Interested in a 1992 Sunsport. Need opinions.

[trayson]

I am gonna try to hook up with him and take a look at it this weekend. The forecast calls for a high of 69 this weekend (but I don't own a drysuit and have no idea what water temps will be). He said it is still winterized but week only take a few minutes to get it ready to hit the water. I already talked to my credit union and it sounds like they will give me 5.99% on a 5 year loan and would probably make an exception to lend on a 1992 since I would be putting 30 - 40% down.

I did ask for more details on the ballast system. Curious to see what all be has going on there.

This boat definitely has a lot of the good extras that will add to the experience. Doesn't seem to be lacking anything that's a deal breaker (since I don't see myself getting a comparable v-drive for the money).

Oh, and here is his latest reply :

The bimini, boat cover, and snap-on bow cover are all made of black sunbrella material.

Boat has been stored outside. I have a Costco structure that I park under during the winter.

Auto ballast is a reversible impeller pump based system. There is 1 ballast puppy mounted under the rear seat that feeds the fly high Pro-X bag under the rear seat. I had a second pump that fed the Pro-X bag in the trunk, but I removed the second pump and the trunk bag to put in my new boat. I left the switch and the wiring for the second pump, so you could easily restore the 2 bag system by purchasing a Pro-X tube sac (fits nicely in the trunk) and a new pump (Tube sac is $130 and a Johnson pump is $180 at Wakemakers.com). You could also just buy a sac for the trunk and tee off of the single ballast puppy for both bags--I did this for 4 years with no problem, just a little slower than having 1 pump per bag. I also have a bag that you can have that fits nicely in the cooler (the space under the rectangle cushion in the bow walkthrough), but it isn't hooked up to a pump. Finally, I have 300lbs of sand bags you can have that I kept in various storage spaces. Fully weighted with the rear seat sac, trunk sac, cooler sac, and sand bags you are running ~1200 lbs of weight fully hidden in compartments.

Give me a call this weekend if you want to take a look.

[trayson]

I don't know if your willing to travel but i found this one in boise.
http://boise.craigslist.org/boa/3690749263.html

Good to see a comparison of others on the market. But honestly, I'll rather take the tower, Perfect Pass, low pitch prop, auto-ballast system, lower hours, etc that this one has. Getting the extras for less than the price I could buy parts for is nice.

[kvand347]

The only v-drive I can think of in that price range is going to be a Nautique Excel. That was the other boat I was looking at and ended up buying the Sunsport because it had more options (Excel was complete stock). Funny thing is that 3 months after I passed on the Excel, the owner dropped the price by $2,000! When I talked to him he was firm on price. Such is life!

Take pics of anything you have questions on when you are out on the boat.

[2500HD]

Good to see a comparison of others on the market. But honestly, I'll rather take the tower, Perfect Pass, low pitch prop, auto-ballast system, lower hours, etc that this one has. Getting the extras for less than the price I could buy parts for is nice.

I would have to agree with you. Good luck

[haugy]

Yeah, having that Sunsport loaded with the high end stuff already, I'd go for the black one.

[trayson]

So, all things considered, what do you all think is a realistic amount I could get this for? What should I offer him? What should my top dollar be?
Every bit I bring down the purchase price means a bit that I can put into the "mod the stereo and buy wakeboard/boating gear" fund.

[kvand347]

So, all things considered, what do you all think is a realistic amount I could get this for? What should I offer him? What should my top dollar be?
Every bit I bring down the purchase price means a bit that I can put into the "mod the stereo and buy wakeboard/boating gear" fund.

That is a difficult question to answer. In my situation, my boat was being offered for $13,500 and I was not willing to finance that much due to what I wanted my monthly payment to be. I offered what I could afford which was a few thousand less than the asking price. I was honest and told him that I could only afford that much and he accepted my offer. His boat had not sold all summer, so he was ready to come down on price.

Each situation is different. Offer what you feel the boat is worth after you have looked/driven it. $10,900obo means that he will take his best offer.

[trayson]

That is a difficult question to answer. In my situation, my boat was being offered for $13,500 and I was not willing to finance that much due to what I wanted my monthly payment to be. I offered what I could afford which was a few thousand less than the asking price. I was honest and told him that I could only afford that much and he accepted my offer. His boat had not sold all summer, so he was ready to come down on price.

Each situation is different. Offer what you feel the boat is worth after you have looked/driven it. $10,900obo means that he will take his best offer.

Well, I went and took a look at it. The ballast system is ready to take a 2nd bag in the trunk. The engine compartment looked decent and didn't seem to have obvious signs of corrosion. there are a few cracks on the center windshield piece. Supposedly the seller has a friend that might be parting out the same model boat, and is going to hit him up and see if we can get that replacement for the cracked glass.

The boat had been winterized, de-winterized 2 weeks ago and started. Then re-winterized. He de-winterized it today and when we put it in, it started on the first try and seemed to run strong. We took it out on the water and the ballast, heater, perfect pass, and everything else worked fine. It had a nice shape to the wake. We also filled the bag and I got to see the wake with the ballast. I didn't take a pull behind it. The water was like 51 degrees and I figured I could tell enough by observing the shape of the wake at various speeds.

The black on the clear coat is a bit cloudy in person and you can see some ghosting from where the OEM supra decals were, but it's nothing I can't live with. He has a depthfinder that he's going to give me that is the type that you don't have to cut into the hull. The stereo deck in there wasn't anything to write home about but it was a name brand (Kenwood I think) and had a USB that would control an Ipod, play songs from a flash drive, and an Auxillary input on the face. it even has Pandora compatibility, so that's sweet. So that will be good enough to have me rockin' on the river.

He seemed pretty honest about where he was on price and other offers he'd been given. He wanted to see $10k for it, but he also wanted to get his replacement boat (Malibu V-Drive) from his parent's place and back over to his house. He said he had been offered $9,500 at the end of last season but didn't take it... So, I focused in on that number and told him that 1st thing Monday I'd be hitting up my credit union if he was willing to do the $9,500 for me. So that was our deal--------->$9,500.

I feel pretty good about it. between a little I'd saved and my tax return, I'm keeping my boat payment really low. So that's pretty awesome.

I think it'll be enough boat to keep me happy for some time! I'll post up more pics after I get it in my possession!

Thanks to everyone that gave be advice. I'm looking forward to being a part of this community.

[Ptownkid]

If he parts it out and you get the center section PLEASE let me know...I don't care if you steal the glass...but I NEED the frame badly.

$9500 is a great price for this boat with ballast and perfect pass........congrats and hope it all goes through!

[kvand347]

$9,500 is a great price for a great boat with those options/hours. I would not have any buyer's remorse at all. Think of it this way, you bought a nice boat AND got perfect pass for FREE! If you ever want to rip it out and send it to me, I wouldn't stop you! Hahaha! I just blew my perfect pass savings on a new flat screen TV. I got sick of watching the NCAA tournament on the old school tube TV! Now I have to start the saving all over again...