Thinking of buying a new boat

[lakelivin]

Re: Thinking of buying a new boat

Thanks Kelly, now I just need to work on the lottery part, lol.<br /><br />But as far as boat levels, aren't there some that 'hit the sweet spot' within a category? My general experience is that with many products there is often 1 or 2 that really do provide greater 'value' than others similarly priced. Of course you need to have the time & knowledge to search them out and identify them. But if you can find something that truely does have that extra value I call it 'finding the sweet spot'.<br /><br />For example, back in the late 80's early 90's I twice bought clean, 2 year old Porsche 944s with I think 16k and 18k miles on them for like $16k and $18.5k. For whatever reason used 944's were seriously undervalued at that time; talk about 'sweet spot' deals!<br /><br />I bought a 1989 17', 4.3L Seaswirl boat from a guy whose dad used to own a marina. He traveled around the state looking at everything there was in his 'value price range' before deciding on that boat. Given it's shape & performance 15 years later (excellent) I suspect he may have found a sweet spot with that line at that time. Of course I may have just been lucky; a sample size of 1 is not compelling evidence, and I'm certainly not pushing the brand today because I know nothing about the new ones.<br /><br />For a trivial example, ever tried super Wal Marts Great Value brand of ice cream for $2.50 a half gallon? Not quite up there with Breyers, but pretty damm close for very little money. Thats a real 'sweet spot' of a value!<br /><br />You get the point, just wondering if there are any clear examples of such in value priced boats these days. Of course I know there's a touch of subjectivity involved in such a judgement and hope this doesn't just start an argument between fans of different manufacturors.

 

[KCook]

Re: Thinking of buying a new boat

Nope, no "clear example". Though each brand has its fans. And those fans will be convinced otherwise. Too many factors, so ultimately a personal call as to what is most important. If anything I am amazed we have as many nice choices as we do.<br /><br />Kelly

 

[wasjr]

Re: Thinking of buying a new boat

James, you must be in Cookeville, and the Monterey dealer S&R Marine. They are good folks and have worked on my boat in the past (I keep it at Center Hill lake). My suggestion would be to do your research and determine the boat you want, maybe even used, and get ready for the Nashville Boat Show in January where you will have all the dealers in one place.

 

[jamesgreen]

Re: Thinking of buying a new boat

First things first sorry I've not been here to post got a sick little one.<br /><br /> yeah I have thought about Bryant but I will not go to the dealership here. Did not know they were built in TN.The weight is problem should have got a bigger truck but I really like what I got.<br /><br />I just got some stuff about Larson and I think I like the VEC hull but have not seen one yet <br /><br />I like Jason at S&R but I do not want to limit myself. I am saving my money and doing my homework for the boatshow in Jan. I would like to test drive some before the show.<br />The more I find out the more I think they are all have there good and bad but I guess it will come down to what fits us the best (grin factor).

 

[KCook]

Re: Thinking of buying a new boat

VEC sounds very cool in the Genmar literature. Which is the only source we have for VEC info. So far I have not seen any critiques of VEC by an independent authority. Here is another thread that gets into opinions on the various brands -<br /><br /> BoatingABC.com » ... » Four Winns vs. Bryant vs. Larson... <br /><br />Kelly

 

[lakelivin]

Re: Thinking of buying a new boat

Very interesting link which someone else posted in another thread (sorry, closed the thread so don't knkow who to give credit to).<br /><br /> http://www.yachtsurvey.com/Fiberglass_Boats.htm <br /><br />Probably raises more questions than answers, but this is something I'd really try to check out as throughly as possible if I were in the market.<br /><br />(note that the article is from 2000, don't know how relevent to todays boats).

 

[KCook]

Re: Thinking of buying a new boat

For the most part surveyors look only at cruisers, not smaller boats like bowriders. Construction standards for the heavy cruisers are significantly different from light little bowriders. Plus cruisers are often keep in slips while the vast majority of bowriders are kept on trailers. Really different worlds with different standards. If you need a bowrider built as tough as a saltwater cruiser you will end up with a Cobalt. Bring lots of $$.<br /><br />Kelly

 

[lakelivin]

Re: Thinking of buying a new boat

Originally posted by KCook:<br /> For the most part surveyors look only at cruisers, not smaller boats like bowriders. Construction standards for the heavy cruisers are significantly different from light little bowriders. Plus cruisers are often keep in slips while the vast majority of bowriders are kept on trailers. Really different worlds with different standards. If you need a bowrider built as tough as a saltwater cruiser you will end up with a Cobalt. Bring lots of $$.<br /><br />Kelly

Kelly, Your points are well taken. It's clear that the author was used to looking at cruisers and was surprised by damage to the smaller bowriders. But he seemed to imply that he saw different construction methods and degrees of damage even among the bowriders. <br /><br />While not expecting the sturdiness of a cruiser, I'm wondering if there is enough variance among some bowrider builders (Cobalt$ aside) where it might make enough of a difference to factor into the decision process (if one had the experience and means to evaluate such a thing). Note that I'm pretty ig'nant about this stuff, this is a question not an argument.

 

[KCook]

Re: Thinking of buying a new boat

There are a couple of ways in which a hull can develop issues: severe wake hits and blistering from being left in a slip. Those are the areas where design differences can play a role.<br /><br />You will also see complaints about delamination and stress cracks. But these problems are pretty much a quality control issue. Any fiberglass design can delaminate or get stress cracks if the crew in the shop got sloppy. The more automated hull construction schemes try to attack this by reducing the amount of human labor in building a hull. But that automation applies only to certain pieces of the boat, not everything that goes into the boat. And does NOT apply to the final assembly.<br /><br />A bad enough wake hit may separate the deck from the hull where they are joined. So the details of the join between the hull and deck are fair game. Unfortunately, the trend toward linered cockpit designs has made this hard to examine. In many cases, impossible.<br /><br />Blistering can be controlled with special resins such as AME 5000. These resins cost more, so are not generally found on the lowest price boats. If a builder will tell you what resins he is using that may be a useful indicator.<br /><br />There are brands with reputations for more hull problems than others. Again, these are mostly QC issues, not design issues. Read the brochures for these brands and they sound just a good as the others. Even with the problem brands the results are far from 100% bad. You will find many proud owners of these boats who are happy to recommend them. Then you end up asking yourself who to believe.<br /><br />Really no easy answers, this field sure could use a Consumers Reports!<br /><br />Kelly