what boat to buy ... cost vs quality

[thundercraft newbee]

what is general guidance on boat quality vs cost

how does Starcraft rate?

is there a site detailing independent reviews of manufacturers?

any guidance would be great on best boats for your money

looking to spend around 16K -20K but hoping to get a part exchange on my current runabout bowrider tundercraft

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: what boat to buy ... cost vs quality

i just had the opportunity to test drive a newly designed boat. the quality is there and the preformance is supurb. here's a link. this is going to be the boat to beat for 2008. i have no affiliation with the company what so ever. if you want more info, i have all the info, just send PM to me.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=198208

 

[bruceb58]

Re: what boat to buy ... cost vs quality

Unfortuantely, I think you are on your own reagarding reviews on boats. Most boating magazines only review boats that happen to be advertisers for them so they are hesitant to say anything bad about the boats they are testing. There are useful things in the reviews like performance but even that you have to take with a grain of salt because typically, the tests are run with a basically unloaded boat.

My suggestion would be to go to some boat shows and see which boats seem to fit your needs and go from there.

 

[KCook]

Re: what boat to buy ... cost vs quality

No Starcraft dealer in my town. So I don't know much about them. As for boat quality ratings, there are very few. One indicator is the annual CSI awards by the NMMA organization -

http://www.boating-industry.com/output.cfm?id=1165375

Which does not seem to mention Starcraft?

Kelly Cook

 

[Solittle]

Re: what boat to buy ... cost vs quality

For many years Starcraft has had an excellent reputation in the world I trave in. I had an 18'er many years ago.

 

[dingbat]

Re: what boat to buy ... cost vs quality

No mention here either http://www.jdpower.com/boats/