Re: Need help with decision, Please give opinion...
 

Yes I have done a search on BT. I have searched BT for almost 3 years now :eek:

Just looking for some advice from the guys here in reference to performance, reliability etc.etc.. Also it is reasuring when people on this site knows the boats for sale.. Kind of gives you clue as to how it was treated. :drink:

Re: Need help with decision, Please give opinion...
 

I appreciated the offer, but would like to stay in a single.. :drink:

Re: Need help with decision, Please give opinion...
 

I agree , we also gained a SUNSATION rep about 15 mins from my house. He is the only seller now between TX and I think FL... Something else for me to think about... But I also have BAJA and FOUNTAIN services centers around...

Re: Need help with decision, Please give opinion...
 

We test drove a brand new 302 baja at a dealership, really like the lines of the boat. Anyway, during the test drive, the partition forward of the vberth in the cabin totally came undone, unscrewed, whatever, revealing the framework of the boat. Brand new boat I remind you....

I went with Sonic after chartering the crazy gregg in Ft Lauderdale... They pound the hell out of that boat every day of the year and it stays in one piece, incredible!!!!

AGain, good luck in your search!!!! Glad to see your putting so much effort into it.... for many of us it takes owning a bunch of boats until we figure out what we really need in a boat....

Re: Need help with decision, Please give opinion...
 

Thats so hard to believe!!!! You would think with a boat of that stature and expense it would have redundant qaulity checks???? :(

Maybe I should have just listed every manufacturer in my poll :eek: :crazy:

Re: Need help with decision, Please give opinion...
 

Where do we start? The factory cut the stereo hole too big so all 4 screws on the face plate of cd playerwere just sorta wedged in a big hole,no rear bracket either,first time out in 2 footers the stereo ripped out and fell down into liner,there solution to fix it was a bunch of caulk. 90 % of the screws holding gas tank cover(which is esentially the main center floor of boat) missed the stringers and kept loosening up and falling out,1/2 the screws holding gas tank in also mised the stringers(I found that while pulling gas tank cover to fix all the loose screws. 1/2 the screws holding the standup bolsters were screwed into the 1/4-3/8 inch thick liner and fell out by 50 hours(a VERY common complaint by MANY people who have bajas). The rear seat base screws were also screwed into just the thin liner floor(it doesn't have wood) and the only thing that kept them from falling out was the epoxy they put on TOP of the screw heads(we literally pulled the seat base out with ALL the screws in place when we were taking boat apart to fix the gas tk cover) The gas tk cover would flex ALOT when underway or when you walked on it,we had to brace it under neath with a xbrace when we fixed all the other problems. The rear most seat bolts in front of bilge facing the front of the motor fell out and stripped out by 20 hours. The door latch was screwed with tiny screws that go directly into fibreglass that have fell out so many times i have just gave up on having a latch and run with door open. Bilge pump was mounted soo high it would allow several inches of water to splash around in the bilge getting belts wet and letting them slip,running the pump would do NOTHING because it was ABOVE the water!!The wiring on transom had a extra 5-15 feet bundled up and taped together for alot of components(we shortened alot of looong wires to clean up haphazrard wires/hoses running all over just because the factory must use a 36 or 40 ft harness on all sizes of their boats). The average person seeing this post may think I beat the living hell out of this boat to have so much loose hardware but i have back problems and have always avoided banging boat around real hard in the rough stuff.After spending about 60-80 extra hours of my time and basically tearing interior,seats&gas tk cover out of boat when it was 2 years old with 130 hours on it and re-rigging/ reinstalling everything CORRECTLY plus installing full hydraulic steering,remounting bilge pump and adding extra bilge pump I now have a fairly decent boat BUT thats not what I expected to have to do to a new boat. I also extended the trim tabs twice as long &the full hydraulic steering got rid of all the nasty chinewalk boat had above 65 mph but it still rides terrible in TRUE 2-3 footers or any kind of cross chop. Even though the boat is extremely fast because of my mods to drivetrain I would NEVER consider running in a poker run,the bouncing acrossed the cross chop would loosen your teeth or throw you out of the boat. I have a friend with a 29 foot single engine fountain and another with a 28 ft single engine checkmate,there boats ride night and day different thru moderate chop and mixed up seas that you see on the water when there is ALOT of other boat traffic compared to mine,Smitty

Re: Need help with decision, Please give opinion...
 

I also forgot to mention,the engine vent cowl cover that goes acrossed the back of the boat above swim platform fell 1/2 way off in 2-3 footers,started flapping around,had to tape it in place to keep it from damaging the gel coat,it looked like they glued it on top of smooth,shiny gel coat so it really didn't bond,My "heroes" at the baja dealer put it back on with a bunch of latex caulk,looks cobbled :mad: and has came loose several times. Also,the original motor (502 mpi in completely stock condition) (after breaking in EXACTLY like recommended) burned a quart of oil every 5 hours,dealer swore it was normal,but I being licensed mechanic, did a leakdown test and it had 1 cylinder that exceeded 30% leakdown(6 weeks old/45 hours). When i DEMANDED the dealer remedy the problem properly they tore one cylinder head off the motor in the boat,hemmed and hawed while waiting for mercruiser to make a determination,cold weather set in,I called dealer every day at that point asking if they were replacing the motor or at least going to put boat inside before it froze. They reasured me everything was being taken care of,after a weeked of temps in the high teens i drove up there to find ice in the bilge,motor,hoses,etc. I got soo pissed I pulled the boat out of there,paid a inndependent marina to pull the motor,fixed the damn thing myself. I ended up supercharging it,wrote off my warranty as useless anyways,Smitty

Re: Need help with decision, Please give opinion...
 

superboat y2k

Re: Need help with decision, Please give opinion...
 

I always believed you should by the biggest boat with the most reliable engine package you can afford giving deference to twins over single I/O's. Been stuck too many times in single I/O boats even with stock power. Good luck.

Re: Need help with decision, Please give opinion...
 

Well sounds like you've had your share of problems, And I realize how this could make you want to bash every Baja out there after all you didn't get much help from Baja for what ever reason. I've not had to deal with customer service because I haven't had one single problem with my last 2 Bajas. The engine problem sounds like a merc. problem not Baja, but if they didn't help you out I see why you might be pissed. I haven't had any screws, bolts loose but I sometimes go around and tighten a little just to prevent it. Would I buy a Baja again? you bet, but there are several good boats on the list. I think If someone ask a question like this one you have to weed out the people with other motives like pissed a Baja, or trying to sell you there boat whether its a private party or a dealer acting like one. Just my .02