Can someone break down the quality, craftmanships and general reviews/differences between the Explorer, XS and SE Triton models. Whats good, better best? Looking at a 2012 Triton 18 Explorer with low hours. Thanks.
Can someone break down the quality, craftmanships and general reviews/differences between the Explorer, XS and SE Triton models. Whats good, better best? Looking at a 2012 Triton 18 Explorer with low hours. Thanks.
1999 Champion 186 SC/DC Tournament
1999 Mercury EFI 150hp
Anyfeedback?
1999 Champion 186 SC/DC Tournament
1999 Mercury EFI 150hp
I believe the explorer didn't have all the bells and whistles
I have a 2008 18 Explorer (Actually 18' 6") and its a good boat. Just re-powered it with a 2018 Mercury 115 hp Pro XS 4 Stroke. I believe that if I keep taking care of the boat, garage kept and constantly babied, it'll go another 10 years.
Less bells and whistles? Yep. But it does pretty much everything a bigger bass boat does. And when I bought it, with the trade in of my old Tin boat, it only cost me $16,500 new. That's boat, motor, trailer, TM and two sonar units.
Quality and craftsmanship are just what I expected. Excellent. And while I've taken care of it and stayed up with maintenance, I've run the boat hard and it has always come through. Basically, I've more than got my monies worth out of it.
Would I buy another one if I had to? For instance, the 179TRX is essentially the same boat specs wise but with the bells and whistles (compared to mine) The answer would be yes, well, maybe not now what with JM buying out the company. I'm OK with capitalism, but I don't really trust him or his motives. I'd have to give serious thought and research before I believed the quality of the "new" Tritons was up to par.
Last edited by OBT; 09-18-2018 at 08:13 PM.
No one can be wrong that often so it has to be deliberate.
I bought a new 2012 18 Explorer with a 150 Pro XS in 2012. I only kept it a year. I really didn't have any problems with the boat other than the trailer. After towing it about 500 miles I noticed the insides of the tires were already worn slick. The cause was the axle was bowed downward making the wheels ride on the inside of the tires because of the slant the bowing created. My thinking was there was not enough axle to support the weight of the boat. I think the trailer was a Marine Master and they did replace the axle with the same size under warranty. I traded it as soon as the trailer was repaired as I had no confidence in it. Also, the boat was just too small for me as I was used to larger boats.
Jim
2023 Triton 19 TRX Patriot, gunmetal/carbon mist/silver mist, 225 Merc Pro XS, SN 3B265119
My brother bought a 17 Explorer new. He still has it. It works just fine. It is not a speed demon but it gets him around.
USN Retired
2020 Basscat Caracal
2020 Mercury 225 ProXS 4s
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