Tahoe 450ts

[cedarbluffvol]

The wife and I have been looking to purchase a new boat in the coming months, we’ve primarily been looking at Tahoe 500/550, Stingray 19’, Regal 19’, Chapparal 19’ and Bayliner as well.

However in looking at some Tahoe’s at dealerships in the area I found a few leftover 450’s from 2016 that are still at dealerships. There’s a couple with 150hp outdrives and a few with 115hp, and they are both marked down considerably, the 115 is around $22k and the 150hp around $25k.

This is is going to be a lake boat, will almost certainly trailer over getting a slip, and will be garage kept. Majority of the time it will be the 2 of us, on occasion maybe another adult couple or other friends. I’m fully aware 6+ people will be pushing it for room(leaning towards 150hp motor), capacity is 8, but that will not be the norm and typically will be just the 2 of us.

Curious if anyone has this boat or knows somebody with it, would love your thoughts, thanks.

 

[briangcc]

No offense intended but this is now your 3rd thread on new boats. This suggests a bit of waffling on the subject so here's my advice...STOP. Sit down with your family and decide what it is exactly you want to do as a family unit on the boat. Once you have that in mind STOP again. Visit many marinas and determine what will and won't work for you. STOP again. Now decide that based on your in person visits what features you NEED vs what you WANT. Then go back and do some water trials. Once you have tried all on your list then decide what you want.

You missed out on boat shows which puts all these under 1 roof so you can compare side by side.

And I believe if you go back through your original threads you'll see that Tahoe is on the very low end of manufacturers. Personally, anything you can find at BassPro/Cabelas is on the low end - it's how they get you through the door. After seeing the fit/finish on the boats there I wouldn't touch one. And I've owned Bayliner (looked down on by most) so that's saying something.

 

[briangcc]

BTW: Since you were considering a pontoon I would suggest you expand your search to include Deck Boats. They can be found with the layout that is close to a pontoon while offering the performance characteristics of a bowrider. This is based on your comments that you want to be able to go fast.

 

[jkust]

Since you've checked out each of those brands, what is your preference so far aside from price? I expect you see some differences amongst the various manufacturers you mentioned. There is a pecking order with boats maybe a little bit more defined that cars these days which is gong to generally be reflected in the price when new to some extent. Tahoe has the reputation of being ultra entry level but decent content with a fishing heritage. Bayliner is what it is, entry level boating to get you into boating. I assume you are looking at the entry level Chap being their H20 series but maybe you are checking out their newer Jet boats as well? Chap is relatively new to even having an entry level boat series but they still do a respectable job balancing price and still get a bit of the historic chap quality. The capacity plate has no reflection on real world bodies on the boat. My boat is for 13 people but no way in the world would I jam 13 people on there. We are good with 4 with our 24 footer.

 

[cedarbluffvol]

I have checked them out...

the tahoe, Stingray and Bayliner all look very similar to me as far as layout goes...for over a year I have been dead set on a Stingray 198lx but thought before making a big decision like this opening my eyes to other boats would be wise. I’ve read various boards and people with newer (5 years and newer) Tahoe’s seem to speak very highly of them and don’t claim any more issues than I’ve seen owners of Stingray’s, Regal’s or Chaparral’s claiming. The Regal and Chapparal seem to have the better reputations, however they’re also $10k more than what the Tahoe is, now is that worth it? To some I’m sure it’s a no brainer, I’m guessing to others it’s not. We will not be out in rough water, the worst is going to be on holiday weekends when everyone is out there, but other than that it’s pretty calm where we will be going. So is there $10k worth of reliability between the boats? This is our first boat together (I’ve had other boats), and so we don’t want to be tied into something for 5+ years, in other words if in 3 years she pops out 3 kids, and they’ve got friends our idea of boating probably goes towards a pontoon. At that point I want to be able to trade something in if need be without eating $30k, so yes, finding something that is 1. Reliable 2. Fun to drive 3. Affordable...are the biggest priorities right now.

the Mrs’ really likes the Regal and Chapparal H2O simply because you can get them in “cool colors and graphics”, that’s the extent of her opinion on the matter...other than that she doesn’t care as long as the boat starts, floats and moves.

 

[cedarbluffvol]

Brian...the plan has been to hold out for local boat show, however coming across nearly a $8k markdown on those left over Tahoe’s caused me to at the very least ask, apologies if I shouldn’t have.

 

[southkogs]

You may be over-thinking this Paralysis by Analysis.

I've not been on a Tahoe, but I've seen plenty of them around the Nashville area. They seem nice enough. I boat the same type of water you will, and I do in a "everybody loves to pick on 'em" Bayliner. My middle kid and I even like to go mix it up where the big cruisers run and we get bouncy and rowdy from time to time. I would think the Tahoe can handle that too.

I can't speak to fit and finish from the manufacturer. I'm not much of a new boat buyer. But well cared for, it should be a boat that you can do well with.

 

[jkust]

I have checked them out...

the tahoe, Stingray and Bayliner all look very similar to me as far as layout goes...for over a year I have been dead set on a Stingray 198lx but thought before making a big decision like this opening my eyes to other boats would be wise. I’ve read various boards and people with newer (5 years and newer) Tahoe’s seem to speak very highly of them and don’t claim any more issues than I’ve seen owners of Stingray’s, Regal’s or Chaparral’s claiming. The Regal and Chapparal seem to have the better reputations, however they’re also $10k more than what the Tahoe is, now is that worth it? To some I’m sure it’s a no brainer, I’m guessing to others it’s not. We will not be out in rough water, the worst is going to be on holiday weekends when everyone is out there, but other than that it’s pretty calm where we will be going. So is there $10k worth of reliability between the boats? This is our first boat together (I’ve had other boats), and so we don’t want to be tied into something for 5+ years, in other words if in 3 years she pops out 3 kids, and they’ve got friends our idea of boating probably goes towards a pontoon. At that point I want to be able to trade something in if need be without eating $30k, so yes, finding something that is 1. Reliable 2. Fun to drive 3. Affordable...are the biggest priorities right now.

the Mrs’ really likes the Regal and Chapparal H2O simply because you can get them in “cool colors and graphics”, that’s the extent of her opinion on the matter...other than that she doesn’t care as long as the boat starts, floats and moves.

There's a lot of subjectivity between boats, some of it illogical and some of it not. People have different expectations out of life as well. My buddy has a $43,000,000 jet that he paid cash for and I fly commercial. He and I have different expectations out of life. I could give you chapter and verse but it's your first boat together as you say. I see people on my lake that own an 18 foot boat and 3.0 engine and they are still having fun with smiles on their faces. I don't know those peoples financial situations like I don't know yours and even if that matters or not.

 

[cedarbluffvol]

Very true about the overthinking part southkogs, and thanks for the response. When posting on a forum like this you have to expect the kinds of responses about getting the better brands, or such and such brand is gonna leave you stranded. Similar to how if you post on a car forum about buying a new Nissan that many posters will tell you it needs to be a BMW or Mercedes, I get that.

im not looking for something that is indestructible, and I know something will go wrong with it as will any boat...as I’ve said I’ve read every forum I could find and I see just as many people complaining about things going wrong on their Chaparral or Regal as I do people with the Stingray’s and newer Bayliner’s.

I am sure if if you were using it 4-5 days a week, 45 weeks of the year and mixing it up in the ocean or looking to do 60mph across the main channel you might notice the difference much more in the higher end boats, but my assumption(maybe I’m wrong), is that the basics of most of these newer boats are going to be pretty similar.

again I suppose it is to be expected when asking this kind of question, but much like you I see these boats all around the lakes where I’m from and the people seem to drive on by with just as big a smile on their face as the people passing by on a boat that is $20k more.

 

[briangcc]

Brian...the plan has been to hold out for local boat show, however coming across nearly a $8k markdown on those left over Tahoe’s caused me to at the very least ask, apologies if I shouldn’t have.

Depending on the marina, many have left overs the following year. So if you're not in a rush, hold out until next spring when you can compare side by side. Once you have it narrowed down, then see if they have a left over. The marina I dealt with had a 2016 when we were looking in the fall of 2016 when the 2017's were hitting the floor. Boat shows add on additional discounts as they're looking to spark sales that were weak/non-existent over the winter months.

As for my Tahoe comments...I saw one locally where they gave no thought to fit and finish. One of the drains/intakes for the livewell was hacked off at a 45 degree angle and still had all the flash on it from the cut. My kiddos could have done a better job. If they took that little pride in such a simple cut, what other corners did they cut on that boat? And it wasn't just there as I've seen the same elsewhere which is why I won't touch one - no matter the discount. Same goes for their pontoons as one I tried to open the door on the side of the console and it stopped part way as it hit the floor. Again, lack of pride in something so simple to do.

 

[SkiGuy1980]

cedarbluffvol - I've boated for years and last year had in mind exactly what I wanted in a newer used boat (I was running around in a 27 y/o Rinker...good boat for me and overall had held up well). As I started my search for my newer dream boat Chap I traveled a ton to go and see... and I also found several beautiful Four Winns and Regals that caught my eye. I finally made a list of the must haves... and eventually I selected the only Crownline that I'd looked at. Bottom line is it's your call. Take a minute and look (and make sure the wife likes it - read something somewhere about happy wife, happy life). Enjoy your new boat my friend.

 

[kawakx125]

why not purchase a decent used boat thats already taken the initial depreciation hit? Find a decent 19' bowrider a few years old at a good price and get on the water. that way, you can learn what you like/dislike in a boat and be able to dump it quickly without losing much, if any.

 

[hvymtl939]

The current crop of Mexican made Bayliners looked to be 100x better built when I checked them out than the Tahoes/Trackers. Whenever I feel sad about my old boats, I go to Bass Pro, look at the junk they have and what it costs, then go home feeling great.