Depreciation on Hobie Oasis?

I'm currently looking for a good kayak to get into fishing with, and my wife's interested in getting a tandem boat so she isn't entirely left out of the fun (two boats seem unmanageable, given our space limitations).
I've been keeping an eye out for good used boats and have found someone selling a '06 Hobie Oasis that seems like it may be a good fit, although we haven't had a chance to see it yet to inspect the condition.  Since I haven't been shopping for all that long, I don't have a good sense of what's a reasonable asking/offering price.  Given the age of the boat and assuming its in decent shape, what would a reasonable price be?
I haven't been able to find any specs on the net about this model year, and from what I can put together the current generation outfitter's the more popular fishing option in the tandem options.  Any thoughts on the oasis as a fishing kayak?

Our resident Hobie pro-staff will be with you momentarily........
 
 

Figuring out a fair price is always tough since it's hard to know exactly what kind of abuse the yak went through. The '05 models had some issues with the drive wells cracking but had reinforcements in '06. Still important to check though. I believe the Oasis sold for just over $2700 back then so if it's got light usage I'd say around $2300-$2400 would be fair.

As it being a good fishing kayak, the Outfitter has a little more room so probably would be nicer. There's a few guys who have used tandems or triples as fishing kayaks so I'll let them chime in.

Z

85% of the original MSRP on a 4, likely 5, year old piece of plastic seems extremely overpriced to me. 
 
Check this thread where ballardbrad payed ~71% of the MSRP for a brand new boat that was last year's model:
 
http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,5158.0.html
 

85% of the original MSRP on a 4, likely 5, year old piece of plastic seems extremely overpriced to me. 

It's not about how old but how used. If it was only used a few times it could be worth more.


Bottom line, Hobie's aren't cheap and there's plenty of buyers out there. In my experience similarly used SOTs get less money. I'm guessing that BB did a lot of hunting and waiting to get such a good deal. Also, I'm sure buying two helped the price slide some more. While you can get amazing prices if you work it and have great timing.. it's not the norm.


Z

Thanks for the insight.  I'd searched the archives looking for old classifieds/Craigslist prices to get some idea how much off MSRP used hobies were at least advertised for.  It's too bad most of the old ads either expired or were deleted and that mostly single kayaks were advertised in the first place.
 
Do you have any opinion on the importance of boat condition vs original MSRP when looking at used Kayaks?  Say you're deciding between what was originally a 800$ boat that's lightly used vs a 3000$ boat that's been a pretty heavily used rental, assuming both are a similar price?

Seems to me if you're going to spend $2400 on something 5 years old, you should just spring with another $300 and get the brand new version, unless the 'used' one is practically new and free of any damage, or scratches.

I think it's how you play the game.  I'd been looking at Hobies for a year.  I demoed several units at the Seattle dealership at Magnison Park.  The PA demo they had was only on the water four times (Lake WA).  I was told if I waited I could get 10% off the demo price but I had to wait until Labor Day to pick it up (as their new inventory was coming in Sept 1st).  With the understanding that all the Hobie dealerships would have to sell off last years models to clear for new inventory, I started calling around.  There's  a dealer/rental company out of Friday Harbor that posted on CL that they were selling off their demo kayaks.  The price on the demo gear was deeply discounted and they still had some new in the box.  I was going to hop on the ferry up there and return as a walk on with another PA but ended getting one for the same price they were offering ($1850) from a dealer on Camano Island.  They aren't aloud to advertise a price below MSRP, but everything  is negotiable.