96 Ski Nautique...advice?

Have a friend looking at buying one of these. Anyone have experience with the 96's? Reliable? Problem prone? 19ft Direct Drive.

Looks to be one of those little old lady situations, kept in a heated garage every night, interior is immaculate, and just 275 hours, they are asking 17.9K

Heres the ad-

"As perfect as a 96 can be, with only 275 hours. White with purple and a little black. Samson white tower with purple color coordinated intergrated racks. White can speakers (which have quick release mounts) tower lights, amp, sub, 6 disc changer, new alpine cd, I-pod connection, Dual batteries with isolator. Custom cover to go around the tower. Swim platform is in outstanding shape. Ryan single axle Trailer is in perfect shape, just had the tags renewed. Interior and hull are near perfect. I have meticulously maintained this boat from day 1. I always winterize it despite it being stored in an insulated garage all winter. It has never spent a night outside. The bilge and motor compartment have always been spotless. I have Always done preventative maintinence and have had zero problems. Middle aged owned."


Thanks!

The boat probably has a 351 PCM engine, and it may be the Boss version. If that is the case, PCM's are very reliable and the Boss version has great power. People tend to go with Sports or Super Sports as opposed to the Ski because they have open bows and the Sport/Super Sports have the same hull as the Super Air Nautique 210's that make a great wakeboard wake (Probably a lot of people on here would say it is in their top 3 wakes ridden). The Ski wake from what I have seen is a solid wake, but I don't think you could build a wake as big as the Sport/Supersport. As far as price, I have seen Sports go for cheaper, seems high to me. The condition of the boat though can have a big impact on the asking price of boats and it has very low hours. I know of a 95 Sport Nautique with brand new interior, tower and around 500 hours for about the same price if that helps you compare.

If he wants it for skiing, great. If he wants it for wakeboarding then pass.

For that price you could find a Malibu Sunsetter VLX around that age.

That is a great boat and probably has the MPFI GT40 engine which is almost bullet proof. That is a good ski boat and decent for wakeboarding, but not great as well as having a lack of room and no open bow. The price is about right so I dont see that as an issue unless it is the carbed version than it is high by a couple grand. It is known for a good ski wake but I think if you are in the "just under 20k" range, than there are much better wake boats to be had for sure. I have seen fuel injected sports go for under 20 all day with mor ehous but nearly as nice I would say with a tower and some other toys. If you were working with less money, I would say it is ok but you have more moeny to spend than that boat will return for ya with wake/resale because of the 19" closed bow configuation. I am a hard nautique guy too.