Buying an Epic; What to look for?

[Epic_Peachland]

Hi. My family is getting a new boat and my brother and I have been given the task of finding it.  I acidently stumbled across and add from a Toyota on Ebay and they seem to be unbelievable value.  I have been lurking here and looking on every possible website for Epics that are available and found a few I think I like.  I was just wondering which boats you guys suggest and what we (My Dad and Myslef) should look out for when taking a look at one.  We spend our summers in Okanagan Lake in British Columbia.  We mainly use for wakeboarding but we do also ski fairly often.  I have seen a few nice X 22 and 22's but would like to here what you suggest.  Thanks so much and I truly hope I will soon be one of the few who own a Toyota boat.

[cyclone]

They are all great boats, it's a matter of what you want. D drive or V drive. Both boats have a lot of room compared to other boats their size.

I would look carefully to make sure that the boat has not been wrecked or abused. The engine and driveline is very tough, if the boat runs rough it probably just needs a plug change. I would do the same checks as with any other boat, compression check on the engine, drive it make sure it drives well and that everything works. You can still get parts to fix anything that might be broken, most stuff is not Toyota specific.

You'll love it, I was out for about five hours yesterday, ran a couple runs with 1600 lbs, four people. It was too rough so we dumped the ballast and tubed for a couple hours.

I used 4.64 gallons of gas:) I have an Epic 22, btw.

[lesman01]

How do you do an engine compression check?

[eagle1wi]

If you are considering the Epic 22 that was recently on ebay it looked like a great ride, especially if you are into boarding AND skiing.

http://www.blueplastic.com/boat/pictures.htm

I like this one too.

http://adcache.boattraderonline.com/6/3/4/83530634.htm


The other one looked like a project boat (read: possible money pit) and if you are looking for a ride to be able to use right away I like fakeblueplastic's and the boatrader E22's. 

People seem to run away because Toyota is no longer making these but the parts are available.  An Epic 21 sold here in Wisconsin a week or so ago and the buyer got a hold of me through this site to see how I got it serviced, problems I had etc.

I basically sold the boat for them because they (dealership) never bothered to see that the boat is basically using all "off the shelf" maintenance parts that I know they have. I feel good for the buyer because he got a great deal but also feel bad for the person that traded it in because I know they got screwed because the dealer didn't have a clue.

Hey lesman, if you google for "engine compression check" you will find a lot of resources.  Are you having issues or do you just want to check?

[Epic_Peachland]

I really liked that 22 on ebay that thing looked really nice in the water. Just to far away I am looking for somthing within a day day and a half drive.  I was also wondering what do these boats generally sell for and second are there any places in the pacific northwest that are know for servicing toyota epics

[DENNIS]

Skimasters in Kenmore, Wa services Epics. If you download all the maintenance docs on this web site, it is real easy to do 95% yourself.  Even if you lack in mechanical skills like myself.

Dennis

[eagle1wi]

http://adcache.boattraderonline.com/6/3/4/83530634.htm

I would bet that Ski Masters sold this one originally, which also looks like a decent deal and is much closer to you.  I would think that they would bend a little on the price but they are throwing a tower and racks on it.  That will save you probably $1500 or so if you had to do it. 

Do you have a Malibu or Mastercraft dealer in your area?

Chances are if they have a clue they will be able to service your boat no problem.  The normal maintenance items are typically the same ones they already have or ones you can buy online and give to them to do things like winterizing. 

For instance I give it to my local dealer (much closer than the official Toyota one) and he already has or can get his hands on the impeller, oil filter and fuel filter to winterize it.  Mine is the only Toyota he has ever worked on and he was hesitant to work on it as first.  Once he saw it I think he was very intrigued.  He told me that I might have to hunt the parts down for him but he called back a couple of days later and told me that it was no problem.  I guess he found out that many of the mainteance items are not specific to our boats. Johnson Impeller, Mercruiser Fuel Filter etc.

Who knows about the prices these go for it really comes down to what you are willing to pay.  The one that just sold by me went for about 3 g's less than I thought it was worth but they had no idea what they had.  It was an E21.  The open bows and v-drives are surely worth more but of course only if you are willing to pay for it.  We keep our E21 on a lift and also have a pontoon so we don't have to live on the boat all day.  We can shuttle pople back and forth from the dock or the 'toon. Some other questions to ask:

What would a comparable boat cost you in similar condition? 

Is what you are looking at a fit with what you are going to do with it?

How much would it cost to run and maintain?

[Lakeside]

Eagle1wi,

Who do you take your boat to?

[epic_toy]

Peachland,

That E22 in WA looks pretty sweet. Less than 100 hours is basically new.

I ordered a Toyota specific part (petcock assy that I stripped last spring during de-winterizing) from Ski Masters today and they claimed it would be in within the week (2-3 days). I was surprised it was that easy. First specific TMS part I've ever bought.

[eagle1wi]

Hey Lakeside,

I get mine winterized by Lakes Area Marine in Burlington.  Right across the street from Brown's Lake Public Beach on Hwy 11.  He hasn't done anything major to the boat (I haven't needed it) but it sure beats taking it to Skipper Bud's.  Nothing against them but it is an hour away.  An hour there, hour back, hour to pick it up, hour home, you get the idea.  Lakes Area is a 45 second drive from the public launch. 

Do you take yours to Skipper Bud's in Waukesha?

We should get a Wisconsin group together sometime this summer.   It looks like 5 of us are on this site all within about an hour's drive of each other.   One of the new members, Brian, bought the E21 out in Delavan. I don't know who had that boat but I don't think they were on here because they would have got more for it for sure if they posted it here instead of trading it in.  If Brian didn't buy it I probably would have.

Send me an email and maybe we can have an Epic Roundup somewhere in Wisconsin.  If we do it on the weekend Brown's Lake probably wouldn't be the best (too busy), that is why we have the house "up north" to get clean weekend water. I don't know if people would want to go an hour north of Green Bay just to get away from the congestion around me.  "The chain", Lake Geneva, Como, Twin Lakes, Lauderdale, Tichigan are all too packed for my tastes on the weekend.  Minnesota "land of 10,000 lakes", Wisconsin has 15,000+ I am sure we could find somewhere to go.

[festivus]

I took my S22 to the Cobalt dealer, they didn't even have to ask any questions, it is the same V-drive as many other ski boats and any mechanic who knows diddley can service it.  Heck if I did it myself, then you could probably teach a monkey to do it.

[ssgharkness020147]

Epic Peachland,
If you are interested in buying an Epic I have a 99 22 in green and ivory that I would consider cutting you a good deal on.  The boat has around 220 hours on it and has been kept in a dry boat house since day one. If you are intested send me an email at ssgharkness020147@yahoo.com The boat is located in south eastern Wisconsin.

Hi. My family is getting a new boat and my brother and I have been given the task of finding it.? I acidently stumbled across and add from a Toyota on Ebay and they seem to be unbelievable value.? I have been lurking here and looking on every possible website for Epics that are available and found a few I think I like.? I was just wondering which boats you guys suggest and what we (My Dad and Myslef) should look out for when taking a look at one.? We spend our summers in Okanagan Lake in British Columbia.? We mainly use for wakeboarding but we do also ski fairly often.? I have seen a few nice X 22 and 22's but would like to here what you suggest.? Thanks so much and I truly hope I will soon be one of the few who own a Toyota boat.

[lesman01]

eagle., Naw I was just wondering about the compression check. After gooogling it i understand why you told me to do that. I thought maybe there was a quick way, but it seems a multi-step process. i didn't do that when I got my boat. Other than saying "engine? check, compression? check"

[Lakeside]

I take mine to Skipper Buds and they've been quite good.  They took over the TMS service franchise from Jack Safro Toyota/Lexus last year, but Safro will still send over a TMS trained Lexus tech for certain repairs.  Also, Skipper Buds consults with Captain Rick when they've got questions about certain repairs, etc. 

They also store my boat in the winter in a guaranteed rodent-free storage area.  The last thing I need is a critter doing a number on the upholstery or in the engine compartment.  I've seen that happen too many times on other boats.  I checked out a boat storage barn in Port Washington last fall, but they had those mouse beepers everywhere which didn't instill much confidence.

We go up north to Lac du Flambeau and to Solon Springs (near Superior), but most of the time we are on Pewaukee Lake.  Pewaukee gets a bit crowded sometimes but I don't think it's as crowded as Lake Geneva.  The flatlanders haven't discovered Pewaukee, yet!  The Waukesha County boat ramp on Pewaukee is a breeze.  I've seen three other Epics on Pewaukee (any lurkers out there?)

For a change of pace, Milwaukee Harbor/Lake Michigan is fun for a late afternoon/sunset cruise with friends.  We usually swing by the Summerfest Lagoon to catch a concert from off shore at one of the weekend festivals.  Then we usually cruise up the Milwaukee River to one of the restaurants on the riverwalk (Milwaukee Ale House, Rock Bottom Brewery, etc.).  It seems that with all the development going on in the Third Ward, there should be more and more to do on the river each year.

A roundup would be great!  I'd go to any of the lakes in our area. 

Last but not least, we are dopes in Wisconsin.  How could we let a state with a lot fewer lakes than we've got claim all the credit for lakes.  We're busy bragging about exciting cheese, corn and dairyland stuff on our state quarter and license plates while Minnesota claims all the credit for lakes.  Gotta agree with you about the lakes in the Northwoods.  It's great going out on a holiday weekend and sharing a lake with only one or two other boats that are at least a mile away!

[eagle1wi]

Yes Ryan is great at Skipper Buds.  Jim Tessmer, the GM for Safro Toyota and Lexus of Brookfield lives on Pewaukee.  I am sure that he is at least one of the Epic owners, his son is probably another.  We went to his place to demo our boat before we bought it.

Our lake up north is 4000 plus acres and it is usually us and the ski team going fast with a bunch of fisherman on the perimeter.  Unlike down here (Milwaukee area) there is enough room to keep the fisherman from showing you how they think you are number 1.

Lakeside - email or pm me with your contact info, I would like to start building a contact list of people in our area.  I think it could be a great resource.