boat hunting

[NorCalWannaBe]

Hello everyone!  My father and I are in the market for a used boat.  We've only had a small 14' Valco before and this will be our first bass boat.  We'll be using it mostly in Lake Oroville, CA, maybe Clear Lake too.  My question is would a 2001 NX750 with a 135 Optimax be a good first choice?  It seems a little overpriced, but it looks very sharp.

I wanted to include links to the craigslist posting but I can't because this is my first post and the system won't let me... Do a search in "Sacramento/Boats" for Nitro and you can see the ones I am talking about.

Would you choose maybe an older '94 Nitro 170 for $5000 over the one I mentioned above, even though this one only has a 115hp?

Questions.  Is the Nitro NX750 a decent first bass boat?  Any known problems that I should look for?  It comes with a 2001 Optimax 135, is this a decent motor.   Is it big enough for 1 large guy (320lbs) another midsized guy and a 10 year old?  Does anyone know if there are attachments to tow intertubes?  They don't appear to have ski ladders on them, some of the rangers I've seen do have the ladders.

With this being our first bass boat that we've looked at in probably 10 years, what are some of the questions I should ask?  Things I should look for?

I think we're going to see if the guy will take $8000 or maybe 8500, (that's what NADA says for the smaller motor).

Sorry for all the questions... We're going to look at the NX750 tonight.  I hope to really get back into Bass fishing, I was a real "wanna be pro" back when I was a early teenager (10+ years ago!) LOL!  

Sorry for all the questions and horrible paragraph formatting!

Thanks everyone!

[zellamander]

First off welcome to the forum!

Nitro's are good boats. I'm not sure what are good prices on them though. With the 135 Optimax and both motor and boat being a fairly new model I would say that $8000 isn't a bad price.

Don't quote me on this, and somebody might be able to answer better than me, but i'm pretty sure that you can put a ski rope tripod on just about any boat. I haven't seen to many Nitro's pulling though. I'm not exactly sure why. There are tons of answers on here for just about every question you can come up with, believe me there have been some wild questions.

Anyways, as long as you are happy with the boat, and it meets the requirements you need then I would say go for it. I've had a ton of people tell me that the only happy time with a boat is buying it, and then selling it. I disagree. If you get a good boat, then its a wonderful experience.

Good luck with the boat hunting.

[J_Zink]

You can pull a tuber by buying a ski bridal and attaching both ends to the stern tie downs.  As for a boarding ladder, you can get those hang over the side types that work quite well.  

[NorCalWannaBe]

Thanks for the quick response!

We're going tonight to look at the NX750.  I've called a local Mercury dealer and they said they would do an inspection on the motor for $100.  That seemed like a very reasonable rate since we'll be spending close to $10g's if we buy it.  I know that isn't much for a bass boat, but it is to me and my father.

If that one doesn't work out, I'll be calling to check out the '94 170DC

And as for the pulling skiers question...  I found a thread at iBoat.com  that matches what J_Zink said.  That also puts my mind at ease a little in the "family fun" department.  

Thanks again!

[J_Zink]

Just a quick note on the ski bridal thing and it may not apply unless you'll be pulling some serious knee boarders, skiers or wake boarders.  Because the bridal is attached so low on the back of the boat the ski rope will drag through your wake if someone is cutting from side to side on whatever they're riding on.  Not a big deal if you're just pulling a tube but I've had complaints from the serious riders wanting to do jumps and what not off of the boat wakes,  that the rope dragging through wake really messes that kind of stuff up.  In that case a ski pole would be your best bet.  

[BassinDave]

I bought an '02 NX750 with a 115 last fall. I got it for 7k and NADA had it listed for 10k, I gues I got a good deal. So far i am very happy with it. It will run about 55 mph (gps) and that is fast enough for me. There is a lot of storage space considering it's only a 17.5' boat. The only reservation I have is that with a dual console ther is less room to move around in the boat but it's liveable. Good luck on your quest.

[The Next KVD]

i have an 02 Nitro 640LX which is the next model down that ur looking at and it seems to serve my purposes quite well.  The only downfall to my boat is that even with the 90hp Yamaha on the back it takes a while to get on plane when i have a passanger which isn't often.  Otherwise i really like although now I wish i would've waited to buy a bigger boat with more hp for the tournaments i fish in but then again i would probably be spending more money for gas.

[NorCalWannaBe]

Thanks for the comments everyone.   BassinDave you're post really helped because for the fact that it shows me that with the guy asking $10,000 for it is way over the top.  Granted the one were looking at has more HP, but it is also a year older.  That makes me feel better for offering him $8,000 (we're in California, everything is inflated here.)  How many hours did it have when you bought it? Also how many hours is considered "a lot" for an outboard?

We went to look at it the other night.  It's in ok shape.  The hull looks good, hardly any scratches, didn't see any cracks.  Some cosmetic stuff (carpet stains, minor rip in seat, etc...)   Motor started right up, he said he hadn't started it in a week.  The hobbs shows 96 hours (the ad in craigslist said 85, typo? maybe?)

It comes with a ski tripod!  So my worries about that are over.   It has hydrolic steering that the previous (original) owner added.  The current owner added a "fuel seperator".  I am not sure what that does, can someone enlighten me?

Overall it's in good shape.  I know it's not worth what he is asking, but I am not sure what to offer on it (is it even worth $8500 that NADA says, I mean NADA doesn't take into account the extremely low lake levels around here, the fuel prices and the economy...)  Not to mention, he said his was under pressure from his wife to sell it...

We're going to be calling on some other boats, around the same price range.  An '95 Ranger 362V (17'10") with a 150 Yamaha and a '96 Skeeter DX180 (18'6") with a 175 EFI Merc.  I like the Nitro, it matches my tow vehicle and is the newest, would I be wise to pursue it further, or take a real long look at one of the other two?

Oh, sorry, one more thing... I am a big guy, long legs, big stomach, I was kind of cramped in the console of the Nitro, but it wasn't too bad.  Are all consoles pretty much the same throughout different boat brands?

Thanks again everyone!

Sorry for all the questions.