From what I see, it looks like a $12K boat. It appears the fiberglass is pretty thin around the helm, and the whole boat looks kind of cheap. Getting 50 mph out of the 3.0 should not be a problem because this boat is so light, but what good is speed when it might have problems with stability?
I test drove a new 06 Bayliner 175 2 years ago that had the 4.3 V6. It looked good and the price was right at $15K. I was not that impressed with the ride, and the boat seemed to flex more than I felt comfortable with.
With that said though, a brand new boat for under $13K is a great starter boat for a small family that wants new for a good price and keeps it on calm waters. It should sell very well.
Don't kid yourself....we put these boats thru some rough paces....Doug and I took them out into the rough stuff and they took the full throttle beatings we subjected them too..they didn'f flex.....the quality of the build is excellent...fit and finish is definitely not of your old bayliners.......
bayliner has made alot of good strides in quality assurance and performance......
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Steve201
2003 Maxum 2700SCR
Everett, Wa
Like you said,I run the heck out of the 175 and like Doug i took it in some rough water and was very happy with the ride for a 17ft boat.
Doug passed me driving the 175,I was in the 3100,He hit my wake and went about 5 ft in the air and never backed off the throttle...
We had a blast!!
I did not feel any flex in the hull of this boat!
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1981 ChrisCraft 210 Scorpion K,175 Johnson SeaHorse
I don't know of any other 3.0s pushing 50 . . . That's pretty impressive. As I said, reminds me a lot of my experience with the 205. That boat could take a serious beating and downright stupid maneuvers without missing a beat.
I don't know of any other 3.0s pushing 50 . . . That's pretty impressive. As I said, reminds me a lot of my experience with the 205. That boat could take a serious beating and downright stupid maneuvers without missing a beat.
I agree Kevin,The 205 was a blast! Very fast boat.Ask Bill about my WOT u-turn..
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1981 ChrisCraft 210 Scorpion K,175 Johnson SeaHorse
From what I see, it looks like a $12K boat. It appears the fiberglass is pretty thin around the helm, and the whole boat looks kind of cheap. Getting 50 mph out of the 3.0 should not be a problem because this boat is so light, but what good is speed when it might have problems with stability?
I test drove a new 06 Bayliner 175 2 years ago that had the 4.3 V6. It looked good and the price was right at $15K. I was not that impressed with the ride, and the boat seemed to flex more than I felt comfortable with.
With that said though, a brand new boat for under $13K is a great starter boat for a small family that wants new for a good price and keeps it on calm waters. It should sell very well.
Oh the price of "paying" for past sins, and over coming ones own target market. The quality and workmanship in todays entry level boats has never been higher.................this is not your daddy's' Bayliner. However an entry level craft by definition, and design is just that.
That said, the value/quality per dollar todays entry level owner receives is noticeably ahead of that available only a few years ago. This "bottom up" quality improvement in turn drives the mid and higher end manufactures to improve their products and customer service as well. This trend, if it continues bodes well for all future boat owners.
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Just owning a boat does not make you a boater!!
" Life is so much better on a boat " SS MAYFLOAT
"All that is necessary for evil to win the world is for good men to do......................nothing" Edmund Burke
"A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many want in, and how many want to get out." Prime Minister Tony Blair
I don't know......when I see reviewer saying "it can take a beating" after a "part of one day" trial I start scratching my head. Obviously you wouldn't expect any brand new boat to fall apart going over some chop! Did you compare the ride to any other brand new higher-end boats of that size? Did you check each bolt./screw/ rivet when you were done to make sure none had loosened? Did the seats fully support you over big waves?
I'm not saying any of you testers aren't telling the truth - i'm sure you are - but I also think you're maybe overstating things that could never be determined by a simple test ride.
Also, the simple fact that a 3.0L engine pushes it over 50 mph makes me find it VERY hard to believe it has a comfortable ride! Fun, probably, but I just don't see how any design can be that fast AND have the ride quality of deeper, heavier boats.
As I sad earlier, i tested a 205 Flight Series and it was fast and fun but the ride quality really kinda sucked. My kids would love it but my wife would hate it.
I agree that just testing one day does not say how the boat will hold up in the long term real world.
This 175 was tested by over 25 people in 3 days with no signs of anything coming loose or falling apart.
I have owned many different brands of boats in this size range over the last 20 years and i still think this boat had the best ride.
I did not expect the same ride that my deep V Chris Craft has.The Bayliner is about half the weight.
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1981 ChrisCraft 210 Scorpion K,175 Johnson SeaHorse
i went to the unveiling of the 205, we had 3 different model. 9 of us beat and abused those boats, in one area we had a 2- 2 1/2 foot chop. never back off the throttle, donuts. jumping each others wakes and our own wakes. i have never abused a boat like we did those.
we all need to support iboats marine store when ever possible. you get, competitive prices. fast shipping, top notch customer service. also it provides us, this great FREE forum.
I don't know of any other 3.0s pushing 50 . . . That's pretty impressive. As I said, reminds me a lot of my experience with the 205. That boat could take a serious beating and downright stupid maneuvers without missing a beat.
Is there gps/radar data to verify the 50mph claim? It just doesn't compute... Unless they changed gear ratio on the 3.0/Alpha, it would take a 23" prop and 5000 rpm to touch 50. And it would have to be a crazy efficient hull(<5% prop slip) to even reach high 40's with a 21" prop.
Since the weight seems to be the same as the previous generation 175, I would assume a 21" prop and mid 40's...just like the previous year 175 and most other 17-18 footers with the 3.0...
Anyway, not trying to cause trouble, but unless verified a 50mph claim is a bit misleading to potential buyers reading this review...
Speed was checked on each boat with a Garmin GPS.
Looking back at my notes for this boat it was 47 mph GPS and showed 51 on the Speedo.
Sorry for this wrong info,i was off by 3mph.I believe in calm conditions it would still reach 50 mph.
Our tests were on the intercoastal in pretty good chop.
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1981 ChrisCraft 210 Scorpion K,175 Johnson SeaHorse
Speed was checked on each boat with a Garmin GPS.
Looking back at my notes for this boat it was 47 mph GPS and showed 51 on the Speedo.
Sorry for this wrong info,i was off by 3mph.I believe in calm conditions it would still reach 50 mph.
Our tests were on the intercoastal in pretty good chop.
Well okay then...consider me corrected...that's pretty dang impressive.
I agree that just testing one day does not say how the boat will hold up in the long term real world.
I will say though this is more like being given the keys to a rental car . . . Our jobs were to run these things through the paces. I did things to that poor 205 (bigger ones too) that I would never do to my own boat. Yes, time is the biggest killer, but what I tried to do was compress as much stupidity into a short time as possible. All boats need tightening and TLC once and a while, but I was looking at this more from the perspective of how will it treat a first time owner.
With the 205 for example, I did consecutive lock to lock turns at WOT. I have NEVER done that with my own boats, but the 205 didn't begin to blow out until the 4th time back around. I looked for the biggest wakes, not the shortest. I punched it full throttle with the trim all of the way up. I ran it WOT with the trim all of way down, again stuff I rarely do. While there is no way to say what those things would do over time, I can say that a newbie would be well taken care of, but that same newbie would also freak out the first time he/she piloted something a little less fool proof . . .
I agree with you...doug and I did things to those boats I'd never do to mine..and I boat up in the pacnorwest...it can get ugly quick here..but the new bayliners for 2009 are impressively built...handle what we tossed at it and didn't miss a beat....when we got back to dock..i'd write up my notes and look at things to see how it worked or just took pictures....with the abuse we put on the boats...we found some things that needed to be changed..but overall...all of the boats held up great!!!....
Steve
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Steve201
2003 Maxum 2700SCR
Everett, Wa
I have an 02 bayliner 19ft bowrider and i can see from this one they have taken out the woodgrain around the gauges,took out the glove box and stopped the carpet before the walk thru and i almost get 50 mph out of mine so no biggie there but it looks like they are cutting corner's again. Just my opinion and i love my Bayliner
Rich
You definately can't argue with the price. It looks like an entry level boat but that is what you would expect for 13K. I like the large amount of room available by the way the interior is designed. I have the 17 1/2 Glastron and there is less room inside because of the bench seat set up.
In regards to the 50 (47MPH) speed of the boat, I also would like to know the pitch of the prop. It has to be at least a 21" and those considering a boat should know your probably not going to want a 21" on there if your doing any water sports. That being said, I don't need to go 50 mph on the water, I am more concerned with pulling power for water skiing and correctly propped it could probably do the job....
For a family looking for a first boat, it's nice to know you don't have to buy someone elses problem....
I need to find this 175, I have yet to see one without the 3.0. Maybe someone shoehorned the 4.3 in there and is why it was flexing?
Nope, it was a brand new model in the showroom. The 4.3 was an option according to the sheet that was on it. In fact, this boat was ordered by a customer who decided on a larger boat. Maybe it was a dealer built monster?
Nope, it was a brand new model in the showroom. The 4.3 was an option according to the sheet that was on it. In fact, this boat was ordered by a customer who decided on a larger boat. Maybe it was a dealer built monster?
Dang. I bet it was a dealer built monster. That seems like a lot of motor for this light boat Can never have enough I guess.
we all need to support iboats marine store when ever possible. you get, competitive prices. fast shipping, top notch customer service. also it provides us, this great FREE forum.
Nope, it was a brand new model in the showroom. The 4.3 was an option according to the sheet that was on it. In fact, this boat was ordered by a customer who decided on a larger boat. Maybe it was a dealer built monster?
This must have been a 185. Bayliner has never had a 4.3 as an option in the '03-08 175 models.
Is there really that much room in a 175 that you could stick a 4.3L in there. If it was a dealer built monster, I wonder what dealer would take the liability of that. Something here smells fishy to me.
I have a couple things for ya since I own a Maxum 1800mx which is the same hull and mostly the same interior. I emailed Maxum and was told that there is in fact wood in the transom of the 1800mx and it's a 1" layer encased in glass and a 5/8" layer encased in glass. Perhaps the bigger boats don't have the wood in the transom but this information came right from Maxum. My understanding is that the Bayliner also has a wood floor covered in carpet unless you opt for the fiberglass liner in which case you get a full fiberglass tub and snap-in carpet.
The engine compartment is a little tight and I had a hard time getting a second battery behind the starboard rear seat. I'm 5'6" and 165lbs and there's enough room for me to look all around the engine and possibly do some maintenance work if I had to. I didn't see it in the pics, but perhaps when the added the cupholders to the engine cover, they added some sound deadening as well because it's not as quiet as I'd like. It's not loud, but it's not quiet either.
Regarding the 50mph claim, when I did my demo ride, it was me and one guy from the dealer on a very calm lake (probably 320lbs of people) with half tank of fuel and the speedo had us over 50mph at one point. I have a GPS now and based on how far off the speedo is most of the time, I would have to say that we were very close to 50mph on the lake if we didn't get there. On Monday, I had the Maxum out in the Atlantic ocean just off Cape May, NJ and it was a very calm day with 4 adults and we got to 41mph on gps with a full load of fuel and enough gear to keep 3 women happy all day. This is with a 14.5-19p prop.
If you look at the port side console in the pics, on the Maxum there's a hatch there and the stereo is inside the compartment. Perhaps this is an option on the Bayliner.
This is my first brand new boat and I have to say that I'm very happy with the quality whether you call it a Maxum or a Bayliner. If you go with the Bayliner tho, try to opt for the fiberglass liner as it will last much longer than the wood floor covered in carpet and the carpet is removable for cleaning.
If you go with the Bayliner tho, try to opt for the fiberglass liner as it will last much longer than the wood floor covered in carpet and the carpet is removable for cleaning.
I don't think that is an option on the 175. Bayliner seems to have one formula per boat and sticks with it. My 2008 175 indeed has a wood floor. Heavy, unfinished glass on the wood and carpet. I could be wrong on the option but I looked every 175 and they all were alike minus the outside packages.
Re: The 2009 Bayliner 175 review
Life is so much better on a boat 
Re: The 2009 Bayliner 175 review
Can never have enough I guess.
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