Bass Boat Shopping Opinions.......HELP!

[EastTnJoe]

My wife and I bought a new Tracker Pro 165 with a 40 last year. We used to fish a little 1,500 acre lake near home and his was plenty of boat, until we decided to take a trip to Guntersville. Then another trip to Guntersville. And then another. We figured out pretty quickly that, as they said in the famous movie about the famous fish, we're gonna' need a bigger boat.

We don't want or need or have the money for a $60K 21 foot Stratemblaster with a fire breathing 250 on the back, a compass in the stock and a thing that tells time. What we need is to move up to an 18 foot with a 150 or so.

I'm waiting on a quote on a leftover Nitro Z7 and we talked to a couple dealers at a show yesterday. At this point I'm favoring three options:

1) The Triton 18 Explorer was a decent boat for what we need, but the dealer was hard line on price. I mean, he wouldn't budge a dime. It also had very base electronics It's also fairly narrow at only 91 inches. At $26K it's priced about where we want to be, but that's about the only thing in it's favor.

2) A leftover Skeeter ZX190 with a Yamaha 150. This one is decked out fairly well with upgrade electronics, hydraulic steering, hot foot, retractable tie downs and a jack plate. This particular boat is actually listed on BBC for $29,500 with a 6 year warrantee, but at the show it was $29,900 with a 5 year warrantee. We spent about an hour with the dealer and if he dropped it $2500 we would have hooked it up and taken it home, but that never happened.

3) A leftover Nitro Z7 that I'm waiting on a quote for. It's the basic package with just trailer brakes and hydraulic steering for options. Price listed is at $25K plus, plus, plus but it has junk for electronics. I also heard from every dealer at the show yesterday "You cant buy a Nitro.....they're made from WOOD!" I wasn't overly concerned about a little wood in the decks but they all made a huge deal about it.

So that's where we're at and I could use some advice and opinions. Sorry for putting this in the Lounge but if I had put it under Triton I would have got "Buy the Triton!" and if I had put in under Skeeter I would have got "Buy the Skeeter!" etc, so on and so forth.

Thanks,

Joe

[Hardhead1]

Joe, here's another option, see what you can find on the BBC boats 4 sale board.

[cubswin]

for the money I'd probably get the skeeter, time you upgrade things on the nitro you will be close to the same price. I think the skeeter is going to hold its value a bit more. The newer nitro's I've seen are good boats, wouldn't hesitate to own one, but if the price is close I'd take the skeeter myself.

[dryhorn2]

Don't buy new. Save yourself some money and buy used from BBC member or elsewhere.

[Jason1]

The boat brand you purchase is something only you can decide what you like.
Have you thought about something 2-3 years old?
you would get alot more boat for the money, and BBC has alot of nice boats for sale.
If the warranty is a deciding factor in purchasing a new or left over boat, then it gets down to what you can afford or want to spend.
If the dealer isnt wanting to budge on the $2500 wait till the last day of the show, i bet he will change his mind.

[m.t.hands]

quit coming to guntersville

J/K, buy a used boat from someone here, lots of good deals, find the boat/layout that suits you and the misses best (the wife would probably like a DC equipped rig)..

[ZXskeeterB]

I have a friend with a 2008 Nitro Z7 with 150 Optimax, Lowrance HDS8 & HDS7 he is about to try and sell. The engine has over 2 years warranty and has lessthan 40 original hours on the rig. I suspect he will sell it for 18-19K.

[tdow3]

I agree with the people on here as far as buying a 2-3 year old boat w/ a little warranty left. Don't jump in..look around. I found a 2006 Procraft Superpro that was bought new as a leftover in 2009. the guy had back surgery and only had 11.5 hours on 200 Optimax. dual console, fiberglass trailer, brakes, etc. AND has warranty till 2014. and only gave $18,500. ALso, i hear people knocking Nitro, but look at the top 20 pro's and look what they are runnin. has to tell you something io would say. me and my buudy found his on Ebay Nitro 898 w/ 225 opti and only had 33 hrs and 2 yrs warranty $21,500. had to travel 300 miles but was worth it. good luck. I would not spend $30000 and get a 150 hp CRAZY

[APS]

28k will buy alot of boat, I'd definately go used though. You can get 08 basscat pumas and 08 skeeter Iclasses for that kind of money. You could probably find a 2010 model in the 18/19 foot range for that. You're gonna lose close to 10k depreciation in the first year on any brand new boat.

[sclark]

If you are willing to have a 2 or 3 year old boat, i would like to suggest a Ranger 178 or Ranger 188. both are in your price range. . .

Check out the BBC For sale pages

[Canadian Legend]

Take a look around for a used Legend.

You'll thank yourself in the long run!

Andrew

[taeheel2az]

One thing you're doing right is taking a hard line on what you'll pay.

[smalljawer]

Buy new if thats what you want!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Treg]

My experience with a Triton dealer sounds like yours with the Skeeter. He raised the price 2k at the show on a boat I was looking seriously at... Ended up better for me anyway!

Have you looked at a BassCat Margay at all? They have a boat show special price going on them right now and it looks like a pretty good deal!


http://www.basscat.com/2012BoatShowSpecial.pdf

[nightbasser]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by Treg &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">My experience with a Triton dealer sounds like yours with the Skeeter. He raised the price 2k at the show on a boat I was looking seriously at... Ended up better for me anyway!

Have you looked at a BassCat Margay at all? They have a boat show special price going on them right now and it looks like a pretty good deal!


http://www.basscat.com/2012BoatShowSpecial.pdf</td></tr></table>
We have one is stock very close to look at also

[Caymas ProXS]

IM sent...

Hope it helps...

[bjw3470]

I let price dictate what I bought. I wished I would of figured out which options and size I wanted first, found those boats no matter what year or model, then went with the best price. I have spent a lot of money upgrading since I bought mine. As far as the Z-7, it's a good boat, the trailer is absolutely junk. Sometimes dealing with BPS is not much fun either.

[DanCard]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by Canadian Legend &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Take a look around for a used Legend.

You'll thank yourself in the long run!

Andrew
</td></tr></table>

THIS!!! I too will be in the market soon and I've crawled all through a Legend Alpha 191. Also fished as a Co in a BFL on KY lake. My boater had a Alpha 211. One of the finest boats I've ever sat my big a$$ in. Legend will be the first boat I look at.

[Basscatfrank]

Joe, sent you an IM.

[racefan]

Look long and hard till you find a boat you want. If you buy new you take the hit on depreshation the second it leaves the showroom floor but if you buy used you can a bigger boat a few years older with warrenty still ahve have a bigger boat with all the bugs worked out by the previous owner.