I live in a small town with two choices of boats. I have looked on the web and have just confused myself. I have a Montery Boat dealer in town and have been there. There is a crownline dealer and an Ebbtide dealer about 100 miles away. Is the drive and the price difference worth it?
I don't have much experience with any of the brands. However, from what I have seen the Crownline and Monterey are a step up from Ebbtide. The Monterey may be 2 steps up.It really depends on the type of boat and how you are going to use it. Service is also a concern. If you buy a boat and the nearest dealer is far away that may mean anytime you need something done you need to drive that far.What type of boat are you loooking at?How will you use it?
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RJP
1981 FourWinns Marquise 180 Cuddy, Mercruiser 165HP I6
1991 Larson All American 190 OB, 150 HP Evinrude
As RotaryRacer said, the type of boat makes a difference. Ditto size. In my town Monterey sells for less than Crownline or Ebbtide. Crownline is easily the best looking of the 3. Depends on the model, but in some cases the Ebbtide may be the most comfy. All 3 are a decent choice. As always, test drives are a good idea.Kelly Cook
I have run the Crownline 180 with 4.3L and it is excellent. A 192 with 5L would be even better. Ebbtide 190 is also worth a hard look, and it should sell for a little lower price than the CL 192. I like the bigger Montereys, but in this sub-20 range I prefer CL and Ebbtide over the Monty. Hope you can get test drives.Kelly
JamesTN,If you can afford it, try to go up to 20' with at least a 5.0L engine. You won't regret it.I have a family of 6 (me, wife, kids - 4, 6, 9 and 11). I had them hop in an 18.5' boat and it was just a little too tight. We were tripping over each other. I got a 20' boat (Bayliner 205 ) with a 5.0L. Haven't had any problems and am still very satisfied with my decision. I looked at the Monterey's at a boat show and liked them. IMHO, they aren't trimmed out as nice as the Crownlines but they looked like solid boats.The dealer should be a major part of your decision. A good dealer is a must. My dealer is excellent. Talk to people about the dealers in question. If you are interested, here are some posts I made asking for advice...iboatsBayliner Owners Club
RatFish,You make a good point but what about weight. I have a Toyota Tacoma 4cyl. I think it will have pleanty of power to pull it but I would like to be able to stop. Another truck is not an option. my other vehicle is a Doge Caravan with a 3.0 liter. The Crownline dealer is about 100 mi. away the Monterey dealer is in town. If I never see the Crownline or the Ebbtide I will never know.
Here is another thread on towing boats this size -Tow 19' Boat w/Toyota? Your Tow Vehicle?If you are going to pack people into the boat space utilization on the CL 192 is slightly better than the same size Ebbtide or Monty. The Monty is the heaviest with the Ebbtide the lightest. So the Ebbtide would be the liveliest and/or get by better with modest power. IMHO the 100 mi drive would be worthwhile. Especially if you know in advance you can get test drives.Kelly
James, You must be my evil twin . I drive a Tacoma and wifey drives a Dodge Caravan. Forget about the Caravan pulling anything over 1500lbs. When driving the Caravan, I feel lucky when I get from point A to point B with a full load of passengers! They are not good tow vehicles. The transmissions are questionable at best and that's without towing anything.Since you have a 4 cylinder (2.7L?) in your Toyota Tacoma, you are limited to 3500lbs towing capacity. You are correct in that it would put you in the 18' to 19' range for boat motor and trailer. The limiting factor in the Tacoma is the engine not the chassis. The same Tacoma with a V6 and towing package (which consists of a different fan clutch and 5000lb hitch) is rated for 5000lbs. As for stopping, I would not worry too much with a 4WD or PreRunner Tacoma. They have oversized brake pads on all 4 wheels with dual cylinder calipers in the front. Most full size, 1/2 ton trucks that I have seen don't have the dual cylinder caliper setup.Too bad you don't have a Four Winns dealer in your area. The 180 Freedom OB has the most cockpit space I've seen in an 18' boat and it's well within your towing limits.My boat, motor, trailer and gear is probably close to 4500lbs (at least). I have a 2002 Tacoma with a 3.4L V6. The trailer has brakes. When I tow I can't even tell that the boat is back there when braking. I drive mostly in flat terrain. Definitely get trailer brakes if possible.
RatFish & KellyThe guy at the Dodge dealer said it would pull 6,800 lbs. (ha, ha). In a lighter boat am I going to give up anything in hull integrity. I have a Four Winns dealer about 100mi. east. I live between Nashville and Knoxville (east and west) these a two larger cities so I have about any dealer within a hour and half drive. My father owned a 20' Four Winns cabin cuddy great boat a little under powered. Test drives are not a problem. There is no flat terrain where I live.
In a lighter boat am I going to give up anything in hull integrity
Only if the builder is so cheap he has skimped on materials. Which is not the case with Ebbtide. The Ebbtide ends up weighing less because they use a more advanced hull layup than the other builders. Resulting in the same strength with less weight. Ditto for Four Winns. The 19 footers by Ebbtide and FW are nearly identical weights. Another 19 footer worth a look is the new Stingray 195. Which weighs in about the same as the Ebbtide and FW. Really, all of the boats discussed on this thread are nice. Go with whatever puts the biggest grin on your face.Kelly
A Caravan with a 3.0L pull 6800lbs??? No way!!! Tell that guy at the dealership to put it in writing then tell him if you get in an accident you'll file a lawsuit against him and the dealership! Geezzz what an *****hole. Obviously from your post you know better.Some boats weigh less, yes but not necessarily inferior. IMHO, unless you go offshore on a regular basis, just about any production boat will be just fine.Edit: If you consider a Four Winns 180 Freedom OB, be sure to get it with a 150HP OB. You'll have no regrets!
Thanks both of you for your time and advice. I guess I will do some driving these next couple of weeks and some test drives. You have given me some food for thought. I will let you know what I find out. No off shore boating for me thanks I'll stick to what I know.I posted on another web page wont metion any names but it's for boatowners about the same time I posted here got no reply. Thanks for your help. I'll see what I can do about getting something in writing. James
For awhile I was getting like 3 boating mags cause I had free subscriptions to each. Think they were Go Boating, Boating World, Boating Life, or something of that ilk.I recall that one of them had an article on how to compare new boats from different manufacturors that seemed unbiased, technically detailed, and quite helpful. Stuff like details on different methods of hull construction (stringers, different methods of lamination, etc.), how to compare differences in fit & finish (different grades of vinyl used, etc.). I recall thinking how useful it would be if I were going to buy a new boat in the near future. Unfortunately that wasn't gonna happen cause I've been out of work for awhile. Plus my '89 4.3L Seaswirl has been a gem and is still in great shape (except for a gear issue due to a dealer underfilling the outdrive oil which is documented in another iboats thread). Unfortunately I didn't save it and can't give you a better reference. But it might be worthwhile spending a few minutes searcing to see if you can find a copy of the article online (or something similar to it). Or perhaps someone else on this forum can provide a link to info of this type?Again, wish I could be more specific, but I know there is some good technical info out there that might help with your decision if you can find it.Good luck either way.Edit: not the original article I mentioned, but found some online links that seem to have some similar info. I'm certainly no expert so can't vouch for how important this stuff is, but seems like useful info to me.http://powerboat.about.com/cs/newboa...lity_worth.htmhttp://powerboat.about.com/library/weekly/aa031703a.htmhttp://powerboat.about.com/cs/newboa...yer_guide2.htmhttp://powerboat.about.com/cs/newboa...yer_guide3.htm
JamesTN,The Bryant 190 is a great boat, but it is 2750 lbs. w/o trailer. You would be at your tow limit w/o adding fuel and bodies.You should be able to find a Bryant dealer in that part of TN. There is a Bryant dealer in Harriman and Cookeville. The boat is made in your backyard -- Sweetwater.
Looked that the first link (Quality) on that About site. Their info is true, but for the most part not useful. The problem issues raised there were common on the cheaper boats being built 15 years ago. But for the most part the boats today, including the cheaper ones, have improved to where those problems are moot.Usually it's the little things that bite you. Not the big issues like fiberglass layup, etc. So when examining boats I look in detail at how hardware is installed. If you want to make a big project out of examining boats, here is a thread that goes into that - Trailer Boats Boards » ... » What is your idea of quality construction? . Warning, this can be the path to paralysis by analysis! Kelly
James, I live just south of Nashville. Have you looked at Larson? There is a Larson dealer in Hendersonville. They use the new VEC hulls so they are solid. Given the towing limits after you put people and gear in the truck, I would look at some of the Aluminum hull boats in that size range (Smokercraft, Lowe, Tracker?, etc.)
KCook, if you've got the time, how about taking a look at the last two links. They seem more in line with the type info your thread had. I'd appreciate your feedback as to whether there's useful stuff there or not. Who knows, I may hit the lottery & be in the new boat market soon (yeah, right).
lakelivin, I agree that the About article Buyers Guide .. Part II is right on the money. Pretty well the checks I make myself. But the Buyers Guide .. Part III gets into some design issues where there is room for argument.A very important thing to keep in mind is that no "value" level boat will pass all of these checks. Otherwise they wouldn't have such reasonable prices. So you are left to juggle the good stuff against the bad stuff. Regardless of brand. Then your personal priorities may decide the choice. Or you may just go with the size of the grin on your face. Which would be my "method". My thinking is that as long as I am buying a compromise it may as well be a fun compromise.Kelly
Thanks Kelly, now I just need to work on the lottery part, lol.But as far as boat levels, aren't there some that 'hit the sweet spot' within a category? My general experience is that with many products there is often 1 or 2 that really do provide greater 'value' than others similarly priced. Of course you need to have the time & knowledge to search them out and identify them. But if you can find something that truely does have that extra value I call it 'finding the sweet spot'.For example, back in the late 80's early 90's I twice bought clean, 2 year old Porsche 944s with I think 16k and 18k miles on them for like $16k and $18.5k. For whatever reason used 944's were seriously undervalued at that time; talk about 'sweet spot' deals!I bought a 1989 17', 4.3L Seaswirl boat from a guy whose dad used to own a marina. He traveled around the state looking at everything there was in his 'value price range' before deciding on that boat. Given it's shape & performance 15 years later (excellent) I suspect he may have found a sweet spot with that line at that time. Of course I may have just been lucky; a sample size of 1 is not compelling evidence, and I'm certainly not pushing the brand today because I know nothing about the new ones.For a trivial example, ever tried super Wal Marts Great Value brand of ice cream for $2.50 a half gallon? Not quite up there with Breyers, but pretty damm close for very little money. Thats a real 'sweet spot' of a value!You get the point, just wondering if there are any clear examples of such in value priced boats these days. Of course I know there's a touch of subjectivity involved in such a judgement and hope this doesn't just start an argument between fans of different manufacturors.
Nope, no "clear example". Though each brand has its fans. And those fans will be convinced otherwise. Too many factors, so ultimately a personal call as to what is most important. If anything I am amazed we have as many nice choices as we do.Kelly
James, you must be in Cookeville, and the Monterey dealer S&R Marine. They are good folks and have worked on my boat in the past (I keep it at Center Hill lake). My suggestion would be to do your research and determine the boat you want, maybe even used, and get ready for the Nashville Boat Show in January where you will have all the dealers in one place.
First things first sorry I've not been here to post got a sick little one. yeah I have thought about Bryant but I will not go to the dealership here. Did not know they were built in TN.The weight is problem should have got a bigger truck but I really like what I got.I just got some stuff about Larson and I think I like the VEC hull but have not seen one yet I like Jason at S&R but I do not want to limit myself. I am saving my money and doing my homework for the boatshow in Jan. I would like to test drive some before the show.The more I find out the more I think they are all have there good and bad but I guess it will come down to what fits us the best (grin factor).
VEC sounds very cool in the Genmar literature. Which is the only source we have for VEC info. So far I have not seen any critiques of VEC by an independent authority. Here is another thread that gets into opinions on the various brands -BoatingABC.com » ... » Four Winns vs. Bryant vs. Larson...Kelly
Thinking of buying a new boat
. I drive a Tacoma and wifey drives a Dodge Caravan. Forget about the Caravan pulling anything over 1500lbs. When driving the Caravan, I feel lucky when I get from point A to point B with a full load of passengers! They are not good tow vehicles. The transmissions are questionable at best and that's without towing anything.
My thinking is that as long as I am buying a compromise it may as well be a fun compromise.
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