Bigcatpt

Have the dealer hook it up to the computer. They can get the actual engine hours that way.

The Avalanche is a great boat. Unmatched wave for those early 2000's. You would expect the interior to be rough for that age boat. You are looking $3k-$6K for a new interior. Is the paint really faded or is there just oxidation on the gel coat? If it is just oxidation you can get that bad boy back to a mirror shine with quite a bit of elbow grease and the right buffing kit. Are there scratches and dings and gouges? If it is just oxidation that is not an issue. A new steering cable is a couple hundred bucks and can be a do it yourself project. How does it run? How is the engine and transmission? With almost 1200 hours it has been well used and loved. Hopefully if you are buying it from a friend you would know if it has any mechanical issues. Bottom line you could replace the steering cable for a couple hundred bucks and be on the water enjoying the heck out of a great boat for around $20K. You can replace interior vinyl and buff out the oxidation as time and money permits. I sold my 2003 Avy pre-covid to my brother for $25K with about 800 hrs. I could have got more out of it locally had I not sold it to him. It needed some vinyl work but was otherwise in really mint condition. He has since replaced the vinyl and could easily get $30+ for it now in todays market. So I would say that at $23,500 the boat has already been marked down for the overall used condition of the boat. Especially considering boats of that age are selling for at least $5k over what they were pre covid.

Not unusual to have hairline cracks in the gelcoat on corners and around screw holes on these older models. These look a little more substantial than hairline cracks. I would do a little deeper investigation to see if they are deeper than gelcoat. If it is only gelcoat then its no big deal and only cosmetic. Fix them if you want.... or not. If it is a crack in the fiberglass then that would be a deal breaker for me.

I think if you chose the one with the 343 engine at your elevation you are ALWAYS going to be wishing you had the bigger motor. I boat at 4600 to 6000 elevation and bought an Avalanche with the smaller motor. We figured it out and had to have the weighting just right all the time. It worked but we always were surfing at full throttle. For this reason get the bigger motor. I also agree that 2 year newer boat with Ramfill and CATS will hold its value way better over time. I now have a 2015 SV244. The Ramfill is awesome and the CATS allows you to really adjust and dial in your wave on both sizes on the fly without having to move people or fill and empty ballast. You have a tough choice...... Motor vs newer/Ramfill/CATS. If it was me I would wait until you find the 2014 with the 409 or 450 with CATS and Ramfill. Don't settle. Be patient.

Troy... Great detailed info man!

What Troy R said above. Spot on!!!! The weight, the lean, everything. Switchblade will help all of that. Ditch the shaper. Learn to love the lean! No more that one hottie in a bikini up front.

Fill up Ramfill and PNP's on your surf side and start there. That should create a nice wave. If you really want it to POP then get 500# of weight bags and put 1/2 in each rear locker as far back as you can get them. You may need a little bow weight at that point to get you up to surf speed. Surf between 10.7 and 11.2 GPS speed. You should be good to go with that set up. Good luck.

That really sucks! Sounds like there are a lot of issues that need to get taken care of with the dealer. What are you hoping to accomplish by signing up on a Centurion forum to tell us about your friends boat that is having issues?

If it is your shaft packing that is leaking too much you may find this old thread helpful....if nothing more for a good laugh!

Matt, You have a great boat that will throw a great wave. But you are doing it wrong! Lose the suck gate! It does not need it. That boat likes to lean! 1100# in the surf side locker, 500# under surf side seats, Center ballast full. Minimal bow weight (maybe 125 # and wearing a bikini), stack all your people on the surf side and back seat toward the surf side. Perfect pass at 10.7 to 11.2 (GPS speed). Boom! Big and long wave with tons of push.... much more "playful". But seriously.....lose the suckgate and slump that thing. Suckgates are for hulls that are not shaped for surfing.

Sorry I missed your questions. Yes pull the hard tanks out. Pull out all the sprinkler valves and other garbage back there.....they just slow down your fill times. If you have one jabsco ballast pump it is best to add a second one for faster fill times. Use them as reversible pumps and just fill and drain right out through the bottom of the boat. Use stock 1100# sacs in the rear lockers with 580# (I think.... its been awhile) under the side seats. Or get custom L shaped sacs (Enzo sacs made custom for your Avy). Both will work. So you will be running roughly 1500# on each side plus your center ballast. Only fill the side you are surfing on and the center ballast. No opposite side weight and no bow weight. Maybe just one bikini in the bow if you would like. If you really want to pump up the wave throw a fat brick sac strapped on the swim deck. Or 100# of lead bags in the rear corners of the locker. If you have a small crew of only 3 or 4 people you can throw a 400# sac on the rear seat toward the corner of the side you are surfing. But only if your crew is small. Basically get your rub rail touching the water on the surf side and then go 10.7 to 11.2 mph GPS speed and watch the magic happen. The Avy throws a really clean great wave on the regular side. Yes Perfect Pass Stargazer is an easy install. Their customer support was very helpful during the process. Let me know if you have questions. Best of luck.

You can also have your old prop fixed if it is not too bad and then keep it as a spare. Nettles prop has done some great work for me before on a dinged prop and they have great prices on new props. Give JT a call and he will treat you right.

The 911 is the most aggressive you can go. It is the best choice if you have big crews or lots of ballast. Going to the 525 will give you less hole shot but keep your RPMs down a little bit. On my Avy I could not get up to surf speed with the 525 with full ballast (approx 2200#). The 911 did the trick. If the 911 was working, with good hole shot and not too high of RPM I would not even consider switching.

As Troy already said the Avy will throw a great wave. In its day the Avy had the best surf wave on the market. Sound like you have a Switchblade attachment for the back of the boat. This when used correctly adds downforce to the back of the boat to help with making the wave. I think it adds the equivalent of 1000 or 1200 lbs of down force. Some people really love them. They can make maneuvering at slow speeds a little challenging...but you will learn how to manage. You are going to want to eventually (sooner than later) tear out the stock ballast and upgrade in order to get the wave you are looking for and not wait 20 minutes to get it. And as Troy mentioned...if you trailer a lot you are not going to want all those weight bags. Do it right with water weight and then supplement with weight bags to tune your wave. Are you and your family regular or goofy while surfing? The perfect pass Stargazer upgrade is a great upgrade if the other one is not working. You will definitely want speed control for surfing. We call it the marriage saver. For weight you are going to want either a custom L shaped sac to fill the rear compartment and come forward under the side seats (about 1400 or 1500 lbs). Or an 1100# fat sac in the rear locker and #500# sac under the side seats. Center ballast full. The Avy doesn't really need much if any weight in the front. Maybe just 1 hottie in a bikini really. Keep asking questions. Lots of people willing to help that know their Avy's inside and out. I had my Avy for 13 years before upgrading. Also you may want to check out Official Centurion/Supreme boat owners group on Facebook. This CenturionCrew page is great but the FB one seems to have more traffic and more users lately.

Can you post a picture so we can see?