Thinking about upgrading

[1HELLUVALIFE]

Back story is i bought my first boat a few years ago, didn't know a whole lot, but ended up with a 1999 sunsetter lxi. It's been a great boat and have enjoyed fixing it up over the last few years. Nobody that goes out with us ski's anymore so i was thinking about trying to upgrade to a v drive in the next year or so. Tired of tripping over fatsacs. Looking at possibly a vlx or lsv in the mid to late 2000's. What years are the best for each? updates and features wise. Also what is the going price for an lxi and what is the typical price range on these year vlxs and lsvs.

Thanks for the input guys.

Found a couple pics of my current boat.

Edited November 20, 2015 by 1HELLUVALIFE

[srab]

Can't speak for the LSV, as I haven't really been paying attention to them. VLX prices from 2005 to 2008 models dip into the high $30K range, but many are still over $40K.

The older model VLX, pre-2005, runs into the mid-to-high $20K range. They changed the VLX again in 2009, at which time the v-ride became based on the 2005-2008 mold.

So, you could also look for a newer v-ride; a little less bling but identical performance.

They are all great boats. If you are tired of stepping over Fat Sacs, you may want to look for boats with built-in bow ballast. You'll need weight up there to get your wakes dialed

in, so without built-in ballast, you're back to using Fat Sacs, or lead (which works fine but is not very forgiving if you're ever swamped).

Power wedge came out in 2006. Throttle-by-wire also. Water-cooled shaft-seal was available then.

Floating wedge came out in 2007 (if you don't want to worry about actuators and other electrical gremlins with the power wedge). ETX/CAT for the Monsoon was introduced.

Probably some other "must-haves" came out in that time frame, but I can't really think of any offhand.

Sorry, but no clue how much your Sunsetter is worth.

[ahopkins22LSV]

The good news for you is the SSLXi hull is very sought after. They seem to be going for 20-25k depending on condition, hours, ect..

Personally I would be looking for a v-drive if I were in your shoes as well. And I would probably target the 06+ VLX. That hull is known good and you can get the power wedge as stated. PW really helps with tweaking the surf wave. You also may be lucky enough to find one with the elusive TIII tower which is still one of my favorites! I don't know the LSV hulls as much I think they were changed in the same time frame somewhere around 06ish to 14 (I think...) the hull was the same and was very good.

Just a few quick examples from what my dealer has.. The used boat market is strong in MI so I don't know how the list prices would compare to your area.

http://www.skierspier.com/default.asp?page=xPreOwnedInventoryDetail&id=1096970&p=2&s=Year&d=D&t=preowned&fr=xPreOwnedInventory

http://www.skierspier.com/default.asp?page=xPreOwnedInventoryDetail&id=766380&p=2&s=Year&d=D&t=preowned&fr=xPreOwnedInventory

http://www.skierspier.com/default.asp?page=xPreOwnedInventoryDetail&id=956541&p=2&s=Year&d=D&t=preowned&fr=xPreOwnedInventory

And no, I don't know why anyone would order a boat in the colors of the last one

[1HELLUVALIFE]

Thanks for the info guys. I will definitely be looking at the 06+ vlx, does anybody know the year the hull changed on the 23LSV or the 247LSV? 2005ish?

[NWBU]

23 LSV hull was changed in 2008, so you'll typically see a noticeable difference in prices from 2007 to 2008 for similar options. That hull ran until the new one was introduced in 2014.