04 x-30

[jborden]

i am looking at buying a new 04 x-30 could any one give me info on them thanks. we will use it for a family boat and wake board and skiing

[PendO]

By "new" is it a holdover, what engine?

[jborden]

demo and it has the mcx 350

[PendO]

How many hours on it ... nice thing is that since it is a demo it probably has had any little bugs worked out ... any other info on the setup, what state are you in? (Freshwater?)

[jborden]

in ky no salt water has all extra mc by design options heater perfect pass wake board pro loaded up has 200 hours

[prostar205]

A demo with 200 hours. That is equivalent to 4 summers worth of use (~50/summer is average). I hope you are getting a great deal. Since it is a dealer demo, you should get the full factory warranty. I bought a '02 X30 back in Dec. '04 with a full factory warranty and I have used the warranty ALOT. The X30 is a great family boat - but do not expect it to operate like a direct drive. Mine has the L18 gas guzzler engine and I spend about $300/month in gas. The MCX should be alittle better on fuel.

What are they asking for it?

Have you ever owned a tournament boat or MC before?

[jborden]

have had many boats in the past but no i have not had a tournament ski boat befor and i think it can be bought for 52 it has all options on it and i understand it uses about 5 gal per hour pulling a wakeboard

[prostar205]

$52K for an '04 with 200 hours on it - NO, NO, NO!!!! My dealer had a '04 with 80 hours on it with the MCX loaded and they were only asking $51K last Oct/Nov. This boat was the HO promo boat.

I do not know the market in KY, but I would think you should be able to get that boat for $45K max. Look at www.traderonline.com and pull up the '04 X30s for sale. There are used ones that have alot less hours than 200 going for ~$50K.

Good luck.

[bigmac]

I have a 04 230VRS MCX, bought new this year as a holdover from last year, essentially the same boat minus the tower and ballast systems. It's an excellent boat. Plenty of room for family boating, performs very well as a tow boat for recreational water sports. It would be even better for wakeboarding or wakesurfing with the tower and ballast, but none of us do those things so it hasn't been an issue. When any of our little group wants a big wake for wakeboarding, we take my buddy's X-10. The difference in interior room between my buddy's '04 X-10 and my 230 is pretty remarkeable.

I love the MCX engine. The accleration, time-to-plane, and 0-30mph times are impressive, even with a loaded boat. The V-drive boats have their engines mounted backwards, so some of the routine maintenance such as raw-water impeller and transmission cooler strainer inspection are a little more problematic than with a direct drive, but the bilge access from the rear storage compartments is pretty well done by the MC designers and the contortions necessary to work back there are negligible compared to any IO I've ever owned. Top speed on my boat is 46 mph by GPS (speedometer is dead-on accurate). I wouldn't mind having a little more speed on the top end (no big deal, really), but I wouldn't want to sacrifice any acceleration - so I'm still waiting for someone to develop a magic propeller. I had an issue with a dead fuel pump within the first 10 hours, and within the first 20 hours two of the three mounting bolts on my alternator had snapped. Both issues were attentively addressed by my dealer with zero hassle. I think the general run of MasterCraft dealers is top notch. I'm of the impression that MasterCraft watches that very closely. Customer service seems to be a high priority at MasterCraft, based on virtually everything I've read. By all reports, if you REALLY want to be impressed by MasterCraft, take a tour of their factory and look at their building method.

Especially compared to my previous IO's, I think the wake at 34-36 mph is excellent for recreational slalom skiing, but if that's at all important to you, you should definitely ski behind this boat. There is a little rooster tail that begins being noticeable at 15-off - at least it is a little more noticeable than my buddy's X-10. I may install the Lenco trim tab that is now standard on the 06 X-30/230VRS, as much for the interesting project aspect of it as for any perceived need for perfomance or wake enhancement. I don't get any porpoising, nor do I have any handling issues. There is a little prop cavitation at higher throttle settings, and it is amplified in a right turn. It doesn't affect handling IMHO, but it does make some noise. My only real ongoing issue with the boat is that the rubber matting on my fiberglass swim platform tracks black stuff all over the rear deck and seats. Easily cleanable, but the teak wouldn't do that. It's not worth regretting, however.

All-in-all, I think that an X-30 for wake sports and family boating is a superb choice. You'd have to judge that against the deal they're offering you and I think you should judge it's suitability for slalom skiing for yourself. The fact that is has 200 hours wouldn't bother me a bit, but the facts that it's late in the season, '06 X-30's are substantially different, and that it's an '04 demo with 200 hours ought to get you a substantial discount over MSRP, I would think. I paid $46,000 for mine (with MC trailer) on July 1 of this year, including full canvas (MC bow and cockpit cover), heater, bow sun pad, and a nice insulated canvas cooler.

[prostar205]

Bigmac -

Very well written. I would agree with everything you have said.

How many hours were on yours? I would guess NOT 200. $46K is a great price for a holdover 230VRS with tower and ballast.

I still think $52K with 200 hours is highway robbery.

I, too, am looking at the Lenco trim tab for better skiablity.

[bigmac]

Bigmac -

How many hours were on yours? I would guess NOT 200. $46K is a great price for a holdover 230VRS with tower and ballast.

I still think $52K with 200 hours is highway robbery.

My boat had less than 1 hour on it when I bought it. It doesn't have tower or ballast, but I still was pretty satisfied with the deal and certainly have less and less cause for any regrets the more I use it. I've put 50 hours on it since July 1.

I don't know anything about the market in KY, but $52K for that particular X-30 seems pretty steep to me too. At this point in the season, I think that boat would go for about $46K around here. My dealer has a couple of zero-hour '04 X-10's he's asking $46K for.


.

[AirJunky]

............. uses about 5 gal per hour pulling a wakeboard

Wow! At $2.89/gallon thats a $15 ride!! Guess I won't be upgrading any time soon....

[jborden]

the mc designs billet package and polk momo stero system is on this x 30 as well it will take about 55 with tax and all to buy it out the door i dnot know what a new 06 would cost me andi was looking at a correct craft 226 team edition here but an 05 would be about 62 plus tax so i went back to the mc i like the dealer they seam to be good people and on the trader online i have not seen any x 30 on there

[WakeSeeky]

Well said bigmac! We've got the '05 X-30 with MCX engine and could not be happier with the boat.

That price seems a little high to me, but the only '04/X-30/MCX boats I see listed (with prices) on boattraderonline.com are $51k and $53,900. There's also an '04 Maristar 230s for $58k, but no engine listed. I don't see hours on any of those. So $55k out the door with all the bling is maybe not as high as I would have thought, but there are a lot of '04 X-30s listed with "call for price". It seems like there's room for negotiation anyway. I've heard the '06 went up a healthy amount, so I'd guess that's not hurting the older boats any.

Good luck with your purchase, and post pictures!

[Cary K.]

A buddy of mine is selling this boat:

http://www.flipsell.com/Phase3/home/DispVehicle.asp?VehicleID=8207

Very clean, meticulously maintained, and has the MCX. $44,900, but is an '03

Also check out other boats on Flipsell.com