues, what part of the boat was to thin? what parts were cheap?, what were you cleaning with? and if seams were coming apart how old was it and was it not covered under warranty?

I kind of thought the same thing deltadave said bout a friends RZ2. If I'm not mistaken he sold it because of fit and finish.

I just went through my buddies 06 24ve, oh my I wasn't the least bit impressed. Looked cheap to me, the carpet was like the carpet you find on subwoofer boxes, vinyl looked thin and cheasy.

I don't have much experience with Tiges, but the little experience I have has turned me off... The only one I've ridden in had a lot of rattles, and a lot of vibration. Vibration could have simply been the prop, but who knows.... I also looked at a newer one at the boat show last year. When I stepped in the center of the fiberglass swim platform, it felt like a spring board! Not solid at all!!! When I felt that, it really made me wonder about the hull integrity, when they don't bother to use enough glass in their platforms to make them solid.... I wouldn't buy one. Just my opinion though.

(Message edited by cwkoch on August 14, 2009)

TXSurf, head over to http://tigeowners.com/forum/ and start a thread and you can get quite a bit more information.

I don't really care for the interiors on the tiges but the only one i've rode behind was a 24ve with 1800 lbs of ballast and it was one of the best wakes i've seen

The older Tige interiors had issues with vinyl splitting at the seams- I have an 01 and had the rear seats redone- there weren't enought vents in the bottoms of the seats and they trap water and when people step on the seat, it put a lot of pressure on the seam. I drilled extra vent holes and they've been great for 5 years now. Very solid boat- if you have ballast in it, you'll love this boat- they are loud as someone mentioned- but the FAE will fix that. Have fun!

TXSurf. X2 on checking out http://tigeowners.com/forum/ as there you will get honest opinions there from people that own Tiges. They do have their ownership googles on, but still voice their opinions about the things that need improvement or are problematic. I am a Tige dealer and proud to represent the product (since 2001). We sold a significant number of 2006 Tiges, and while the interior materials, fit and finish are better on the newest boats, the vast majority of owners of 2006 boats are happy with their purchases and not selling them or trading off for something else. The swim platforms are not falling off I am of the opinion that Tige builds one of the strongest hulls in the business (but I sell them so I know my opinion counts less....). The 24ve drives very well for a boat that size, throws great wakes when loaded properly (yes it needs ballast to go with the TAPS for advanced riders like most folks on this board), and does not need more than the 5.7 340 hp motor to move it with authority. Check the boat out and share with us your opinion.

All the boats with the bad interior are a decade or more old now and most the people on this thread don't know whatthey are talking about.Repeating what they have previously read in hate threads is common practice on this site.
btw I don't own a tige anymore.

Love my tige. It is an '08. None of the problems mentioned above.

My 06 had NONE of the issues described here by all the non-owners/haters. 250+ hrs.

David, no I am not wrong; you may not have had any issues with your vinyl. That doesn't mean others haven't. Even JK, a dealer, admits they have improved since 06 and "most" people are happy. Why not ask him how many customers have had 05-06 boats with vinyl problems? Dom, I have two friends that own them. Both had the rear seat cushion vinyl split at the seams. I have also seen several others in the 05-06 years with the same issue. These are not ten year old boats. The vinyl is thin and grainy and difficult to clean. Um, yeah Dom, they clean their seats with Simple Green and leave it bake in the Florida sun. Tige would not warranty the vinyl because it was over two years and it took that long before the vinyl pulled apart. BTW, I am not a Tige hater. I think they make a nice boat that throws a nice wake and they're very solidly built. TX asked if there were any trouble spots and I answered him. Guess I was suppose to blow sunshine up his a$$.

Of course I "admit they (Tige boats) have improved since 06" as I am in the business of selling new boats and there have in fact been some great improvements, interior and otherwise. Almost none of my customers have vinyl problems on their 2006 Tiges and from the data I have available to me right now, 87% of the 2006 Tiges I sold that year are stilled owned by those purchasers. To me, 87% qualifys as "most". Dave is right that the 2006 vinyl Tige used was more grainy and harder to clean than the newer stuff but I don't see where it is significantly thinner. In my area we do not see extreme heat in the summer and our summer's are shorter so the potential for deterioration is probably less. What we do see here is extreme temperature fluctuations in the winter and some towboat brands experience gelcoat cracking issues much worse than the norm. It is much easier in my shop to sell a 2006 Tige with grainy vinyl than boats with gel cracks. My point is not to bash another brand but to point out that there are certain issues that are more of a problem in one boating location/climate than another. So Dave told us his observations and above I suggested getting more info from actual owners. Hopefully this is all helpful to TXSurf. As for blowing sunshine up his a$$, I'm a dealer, that's my job.

My experience as a dealer has been that my customers who take care , use proper products and treat their boat properly havent had any abnormal problems with there boats, interiors included.
As far as warranty Tige has been exceptional with any issues.
When it comes to drivabilty they hard to beat, and fuel economy they are number one , just check www.boattest.com for data, several other brands have quit posting there data because of poor results.

DeltaDave, no you aren't suppose to blow sunshine u his a$$ but the second post helps the OP better see the picture. The first post was a general without any further explanation. You second post is much better that the OP can have a better picture.

As for my 24Ve, I took my time and cleaned her and paid attention to the smaller areas that needed to be taken care of. Like every other brand, you have to take care of the boat or it will go downhill.

I have an 06 20v, my vinyl SUCKS! It is kept in my garage cleaned and protected with 303. In my experience with Tiges warranty, they don't hold up their end of the deal. Part crappy dealer part Tige. Just my experience, not trying to start a war with anybody unless you work at Tige!

Yeah, my 2004 22v's vinyl is going to hell, the seams are coming apart like crazy in the middle of the top of the cushions.

Yep, 04 was a known complaint. The 06 Ve's had a completely different grade of vinyl then the 05 models, and then another upgrade for 07.

Chris, not sure why your vinyl is having issues, but in my experience, good dealers have no problems taking care or warranty issues, and bad dealers just blame it all on the manufacturer $.02

(Message edited by chpthril on August 16, 2009)

Mike, do I have much of a chance to get any assistance from Tige on the issue at this point? The seams started giving a few years ago, but it's been hard to get things even checked out or anything with the Tige dealership status being so unstable here in Michigan.

Unfortunately, with a 6 year old boat, based on model years, it would be hard pressed to get assistance from ANY boat manufacturer.

Your best bet would be to contact a local upholstery shop (get some recommendations) and have them re-do the seats that need it.

It is possible, slight chance though, that Tige may still be able to make the skins for that model and year. It would take them awhile to do as they would be done just for you, unlike a part stocked on a shelf, but possible. Still could be cheaper to just get then redone yourself.

Tigemike, my dealer in R.C. ( You know who you are, and you read this!) Is a mess. My vinyl issues are that a lot of seams are pulling apart and on the hatch over the ski locker there are screws that hold the ram and they are too long and you (even my four year old son) step on them which in turn puts small holes through the vinyl. It went into the dealership for this and Tige didn't want to cover the labor to put the new skins that they supplied on. This was an error on them when the boat was built. After some intense conversations they agreed to take care of the lockers. I took the boat to them and three weeks later it was done. Next time on the water I stepped on the same damn screws. The dealer didn't take care of replacing the .10 screws. I am discusted with the whole issue and burnt out for now! My boat is taken care of Exactly the way my salesmen told me, but its issue after issue. IMO the fit and finish is not what it should be! Rant over, for now

I have the exact boat you are looking at. 2006 Tige 24ve with the 340 MP engine. The fit and finish seems pretty good on our boat, so we must have not gotten a Friday boat! We have only had a few issues, 1 mark on vinyl when the boat was delivered but that was an easy fix. I don't love the speed set, it is hard to get it to set when surfing especially. Perfect pass would have been a better option. The engine is very strong and we load the boat like crazy. I have 2100+ pounds of ballast along with another 400# sac for when we surf.

The tower is strong and solid. WE boat on Lake of the Ozarks, the roughest damn place in the world! The swivel racks will break if they didn't already, something to ask about. Ours broke with boards in it but thankfully fell over the side and no damage was done.

We have been very happy so far, no major issues at all.

Thanks for all the insight guys. I passed along all the info I received here and also did some searching around on the Tige owners site and got info there too.

He pulled the trigger on it and is happy with the price he grabbed it at. Hope to get to go check it out soon and do some surfing


KJ - What part broke? are the racks fixable?

Yes, board racks are fixable. If they have not been modified, then I recommend he do it. If he gets on TO's and does a search, I have pics posted showing how I modified mine.

Thanks Mike, I'll definitely point him towards the site. I know he will have questions once he gets her home

Ya, how to sac her out!!!!!

Definitely go over to Tigeowners. He will learn more than he will want to I am sure of it.