I have never ridden in a laser and dont have any knowledge of them other than seeing a few at the lake a time or two. However if it were me I wouldnt spend that much money on a boat that old. It sounds like it has allot of real good performance parts on it but I would rather start with something a little newer since the technology has come so far in the past few years. There are so many good used boats out there with proven names, Baja, Donzi etc. I would look at the Baja your wife likes, for less money you get a well known name and a boat thats 5 years newer. Also if you wanted to sell the laser in a few years its going to be really old and so will the performance parts on it. I think those older boats while still real good boats drop exponentially in value after a certain period. Probably because styles change they look so old after 15+ years. Just my opinion, but I think for that much money you can get into something allot newer, nicer and more reliable.