There's a thread here called "Does this boat look familiar?" that desribes how some hacks took an SX and pulled it apart, pulled molds off the Epic, built their own boat from the molds and tried to market it under the name EOS. To recoup their costs, they put the SX back together and are trying to sell it - we're concerned that a boat that's been dissasembled and then reassembled by some hacks may not be in tip top shape. Same type of stuff has happened to other boat mfrs, but the Epic community is particularly well armed in Utah.
The condition of the boat would be my number one, followed by price. I paid 'private party top dollar' at the time for my 2000 S22 because it was in superb condition. I paid $27K for mine two years ago...it had the tower, one rack, about 130 hours and was beautiful, but no other options. That same boat would have been priced well over $30K at a dealer, and another buyer might have gotten a boat like that for $23K in a super crazy deal. As for me, I am happy with what I paid, and am glad that the original owners were able to settle their outstanding balance and walk away no worse for wear.
You're looking at a boat that's two years newer, has the integral wet floor ballast tanks and probably tons of other goodies. If you really want to get educated, search back through the archives for thread titles similar to yours. In those threads, you'll read about our individual feelings regarding whether or not to recommend an Epic to a prospective buyer. It's no small thing to buy into a boat that's nearing the end of factory support, however the boats are reliable, unique from a maintenance and parts perspective mainly in the engine, and the Epic community (what you have access to here) is possibly a little more resourceful and communicative than the AVERAGE boat owner. Clearly though, the situation is not for everyone. I spend a lot of time thinking about boat stuff that an MC guy would never spend the time doing. If he messes up a stero install, he'll just bear with it until he replaces the boat in a few years. If his tranny fails, he just takes it in and writes a check. Ours are a little more complicated, and the bottom line for me is that the Epic race is dying. I will never be able to go get me a new and improved TOYOTA boat or even just a replacement. ALL TOYOTAs are headed downhill, even the gorgeous S22 previously meticulously cared for by the Matt and Chad Edens, and the amazing E21 previously owned by Breakawaydaze. They're headed down at different rates, but it's like the end of a blood line. This fact places extra pressure for me because I cherish this thing and want to keep it beautiful and healthy for the twenty years I plan on owning it.
All I'm saying is to go back and read through the threads before you buy - I didn't have access to this site when I bought mine, but my heart was set on owning a TOYOTA boat from the minute I saw it at traderonline. Shortly after I brought mine home, Pete got the site up and running and since then, we've been trying to make people like yourself aware of what they're getting in to. These are great boats that might not be for everybody.
I'm proud cruising through the channel at Havasu hearing people say stuff like "it says 'powered by lexus', it must be for real". I'm not offended that the only people that really know about TOYOTA boats are wakeboarders, and often they won't even recognize the Epic as a wakeboard boat (a lot of the towboats we cruise by won't even turn their heads to look at the boat - friggin insecure or something). By no means am I a snob about it, and do give credit to other boats' wakes, their sound systems, their torque curves, etc., but it's funny to me that the majority of these guys just won't even allow themselves to come over and touch and feel one of them Yotas they heard about.
And Pete, very well put. Gene, just try to find a price that both you and he can make peace with. If not, there are others out there (though not many 2002s owned by TOYOTA people).
