2000 Shabah z250 Limited Edition 7.4l - good deal?
 

Hey guys, just joined the forum to get some info on a boat I looked at this evening. It's a 2000 Mariah Shabah z250 (limited edition), 180 original hours, 7.4l 454 engine, etc. Guys owned it 8 years, super low mileage, boat is beautiful inside and out. Here is the link to it:

Low Hours - Rare Mariah Cuddy

The guy is asking $23k for it, and said he already refused a bunch of "low balls" at $15k. Is $23k a good price for this boat? I've never seen a 2000 Mariah go for over $13k here on this forum, so it seems a bit steep. The boat comes with all the bells and whistles, including $6k worth of custom canvas (bimini top, etc). Anything I should look out for with this boat?

Also, will this boat be hard to sell when it comes time to sell it 1-5 years down the line? Are these boats in high demand, or is a $20k Mariah hard to sell? He said he bought it for $40's about 8 years ago, and had a $90k sticker when it was new.

Any info would be helpful...excited to finally be looking at boats!

Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

Bumpp

Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

That boat has been for sale for quite a while. I almost ended up looking at it myself but I purchased one in Phoenix. I have a 2000 Shabah 250 and it is only short a couple items to have it at the Z level that the yellow one is at. In my opinion that price is not too bad at all. I didnt pay a whole lot less for mine and mine needed outdrive work and this winter I just dumped 2k into the trailer. So 23k is not far at all from where Im in on mine. PLUS I need upholstery work soon.
Is it going to be hard to resale? Depends. It took me 2 years to sell my other Mariah and it ended up selling in two days on eBay. It all depends though, timing is everything. Get on SearchTempest Online Classifieds Search - All the Classifieds. One Search. and search Mariah 250. Set the range to encompass America. There are a few other Z250 on there and they are right in the 20k range. That yellow boat being a bold color, low hour and clean condition with the add-ons would be worth a little more up front in my opinion.

What to expect with the boat? Im at elevation so performance is not all that great up here. The best I can get my 250 up to is 52 on a GPS with the Bravo One and the 310hp 7.4. Dont expect a speed boat! I know they look like a Go Fast boat but they are happy cruising. I have 412 hours on mine as of this weekend and it runs great and sounds great as well. We get lots of complements on her.

Mariahs are built really well from what I can tell. The name is known as having the quality of other boats like Cobalt, Formula, etc. so the reputation for quality is there.

Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

What does the boat NADA at? 180 hours is certainly low but ultimately it is how has the boat has been maintained. I'd ask to see the receipt for $6k worth of canvas on a boat that size. The skinny is this... These Mariah's are VERY nice boats. Thick hulls and quality components throughout. That's why us owners are so passionate about boats that are of the age of these.

Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

According to NADA for Phoenix area , 15-16 grand is average.
Take into consideration the low hours , I'd add maybe 2 grand more.
Custom stuff is just that , I do not consider those things in the purchase price. (It's still a 2000 Z250 no matter what you add to it).
I think 18 grand would be a fair price , but I'd run her before I did any negotiating

JMO.

Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

Yeah I was thinking $18k would be a decent price if everything checks out after a test run on the water.

I'm sure it being limited edition adds a bit of value to it, and probably one of the reasons I looked at it is because of how cool the paint scheme on it is. The checkered flags really set it off.

I'm not looking for a speed boat of any sort, this will be our (my wife's and mine) first boat, and we just want a solid cuddy cabin boat, that looks great, and performs nicely if we want to fly down the lake at 40-45mph. This boat should do that without a hiccup from what the owner tells me, with the 7.4 :)

Also, I'm planning on keeping this boat on water for the whole year. What is the trailer worth if I was to sell it? I have no interest in the trailer at all, and paying $35 a month for storage is a little ridiculous.

Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

Are you in Phoenix? I haven't seen any other limited edition z250 with cuddy cabin for sale, can you show me some links? I'm in Phoenix as well, as is this z250 that I checked out yesterday :)

Re: 2000 Shabah z250 Limited Edition 7.4l - good deal?
 

That is the same model trailer I have. Personally I don't like it. From the Atwood tongue to the Reliable brand axles. Ergo I had to repair mine. New axles and fixed cracks in frame due to poor design. That trailer looks to have the same sag mine did which lead to the outdrive damage mine had..

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Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

Once again NADA lists it for about 2500.00 :)

Re: 2000 Shabah z250 Limited Edition 7.4l - good deal?
 

I'm in Colorado. Purchased it in Phoenix.

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Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

He had some drag rollers professionally added to the trailer to fix the sag problem with dragging at times.

Do you guys think the trailer would be an easy sell for say, $2k?

Has 4 new tires that he changed out one by one over last 1.5 years. Everything else looks perfect on it.

Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

No idea. Brand new is easily 4k for a trailer for 25' boat. I looked into that route. Fixed mine instead.

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Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

Trailers don't seem to hold their value for very long.
But , if someone really wants it............:wink_thumbup:

Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

Do you guys think that 3-5 years down the line, with say 350 hours on the boat and everything else being in great condition ( I take really good care of all my vehicles), It'd be an easy sell for about $16k? I just don't want to lose too much on the boat, especially considering how expensive all the costs are anyways (slip, insurance, maintenance, etc).

Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

The only way not to lose money on a boat is not buy it.:eek_animated:
If your thinking that this can be an investment of sort , you got a 50/50 chance at best.:wink_thumbup:
Buy it and enjoy it!:yes_grin:
You won't regret it:D

Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

Yes, this boat has been for sale for a while. I can say when I sold my '00 Z250 LE, (with trailer) I sold it for quite a bit less than their asking price. Despite the low hours and custom canvas, I say it's a bit overpriced. Personally I wouldn't go much over $20k if it were me.

Selling the trailer, you could probably get $2k for it.

One thing you will need to keep in mind, if you're going to keep it in the water all season, you'll need to apply anti-fouling paint to keep the marine life from growing on it, as well as protecting the hull from developing blisters from staying in the water all season. I'd do some serious research into this before considering deciding this is what you want to do. It's about a $2k additional investment, to have it professionally done. If you have the means to launch yourself (with the trailer), this may be a better option...or pay to have it rack-stored and launched at a local marina, this may be a lot more practical for you rather than doing the whole bottom paint approach. Personally I think the Z250 has some of the best lines of any boat I've owned, and the look gets really thrown off by solid off-color bottom paints, especially with the Indy graphics package. :)

Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

Of course I understand that it's not an investment of any sort, I just don't want to spend close to $20k and sell it for $10k in 3-5 years. I've had that happen with a car before, and have since only bought cars that hold their value extremely well. Do the Mariah boats hold their value pretty nicely?

Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

Yeah one of the reasons I love the boat so much is because of how it looks, I've never seen a cuddy cabin boat look so sporty and sit so nicely in the water. Would $18k be a "great deal" for this boat with everything it comes with? If I can sell the trailer for $2k, then it'd only really cost about $16k, which would be awesome. We don't have a truck, and we don't want to rent a truck and pay to store the trailer when not using it, so that is why I have no interest in the trailer.

I was thinking about having the rack storage, but I want the experience of being at the dock, as I want to meet some new people, and be around all of the fun (one of the reasons we're getting a boat). Maybe do rack storage partially, and water storage partially?

Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

Also, a question my wife had:

Why do you guys think it has it been for sale for so long? Is it because the asking price is too high?

Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

Exactly. I recall it being in the higher 20's in January of 2013 when I was looking at the one I purchased.

So sit in it another year or two and get less money for it or just sell it for the same price now and have it off your hands... That's where I was with the boat I just sold.

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Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

The beauty of rack storage is if your place is like the rack storage places around me, you call them and let them know you're on the way, and they'll put your boat in the water for you and have you tied up to the dock. All you have to do is hop on board and you're ready to go. Then when you're finished, take it back, tie it up, and they put it back on the rack until you're ready to use it next. It's super convenient if you don't want to have to launch and retrieve yourself all the time. You'll just have to do some talking with the marina to see if they'll let you have a real slip (or a transient) while you're in the water if you want to experience "the dock life". If you're just going to be a weekend warrior, and enjoy the friday-sunday boating time, you should be fine. I never left my Z250 in the water for more than 5 days at a time because I didn't have any bottom protection. If nothing else, it kept the boat cleaner, and I'm a firm believer in the "better safe than sorry" theory.

Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

I'm in AZ, so we don't really have a lot of the problems with the algae and such like other boats. Marinas here say that 70% of their residents keep it in the water year round.

Re: 2000 Shabah z250 Limited Edition 7.4l - good deal?
 

Just my 2 cents to think about, the next guy might want the trailer! And no trailer to the next guy might be the dealbreaker. Like the trailer or not, I would still want a trailer in case I needed it in case the next guy wanted it. What happens when you have to pull the boat out of the water for service? Id get the trailer and park it at a friend's house or pay storage.

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Re: 2000 Shabah z250 Limited Edition 7.4l - good deal?
 

Yeah my wife and I discussed it and whatever boat we end up getting, we definitely will keep the trailer for when it comes time to sell it, move it, or whatever the case may be.

Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

Owner was stock on $21,500.. After negotiating for a while, the owner is down to $20k on it...I offered $18k..hoping we can meet in the middle.

We are taking it on the water next week, so I can't wait to see how it rides/feels.

Would you guys say it's a great deal for $19k? Here is the boat again:

Low Hours - Rare Mariah Cuddy

Re: 2000 Shabah z250 Limited Edition 7.4l - good deal?
 

I think I would get that boat 20,000


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Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

Well the owner took my wife and I out on the boat this past Friday (Lake Pleasant) and we had an absolute blast. The boat drives like a dream, rides smoothe as a Cadillac, and has tons of power. We glided along pleasant at a nice 45mph and couldn't have asked for a better ride.

I am preparing to make a good offer on it, anything else I should inspect/look at before making an offer on it? Any common areas of problems on the hull or anything?

Thanks guys for all the help. We looked at a 2000 Chaparral on Sunday and what a piece of junk that boat was! At a boat dealer too, definitely wasn't taken care of at all.

Re: 2000 Shabah z250 Limited Edition 7.4l - good deal?
 

I am at 420 hrs on mine right now. Im currently floating in a cove right now and slept on it last night. Nothing stands out to me about the 250 that's needs attention. The 7.4 is a solid motor in stock form. Bravo 3, no issues I'm aware of. The trailer has been the only thing Ive had issues with. Good luck with the transaction!

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Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

We agreed on a price :)

Doing a final lookover tonight to check for cracks in the hull, and any other problems that can be visually seen. I called the service guy who did the last service and he remembered and kept telling me about how clean that boat is :) That's a great thing to hear from a guy who sees hundreds of boats a year.

Motoxxx, do you have a 250z as well?

Also guys, what kind of tubes do you recommend to use? I am also thinking of possibly getting a wakeboard to try and learn as well haha

Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

Final lookover of the boat went great, hull is in awesome shape, no cracks of any sort or any blemishes, other than a few scuff marks from the previous owner (before guy I'm buying it from) not properly loading it on the trailer.

Should be all in my name by this weekend. Can't wait to get it on the water for the first time as "my boat"!

Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

Congrats! :wink_thumbup:

Re: 2000 Shabah z250 Limited Edition 7.4l - good deal?
 

Awesome!

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Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

So did you get to run your own boat over the weekend?

Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

Yes, we took it out on the lake yesterday with the owner once again, to test if the speedo was working yet. It's still not working properly, so the marina mechanic will take a look at it today or tomorrow.

As for the boat, I already have it stored at the marina, and as soon as the speedo is fixed, the boat will be officially mine. Here's a picture from yesterday:

https://scontent-a-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/...20341496_n.jpg

Hot as all hell outside. it was about 105 when this picture was taken! Nothing new for AZ though :)

Re: 2000 Shabah z250 Limited Edition 7.4l - good deal?
 

I love these solid color Mariah!

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Re: 2000 Shabah z250 Limited Edition 7.4l - good deal?
 

Nice boat.


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Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

Thanks guys, can't wait to take her out by ourselves for the first time, maybe this weekend!

Re: 2000 Shabah z250 Limited Edition 7.4l - good deal?
 

Let us know how it goes


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Re: 2000 Shabah 250z - good deal?
 

Took her out again on Saturday..what a blast! Had a close call with parking at the convenience dock (almost took out 2 other boats!) haha, but just made it between two boats and parked perfectly. Can't wait to get out there again this weekend!

Re: 2000 Shabah z250 Limited Edition 7.4l - good deal?
 

Glad you made it out unscathed! I have had a few close calls with my 250. I can not compare the no wake zone handling of this boat to any of the other boats I've maneuvered. It feels bow heavy, for lack of a better way of describing it. Like it pivots on the stern. I don't know how to describe it. I have the Bravo I and have been trying to find a Bravo III for some time now to promote better marina handling. I put those tabs on and they helped the low speed wander but have done nothing for the odd turning it has at low speed. It also seems like any little breeze bosses the bow around. Its like magnified movement compered to the other boats I'm familiar with.
Speaking of the handling I loading the cuddy with the ice chests, food, majority of supplies with 6 on board. It handled awesome at cruising an did not have an issue getting up on plane though it took more throttle than usual.

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