Used 2013 Outback...advice and what to look for?

First post here as I'm a new member and hopefully soon to be a new Hobie owner!

I've been looking at used Hobies and have my eye on a 2013 currently. List price is $1100 including Drive (v2 with Turbo fins), paddle, seat, custom hatch liner, anchor trolley, anchor, and 2 rod holders. After initially talking them down to $1k we're back to $1100 firm as the offer.

I've seen others from 2008 to 2015 go in the $1k-$1400 range in recent weeks so I *think* this seems fair, but looking for input.

Also looking for advice on what to look for in this model-year wear-wise, and how to evaluate hull condition. In pictures there's certainly some amount of rash but looks pretty good overall...I guess my question is how much is "too much" wear at this price point or in general?

Appreciate any help / input and looking forward to becoming part of the community!

Buy a 2015 or up. It will have the vantage seat. You can thank me later.

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Duncan

I was hoping to find one but availability is tough in my area. As it is the 2013 was a 3.5 hr drive.

I ended up buying it. Checked for leaks by blowing air in the drain hole with the pump and spraying soap. Also got to drop it in the water later that night and didn't see any moisture in the hull.

I'm considering the Ascend or similar seat upgrades I've seen DIY on YouTube. Only concern is the stress on the hull. We'll see how much I hate the molded in seat and how long I last I guess. Can always upgrade to a newer one down the line once 2019 and newer redesigns start being listed more frequently.

If you intend to mount a fish finder on your kayak, the transducer pocket found in later Hobie kayaks is a huge advantage. If you buy a kayak which doesn't have the pocket, you'll need to either do a through-the-hull transducer mount, or a transducer boom off the side of your kayak. Neither of those options are nearly as good as the convenience and good results you get with the transducer pocket.

Congrats on your Hobie and welcome to the forum!

If I can make a recommendation- take your Hobie out a couple of times before you add that seat. If sitting up high is what you're after than go ahead but it completely changes how the kayak functions and it changes the angle that your legs are at when you pedal (for the worse). A seat pad in my opinion is the better route.

Thanks for the advice! I haven't been able to spend time in one with the higher seat yet...since they added that seat into an only slightly modified version of the same hull design, I assume a retrofitted one would be pretty similar in feel. Are you just suggesting that even the new design is inferior for covering water to the leaned back one? Or that my retrofit would end up different from the Hobie implementation?

I do have to say, based my research in other parts of this forum I was expecting the old seat to be awful, but in my couple of trips (admittedly no longer than ~2 hrs each) I've been content with whats there.

By adding the higher seat you would be changing how the kayak is designed to perform. Changes how it tracks, changes stability, changes the angle which you control the rudder, increases wind cock, etc. Once you raise the seat at that height everything is out of sorts. AND as you have found out the lower seat isn't as bad as some make it out to be. We're all different in terms of what is comfortable to us I get that but if the original seat works or even having to add a cushion to the original seat I recommend keeping it that way. Not to mention if you ever want to sell it having the raised seat will make it much harder to sell for reasons I've mentioned.