first family boat

new to boating! looking at a 06 crownline,07 mariah,09 caravelle, or 08 chapperel all bow riders all 4.3 v-6 looking to use on local inland lakes pulling tubes skiers and the like, kids are 6 and 3 and prob some buddies as well. they all r priced within $1500 of each other and all have about 100 hrs. can anyone tell me thoughts on which to choose and why?any help is greatly appreciated!

Re: first family boat

sorry the 09 carevelle is a 196 the 08 chaarral is180ssi the mariah is a sx19 and the 06 crownline 180 hope that helps

Re: first family boat

which ever is taken care of the best!

Re: first family boat

ok just going by my personal opinions, if maintenance has been taken care of each of these boats as impatico stated very nicely you need to look at a few things,

First get the biggest boat you can afford, 196 and 190, problem is I have no idea what the overall quality of a caravelle is, so the Mariah takes first place on size by default but others will chime in.

Overall quality to me is Crownline and Chaparral its a draw either of these two are among the leaders in boat quality, Mariah has had its issues over the last decade or so but its one of those boats I have always loved the looks of.

Resale will be better with a Crownie or a Chap,

But you have to pay particular attention to the care the boat has had over its lifetime, the care and maintenance of a used boat is by far the most important issue, far more then the manufacturer.

If all maintenance is equal I would go for either the Crownie or Chap on black and white paper but you have to go for what boat is the best fit for you. Post some pics and maybe we can do a better job of helping you.

Again I have no personal experience on Caravelle so I can't speak to the quality of them but I am sure there will be some great advice on them coming very soon

Also remember that you want to get the best return on your investment so keep that in mind, this is your first boat, in a couple years you will get twofootitis so you want to get a good return on this boat so you can reinvest in a bigger boat

Re: first family boat

As previously stated, go with the boat in the best condition, been stored inside, has mtnce records etc. One will stand out if you ask enough questions..

Re: first family boat

not sure how to post the pics but they all can be seen at www.exportmarineinc.com the problem i have is its a twelve hr drive for me to go see them and i would need to buy on the spot. I've been searching for about a year and a half now and starting to get frustrated by what i can find here in wisconsin for quality boats in the fifteen to twenty thousand range. I've looked at Sea Ray and Four Winns Glastron Rinker and have not been real impressed by the quality of the used market in my area for the money wanted for them.I think the Mariah is what i was looking for but you say problems??? like what? Crownline and Chaps are nice just not any around my area? Figured i may have to travel a little to get what i need and want?

Re: first family boat

Ok your in Wisconsin looking for a boat in Arkansas, I envy your determination, or your nuts...

either way the Mariah has a 5.0 and is a 50mph+ boat not sure if that's something your interested in or not

but if I were you, I would cut my budget in half, its your first boat these boats look great, they all run great as the pics show and I'm sure they are just fine, now how do you feel about bouncing your beautiful boat off the dock? How about dragging your outdrive on the ramp? Or your kids spilling grape gatorade all over the seats? You need to learn how to boat, your family needs to learn also! When you first posted I had no idea you were looking for a $20k boat, in a small (newbie) boat. Small Boats are for beginners or people that just have no use for a large boat, you have a growing family, you will keep this boat for a couple years and upgrade, learning if you want to upgrade to a bigger bowrider or cuddy along the way, this is called twofootitis. We(the self proclaimed experts of iboats) have figured out is that most of the time people want more then they can afford, you on the other hand I believe need less then you can afford! very strange situation for us, selling a boat in this range is going to be harder in this economy then a boat half the price, save your money and go get a lower priced boat to learn on, both you and your family, then go get Your boat to carry you into your kids teenage years. that's my advice to you

Here is my first boat


And my next boat


I went from a 196 to a 248 2 years later, I got the 196 for about $6K and the 248 for about $25k, I practice what I preach I think its the best advice for you

Re: first family boat

I've got a 2007 Mariah DX212 and love it. It is well appointed, comfortable and dry. Plus nice tall gulwales to help keep your wee ones indide where they belong!

Re: first family boat

If you are traveling 12 hours to see the boats, make a weekend out of it. It would be stupid to drive that far and buy the wrong boat because you felt rushed or didn't want to go home empty handed. Spend at least an hour with the family in each one. Sit at the steering wheel and make sure that you like it. Many boats that we considered during our buying process were not comfortable for me in the driver's position. Some had low gunwales, some had uncomfortable seats, a couple had steering wheels below my knees when I sat in the driving position. One felt like a kiddie toy with the steering wheel so low that I couldn't believe anyone would find it comfortable. I spend 3 to 5 hours at a time pulling boarders, skiers, tubes, etc, so I was not going to buy a boat that was not absolutely comfy for me in the driving position. Have the family move around and make sure they are comfy as well in the boat. Everyone spends more time sitting in the boat than doing anything else, so make sure everyone is comfy and happy with the seating.

Re: first family boat

I have yet another viewpoint which may or may not be of any help to you... personally I would buy something at least 10 years older for 1/4 of the price or less..... it'll do the exact same thing on the water and if taken care of be just as nice but will depreciate MUCH less in the short time it takes you to realize that you want a totally different boat IE bigger, faster, wakeboarding, fishing, camping, or whatever difference.... then again 20k may be chump change to you where I've never spent more than 10k on any vehicle in my life and will only buy with cash because I don't want to borrow money.... That's just my own personal philosophy.... I'm certainly not pointing fingers but just offering my .02

Re: first family boat

thank you all for all the input lots of things i had never even thought of were brought up thanks again

Re: first family boat

we're not trying to scare you bairdski, but if your serious about spending that kind of money on one of these boats then go for it but we don't want you to make the wrong decision based on our opinion, we would rather grill you(not really but I'm sure it seems like it) and give you the right advice.

Re: first family boat

Can you post the sale links so we can see the boats and the ads?

Re: first family boat

Here you go CC

09 Caravelle http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd...9&item=140679756693&sspagename=STRK:MESELX:IT

08 Chapp http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd...9&item=140679756896&sspagename=STRK:MESELX:IT

07 Mariah http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...Name=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

06 Crownline http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...Name=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649