Need honest advise on Bayliner Trophy

[Rugerfan]

Why do I say honest? A co-worker used? to own a marinia and the first word out of his mouth about Bayliner was Junk! untill I asked him to back up his claim. Seems a lot of people parrot what they hear. I have a chance to buy a 20' 1993 Trophy walk around for $8000. Comes with the Force 150 OB with 300hrs on in. Boat/motor/trailer all very clean,1 person boat. Now, was 1993 a good year for the Trophy? What's your overall opinion on this boat? I would use it to chase stripers aroung the Chesapeake.<br /><br />Thanks,Rugerfan

 

[JB]

Re: Need honest advise on Bayliner Trophy

Where is 12Footer when you need him. He has one.<br /><br />I'll repeat what I hear:<br /><br />Some say their B'liners were(are) junk.<br /><br />Way577 gets seriously ticked if we "bash" B'liners.<br /><br />I have heard from one or two (no more) that they had good B'liners.<br /><br />The best I have heard about Force engines is that they are easy to work on. I heard that from guys that got lots of practice.<br /><br />Bottom line? The '93 was sure to be a better boat than the early 80s, and Merc has done a much better job of building Forces than its predecessors.<br /><br />My advice? Pass. Eight grand can buy a much better, if smaller, boat with a much better engine. <br /><br />Red sky at night. . .<br />JB

 

[singerjr]

Re: Need honest advise on Bayliner Trophy

This past year I was shopping and looked at Trophy hard, new and used. I was buying new but looked at used for history. They aren't Bayliners. Just because Ford builds Escorts and Jaguars doesn't mean they are the same. They may have both been junk at one time but I think that has changed, at least Trophy has.<br /><br />I wouldn't say Trophy is top of the line, they aren't but they are nice middle of the line boats. I do think the newer the better though, the new boats no longer use wood stringers or deck and fit and finish are better on the newer boats. The wood was a major problem on the older boats, I think a ’93 may have wood stringers and possibly deck as well. They had both new and used where I was shopping and you can really see the quality on the 2002’s was significantly better than prior years.<br /><br />I was looking at the 2002 models 1802 & 2052 W/A because I thought I wanted another cabin other than that the boat didn't suit my needs and the final straw was remembering my first cabin. It was a closet boat.<br /><br />One hot steamy summer night down in that cabin is all it takes and I was looking for marinas and a motel. I'm 6'-2", can't stand the heat or cramped spaces when I sleep. So like my first this would eventually be the biggest boat rod locker on the Chesapeake. My wife thought the cabin would be nice too but the more we thought about it the less we liked it. I would rather pitch a tent on a beach but I would opt for the motels, which there are plenty along the Bay.<br /><br />Unless I could buy something approaching a yacht I would not be comfortable. And particularly the smaller cabins eat up so much usable space on the boat. The Trophy’s have two nice seats at the console and two jump seats near the motor for passengers. You can’t talk to the passengers while underway and the seats can’t be used while fishing. I use a boat for fishing more than anything else and cruising would be second. I have read the same opinions from many members on this site as I have about sleeping on small cabin boats.<br /><br />The two questions I had to ask myself and honestly answer were: 1) Even if I was comfortable how many times would I actually sleep on the boat in a year? And 2) was I willing to invest the money on a Cuddy and give up the deck space and comfort for a couple of nights a year.<br /><br />Just my shopping experience and my opinion and as for the Trophy if I was going to purchase a Cuddy I would have gone with that 2002 – 2052 Trophy. I think they have come a long way in quality, fit and finish and I think they are priced fair, maybe to get the word out that “This isn’t your father’s Trophy” I would check out the older ones real good though.<br /><br />Good luck

 

[skier]

Re: Need honest advise on Bayliner Trophy

Rugerfan:<br /><br />Trophy, as far as I know is a good boat. Force on the other hand is less than adequate at best. Mercury has dropped the Force line cause they don't stay together and aren't reliable engines.<br /><br />Hope this helps. Craig

 

[mad mahi]

Re: Need honest advise on Bayliner Trophy

For what it may mean, JD Powers rates the Trophy as slightly better than Bayliner which received the lowest score possible in ALL categories. <br /><br />They rate the Trophy behind Sea Hunt, which I personally saw and thought was "awful".<br /><br />And these ratings are for the current production models!

 

[SeaDawg]

Re: Need honest advise on Bayliner Trophy

Rugerfan, do a search on my name (probably the boating forum though) and you will see that I had a 1987 that I used pretty hard, and I liked it. HOWEVER, like the others have said here, check the boat out very good. I would buy Bayliner again, but I would make sure the boat and motor was sound (as I would with any used setup). $8,000 sounds a little high, but check www.nada.com for prices too.<br /><br />When I went to sell my boat (had it for 2 years), I was honest and told everyone that I had over 1,200 running hours on the 125 Force. No one would touch it in Delaware, they all wanted Gradys or Makos or Whalers. I was moving to Durham, NC (which was why I was selling it - I still liked the boat, but wanted to switch to a bass boat), and I sold it in less than a week, still being perfectly honest about the running hours, how I used it commercialy, etc. (The boat was spotless and still in very good shape, because it got washed almost daily, and I used close to a can of WD-40 a week to spray down the engine (under the cowling) and electrical connectors, etc.) The guy trailered it from Durham to Hatteras about every weekend, and he loved it. <br /><br />Bottom line - if you trust your friend, and it checks out OK, you should be good to go.