First Time Boat Buyer! Please Help!

So the time has come for a friend and I to purchase our first boat. Ive been boating with my family for pretty much my entire life so its not something foreign to me, but this will be my first personal boat purchase. We are looking for a boat that can do it all, wakeboarding, slalom, entertain, etc. Ideally the boat would be a v drive, awesome wakeboard wake, surf wake, open bow, and still be capable of pulling a slalom skier. I grew up skiing behind an I/O so I have to imagine pretty much any inboard is going to have a better slalom wake?
With a price range under 20K we have narrowed our search to CC Super Sports, Sanger V210, Super Airs (price permiting), and Malibu Sunsetter VLX.
Are there any other v drives out there that we are overlooking? Any DD's out there that can compete with the above boats? We have been looking for several weeks now, looked at a lot of boats, done a lot of research (most coming from this forum), and everything we've read keeps coming back to the SS. The biggest problem we are having is a shortage of boats, we are in colorado and can only find a handful of these boats across the country. We are using craigslist/onlyinboards/correctcraftfan/boattrader for our searchs.
Any information you might have for finding one of these boats, or guidance on boats we have overlooked would be greatly appreciated.

Centurion Elite V in the year range of 03-06 is probably worth adding to that list.

Speaking as a Malibu owner, if a decent slolam wake is a major concern and you want to "board/surf also", quite a few Malibu owners would probably tell you the VTX on a cut diamond (CD) hull would be a better choice over the VLX with a wake hull. You may be able to find a VLX on a CD hull, but I'm not sure about that. You loose the interior space in the VTX, but you could likely find one with ballast tanks (MLS) and wedge for boarding/surfing and have the better hull for slalom skiing. Bottom line is you need to test as many as you can to see works best for you. Good luck.

You are asking a lot. At that price point you aren't going to get 3 events and be good at each. At least not a boat in good shape. You might not even be able to find a boat in that price range that is good at 2 of the events. The SAN and V210 will throw great wakeboard wakes but I don't think either is a very good surf boat(not to say it can't be done) and both will be able to be ski'd but not great. I am not sure if you know but the Sunsetter VLX's can have 2 different hulls. Pre 2001 the Sunsetter VLX was on the same wake hull as the original Wakesetter VLX. The 2001 Sunsetter VLX has the diamond/ski hull and after 2001 I think they renamed it the sunscape or something like that. The 2001 Sunsetter VLX or any other VLX with a diamond hull would be a great boat. It will ski pretty decent and throw decent wakeboard and surf wakes although they will need a fair amount of weight. The wake hull VLX will be the same but better at surfing/wakeboarding then skiing.

It is too bad you can't swing 30-35k. I think the single best boat ever made for all 3 events is probably the Nautique SV211 which started in 04 or 05. They are going to be 30k at the minimum though and they are kind of hard to find.

Mid 2000's Moomba LSV's or outback V's would be a good option to look at as well. Again, might be tough to find something at 20k or less.

Check out the 99-2002 Tige 21v or 2100V. They should decent at decent, can throw a pretty good wakeboarding wake and a great surf wake. They are really big inside and well and there are plenty out there from 18-23k.

She is never finding a VTX for sub 20k. That boat wasn't even released until 2007 and they are going for mid 40s right now.

You probably could find a 99 or 00 xstar or prostar 205v around that price. I have seen a few below $20k. The surf wake is not great, but the wakeboard wake is, and it supposedly skis well for a vdrive.

2001-03 Xstar.

Originally Posted by psudy

2001-03 Xstar.

Not sure how I forgot about the 205V hull but that would be a great choice if the OP doesn't need much people room. They will definetely wakeboard really good with extra weight, ski pretty good since it is just a 205 hull and should surf ok. It is nice that you can swap out the stock hard tanks for 750's or bigger in that boat.

well lets nip this in the bud, "she" happens to be a "he" with a girls name....
btw, thanks for all the information so far. I would say the priorities are wakeboarding>space>slalom>surf. The boat will be used primarily for wakeboarding and taking friends out on the boat, those two things are paramount. Slaloming will take a back seat to wakeboarding and surfing isnt a huge priority but it would be nice to have the option.
Can anybody comment on the wake comparibility to an I/O (family boat i grew up behind was a late 80's Mirage bowrider)? Ive been slaloming for a while, am good but not great by any means. Its always been a casual family thing but this last summer i tried one handed turns and im cutting better than i ever have but hitting the wake now is pretty brutal. That being said if the wake on any of these boats is softer than an I/O i should be able to deal with it.

Originally Posted by psudy

2001-03 Xstar.

2001 and 2002 xstars are going to be hard to find under $20k. From 2003-2005 the 205v hull was the X-2, and most of those are $25k and up. The 1999 and 2000 xstars have the older tower and are a little less desirable. The 1999 lacks wraparound seating, and they both have the 1 piece sundeck. The ones that show up under $20k seem to go quickly

I have a 02 Moomba LSV and I would say it is a really good 3 sport boat. It doesn't overly excel at one of them but it is a good all around boat. I picked mine up 2 years ago with 600hrs for $15,500. Might be something to consider. I know Corey (StangkillerSS) also had one and recently upgraded.




We weren't riding very heavy this day because I had some newbies in the boat. Maybe 1800-2000lbs people and ballast.

what do you all think about this boat?

http://denver.craigslist.org/boa/2829151776.html

Seems like a pretty decent deal on a V drive. Be nice to see some pictures of it.

I was never too big of a fan of those era Centurion elite v's/hurricane's. I think they are ok all around boats and should ride pretty good in rough water. Ski wake is probably pretty bad. I think the wakeboard wake is finicky as well. I don't think Centurion's from the early 2000's were known as having very good fit and finish. There are other boats I would choose before them although if it is nice and clean might not be bad. I think the price is a little high myself. I think I would choose an early to mid 2000's mobius LSV over the centurion.

One thing I would verify is the boats ballast config. I am pretty sure those boats had a center tank stock but I think it is only like 200-250 pounds or so. Not sure were he is getting the 750 center. I could see 300-400 if he has an integrated bow sack plumbed in and 400's would be normal but probably not stock for the rear.

Looks like it needs some work but you would have some funds to fix or upgrade some stuff
http://denver.craigslist.org/boa/2827017013.html

Ok Option
http://denver.craigslist.org/boa/2799817204.html

Can you swing a little over 20k?
http://denver.craigslist.org/bod/2823269060.html

This is a buddy of mines boat. The interior needs to be redone but other than that it is solid. Throws a great wake. No idea how it skis.

http://denver.craigslist.org/boa/2827017013.html

http://denver.craigslist.org/bod/2822913728.html

This would be a great choice if you can tlak them down a bit. Should be the diamond hull so should ski pretty good. Add some 750's in the rear for surfing and 500-700 up front for wakeboarding.

http://onlyinboards.com/Details.aspx?ID=31816

last year my buddy bought a moomba dd. with little ours, now it is a direct drive, ls i think. we slam it and it has a pretty good surf wake, a good wakeboard wake, and can ski well too. but it is carb'd and gets no gas milage. it was 17k and in perfect shape. food for thought. good luck

How far are you from Dallas? Again, willing to spend a little more then 20? I had one of these and thought it was a great boat. They are really plain jane and simple but that isn't a bad thing in my opinion. The foam in the cushions isn't very thick but is fine. The best part is it has the play pen with a huge open storage area. You can fit a gravity games 1100 in the front and probably 500-750's in the rear. The boat throws a great, solid wakeboard wake, actually skis recreationally ok because it is pretty light and is a pretty big boat(22' with a little wider beat). I had 10-12 on mine a couple of times.

http://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/bod/2823215464.html