06 X-30- To Reupholster or to not

[pmikler]

Short version. I boated to the Bahamas with a friend and it was life changing. I want that adventure for my children. Living where I live in FL its very accessible. In short, I will be selling my boat to switch to an offshore boat.

High level particulars

Boat has around 400 hours (we live on the water so its always been a run and back with not a lot of cruising)
Only stock ballast used
Serviced with Amsoil and all service done on time.(since I have had it in 2010ish)
Tandam Trailer need some brake work and new tires that will be done prior to selling.

To the question. Living on the water in Florida mildew is a battle you are going to loose. (edit I was shocked how well it cleaned up with a lof of elbow grease and vinyl cleaner- it looks great) even under a cover and using a dehumidifier. I have pricing to redo the upholstery for resale but I started wondering if I would get the return on the investment? Meaning I put 5k in all new upholstery but that only ups the price by 3k.

I have seen these boats listed at 50 but that doesn't mean that's what they sold for and plus I think the market will get softer this year.

Thoughts on Upholstery? . worth it?

[Mainely Wake]

Pictures please

[pmikler]

Pictures please

Understand the request for pictures but boat needs to be cleaned up a bit and didn't want that to impact anything. just haven't had time to and believe it or not I am still dealing with hurricane cleanup and repair. no large rips but it is giving out near the stitching on a couple of seat. I thought the question about upholstery didn't need images... maybe I am wrong.

[86Skier]

From my perspective, photos would help clarify which of the following categories your boat falls in:

1. The upholstery is worn and will likely require replacement, but is not so far gone that a buyer could reasonably purchase it with a plan to run it for a while this spring/summer and pull the seats next fall to do an upgrade in the offseason, or as time was more available to them.

Or,

2. The upholstery is trashed, and the buyer would make the purchase knowing that upon taking possession, the first thing they’d have to do is park it, tear it apart, and immediately undergo replacement.

I suspect the number of buyers you will find, and the price they’d be willing to pay, will go up exponentially in case 1 vs case 2.


Either way, getting your full repair cost back out of it, might not happen... but, new upholstery would almost certainly increase your number of tire kickers.

[bturner2]

This ends up being a real challenge that I dealt with a few years back. The big issue isn't so much on doing or not doing but doing correctly and doing poorly. I know FL is cheap for getting interiors done but up here to get it done right you'll never get it done for $5K. We can't even get a ProStar 190 done up here for $5K at least with materials and labor that would result in a factory like result. When I got estimates back in 2018 on my 07 X2 they were in the $8K - $9K range from the guys that do the work for the MC and Nautique dealers. The cut rate guys were were $6K - $7K but I saw their results and they were not something I was willing to go with if I was keeping the boat. I ended up selling as is as I didn't think I ever get my money out of the boat later and wanted a 2 post tower.

I've owned a few boats over the years and I'll tell you nothing turns a buyer of a high end ski boat off more than a crap re-upholstery job. You'll get none of your money back IMO if you do anything less than a OEM quality job, at least not from me or anyone I'm advising on a purchase. I'm not sure which I despise more, cheap vinyl, poor stitching or removal of OEM level trim patterns. They all scream cheap and IMO will actually devalue the boat to all but the truly unknowing. Nothing worse than seeing a nice boat listed with a new interior only to find out the interior is cheap junk.

Bit over the top I know but it is definitely one of my hot buttons when looking for a boat.

[robadele]

For a 2006 x30 with 400 hours I would guess you are in the $30-40K. Assuming a fresh water boat. If salt water, it will be less. A full re-upholstery job up here in the midwest would be 7-8K. I think it comes down to how bad it is now. If the interior is truly bad with multiple seats with major tears or seriously nasty mildew, I think you would be better off doing at least a partial re-do. If the seats are not ripped, you can probably get away with just a really good re-condition of the vinyl.

I would say the same thing about the trailer since you said it needs work as well. It is worth the investment to make the boat and trailer in good (not great) shape for a new owner. Tires, brakes, winch strap, lights should all work.

You'll want to move the boat in the early to mid summer to get the best price.

[TolCarMan]

I sold my 2006 X30 with 290 hours in 2021. In the time that I owned it, I put about 16k into it (GSA/ballast, upholstery, sound, etc.) and lost 3k. My boat brought the highest number of any 2006 X30 on Onlyinboards, so I definitely squeezed out every penny I could.

My point is, if you're not planning on keeping your boat, don't throw more money into it. The only reason I did those upgrades was because I knew I was going to enjoy them for a few seasons. When you list your boat, make sure it is super duper clean (303 the hell out of it) and the pictures are high quality. Nothing turns me off more than a dirty boat or bad pictures. I'd list your boat in the upper 30k region and see what happens.

[73blue]

Agree with others. You wont get the full value of an upgrade back.Unless its just unusable, then you are almost always better off selling as is

[JohnE]

I agree with most here. I wouldn't replace the upholstery unless it is completely trashed. Let a buyer decide what they want to do with it

[JohnE]

FWIW, the used boat market does seem to be falling off a bit. The $50K 15+ year old boats won't be holding that value much longer, just IMHO.

[pmikler]

Thanks for the wisdom here, Gents.

[88 PS190]

An option if the stitching is just tearing near seams is that many shops can do a really nice job of splicing in a new panel. We had that done to the family I/O as quite a few of the seats where you entered and exited the boat split on the seam. The interior was white with blue accents and they went in and installed a light blue strip along the dark blue on all of the seats and the cost was significantly cheaper than a complete redo.

I've seen professionally cleaned mildewed vinyl look brand new and I've also seen it dyed. The point being if you're trying to flip the boat some "fixes" can make it very marketable for not a ton of dough.