Should I buy it? Lots of advice needed (2016 Limited 242 S E-Series)

[bonehunts]

I had a lead on a boat as noted in the title and had a few questions.
1. Is it normal for the clean out area to be full of water? I saw it at the marina and they pulled it off the rack with the fork lift and the back clean out was full of water.
2. Is it true that the really act like a waverunner when in neutral and don't really go where the rudder is pointing? Or does the Yamaha enhancement make a difference?
3. Any issues with it pulling a wakeboarder, skiier? The marina guy said it's not really good for wakeboarding because it doesn't generate a wake...granted he sells Nautiques.
4. Other than dead batteries from sitting 2 seasons, some rub rash on the front bow from hitting a dock repeatedly, it was a clean boat with 72 hours on it.

I expect my family will mainly use it for cruising, tubing and wakeboarding.

What does the forum say about it?
Thanks for your insight!

 

[mrlanemeyer]

I have a 2014 but this should still apply.

1. Its normal for there to be water on top of the plugs after running the boat. It does take a little bit of time for it to build up. I had to pull one of the plugs on the last day at Powell and ran for about 3 hours and the tube was a little less than half full. The other which had been in the whole 8 days was full to the top.
3. No issues with wakeboarding. Wake is plenty big enough.

 

[captras]

I had a lead on a boat as noted in the title and had a few questions.
1. Is it normal for the clean out area to be full of water? I saw it at the marina and they pulled it off the rack with the fork lift and the back clean out was full of water.
2. Is it true that the really act like a waverunner when in neutral and don't really go where the rudder is pointing? Or does the Yamaha enhancement make a difference?
3. Any issues with it pulling a wakeboarder, skiier? The marina guy said it's not really good for wakeboarding because it doesn't generate a wake...granted he sells Nautiques.
4. Other than dead batteries from sitting 2 seasons, some rub rash on the front bow from hitting a dock repeatedly, it was a clean boat with 72 hours on it.

I expect my family will mainly use it for cruising, tubing and wakeboarding.

What does the forum say about it?
Thanks for your insight!

I have a 2016 that I bought new. It is an awesome boat. It is not unusual to have water on top of the plugs. But I NEVER store the boat with the plugs in. Remove them, spray liberally with silicon and leave them out till your next outting. This will avoid problems in the future. As far as wake, your guy at the marina needs a study course in anatomy and geology so he can learn the difference between his ass and a hole in the ground! Plenty of wake! We wakeboard all the time. True, May not be as big as a Nautique, but it is about 1/2 the price! Regarding rudder enhancement, the 2016 has an articulating keel which helps some. Further addition of some type of after market fins (I have Cobras) make a world of difference at a reasonable cost. If the price is right and it has been properly maintained you will not be sorry! Good luck!

 

[dzeppos]

On #2 - my 242 2016 is not “dead” when you power off - but it’s not like a full rudder. It will give you some steering however and if you need more, there are several very popular mods (many posts here). you can easily put to give you better steering. Seems like you have a good boat to buy.

 

[fireflymedic]

I didn't realize they made the e series as early as 2016.

Is normal to have water over plug just make sure plug us not swollen and stuck now. If it us maybe get some money taken off for the trouble.

Plenty of wake for novice wakeboarding, you will need inhanments to wake surf but not for tubing and skiing.

My boat seems to sit fairly still in "neutral " but with wind and tides boats always kind of drift so hard to really tell.