Re: Bayliner boats
Thats something else that needs to be said.<br /><br />All the anecdotal stories we hear about Bayliners are based on boats that people own. You know, people, individuals who may or may NOT be caring for their boats properly.<br /><br />Bayliners are a lot like inexpensive Hondas. They are inexpensive and therefore allow a lot of people to have a boat who never had one before.<br /><br />Lets take that analogy farther. What happens when you give a car, lets say a new Honda, to a 16 year old? Right, they TEND to not be cared for, even abused. Does this make Honda a bad car make? HELL NO!!!!!!<br /><br />Bayliners are similar. A lot of them are in bad shape not because they don't age well, but they are put into the hands of the inexperienced.<br /><br />I wax my boat every two weeks, religiously, and the service manual is The Bible to me. My mechanic knows me on a first name basis. My instructions every spring are the same: "Un-winterize it, do the maintenenance, and then do it again for good measure...then splash it, and give it absolute hell. Because when I take it out the week afterward and find something wrong with it, *I* will give *YOU* hell."<br /><br />What does that mean? It means I will put my boat up against a new boat and have a competition to see which one is in better condition.<br /><br />Boats are a product of their owners maintenance habits, period. I have seen fantastic Bayliners I would be happy to call my own, and Bertrams that should be torpedoed somewhere off the coast of Iceland and turned into artificial reefs.<br /><br />Matter of fact, you can add any pre-2000 Sea Ray to that fate too, for all I care.<br /><br />I am a car enthusiast....a scholar of the industry. For all the boat snobs I see who preach about "buying the best boat", I look in the parking lot and see they drove up in a Cadillac Escalade - a vehicle fundamentally identical to a Chevy Silverado. That tells me what I need to know right there.<br /><br />With people's attitude on boats being "buy the best", lets reverse that and look at what they drive on the road. Right now, in my educated opinion, I think the very best, most reliable, well finished vehicle you can buy is a Lexus LS430, and therefore I think that is what EVERYONE on this board should buy. Anything less is total crap.<br /><br />Is that reasonable? No. Are there cars out there that are going to be just as reliable and easy to use for shopping at the mall? Yes...in some cases, the cheaper car WOULD be the better car. Not everyone wants a Corvette, or a Lexus....and not everyone needs, nor necessarilly wants a high end boat. I just want something good looking, reliable, unpretentious, exellent-performing, and something that I don't have to mortgage my family to own. Its a luxury purchase, something that is not needed and only used 6 months out of the year.<br /><br />I think a couple of you need to get your priorities (and your genitalia length) in perspective.
<br /><br /><br /> Jim
