Re: Is there ever a GOOD bayliner?
I'd say they are more like the Ford Taurus of boats. Not the newest Taurus with the twin turbo v6, but the vanilla ones of the 90's up to the previous generation. The difference I think is that in the small bowrider class there really isn't a Yugo equivalent and the Taurus would be the bottom of the heap. Taurus wasn't a bad car. Let's say you are looking at early 2000 to say 2009 small bowriders, the easiest way to see where a boat stands is to simply look at the boat's dry weight. The nicer and more expensive the boat, the more the dry weight if they have the same engine. Even though you can't discern the build looking at a hull, there are telltale details that come on more expensive boats. Simple ones are a dedicated anchor locker, not one that takes up where a cooler would be in the bow. Also pull up the sunpad on a boat with sport seating and see if it has compartments made of hard plastic material for storage or are there just nets or worse nothing. There are a bunch of little things too that will tip you off if you don't know the lay of the land. Newest boats are getting heavier where even an inexpensive Bayliner has a decent weight.
I'll one-up you....I owned a Chevy Vega.
You are right, and I guess that's the reason for my thread to understand if Bayliner or other brands have that much difference in quality for modern models. I realize they are not the mercedes of boats, but wondering if they are the yugo of boats.
I'd say they are more like the Ford Taurus of boats. Not the newest Taurus with the twin turbo v6, but the vanilla ones of the 90's up to the previous generation. The difference I think is that in the small bowrider class there really isn't a Yugo equivalent and the Taurus would be the bottom of the heap. Taurus wasn't a bad car. Let's say you are looking at early 2000 to say 2009 small bowriders, the easiest way to see where a boat stands is to simply look at the boat's dry weight. The nicer and more expensive the boat, the more the dry weight if they have the same engine. Even though you can't discern the build looking at a hull, there are telltale details that come on more expensive boats. Simple ones are a dedicated anchor locker, not one that takes up where a cooler would be in the bow. Also pull up the sunpad on a boat with sport seating and see if it has compartments made of hard plastic material for storage or are there just nets or worse nothing. There are a bunch of little things too that will tip you off if you don't know the lay of the land. Newest boats are getting heavier where even an inexpensive Bayliner has a decent weight.
