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Best boat for 85K?


TallRedRider

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I currently am in a partnership on my 2016 G23.  It's been a great boat, but I am considering going it alone this spring, but I don't want to go 100k+ deep into a boat.  Setting my sights down a notch has been disappointing.  A 2018 A24 is at the top of the list, and I was able to demo one a few weeks ago.  I was very impressed with the performance and comfort.  Surprisingly, I found myself annoyed at all of the buttons that needed to be pressed to surf, ballast, wedge, speed, surfgate, cruise control.  I have been spoiled by hitting 'surf' on the current boat and it is now right where I want it.  It really isn't a big deal, it is what I used to do all the time, but it amazed me how taking a step back felt so...blah.  

This price point makes it really difficult to avoid budget creep.  I can afford a new top notch boat, but it means I have less money for other things which I enjoy a lot as well, so I am trying to keep it down.  

There is a nice salt water 25 LSV in Florida for 89K, but if they don't move on price, and with transport, I have gotten to 95K+ and I might as well buy my partner out and keep the boat I like.  An A24 with 450 motor might creep up the budget too, but I haven't crunched numbers seriously yet.  

Needs:  I am in Utah, so I lean towards getting a larger motor.  It needs to surf well, and needs to pull a tube sometimes as well.  Wakeboarding wake is important, but not the biggest factor.  I need to be able to fit a large group on occasions, so 23 feet is the smallest I would go.  

So...What is the best boat for 85K right now?  

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3 hours ago, TallRedRider said:

I currently am in a partnership on my 2016 G23.  It's been a great boat, but I am considering going it alone this spring, but I don't want to go 100k+ deep into a boat.  Setting my sights down a notch has been disappointing.  A 2018 A24 is at the top of the list, and I was able to demo one a few weeks ago.  I was very impressed with the performance and comfort.  Surprisingly, I found myself annoyed at all of the buttons that needed to be pressed to surf, ballast, wedge, speed, surfgate, cruise control.  I have been spoiled by hitting 'surf' on the current boat and it is now right where I want it.  It really isn't a big deal, it is what I used to do all the time, but it amazed me how taking a step back felt so...blah.  

This price point makes it really difficult to avoid budget creep.  I can afford a new top notch boat, but it means I have less money for other things which I enjoy a lot as well, so I am trying to keep it down.  

There is a nice salt water 25 LSV in Florida for 89K, but if they don't move on price, and with transport, I have gotten to 95K+ and I might as well buy my partner out and keep the boat I like.  An A24 with 450 motor might creep up the budget too, but I haven't crunched numbers seriously yet.  

Needs:  I am in Utah, so I lean towards getting a larger motor.  It needs to surf well, and needs to pull a tube sometimes as well.  Wakeboarding wake is important, but not the biggest factor.  I need to be able to fit a large group on occasions, so 23 feet is the smallest I would go.  

So...What is the best boat for 85K right now?  

My boat!!😁

  • Like 1
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TRR did the A24 have the base motor?  You were unhappy with performance?  Did you weight it up?

If the CARB site is to be believed there is nothing near 50 of anything different between the base PCM/Crusader 6.0 and the H.O. version.  I have the H.O. version (aka "450") in my T22 and it is not mind blowing by any means.  I'd guess it'd be hard to tell the two apart in blind testing.  

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1 hour ago, shawndoggy said:

TRR did the A24 have the base motor?  You were unhappy with performance?  Did you weight it up?

If the CARB site is to be believed there is nothing near 50 of anything different between the base PCM/Crusader 6.0 and the H.O. version.  I have the H.O. version (aka "450") in my T22 and it is not mind blowing by any means.  I'd guess it'd be hard to tell the two apart in blind testing.  

It had the base 410.  We did full plug and play and it got on plane very well, actually.  The bags pretty well filled the compartment, I think they were 800 each.   I was impressed with PW2 when we tested wakeboarding speeds. 

I read the lengthy thread about the difference between the 410 and 450 and am somewhat confused to this day, although most said it is the same engine with a different tune.   I think I would want the 450 more for resale and placebo effect;)   With @shawndoggy at 4500 feet, I would think the 450 would not be expected to be mind-blowing.    It is too bad we can't test them back to back in exactly the same conditions.  Boulder Boats pretty much never gets the 450 on their stock Axis boats, only when custom ordered.  

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2 hours ago, TallRedRider said:

It had the base 410.  We did full plug and play and it got on plane very well, actually.  The bags pretty well filled the compartment, I think they were 800 each.   I was impressed with PW2 when we tested wakeboarding speeds. 

I read the lengthy thread about the difference between the 410 and 450 and am somewhat confused to this day, although most said it is the same engine with a different tune.   I think I would want the 450 more for resale and placebo effect;)   With @shawndoggy at 4500 feet, I would think the 450 would not be expected to be mind-blowing.    It is too bad we can't test them back to back in exactly the same conditions.  Boulder Boats pretty much never gets the 450 on their stock Axis boats, only when custom ordered.  

What I mean by that is that the 450 isn't mind blowing compared to my prior 350s at the same altitude.  I'd think the delta between the 409 and 450 would be even closer.  The only reason I went with the 450 is that you HAD to in 2016 to get the 1.72 transmission, which I knew I wanted.  The base 6L motor was only offered with the 1.5:1 tranny.  Of course that changed in 2017. 

PCM says that the differences between the two motors are tune and cam.  They do actually put a hot cam in the 450.  The 450 also requires premium fuel, and I believe that the 409 does not.  

Full PNP is one thing but the real test is putting another 1500-2000lbs of gear and peeps in the boat.

You'd never get the money back out of it on resale but I'd think that the LSA in the new A24 would be about as good as it could get.

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  • 2 years later...

Resurrecting my own old thread.   I ended up buying out my partner on the G23, keeping that for a couple of years and then moving up to the 25 LSV for the last 18 months.  Now I am back into the boat market, and once again looking to decrease my amount tied up in the boat.  My heart wants to go new, but that requires me to drop to Axis/Moomba/MB sports territory.   Due to inflation, budget is now 95K.   Any ideas?  

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16 minutes ago, TallRedRider said:

Resurrecting my own old thread.   I ended up buying out my partner on the G23, keeping that for a couple of years and then moving up to the 25 LSV for the last 18 months.  Now I am back into the boat market, and once again looking to decrease my amount tied up in the boat.  My heart wants to go new, but that requires me to drop to Axis/Moomba/MB sports territory.   Due to inflation, budget is now 95K.   Any ideas?  

I just went and built both an Axis A22 and A24 with my dealer yesterday. After demoing them both, seeing the build quality, and comparing it to my neighbors 2020 23LSV I'm very confident with my Axis purchase. The 2021's are really nice boats, my A22 build which was essentially checking every box, upgrading everything, and the M6 motor was in the low 100's with everything baked in. I have no doubt you could pick a few less options and end up with a way nice boat in your price range.

Edited by DTFox
  • Like 1
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14 hours ago, TallRedRider said:

Resurrecting my own old thread.   I ended up buying out my partner on the G23, keeping that for a couple of years and then moving up to the 25 LSV for the last 18 months.  Now I am back into the boat market, and once again looking to decrease my amount tied up in the boat.  My heart wants to go new, but that requires me to drop to Axis/Moomba/MB sports territory.   Due to inflation, budget is now 95K.   Any ideas?  

You aren't alone.  We are looking at decreasing the amount wrapped up in a boat as well.  We will more than likely be taking on private school for my kids in a few weeks due to the public schools going virtual (:Frustrated:).  More than likely the same price range.  Thanks for pulling this thread back up.

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14 hours ago, TallRedRider said:

Resurrecting my own old thread.   I ended up buying out my partner on the G23, keeping that for a couple of years and then moving up to the 25 LSV for the last 18 months.  Now I am back into the boat market, and once again looking to decrease my amount tied up in the boat.  My heart wants to go new, but that requires me to drop to Axis/Moomba/MB sports territory.   Due to inflation, budget is now 95K.   Any ideas?  

Have you checked out the new ATX line which is the Axis of Tige?  I saw one the other day and it looked pretty nice. Don’t know much about it though. 

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51 minutes ago, BCA1313 said:

Have you checked out the new ATX line which is the Axis of Tige?  I saw one the other day and it looked pretty nice. Don’t know much about it though. 

Having come from Tige; and been on several others; I like the performance; but the quality of the materials on the interior doesn't seem to hold up as well even on the Tige's; I'd be worried they saved a few bucks more on the ATXs....

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1 hour ago, tower210 said:

Having come from Tige; and been on several others; I like the performance; but the quality of the materials on the interior doesn't seem to hold up as well even on the Tige's; I'd be worried they saved a few bucks more on the ATXs....

accualy I think you wrong , not sure what boat you have currently but I had Tige, G23 ,MXZ  and now M240 . So I can complain for engine little noise and wave smaller then Malibu but build quality is 2nd place mastercraft . I just got ATX as 2nd spare boat in case there is issue with other boat and I'm extremely surprised about quality ,design and functionality of this boats for about $75k , you can surf and wake board or even ski !! I'm not pro with wakeboarding and ATX is much better boat for beginners .

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17 hours ago, TallRedRider said:

Resurrecting my own old thread.   I ended up buying out my partner on the G23, keeping that for a couple of years and then moving up to the 25 LSV for the last 18 months.  Now I am back into the boat market, and once again looking to decrease my amount tied up in the boat.  My heart wants to go new, but that requires me to drop to Axis/Moomba/MB sports territory.   Due to inflation, budget is now 95K.   Any ideas?  


I think my main question would be....... why not stick with the 25?  You’ve had It a year and a half now? I can’t remember the spec/options you got on it, but do you have a lot more than 100k still owed on it??  Or, is the ACV on that boat much above that?? Maybe your boat is a lot more loaded than I’m guessing...... it just seems an average optioned 2019 25LSV is running a ACV of about 110k right, and you have WAY MORE boat than anything you can buy new for 95k right now. Just wouldn’t seem worth it to me.

selling the 25 outright would probably net you more like 120k, but even still...... way more boat than what you’ll get in to. I think you’ll end up kicking yourself for switching.

 

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51 minutes ago, greg2222 said:

 

accualy I think you wrong , not sure what boat you have currently but I had Tige, G23 ,MXZ  and now M240 . So I can complain for engine little noise and wave smaller then Malibu but build quality is 2nd place mastercraft . I just got ATX as 2nd spare boat in case there is issue with other boat and I'm extremely surprised about quality ,design and functionality of this boats for about $75k , you can surf and wake board or even ski !! I'm not pro with wakeboarding and ATX is much better boat for beginners .

IMG_2793.jpg

IMG_2759.jpg

IMG_2756.jpg

IMG_2755.jpg

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A 75k spare boat!  Ballin bro!!

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10 hours ago, TenTwentyOne said:


I think my main question would be....... why not stick with the 25?  You’ve had It a year and a half now? I can’t remember the spec/options you got on it, but do you have a lot more than 100k still owed on it??  Or, is the ACV on that boat much above that?? Maybe your boat is a lot more loaded than I’m guessing...... it just seems an average optioned 2019 25LSV is running a ACV of about 110k right, and you have WAY MORE boat than anything you can buy new for 95k right now. Just wouldn’t seem worth it to me.

selling the 25 outright would probably net you more like 120k, but even still...... way more boat than what you’ll get in to. I think you’ll end up kicking yourself for switching.

 

I have already sold it.  For more than 120K.  I may be kicking myself later, but we will see.  I think that I am seeing some signs that the boat market is already beginning to normalize.  It feels like there are more boats on the market than 2 weeks ago.  Some of the asking prices are just ridiculous, but my gestalt is that there are a lot more boats for sale, which is going to bring the prices down as summer drags on.  Some folks who impulsively got into the boating thing 2 months ago are starting to see 9 long months of payments for 3 months of use.  

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