Went looking at new boats today... humm

[Y-Guy]

Mostly I've been looking online at used boats. But today my wife and I thought we'd swing by a couple dealerships and look at the Glastron and Reinell line up. Being our first boat and need to keep it small to tow behind our Jeep Liberty we looked at the Glastron 185 XL and the Reinell 185 LS. Both had bucket seats and the rear bench w/sunlounge. Both had the Volvo Penta 4.3L The Glastron seemed to have a lot more small features for the price; hour meter, depth gauge, auto bilge and snap in carpet (is that good or bad?)

The Reinell seemed a bit stripped down, asking $21,995. The Glastron was the same price, but they had a used 2008 with 16 hours, but came with tower/Bimini and started off asking $20,000.

Am I comparing apples to apples here? With a new list price how much do you generally negotiate down on? I've been in to the RV world for a while and generally you can get 20-30% off the list prices.

 

[henrye718]

Re: Went looking at new boats today... humm

By chance have you looked into the towing prowess of the liberty? Seems like a lot of boat for it to be towing. A friend in my bass club used his 05? liberty to tow a 17 foot aluminum tracker jon type boat and it jack knifed him on the highway one time and the second time he felt it coming and stopped it before it got out of control. He bought a used F150 and I have not seen him at the ramp again with that liberty. I dont think I would use it for anything other than local towing, definatly no highway towing a heavy boat after he mention that at one of our meetings.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Went looking at new boats today... humm

both boats are good, i prefer rienell, as it is a Florida built boats. VP 4.3 excellent system, snap in carpet a big plus, mine is in the garage attack, never been in the boat. you will have to have trailer brakes if you consider towing those boats with the liberty. it may be rated to tow the load, but not stopping it.

 

[ramster]

Re: Went looking at new boats today... humm

If you can get a test drive in both boats, I think you will find that the Glastron has less bow rise, and flatter turning. The Glastron has the VEC hull which is built with no wood in the stringer system, or transum. I own a Glastron, and everyone who rides in it is impressed by the ride as I was, that's why I bought it. Larson boats use the same VEC hull also. The Jeep should pull an 18 ft'r with a v-6 no problem, make sure you get trailer brakes if not already equipped.

 

[Y-Guy]

Re: Went looking at new boats today... humm

Thanks for the feed back, does anyone know about the build of the Reinell hull? Glastron has a lot of information about theirs, but Reinell has nothing online that I can find.

tashasdaddy - I thought the Reinell was built in Salem, OR and Glastron in Minnesota, are Reinells produced in various locations?

ramster - If we go the new route we'll defiantly wet test both boats. The Glastron dealer was ready to take us out right then.

As for the Liberty... It would be for in town use, from my house to the nearest boat ramp is under 2 miles. For longer trips I have a 35' Winnebago motorhome that would be doing the pulling. Don't care to pull with the Liberty long distance either, though I've already got it setup with brake controller for our ATV trailer.

 

[ramster]

Re: Went looking at new boats today... humm

I had an X-Terra for a while, and it pulled my 19' a Glastron W/a V-8 no problem, but I now have a Silverado and I do prefer the feel of a full size vehicle on long trips.

 

[Campylobacter]

Re: Went looking at new boats today... humm

RE pricing on new boats: wait till the season ends, and they will drop a lot more (you don't have to wait too long ). Sales are still slow and they won't want them around all winter. When I was looking the during the summer (several years ago) the summer price was 26K (with haggling). I got it for 21 K in November. YMMV

 

[Thad]

Re: Went looking at new boats today... humm

Definetly get trailer brakes. By buddy had a Liberty and towed his 18' Crownline hundreds of miles several times a year. Never had a problem.
And if you wait until the new models come in to the dealers, they will make even BETTER deals on last years model.
I bought mine the follwing year and saved $8,000 off the previous years price. Plus got a couple extras thrown in with it. Extra prop, tube, rope, jackets, flairs, paddle, bow filler cushions, fire ext., etc.

Remember, they need your money a lot more than you need to give it to them. Have a couple boats/dealers in mind and get all you can. Even if you already know which boat you want, the dealer does'nt!