newb

[metts]

I am new to the forum and wanted to say hello. I live just outside of Augusta, GA.  I have been reading a lot of posts the past day or so and you guys have really sold me on the Epics.  I appreciate the honesty on this site for both pros and cons. 
I am a really big Toyota fan and it sounds like these boats should meet my expectations of Toyota quality (except for the fact that they bailed and kind of left Epic owners with few options).  I hope to get a boat by next summer and the Epics are at the top of my list.  My last boat was a 1990 Ski Brendella, which coincidentally also went out of business before I bought the boat. I sold the boat in '01 and never had any problems.  I imagine the Epics are much better.  Now, I could use a little advise.  I mostly ski, but my friends and I do wakeboard some, and I have a family. So, I was thinking that a S22 would be the way to go, especially with a tower.  I like the extra room and smoother ride provided by the v-drive, but I can't really see paying the extra bucks for the SX since we are not that great on the boards.  We would probably hurt ourselves with the ballasts full anyway.  What do you guys think?

[lesman01]

Welcome aboard metts!

I own an '00 S22 and boat an Epic for similar reasons. At the time, I was not into wakeboarding, but wanted a good family boat with lots of room and low maintenence. We looked at all kinds and soon decided that a vdrive was the way to go for us.  Being a big toyota fan myself, I immediately researched it and found out all about Toyota's failed marine saga. After much thought and weighing the pros and cons...and seeing as though I could seem to get much more boat for the price compared to other same type Mastercrafts and nautiques...and with a sturdier, cleaner build..I decided on the Epic.

The s22 will throw a reasonable wake with no ballast for skiing, and with a few people or a sac, it has a nice rampy wake for boarding. It's an all around great boat from my experience.

One thing I was not counting on, but has been a pleasant surprise, is how much I've had to learn about maintenance and troubleshooting. I learn something new about it almost every week. I'm pretty mechanically inclined, (although Pete is the reigning mechanical engineer) and I get great satisfaction out of doing the maintenance and upgrades myself...most of it anyway. I never dreamed I would be laying back on the ground drilling a 2" hole in the bottom of my boat to install Perfect Pass, but I did and i have not sank yet.

It's not the kind of boat I would buy and just hand over to the dealer for all the maintenance, because of our situation with limited knowledge of our boats. I feel like I need to learn ever inch of it so I can be prepared to maintain it for several years to come.

Good luck on your search and know that this site has a great group of owners who really care about their boats and there is piles of well documented maintenance procedures, a newly added parts lookup including drawings, harness diagrams and more to come!

[boneil]

S22 is a great way to go.  Love mine... and for $500 now-a-days you can add more weight than the factory ballasted boats.  And fill/empty times of < 10 minutes.  Will sacrifice some room, but I can ballast 1300 Lbs. with only a 42 inch sac in the open, and still have ample room / storage for 5 riders.  I enjoy the flexibility of having 10 riders no/limited ballast or 2 riders and the ballast of 10 +.   Gas mileage goes out the window ballasted, but again best of both worlds. 

[metts]

Thanks for the responses guys. By the way, is anyone familiar with this boat? It is for sale located just outside of Atlanta, GA. I thought it may belong to someone on this forum.

http://www.everyboat.com/c/s/2001-toyota-marine-v-drive_1025.htm

[cyclone]

That looks like a very nice boat and a good deal at 28K, no DOUBT you could beat them up on the price a bit. Just start asking about dealer support, if they are in business, where is the local dealer that could support you, who else has them, etc. why they went tits up, etc. Find out how long it's been on the lot. Then, put the screws to 'em.

It looks like it's on a lot, and not a private owner sale, so that's why I'm telling you this, hope its' not a members boat!

It looks like a great boat for the money, and you won't mind the 61% better fuel economy these days!