Looking for guidance on used MC x-7 purchase

HI everyone,

I'm new to this forum and I was looking for guidance on my decision to purchase a used MC x-7. I know the x-7 boat and it meets the exact needs of what I'm looking for. I finally found a used one that is within my price range and I want to buy it. It is a 2003 mastercraft x-7 wakeboard edition. I think this just means that it has the upgraded engine with 350 horsepower. My one worry with the purchase is the number of hours on the engine which is 900. I am from Canada and we basically have two months of boating each year which means that this boat has been driven hard in a short amount of time. I was wondering what kind of problems I might face with a boat that has that many hours on it, but still relatively new? Although the price is accessible I am a young guy and this is still a huge investment for me? Any thoughts? Let me know.

Much appreciated,
Conor

YO!
Great boat...My brother has had 2 prostar 197's same boat as an x 7 I have a prostar 209..same as an X9.....as long as it has been treated nice, hours are really not an issue,,,,that year with 900 is not a big deal... look around...there is Martin Motor sports out of ED that has a couple sitting on their lot..I know that there is a nice used one sitting of of Hwy 97 in Kelwona right now...great boats..

I don't know--900 hours is sure a lot of hours. I usually buy boats five years old with no more than 450 hours and when I reach 1000 hours I sell my boat because bad things (costly) can happen between 1000-1500 hours. If you go ahead with the purchase, have a MC mechanic look at it before purchasing and do tons of preventive maintenance.

(Message edited by rsmith on October 15, 2006)

Wow. Thats some serious hours in three years. Was it a ski school boat? A friend of mine bought a 190 from April Cobels ski school with 1200 hrs on it in two years. He still has the boat and to my knowledge it has run fine, but I would not buy a boat with that many hours on it. Maybe you should look for a little older boat with less hrs to meet your budget.

that is a crap ton of hours.

i would keep looking

900 hours isn't that many IMO. It all depends on who had it and how they took care of it. If it was just a private owner that used the boat a lot and took great care of it, don't be afraid. If it was a ski school, you might steer clear, as a lot of time these are young kids driving these boats with no interest in what happens to them. When we were promoing, we would put up to 275 hours a year on the boat even where I lived in Kansas when the season was at best February-November. Really, it would be 4 years, summers of '03, '04, '05, and '06. An '03 could have been on the water as early as July of '02, so you could be talking at or below 200 hours a year, which is not that much.

Too many hours. I would keep looking.

Have the engine and transmission checked out by a MC dealer. I would not be scared of that many hours as long as everything else was fine. Quality care of hours is more important than quantity.

How much is the boat?

Would you buy a car getting close to 100,000 miles? There is a reason why the price is cheap at 900 hours. I would keep looking...

(Message edited by bdegeyter on October 17, 2006)

900hrs at average speed of 20mph is 18000 miles. 20mph average is a high estimate.

Plus most cars that have been taken care of will go 200K-250K before problems. What is the price, then we can tell if its worth it or not

The boat is listed at 30,000 thousand canadian. It was a ski school boat. Please offer your inputs.

What is that, in good ol' American greenbacks?

$26,361.00 USD. According to NADA, that is the price for low retail. I would not buy it from an individual or ski school for that, but I would buy it from a dealer that will go through it and make sure everything is OK for you, and maybe give you a 90 day warranty on the drivetrain. See if they will knock $7K Can off the price, that would put it around $20K USD.

20k U.S. is the most I would ever pay, too many other choices out there.

"900hrs at average speed of 20mph is 18000 miles. 20mph average is a high estimate"

Thats not a good comparison. Boat engines are put through a lot more stress than car engines. Especially ski school boats.

Neither would saying its like 100K miles.
Ski school boats spend a lot of time at idle as well as at speed.

You guys are missing the point that bill (bdegeyter) is making with the car comparison.

Would you buy a car with high miles? I know I wouldn't. And I also know I wouldn't buy a boat with a lot of hours-900 hours is a lot of hours.

I would keep looking.

The car question totally depends on the car. Would I buy a Honda with 100k on it? Probably, that thing is going 200 more. Would I buy a Kia with 100k on it? Nope. I would classify a ski school boat more toward the Kia. Anything over $20k is way too much. I think we only had a price of $24k on our '02 Centurion Eclipse that was loaded with less than 300 hours when we were selling it in the fall of '02. Brand new boat pretty much. You could get a lot of boats coming off promo that are '06s for about $28-30k now that have between 100 and 300 hours on them. Keep looking.

I bought a MC Prostar 190 with 953 hours on it the day I bought it. I kept it for 7 years, and I never had any problems except a few new batteries, carb rebuild, and bilge pump. I replaced skins when I needed to as well. As long as its a Mastercraft and its been taken care of, IMO high hours alone wont stop me from buying one. BTW, Chris, do you even own a boat?

Byrd, yes I own a boat. I purchased it new and it now has around 1200 hours that I put on it, and I have taken very good care of my malibu. Again, I would never consider buying a used boat with high hours. I buy new and keep for the long-term.

You otta sell it to the Canook, and get yourself a boat thats not so "woreout". (hey thats my name)

Too many hrs. and greenbacks my friend, I bought a 2003 X7 with only 100 hrs and paid just over 30k for it good luck.

nice boat bryan.