Brand advice for move-up boater

[JJwithaSearay]

Wife has given the OK to move up (Oh boy !!! ) from our '89 SeaRay bowrider with 130h Merc. Need advice on brands to recommend or avoid. Example: I won't go cheap with a Bayliner or Glastron. We will want another bowrider 19-22ft with around 200 horses. Probably in the 1990 to 2000 year range. About $12-$15k tops. In that range I see Larson and Monterey but don't know much about them.
Anyone have recommendations or places to go for information on basic differences in brand quality vs cost ??? I see individual sections for different mfct on this site but know general guide.
Thanks,

( first day on this site...Every nearby ramp on Dallas area lakes is flooded and closed. Getting my "boating fix" online today !!!! )

 

[Solittle]

Re: Brand advice for move-up boater

Condition is far more important than brand in my book.

 

[KCook]

Re: Brand advice for move-up boater

Good point from Solittle. Also, some lines changed their bowrider designs a lot during the '90-'00 decade. So this question becomes year sensitive. A early '90s short list may look different than one for the late '90s.

Kelly Cook

 

[ziggy]

Re: Brand advice for move-up boater

Need advice on brands to recommend or avoid. Example: I won't go cheap with a Bayliner or Glastron

i think most brands are owned by brunswick.....so there all the same.....kinda sorta....at least they all look the same to me for the most part.....

there all gonna have the same engine and drives too. be it a bayliner or a crownline.....

so little is right on......condition, condition, conditon......
personally i might add. servicablity. how hard is it to work on...can ya change a sparkplug w/o removin a manifold. or service the starter w/o removin the engine. that type of thing.

i picked up my boat last fall. it's pretty old. but i saw much garbage that folks wanted a lot of money for that were much newer. these boats came complete with rot juice stains out the drain hole too. not a good sign....

i'm no big fan of bayliner one way or the other. but don't count them out. a buddy of mine has a 00 18.5 footer w/190hp v6. it's been a real good boat for him. not givein him any grief at all. and it does 53 or so mph...handles the chop real well too......

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Brand advice for move-up boater

my suggestion would be to look into the deck boats. they are a combo of the bowrider, and the space of a pontoon. i have a 23' Chris Craft with a VP 5.7 L. excellent boat. they're in your price range used. mines a 1999, got it for $15,000 $18,000 including trailer.

 

[rndn]

Re: Brand advice for move-up boater

Deck boats are a really nice design for family use. Lot's of room, good fishing setup and still be able to pull skiers.

 

[Scout Sport Fish]

Re: Brand advice for move-up boater

Never really looked into them but I know Scout makes some nice bow riders and Glastrons are acually fairly good in my opinion. I work on them alot (at work) and we sell alot too. I wouldnt mind having one either.

 

[tmh]

Re: Brand advice for move-up boater

I'd say spend some more time deciding what you really want in the upgrade. A range of 19'-22' shows you haven't really thought it through yet - a 19' and a 22' bowrider are VERY different boats, IMO. Good to get some feedback here then sit down and go over what needs/wants you have that the current boat falls short on. One "biggie" is do you want/need a head on board? That rules out the smaller ones. Rough waters? Speed needed?

OF COURSE all boats aren't "pretty much the same" as someone here said they were. However, I do agree that condition/care is at least as important as the brand when shopping used. Coming from a Searay, I'd look at things such as vinyl wear, cushion foam thickness/firmness, tightness of all fittings, etc. as compared to your current boat. Also, the service record of the engine is critical, of course.

A well-cared for boat around 7-9 yrs. old can look almost new, so don't settle for anything that looks "too used". The engine should run perfect. For $15k or less and wanting above entry-level quality, you may either need to stay 19-20' 2000 or newer, or go a few years back (1998 or so) for 21'-22'.

Provide folks here with more specifics about your family's planned uses for the boat and you'll get some more specific guidance i'm sure.

btw, congrats on the "upgrade permission"! Take advantage of it before she finds something else to spend the money on!

 

[scoutabout]

Re: Brand advice for move-up boater

I was amazed to discover how incestous the marine industry is.

Of the dozens upon dozens of model names, there are very few distinct manufactures out there. Consider, for example, Genmar Holdings makes the following: Wellcraft, Larson, Glastron, Hydra Sports, Seaswirl, Four Winns, Carver, Stratos, Ranger, Triumph, and about half a dozen more I couldn't be bothered to look up.

Most boats are very similar underneath, so I'd go with the overall condition vote as well. With engines, of course you will find many extolling the virtues of all makes.

Get a marine surveyor to go all over it and spend some quality time on the water with it as well, preferably in less than perfect conditions to get an idea of ride, ability to keep spray off you and general handling qualities.

Above all -- have fun hunting. Boat shopping is about the best thing there is that ain't illegal or immoral!

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Brand advice for move-up boater

Brunswick, has around 27 brands, searay, maxum, trophy, bayliner and on and on. that's why there are so many mercury, and mercruisers, they are required to put those on there boat packages.

 

[rndn]

Re: Brand advice for move-up boater

It may have been a one time Monteray problem, but here is the information anyway. My brother purchased a new Monteray 22 foot cuddy cabin from a now closed dealer in Rochester New York. He had it for a few eeks and when he stepped onto the swim platform his foot went right through the gelcoat. Upon further inspection he had an air pocket behind the gelcoat in an area about the size of a dollar bill and 1 to 1 1/2 inches deep. He freaked out and called the dealer. dealer told him it is a very comman thing to happen on larger fiberglass boats and that he would have it taken care of the following week. He asked my brother to take a rubber mallet and tap the boat all over the gel coat to find any other places where this had happened. There were 75 locations where there was an air pocket behind the gel coat. Next week the dealer never called so my brother called him and found the place had gone out of business. Monteray wanted to take the boat to their factory and my brother refused to allow the boat to leave the state. He said if the boat needed to leave the state then Monteray should give him new boat. Monteray agreed to have Great Lakes repair work on the boat to fix the issues. Great Lakes repair needed to add 800 pounds of fiber glass to the boat in order to fix the air pocket issues as well as to fix a serious defficiency in structure. Two months later he got the boat back and it was too heavy for the motor(5.0 Mercruiser) with the extra weight now and it took forever to get on plane even with tabs. The following year his boat developed stress cracks on the steps for the walk-thru windshield. He lost heart in boating and ended up selling it for 5k less than what he owed. Monteray would do nothing after the initial 12k repair. I know this is one instance but a company with good customer service should have replaced what was a lemon of a boat. I believe he bought the boat in 1991 or 1992. Sorry for the book, but it's important information that I wanted to share. I'm sure for every one of these horror stories there's hundreds of happy Monteray boat owners.

 

[rndn]

Re: Brand advice for move-up boater

I wanted to add, my brother eventually did get back into boating but has stuck with aluminum instead of fiberglass.