Re: 2009 Glastron GT Bow Rider Purchase Question
Being a recent purchaser of a GT 205 myself, lemme tell you about what I thought about and why I went with a Glastron boat myself.
A little background here, My family has had a 1975 Glastron Tri-hull in our family for just over 35 years till a couple summers back when the 115hp Evirude washed its piston rings out and scored the **** out of the cylinders. The cost of repair was over $3k for machine work and labor to fix it, which was more than the boat was worth and we've been wanting a new boat for years. It was a very well made boat, and having such a good relationship with a boat makes you a fan of them.. here is a picture of her a couple summers back...
I had been looking into boats for over a year now since our old one was gone. I looked at countless used boats trying to score a deal, but every used boat I went to look at had something significant wrong with it and I just could bring myself to purchase one of these mistreated boats. I could see the obvious things wrong with them, but I didn't know what else their may be down the road when it was in my name and my problem. So after soo many failures, I decided to say screw it and just purchase a new boat. Yes I know they are more expensive, will depreciate a lot BUT I will know her history and know she's been taken care of well.
Knowing our Boat show was coming up in February I was going to wait till then to try and score a left over 2009 if I could go that route.
My cousin has had a 2003 SX 195 w/ 3.0L Volvo since he bought it brand new in 2003 and has had nothing but good things to say about his. Only issue he's had was a bad motor mount, which was taken care of under warranty. I've seen him do the maintenance on them, helped install some extra speakers, and spent countless hours on the water with him in it. When he had made talks to selling it, he would also re-think and not want to part ways with such a good boat. This is his below.
Having such a good experience with Glastron boats, its ultimately why I looked into them soo much. One of the key selling points on them to me was the
VEC construction, which is an all fiberglass construction and do not use any wooden stringers within the hull construction. With out older Glastron, it had a wooden floor which we did have to replace once towards the transom.
A boat with this new technology was a HUGE reason I was interested in a Glastron. Glastron isn't the only boat manufacturer who uses this technology.
At the boat show, I was open to look at anything with a decent price and nothing over $30k. I however did fall in love with this Crownline...
I however, didn't love the $49k price tag and could see the quality this boat had built into it. I'm only 23, and spending that much on my boat would be ridiculous. I saw some other bowrider boats there I liked for example, Cobalt, tahoe, starcraft, four winns and my dream Malibu Wakesetter.
I also stumbled upon this 2009 Rienell 191 LSE.
It had many of the features I was looking for in a boat and $3k less than the Glastron. Plus I am a sucker for Obnoxious yellow. It did also have many options the Glastron didn't offer, like a transom trim function, both captain chairs had fold up bolsters, bow center seat section to turn into a full lounge, and came with canvas in the price. However, the boat was built with handlaid fiberglass and wooden stringers, and when I opened the engine compartment it reaked of fuel and had a puddle of something in the bilge for a boat that was supposedly brand new. I also didn't like the seats compared to the Glastron and the Rienell's seats just felt cheapo.
I did some research on this Rienell and found numerous horror stories on here about them, and even tho I had been approved I didn't want anything to do with this boat after then and went back to my gut feeling and submitted my order for my Glastron with all the options listed in my signature. After tax it ran me just shy of $30k.
As for your other questions, a Crownline would be considered an upper end boat along with some other like Chaparral, Donzi, baja etc. Other boats like Cobalt, Glastron, bay liner, starcraft, Rienell are entry level boats or your economy cars of the automotive world. Each have their selling points, different creature comforts, and hull construction. I said above why Glastron had me sold on them compared to other companies.
If you look at a boat like you would a car, its pretty much the same scenario. If you take a ride in a honda, you notice how the creature comforts inside are nice and serve their functions just well. It has front disc brake and rear drums. Overall, its a car that was built to function and its does just that. However, you got a take a ride in say an Acura. You feel more comfortable and can feel the difference in the quality of workmanship put into that car. It does the same job as the honda, but was built with better quality parts in some areas and added more creature comforts along the way, and has 4 wheel disc brakes. This same concept goes for boats.
You get what your paying for. The upper end boats are built with a little better quality parts which is also the reason for difference in weight between all the boats. More creature comforts, more the boat is going to weight.
As for as that deal goes... Damn, wish I had that up here by me. I would have snagged that up in a heart beat. Thats close to $1o,000 off what it was in the beginning of 2009. You won't be disappointed with a Glastron, they have been around for many years and MANY people have them as boats. However, if your wanting to cruise around in a higher level of comfort then you may want to look into the Crownline or Chaparral.
Hope this has helped!
