Help with a boat purchase

[mfogt]

Hi everyone - new member to the forums and basically a new potential owner as well looking for some advice on a boat that I looked at today.

The boat is a 2003 Moomba Mobius LSV. The engine has 655 hours on it, it has perfect pass, tower, tower lights, stereo, a 310 HP engine, ski locker ballast, etc. The questions I have are below - I would appreciate any feedback anyone can provide:

1.) The engine is a 310 HP carburetor engine. Any issues with this over one with Fuel injection on it? The carb was rebuilt about a year ago and the dealer has serviced it for at least the last 8 years and can provider service records for it.

2.) The ballast in the boat is just in the ski locker. I can easily plumb more into the rear lockers but with it being a relatively shallow boat I am wondering what size of bags to put into it to get the best wake. Also if anyone has pictures of the wake from this boat with the ballast setups I would appreciate it. The boat does have the wake plate to help clean the wake up.

3.) The boat is on a single axel trailer. A majority of my towing will be done within 5-10 miles of my house so I don't think this will be an issue but wanted to get opinions just to make sure.

4.) Any general feedback? They want $23,500 for the boat - not sure if this is too high or not quite yet but still researching that some more. Otherwise for those that have had the boat what did you like/dislike about it - anything that I should be looking out for? The boat is in really good condition from what I saw just looking at it - want to make sure I am covering myself.

Thanks for the input!
Jeff

I had a 2004 LSV. Identical to what you described this one to be. Loved it. To answer your questions

1. Never an issue with the engine. I now have a 2012 LSV and the EFI does make it respond alot quicker, but never created an issue.
2. Had the same ballast set-up. Never added any bags to mine as I was still learning to Wakeboard. Gave a pretty good wake without any upgrades though. If you are a serious Boarder, adding 400lb or more to each locker is no issue. As a skier, this boat had a much cleaner wake to ski than my 2012. I do miss that a bit.
3. I have never had an issue with my single axle trailer. I do see a lot of positive notes about tandems and wonder what I am missing as I have never towed with one. Could not justify the extra $1200 or so when I ordered my new one as I generally tow less than a mile to the lake and 1 or 2 Vacation trips of a couple hundred miles. No regrets so far on the single axle.
4. Like I said, I actually like the ski wake much better on my '04, but since my ski ability is slowly going down hill, that it not that relevant now. I did truly love this boat and why I bought another LSV. Items that I had to replace were the steering cable as it gets water in it and slowly gets more difficult to turn the wheel and my vinyl really started to crack in a few places. That was probably the biggest reason I bought a new boat as I was feeling the need to replace some of the vinyl and thought might as well spend a little more and get a whole new boat! Sounded good to me anyway and my wife bought in. As for the price, it seems a bit high. I sold mine for just under what you say they are asking and I only had 300hrs, my boat was a year newer and it was last year I sold it. I have been told I did pretty good on the sale price of mine.

Boat does appear to be in good shape. Hope that helps.

Matt

[parrothd]

Last year I bought my 2002 LSV with 500hrs, single axle trailer, no ballast but has a shower installed for just under $19k from a private seller in February. I tow a lot and haven't had an issue with the single axle(knock on wood). I just make sure to inspect everything often. I love the boat, the only complaint I have is fuel starvation issue. Every once in a while it stalls out if idling or low rpms to long. A carb rebuild is on my list for this winter, after I install my heater and new ballast system.. The boat looks really nice and in good condition, if it is at a dealer make sure to do a compression check on the engine..

[saskyrider]

i've got an 05 LSV that is nearly identical to yours minus the barbie stripes haha. Single axle trailer is fine and tows like a dream. Mine is a carb engine and runs great. i paid 26K for mine 2 years ago. so they are in the ball park... squeeze em a bit and you will have a great deal!