Anyone have a 17.5' w/3.0L?

[Mike Zee]

Re: Anyone have a 17.5' w/3.0L?

Went to the Pittsburgh boat show yesterday, plenty of nice looking boat packages in the $16,000-$28,000 range. Boat, motor, trailer. I was looking at some of the $300,000 and up boats, not to buy!!! I didn't care for any of them,but the big 25'+bowriders sure looked nice and roomy. Lots of nice and shiny wakeboard towers, custom aluminium rimmed trailers, poontoon boats with 20hp motors. Just makes me want to hit the water even more!

 

[cyclops2]

Re: Anyone have a 17.5' w/3.0L?

Impatico

What is your boat season ?
Are you trailering or doing a marina & boat slip for the season ?
Free trailer with the H2O.

 

[cyclops2]

Re: Anyone have a 17.5' w/3.0L?

My 186 has a 38 gallon fuel tank. I emptied it in 1 morning doing a lot of fast running. 2nd day I owned the boat.
Life was good that day.

Rich

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Anyone have a 17.5' w/3.0L?

I bought my sea ray with used with 125 hours on it for $15k when it was only 5 years old. I would continue to look around.

 

[impatico]

Re: Anyone have a 17.5' w/3.0L?

Impatico

What is your boat season ?
Are you trailering or doing a marina & boat slip for the season ?
Free trailer with the H2O.

No marina's like that here at all. trailering down logging roads. the season is May to Oct, not warm enough to do any sports other than the middle 3-4 months though

 

[cyclops2]

Re: Anyone have a 17.5' w/3.0L?

What is the make make , engine size, towing rating of the towing vehicle you will use ? That can have a ....MAJOR.. effect on the boat & trailer sizes you are limited to in muddy logging roads.
If your road is that logging like.............I would seriously start looking for a water sight to leave the boat there all of the non ice time. Will you winter store it where you live? If yes. You just might need a 1 time trip to the water in spring & 1 time trip in fall back home.

You have a lot of different conditions to deal with that most of us never have to. Write down a list of things you must do. Then what would be different ways to accomplish it.............Ask around the nearest ...COUPLE ...of marinas how other people in your area are doing the same problem of boat use.

Rich

 

[impatico]

Re: Anyone have a 17.5' w/3.0L?

There are no marina's within a couple hundred miles that dock boats, just 1 lake that has a couple but just to sell gas, no docking. I have a duramax so I am fine upto 20,000lbs I don't know what is so different to be honest. hook the boat up, trailer it down the highway, maybe a logging road if camping, dump it in the water and go...??

Trailering ability has no effect on what boat I would buy, I am not a fan of bigger boats so anything I would want I can tow, and tow through any muddy logging road around here

I am just so confused about stepping up to a bigger boat so I can get a 4.3L
I have never had more than 3 others in my boat at once, but that's just when fishing. Here when we go tubing with a bunch of people we park everyone on the shore with coolers and food, then take out a couple at a time. so I am hoping a 17.5 w/3.0 will work. Plus I go camping a lot so I definitely don't want a V8, I don't have room for that many Jerry Cans when I go camping.

 

[cyclops2]

Re: Anyone have a 17.5' w/3.0L?

Well you like a good companies model. So you need to take enough people to a test ride with you. No other way to be sure it will accelerate ok to your expectations.
What state do you live in ? Is a Chaparral dealer available for a test ride ?
Call or E MAIL Chaparral corporate. Web site. Tell them what you want / need. They may have a dealer & a good Chap customer to take you out for a check out run. I did that when I needed a test run after a October boat show. Great person did his best to help me decide on the Chap.

I ordered in the winter & had my boat waiting for me on opening day. May 1 2002. Nice to have a new boat at the start of the season.

Rich

 

[cyclops2]

Re: Anyone have a 17.5' w/3.0L?

If the Chap does not do what you expect with a boatload of people. There are other good boats with a large enough engine to do all you want it to do.
Something to remember in very broad terms.
Horsepower = speed.......
Cubic inches = acceleration
In general.
The exceptions are overpriced turbocharged $$$$$$ engines that claim to do both. How long do those last without spending a penny on them ?? Not long at all in many cases. If you have to keep the pedal near WOT. It does not last long. & it is a noisey bugger to boot.
My Chap is quiet. At 2,900 rpm I can talk to anyone without raising our voices. Medication time.

Rich

 

[impatico]

Re: Anyone have a 17.5' w/3.0L?

In Prince George, BC, Canada I have emailed a few places yesterday to see if they do test drives when the lakes thaw out, no reply yet

 

[cyclops2]

Re: Anyone have a 17.5' w/3.0L?

I ran into the same problem at my cottage on the St Lawrence River near Lake Ontario. All the N Y state dealers shut down & disappear. I phoned Chaparral & they got me a Canadian Chap dealer across the river. Sweet. Wound up ordering & buying from the Canadian dealer. Bussiness people in 2002.

Rich

 

[jkust]

Re: Anyone have a 17.5' w/3.0L?

Trying to figure out how this became a Chaparral discussion. I'm also trying to think of a nice way to put this to a person who doesn't quite speak the language of boating yet. If you have a healthy budget you simply don't get a 3.0. Healthy budget and 3.0 are almost mutually exclusive. A 4.3 will get you almost identical mileage as a 3.0 because of the gigantic hp and torque advantage.
Here's the thing about Chaparrals; They are most akin to a Mercedes on the water or at least most of the models are. They are generally well built meaning much heavier than their rivals not in the same quartile but with that they are slower too. Right off the bat my Sig boat is already carrying the equivalent of three 200lb men in extra build weight over the cheapest equivalent sized and powered boats. I don't care for the newest Chaparral hull design or the fact that the no longer accept over a 220 hp engine when they used to go up to 270hp down to their 18 footer. To me it is the dumbing down of their small bowrider line presumably in relation to the economy as Chaparral is one of the few not as adversely affected by the depression.
For 20k you should have in your garage at the end of this more boat than you could have imagined if you do this right. If you are considering a Chaparral, you have jumped right to the top of the available, run-of-the-mill small bowriders since many brands such as Formula (obviously) and Cobalt do not play in the small bowrider space.

 

[impatico]

Re: Anyone have a 17.5' w/3.0L?

I have been boating for 17 years and my dad has been doing marine mechanics for 25 so I speak boating language quite well lol
I started working on a crab boat at 6 cleaning floats

I am in Canada, so pricing is a bit different. a BASE model bayliner 175 at my local dealer, which I JUST got back from is $20,000 after tax. but then I want a wake tower, wireless digital trolling motor w/ separate battery, and canvas. Already have a BIG stereo so that will save me a bit.

A bayliner 185 w/220 4.3 and the add ons I want runs in at $31,500 after tax but b4 haggling

Oh and I only have 1 boat dealer within 400KM and he only sells Bayliner, Campion, and Searay. Would that effect your guy's decision? just thinking about the warranty

 

[QC]

Re: Anyone have a 17.5' w/3.0L?

Go to Boattest.com and compare fuel if that is your biggest concern. Why new? Did you answer that here? Why I/O? I am a huge fan of I/Os, but that's because they make better family boats. When you mention Fish/Ski, I think OB . . . I understand your need for light tow, and your comments about fuel cans. I think you'll be surprised when comparing fuel use though. Marine fuel use is way more about boat size and cruise speed than it is about engine choice/size A 17 footer at 30 MPH will be pretty close on fuel regardless of the engine/drive/motor. There are exceptions, but check out the data, do NOT depend on V8, V6, 4 cyl car comparisons. Not the same thing.

 

[impatico]

Re: Anyone have a 17.5' w/3.0L?

tow weight isn't a concern. I want a I/O for a couple reasons, I need a better charging system for my big stereo, Plan on doing lot's of swimming and climbing in/out from the back, really want a swim platform, oh and the wife says so lol!

I looked at boat test and it seems that they only test the boats with the base engine, so the 185's have the 3.0 ?? so the difference between a 185 w/3.0 and a 195 w/ 4.3 is 4.0 VS 6.31 MPG over 50% difference, I do know that the more the boats get loaded down the closer those numbers will get.

The wife really wants brand new, she wants warranty and we will be financing so no real advantage in buying slightly used.

 

[QC]

Re: Anyone have a 17.5' w/3.0L?

tow weight isn't a concern.

You said something about back roads . . . ?

Plan on doing lot's of swimming and climbing in/out from the back, really want a swim platform, oh and the wife says so lol!

That's what I always say. Chicks don't dig OBs . . .

The wife really wants brand new, she wants warranty and we will be financing so no real advantage in buying slightly used.

Get that. Based on everything I have read, include that you should try and keep this for a while if you finance, I think 4.3 . . .

 

[cyclops2]

Re: Anyone have a 17.5' w/3.0L?

The 4 of us should get together.
She sounds like my wife. Gave her a maximum price. Buy new. ALL the odds are stacked in your favor. Buy used ? The odds reverse.
Kinda of a long rig. BUT

With the duramax you could pull the camper WITH the Chap hitched behind it.

 

[southkogs]

Re: Anyone have a 17.5' w/3.0L?

I was lookin' for the MSRP on a 19' Center Console Trophy, but I can't find one. The Bayliner dealer should be able to order one in for you, and you could rig that dude out with all the power you want for the stereo.

That hull might make a better one for wake boarding behind as it runs a little heavier and slower through the water. Probably not as good to ski behind, but if you're not skiing a lot - who cares? Probably a pain in the "ha-ha" to put a tower on is the down side.

On the up side - you could pretty much tow that mug anywhere and fish for anything.

 

[impatico]

Re: Anyone have a 17.5' w/3.0L?

Don't want a center console lol. My boss also owns a fishing lodge on the Queen charlottes, where I work and he offered me a 2009? Boston Whaler Montak for $2500 no engine or trailer. he is trying to sell like 12 of them to update the fleet.

And as I stated the wife's budget is $20,000 mine is $30,000 and she doesn't know it so if I go over her budget by any big amount it will take some convincing lol. I would never buy a 175 w/3.0 if I could afford a 185 w/4.3 just as easy, but she really wants the 175, she did offer to buy me a bigger one after she is done school in a year and a half, we will see how the negotiations go lol