2000 MariStar 230 VRS

[Soder]

Hey all,

I'm looking to buy a MasterCraft but want to be sure I'm in the right ballpark.

Here's my proposal for the what's it worth:
2000 MariStar 230 VRS
5.7L 330hp EFI LTR
340 hours
Very Clean on the inside
Carpet is clean and no tears or wear
No rips, tears or excessive wear on the vinyl
Tower with 2 racks
Fiberglass glows as it's always been stored inside
Trailer is in good shape with surge brakes
Transmission oil is clean
Windshield mount Bimini
Cockpit and bow covers
No Perfect Pass (not a problem)
Sturdy oversized rudder
New bluetooth Clarion stereo (no tower speakers)
Single battery
Pneumatic struts need to be replaced (easy)
Aftermarket manual ballast bags (650 x 2 in the rear, 375 for ski locker)
Everything is in good working order except the blower needs to be replaced

I'm really excited about this boat but want a sanity check. I'm going to do a sea trial next week. Instead of me telling you how much the owner is asking, you tell me what you think a reasonable price is.

Thanks a ton!!!

[gweaver]

I've seen several on craigslist in my area, similar vintage, price ranging from 22K up to 29K on the high end. From the ads, all appeared to be in good or better shape. I've linked the ads below:
http://www.mastercraft.com/teamtalk/...ad.php?t=71843 A 99, great shape, lots of options for 22.8K.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/boa/5528729568.html 2001, 300 hours, looks to be nicely taken care of, 25.5K.

http://redding.craigslist.org/boa/5469100864.html 2002 VRS 230 with the 6.0, asking 29.8, but the boat looks to be very well taken care of.

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/boa/5528759679.html 2001 X-30 (same hull), 34K

http://modesto.craigslist.org/boa/5450650631.html I know this is an X-10, but owner claims it has an 8.1l engine, again, good shape, asking 25K.

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/boa/5527582783.html 1999 Maristar 210, no tower, looks like the base model, but only 15.5K. Leaves a lot of room to add a tower, stereo, ballast, etc, if the budget is closer to 25K.

So...tl;dr, I'd say anywhere between 22K and 27K, but for 27K, it should be in really nice shape with nice options. Of course, these are CA prices, which I have no idea how they stack up against UT prices.
I'll leave you with one thought- a boat is a toy, it's an emotional purchase. If you look at that boat, think about the price and think about being out on the lake with friends and family and you've got a big old grin, it's probably worth the money. If you think about the price and/or payments and start to stress, it's probably better to walk away.

G

[Jody89c]

I have that same boat, and absolutely love it!

Tons of room for lounging and more than adequate for multi sport use. As far as the pricing goes, there are so many factors but in general those prices listed above look to be spot on.

Good luck

[Maristar210]

$23,500

[seth25]

Asking price is high. Around $22k should be selling price.

[mtajpa]

Boulder Boats in Nevada has the same boat however it has built in ballast, heater,PPass, FA Exhaust, oversized bimini. They are asking 27k. Seems high but they are a boat dealer. Good to compare the one you are looking at. If this one was red I probably would have made a trade for mine.

http://www.boulderboats.com/new_gall...sp?pov=4489867

[Jeff d]

These are good boats but they had several issues that were addressed by recalls and in later year models. All of the recalls are expired at this point except possibly the monoleaf trailer springs which were a Department of Transportation recall. They're all relatively easy fixes but sometimes the parts aren't readily available. Look for these:

-Monoleaf trailer springs- This would be one piece of spring steel instead of a pack of a few together. They sag so bad the tires will rub the fenders and can break. A Mastercraft dealer may still be able to replace these for free if it wasn't done.

-Supplemental alternator bracket- All LTRs of this vintage had poorly supported alternators that tend to break off damaging the main bracket and or the alternator. Mastercraft offered a supplemental bracket that supported the alternator from both sides but the bracket is becoming hard to find. You could make one with a strap of steel bent appropriately in a vice.
http://www.mastercraft.com/teamtalk/...ad.php?t=63643
http://www.mastercraft.com/teamtalk/...ad.php?t=30413


-Improper water pump pulley- Many LTRs of this vintage came with an water circulating pump pulley that was off by about 1/8" from the rest of the pulleys and would cause belt walk off and shredding. I couldn't find the pulley Indmar specified in the recall from anywhere and ended up finding one on Amazon that worked well.
http://www.mastercraft.com/teamtalk/...ad.php?t=44371


There's no recall but be prepared for gauge issues. The Medallion system on these boats is just awful. I got tired of it and did this on mine:
http://www.mastercraft.com/teamtalk/...ad.php?t=61353

Some people love the electric sundeck actuator but they can be failure prone. Once mine died I did this:
http://www.mastercraft.com/teamtalk/...7&postcount=23

[Soder]

Wow,

Thanks everyone who donated their thoughts and especially the technical info. I contacted MC and they only told me about the trailer leaf spring thing.

The gentleman selling is asking $26,500. It is about par with other boats in the area but it fits my wants almost to a T.

I agree about the emotion. Once you're on the water being ultra frugal isn't the biggest priority. I'll keep looking to see if something else pops up but still going to pursue this more.

Thanks a ton for the quick responses.

[outdoorjp]

230 owner here .

That factory tower look is great and a bimini 2 is a pluss

You will want 750'S on rear after you ride a while.

I did not even like my 750'S and went bigger.

But the boat itself is great. Simple Chevy 350 motor.

Cheep parts. We love the space.

Low 20'S is realistic if you look around.

Even upper teens on a good day.

[CBA]

I would say $22,000. Perfect Pass is an important feature and the tower speakers too. If you were to add these items it will cost you approx. $2,000. Below is a listing of my personal boat for sale. Not trying to sell you mine... of course unless your interested but my boat is a 9/10 with every feature. My boat does have what appears to be a lot of hours but for the year it well within range. If my hours where in the range of the one your looking at I would look to sell it for $22 to $23.

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv...537737008.html

[outdoorjp]

CBA- great boat with all the right add on's.
Suprised it has not sold long ago.

Green and tan is a color combo that takes the right guy.

Are 230 has blue and tan, wish I could make all the tan black..

[Soder]

So I went and did a test drive. Everything was wonderful. Since the owner didn't have any maintenance records, I decided to send in an oil sample to Blackstone Labs for an analysis. It came back ugly. The levels of aluminum, iron, copper, lead were about 4 times what is average for this engine with 45 hours on the oil (Indmar LTR 330hp). This could be a sign of excessive wear of pistons, cylinders, bearings or other metal components.

The silicone came back high as well. This could be due to the new Harbor Freight hand pump I used to extract the oil or could be due to dirt in the oil.

The seller said the dealership he bought it from last August changed the oil and then they spent about 10 days on the lake before winter. There is a chance that the dealer told him they changed the oil but didn't.

So I'm not sure what to make of this. I told the seller I was uncomfortable with this and he said he was going to show it to other potential buyers. I'm fine with that. He said he'd change the oil and keep using it if he didn't sell it but it would take a couple months to put 8-10 hours on it so I could re-test the oil.

Maybe this is just very dirty oil that hasn't been changed in 150-200 hours. If so, that's not good for the engine. Maybe the engine is wearing poorly.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Should I ignore this as poor maintenance and risk it? Should I take it as a sign that maybe something is askew? Everything else in the boat was clean and well cared for. This surprised me.

[gweaver]

It sounds like perhaps shoddy maintenance on the part of the dealer. It also sounds like the seller is a stand-up guy, letting you pull an oil sample for testing. Maybe you can do a compression test, or have a different dealer inspect it, look at the engine, plugs, etc for anything that might give an indication of potential problems.
For what it's worth, I bought my 88 with 940 hours on the engine. Boat was a bit rough, hadn't been used in a while. I've replaced the carb, the alternator and starter, but as far as the engine goes, it runs great. 340 hours seems pretty good. And honestly, while I'm not in a position to buy, CBA's high hours didn't scare me at all.
Not really sure where I'm going with this, but I guess I wouldn't be freaked out by the oil test. I'd try to do a compression/leakdown test, just to make sure the rings are good, but if the water test went well and everything is in good shape, I'd take the plunge.
ps- as far as the 8-10 hours goes, if you're that concerned, and again, because the guy seems like a good guy, maybe he'd be willing to let you buy gas and lunch and you could put those hours on the boat in a weekend- just run up and down the lake for a few hours, pull a sample and send it off.
G