Funny tread in General Discussion
 

Titled "35 Nordic vs 353". I won't respond there cause I don't want to use GD to try to sell a boat.But it is interesting.Read it and see what you think.

I responded to it in the GD. Other than both being 35' boats, it is like comparing apples to oranges. Two totally different animals IMO. I love the looks and speed of a Flame, but if I'm investing that kind of money in a ride I'm putting it into the superiorly constructed boat.

What ever comment that I would make would just end up pi$$ing somebody off, so I will remain neutral. But then again, you can see what I bought.

not even worth replying to in GD.

resale on a Nordic implied to be better than a Formula?
what about brand recognition?
factory support, even well down the road?
Formula an "old man's boat?

what a joke that thread and a couple of the posts are...:rolleyes:

I can't believe none of you guys called them on the
" only does 75 with 525's":rolleyes:
( post # 3)

Some of the backers of the lesser know, smaller
volume builders get a little exited at times ;)

I'm a Baja owner, we get this crap daily ;)


Formula builds a nice boat:cool-smiley-027:

that was especially entertaining...

I'm the guy that started the tread in GD and I would love to here your thoughts on the Formula. Are these 2 boats truly apples to oranges?? I have recently (last weekend) been on both of these boats and the fit and finish on both seem to be great. I would agree that name recognition is going to be MUCH better with the Formula. Don't know about support as I have never owned either of these boats.

Instead of a comparison, can you all tell me why you went with Formula? Thanks again and I certainly did not intend for my thread in GD to be negative toward Formula. In fact, I may be buying one very soon!

who wants to step up first. :D

Ragged? :p

I'll go first...

I've owned three Formulas. The customer support, even on the older ones, was spot on. From all the other threads i've seen this is the norm. The owners of boats from other manufactures seem to always bit*h about support. Never happens here on the Formula forum.

Well built, very good resale, and customer support. No problems here. And if you want an old man's boat, get a cruiser. Comfort and smooth ride is where it's at with a Formula. Give 'em a little power and they will most likely meet your speed goal. You want a faster boat? Look for a brand that spends more time on their bottom technology (ie: Fountain). Formula is more about comfort with the creature comforts. My $.02

Dave

Thanks Dave. It's very encouraging to keep hearing how comfortable the Formula is. As for speed, I'm not looking to go 100 MPH. Yes, the faster the better, but I have 2 young children so I want an extra helping of safety with my boat. 80+ with 525's is certainly not an old man's boat!!

Dave,I ve been a boat dealer for 41 years,sold just lots of brands over the years,sold Formula for 16 years. There is no boat company with customer support even close to Formula. Need a wiring diagram for a 25 year old Formula,they send it no charge. Need an emblem or a swim platform gasket for a 25 year old Formula, they are in stock. Many companies can't supply parts for 5 year old boats. Check the thread here from the guy from Norway,wanting the PB test of his 87 242,Daryl sent it to him no charge. Their tech assistance group (TAG) is the model for any boat company to follow,but I don't know of any that do.If I have ever had an unhappy Formula owner,they never told me about it. Coming to Bham Show? Got passes and a 353 for you.:p Robert

Since you put it that way :p.

Have been watching the thread as well since Majicfloat threw it out here, and would only say I don't see the two as apples to apples. Never been out in the Nordic, but had the chance to look one over at a show a few years ago, and would not put the finish or material quality with that of Formula. Just look at the cockpit pictures posted, lots more workmanship in the Formula. Some of that may be the East Coast vs West Coast styling, I'm not a big fan of the Eliminator seats etc either, though they build one h@ll of a boat in terms of quality and how well they run and handle. Try them both and then decide for yourself which will work best for you. And I would not call the Formula an "Old Mans Boat", more a "Gentlemans Performance Boat".

Like Axa said,,,,,,,,If what you are looking for is speed, handling and bottom design technology Fountain is tough to beat. Fountain spends more time and money perfecting and constantly updating their hull designs than anyone in the industry.

Robert,

I'm going to try to get over there on Sunday. I will call you on the way.

Raggededge,

Input greatly appreciated. Fountain is definitly not for me. I boat with 2 guys that have 35 Fountains and my Baja 302 seems bigger than them.

My $0.02:

I have been on both boats and they are quite different. I feel its the West vs East Coast styling just as Ragged said. One of the guys on my dock owns a Nordic Dealership in KY and has a 35 w/ 525's ( I think its at the Louisville B-Show). I've got to admit, its a nice, fast, sexy boat.

I went with the Formula and couldn't be happier. Formula really is a top notch brand. They pride themselves on service and quality @ both the factory and dealer level. The 5 year warranty was also a big selling point for me, and that says that Formula stands behind their product, hands down. They really are a nice group to be a part of and I couldn't be happier.

If what you are looking for is size/space for two kids and amenities...

ignore the shameless Fountain plug. :party-smiley-004:

Formula customer service second to none.
TOP quality production boat.
Excellent established dealer network
Formula exudes class in a performance boat (their other offerings as well)
I would much rather be trying to sell outright or trade a Formula down the road!

My boat is 21 years young and like said above the support is unbelievable.

go to Indiana and tour the factory that will make your decision a easy one. I was at a lake this summer a Formula employee swam over to check my old bird out. He seemed excited about working there still after 30 years, that's what I would look for employees that like their jobs.

good luck

When I was shopping around, I did find that insurance rates were lower for Formula's. Must be because of all you responsible old farts driving them!:D

Old fart and proud of it !!! :Whatever:

yea, that's one old fart lookin' boat in your avatar. :p

how 'bout posting the full size of that shot?

Maybe on Monday, pics are on my computer at work. I've had problems in the past trying to upload them.:mad:

check the latest in GD...

Formula has "lousy graphics" :rolleyes:

and

Nordic's tooling is far superior the Formula...something to that effect.

Tooling huh? How many boats/parts a year get popped from that tooling? What is the demand on the tooling and how would it hold up in terms of repetition/quality if real production number demands were placed on it?

Quick to call Nordics' tooling "far superior" don't 'ya think?
I mean there might be some nice shapes there, but there is more to it than that.


Graphics:
What one man considers "lousy" 98% of the boating world calls "classy" and "timeless". Now some of the Platinum offering have been bordering on risky for long term appeal, but hey if it goes totaly out of acceptable style...change them. It's paint!

Have fun in the real boating world long-term caring for and repairing in-gel colors/graphics, fine for some Lake Havasu trailered garage queen...
durability/repairability not a strong suit in this regard as compared to Imron paint.
we'll see what those gel colors look like in 5, 10 or better yet 20 summers of UV and real world boating use.
and how well the often trendy west coast inspired graphics and colors stand the test of time. ;)
How many Formula's do we know personally that are 20 years old and show simply phenomenal for their age? If not mistaken for as new by the casual observer?
What's that say?

I hope the thread keeps going. It's a wake-up call as to how many don't know their *** from a hole in the ground.
Not just in terms of the Formula product, but generally.

Having been here a few years now I also remember several Nordic horror stories...but I won't bash- they make a "pretty" and "sexy" boat to look at :D

Just changed ownership huh? Hmmm...that right there would steer me away.
ZERO term track record of present ownership standing behind the product.

Not an issue with the Porters.

The Formula family feeling, combined with the aura of quality about the boats which in turn promotes incredible pride in ownership.
There's nothing like it in production boatbuilding and you won't know the difference until you own one, period.

Is that pretty close? :D

And I quote. So the shameless plug was here before I ever posted. :p So there!!!

I will second that when I needed dimensions to set up my lift for the steps.Called tech support they emailed me the blue print for the bottom took 5 minutes

The simple point you cannot refute is the Formula build quality, price point, and customer support. Everything else is just a matter of opinion.

TCBoss302
Apparently you know Robert or your in his area.....If you decide on Formula, Robert is just the kind of people Formula wants working for them. My 382 came from him and although I'm 700-800 miles away, it went as smoothly as buying from my neighbor.
A buddy has a 35 Nordic and it's a fast boat that looks resonably well built. When HE compared it to Formula he said he wanted a fast boat and didn't mind dealing with a boat that didn't ride as well in the rough since he didn't get out in "big" water very often anyway....speed was worth the occasional beating in his eyes.

Rippem, trying to upload a picture of my boat,off my computer at work, and keep getting an error message. What the hell am I doing wrong? :throw:

being semi-consious and on my first cup of coffee it might be easier if you email it to me for now. check pm's

here 'ya go! Had to downsize it about 1000 pxl both ways for the site software to handle it. click twice and maximize screen.

Thanks, Rip:ernaehrung004: I owe ya one !!

Watched this thread with fasination, I'm on my 3rd Formula and have owned a "west coast" boat (DCB) taking nothing away from the west coast boats, but gotta agree with pretty much everyone else and the term Gentleman's performance boat is an excellent way to describe the Formula, and the dealer support from MagicFloat as well as factory support has always been exceptional.

Just my opinion, and not meant to offend anyone.

Hi I am the guy from Norway asking for the test from 1987 among some other things. I must say I am very impressed of the way Daryl and the Formula support team has respond to my questions. I have never bought any thing directly from them, yes I am the proud owner of a 242 SS 20 years old
and they treath me like I should reasently have bought a brand new 292 fastech from them, only word is impressive.

Also at offshoreonly people are realy frendly with a new comer from north of Europe. Specially I have had a lot of tip
from my threads and question here at Formula forum.

I do not know much about Nordic or other of the many powerboat brands, for sure they are probably all nice boats.

But for me there are three classics Cigarette,Scarab and Formula. I have owned a 1987 26 Scarab Excel and now
1988 242 SS both nice boats. I have experienced the different level of quality on those two boats. No offence to the Scarab owners because I realy liked the boat.

Based on this I say to the guy who started the thread go for the Formula.

If not buy some "Norwegian quality" from Nortech. I am proud of my countrymen, doing it so good in this though powerboat marked in US

So long from

Oslo, Norway

I replied to that

thanks for the reporting of your experience...

Upon hitting the lottery, I would be making a visit to NorTech myself.

I would like to say sorry to the old farts (just kidding) that are offendend by the comments about Formula being an old mans boat. We all know that Formula build's a phenominal boat. A gentleman's performance boat are the perfect words. Their build quality is second to none. If you read into the thread, you will see that we are just defending Nordic. They also build a very good boat. I've never had the pleasure of riding in a Formula, but I''m sure the ride is superb. The paint vs gel is just one mans opinion (mine) as is the style of the graphics. And yes, gel is much more difficult to repair than paint. Let's just hope that none of us ever need to have either done. There are lots of Formula's out there, some old, some new, they stand the test of time. And gentleman you are__for not commenting in the GD forum. That say's alot about you guys.

Happy and Safe Boating.
Ray

I feel better now

Right back at 'ya Ray. :)

I QUOTE!:D

AND I QUOTE! :D

AND I DO BELIEVE I WROTE!!! :D:D:D

Originally Posted by Slick02
I'm on my 3rd Formula.......... the term Gentleman's performance boat is an excellent way to describe the Formula

Right out of the pages of Powerboat magazine!!

Dave