www.iFourWinns.com

Hi all,

I have owned a four winns 180 hurizon in the late '90s. I looking
at a 2006 Vista 258. It has a 5.7 (320hp) vovlo with the plastic outdrive.
It has the SS dulo prop. 100 hours on motor.

My family and I fell in love with the boat. Is there some things I should look
look for this model, year. I am going to have it survayed.......but I know owners
know all the pit falls and problems.

Any input will be welcome.........Thank's

Mark

The only major point of contention is the "Plastic Outdrive" as nice as it sounds on the surface to have a drive that won't corrode, there are issues with the XDP drives. People have had issues with them tearing the exhaust and drive bellows (major issue!) and corrosion since it's just a plastic cladding glued over a cast aluminum housing.

If the survey checks out (have a full survey done including motor and outdrive) then I say go for it, but be aware that in the future that drive may be problematic, if the deal is right then if you had to replace the drive in the future with a standard DP-S drive, it could be done...

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Brett DiMichele

We just moved from an '06 Horizon 200 to an '06 V258 this season and have thoroughly enjoyed the boat. It performs very well and the layout really suits our use. If I had one wish, it would be that it had a little more power. We have the 5.7L Volvo as well. While it gets you up and going with a light load, it can struggle a bit with 4-6 people. We rarely have that many folks on board and when we do, we're not looking to go fast, so it's not a problem for us.

We sleep out on ours at least 3 weekends a month. We have a 5 year old and it accomodates the 3 of us very well. My wife and I are relatively "average" sized folk. I'm 5'10" and she's 5'4". For us, the v-berth sleeping setup is serviceable. I would think, however, it might get a bit uncomfortable for those 6' and over.

My only recommendation is to really sit down and think through how you plan to use the boat and what options are "must haves". For us, a generator was essential since we spend so much time away from the dock. Others don't find it necessary. If it's got all the options you need and the price is right, go for it! You won't be disappointed!

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2006 Vista 258
2007 Yukon Denali

Thanks for the replys. I am worried about the plastic outdrive.
I am going for a full surveryor inc. pre-purchase,engine,outdrive and
oil analysis.

The boat is great condition......broaker said that the owner hit some rocks
and a new outdrive had to be installed. After reading about all the failures,
i think that broker lied and it is just another failure.

I see that there is a new bellows to stop the failure.......but I'm worried now.

would changing the bellows every year help to prevent the problem?

We owned a 2007 258 for 2 seasons and loved it. It was primarily for my wife and myself although we did sleep 4 a few times. We found the 258 a nice mix of a fun day boat entertaining 6-7 people while comfortably sleeping the 2 of us. We added the wake board tower so the kids could wake board and tube. We did not have a gen set but did have the XDP drive. We did not have any issues with the drive. Aside from regular maintenance items all we had to replace was the impeller. Never saw any problems with the bellows.

The reason we upgraded was an incredible deal on a 338 came our way and we could not pass it up. Otherwise we would still be in the 258. We have run across the new owner twice this season and he is very happy with it. We found trailering the 258 rather easy.

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Jnizi

2007 Vista 338 "Better Yet"
Previously:
2007 Vista 258 " Just Right"
2005 Horizon 230

Well, I think my wife and I made the right choice. Thank you all for
your input. I'm looking foward to enjoying our new(used) boat.

We can't wait to see the pics!

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Brett DiMichele