03 Outback for a family

[ellbaker]

Looking at an 03 Outback with 190 hours. The price is good at $15k. This will be my first boat besides a 14 aluminum boat with a 20 hp motor. I am torn between going cheap with a 18 ft I/O and "splurging" on the Outback. My boys are 7 and 9. I would like to introduce them to skiing and wakeboarding. I never had the opportunity as a kid but have really enjoyed it the few times I have been as an adult. My wife thinks we need a lakehouse to really enjoy a boat but I won't go there in this thread.

My question how does the Outback fit in the "family boat" category? I will be doing alot of tubing and cruising until I get them up to speed on skis. I will also be training the wife to drive so I can get some ride time. Will the Outback beat us to death cruising the lake? I shouldn't get hurt to bad in resale if we decide the boat does not fit us.

[zabooda]

Sounds like the identical story I had back in 2002 when I bought my 98 Mobius (in 98 the Mobius was an open bow Outback). I bought it from a dealer in January and got it below book value. Best choice I ever made and the boat is still worth more than what I paid. The boat is a fun boat to drive, simple to work on, looks good on the water and it will make learning wakeboarding or skiing easier as you have the torque throughout the powerband. 15K sounds like a killer deal. Good luck.

[Buttafewcoe]

Hope this helps
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B

[Buttafewcoe]

I gra gee ated up from an I/O. '88 Bayliner w/ Volvo-Penta 140 hp.
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I sure do miss the gas milage of the 4 cyl, and we learned how to ski and wakeboard behind it. Plus learned a lot of do's and don'ts of owning a boat like that. Glad I had that experience be4 buying me '04 OB. Am much better prepared for the routine maintenance and service an inboard requires, not that the OB requires alot. Actually, very similar to the I/O.
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If you are reasonably comfortable 'shade-treeing', the OB is (IMHO) the better choice. 15k sounds reasonable (no pics to judge by). Will hold re-sale better than the I/O, definitely.
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Hope this helps
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B

[Nafplio]

My vote for the Outback as well. I started with a jetski, moved to an I/O for a couple years, and then got my '05 LSV. You'll outgrow the I/O quickly.
My youngest started skiing at 5 and wakeboarding at 7. Kids learn so fast. Go easy on the throttle when you first pull your kids.
Buying a boat was one of the best things I've ever done for my family.

[Mikey]

I come from a family which has had aboat in the family since1971 on. We have had various versions which were all a lot of fun and variing degrees of work to maintane.I/we always were envious of true skiboats whenever they were nearby.Now that i can say i actually own one, an 07 Outback I can honestly say ther really is no comparison.I learned the hard way using many varieties of underpowered and overpowered boats to ski behind and a true skiboat wins hands down on easiness to learn to ski behind. My wife enjoys driving the boat as do every other person of age i've let behind the wheel. I'm in the process of teaching my almost 16 yr old daughter to be my personal driver and at this point she is a very courteous and contiencious driver although not legal here in Canada ''YET''. She is my choice of drivers in my family. Back to the boat ,price sounds good hrs are reasonable should be in good shape if maintained ,If it works for you go for it I wish i hadn't waited this long. These boats are ''FUN''. Good luck.

[Waynes345]

I've got a '99 Outback after moving up from an older I/O. My kids are 10 and 13. If I were you and could swing it, I'd go right to the inboard. The kids do everything behind it and you don't have that lower unit hanging out there. As far as having the wife drive goes, I could rarely get my wife to drive and pull me with the I/O as the front came up until planing out and she would freak. But she pulled me every weekend last summer with the inboard as she felt much more in control with the tighter steering and acceleration on plane. Good luck.

[james yarosz]

I agree with all the posts above,except no one answered one of your questions.They are GREAT ski boats but aren't suited for a-lot of rough water.That said I don't think I'd ever own anything but a DD ski boat.I just avoid real rough water.JMHO

[zegm]

I agree with James they can be rough, I have had DD for over 20 years and they are actually much better than they used to be in rough water. But once you get a inboard you will never go back to anything else! If you want room then get a V drive which is a little more family oriented.

[Laz]

This summer we upgraded from an 18 foot I/O to the Outback.

We use this boat exclusively as a family fun boat. We keep the boat on a fairly big lake that can be very rough and do our water skiing and wakeboarding in a river nearby.

We don't feel like we have had to sacrifice anything when switching to the Outback. We chose the Outback over a V-drive because we have 3 generations of committed water ski fanatics and are just experimenting with wakeboarding. I have a personal preference for the layout of the DD boats over the V-drive boats.

This Outback feels very similar to our 17 year old "deep V" hull I/O on rough water and is vastly superior in every other respect.

Get the outback. You will not be disappointed.