Upgrade or Hang On??

Interested in thoughts about when is the right time to upgrade your wakeboard boat?
I have a 2001 wakesetter vlx. I am very happy with it. I made some ballast modifications, added wedge, upgraded sterio, etc.
Right now, resale is around $30K.

My goal is to keep a boat that is reliable. So far, I haven't had any problems.

Is there a majic time when resale drops significantly (besides when you drive it off the lot?).
If I wait a year, 2, or 3, will I have to pay significantly more when I upgrade? Assuming normal wear and tear.

I know there is no correct answer here - just looking for your thoughts.

If you are looking at this as strictly a financial decision, then its a no-brainer. Keep your boat. With good maintenance, that boat will be reliable for 15 to 20 years.

If you want to always have a fairly new boat, then its a different decision.

isn't there a certain point when normal depreciation gets a bigger bump - 1000 hours comes to mind, just because of the psychological aspect of the 4 digit hours?

I personally believe that at 100,000 miles, a car takes an extra hit, so at that point I either sell at 90K or hold off until 120K or 130K or even higher if the car is reliable

When I was looking in August and asked about trading my 18 y/o Supra, I was told I was more or less out of my mind keeping it that long and expecting a decent trade value. He indicated the general rule of thumb, barring other circumstances, is about 10 years max. Perhaps that's when the market really shifted to wakeboarding over three event skiing and an AWSA rating became less important. I plan to keep the current boat as long as we're interested in the sport. Unless I buy a winning lottery ticket!

Keep in mind, new boats are not getting any cheaper. So as yours drops however so slowly, new boats increase and your margin gets larger.

I agree with the thousand hours comment. That's not really a lot of hours when you sit down and think about it, but people for whatever reason see 1000 hours and an old rusted bucket of a boat pops into their head.

If you do the math, it's better to keep a depreciating asset down to $0, and then keep using it, rather than replace it sooner with something new just because it is losing value.

If a boat is paid for in 4 or 5 years, all you have to do is pay operating costs. It's got 10 more years of use (at least). If you're worried about a big hit 10 years later, keep making the payment to yourself and see if you come out ahead.

Usually, it is not just a financial decision. We all like new toys. Boats and cars are not investments. BTW, I am not an accountant so I will not actually "do the math".