Fountain Reliability?
 

Hey OSO Brothers....

Quick background, then my question. I have a 33 Outlaw and long story short my insurance company has denied my claim after hitting a log in the Hudson River. It may come to a head soon and I'll be getting some money for my boat. Anyway, looking forward to replacing it and have been contemplating Formulas and Fountains and Sunsations. Curious what your take on them were. In terms of stability, reliability, etc. etc. I'd probably be looking at a 31-35 '98-00 so feedback on those years is more important.

Thanks in advance.

-mike

Hi Mike,
I currently own a 99' 42 lightning. I am 27 years old and have owned 4 previous boats (sea-doo, sea ray pachanga, formula and scarab) The fountain is the BEST built boat that I have owned. I work on my boats and almost never have things professionally worked on, so I get to know them inside and out. Formula is a good boat, but it cannot compare to the fountain. I also have looked at sunsations, they look like a quality product and have heard nothing but good things about them. Good luck and happy hunting!
By the way, Fountains parts department is excellent, a little pricey, but has everything.

Joe, thanks for the input. I found the rigging and overall quality of the 2 Bajas I have had to be a little less than what my minimum standard would be, not that they were bad and perhaps it was just the previous owners or where they had em worked on, but just found it lacking. I also work on my own boats with my buddies so it's good to hear that they are well made, I figure since I'm buying a used one, I might as well make sure that it's gonna last!

Keep the input coming guys!

-mike

Dynamic performance is of course very good with a Fountain.

Reliability: A mercruiser is a mercruiser. K-Planes and Steering is top notch. Construction seems well above average, maybe as good as it gets. Wiring is pretty good.

The biggest single expense for me is that I've got twin engines that are not staggered. This means lots of maintenance requires a LOT of extra work. For example, at least one engine gets pulled to replace starters.

My next boat WILL have staggered engines, with LOTS of room all around them: top, sides, and also aft, between the engine and the outdrive.

So I would strongly suggest you limit your search to a staggered boat.

I have had 6 Baja's ranging from 21 ft up to my last one a 38 Special. I loved all of my Baja's but my Fountain is amazing in all ways. The rigging,the performance the handling. I will definitely buy another one thats for sure.I do have the staggered engines witch make it allot easier to do maintainance. Go with the Fountain you will love it.

Have owned 5 Fountains from 27 to 38 ft. As far as reliability, the only problem I ever had was a seat in a 32 that the seam came apart and was repaired under warranty. No electrical problems, no cracked or broken parts and we boated 100-120 hrs a year. Mercuiser power as crash said is mercuiser, had a EFI 500 hp that burnt a head gasket, in a 35, after 200 hrs. Cabins are on the small side, not great for overnighting if you have more than 2 people, can be done, just not a lot of room. Decide what you are going to do with the boat, and make you choice based on that. Great ride, stable, usually the hull is faster than competitors with the same power that are equal in size if speed is important. Effecient hulls, also mean less fuel used per hour. For what we do, Fountain builds the perfect boat. If you are looking for a bigger cabin, take a look at Active Thunder, or Sonic.

Just bought a 2005 32' Sunsation Dominator. So far so good. Never owned a Fountain and my last boat was a Cobalt. Cobalt was extremely well built.

remember with any boat the hull is what you are buying!!! the options in the boat make up the reliability factor the most all around fastest most stable hull for a V bottom is a fountain
and the newer ones have great fit and finish.. if u are looking for a cruiser in a gofast type hull a formula is the ticket.. if you are looking for fountain quality w/ a roomy cabin then a new baja is what you are looking for ... if you want, look feel and ride there is only one one Choice!! FOUNTAIN!!
if you are in NY City come see both fountain and formula boats in Norwalk at www.boatshowdirect.com or if you want to make a trip see them in Middleton mass at the home location..
www.eastcoastflightcraft.com Ask for TUNA in Norwalk or Dan in Middleton they can show you or ride you in both Fountain or Formula
Not a Sales pich I have owned 4 35s loved them all!!!

I see you are looking for 10+ year old boat. One thing to consider is that a Formula fastech is bulit with no wood except for the very rear of the transon. Something to think about....Jeff

I've had 3 FOUNTAINS, and loved everyone of them. No rattles, or things coming loose after a hard days running. I watch the Baja peeps retighten things after being out on the water, and I never have to.
I've been in a few Formulas, nice boats, but same thing, hit a wave, and the dash comes loose, rattles, etc...
I think if you move to a FOUNTAIN, you'll never regret it. They are very fun to drive, and handle like a dream.

I love both Fountain and Formula, I would have bought a Fountain for my last boat except I had to make the family happy also with air and a frig in the cabin. I don't know why Fountain dos'nt do that. BTW I bought from Shogrens out of Chicago, great people to work with. Top notch Fountain dealer.

Mine (35ts) Has A Fridge And Flush Head

Hey Mike,

Good luck with the insurance company. I have a 1998 32 Fountain Fever for sale. Give me a private PM and I will give you the details if you are interested. Fountains rule!

Dan

I'm on my second 35 Fountain, the first was a '99 single step with 500's and now an '06 twin step with 525's. Over the years I have been fortunate to have been able to run a real wide range of performance boats and I honestly feel that in terms of hull design, speed, and handling it's hard to beat what Fountain offers. I spent a lot of years watching these boats and wanting one, having owned two now I would definetly buy a third. Both that I have owned were well done and well rigged. Some out there will make an issue of the way Fountain designs his boats and in some ways they are overly simplistic, but they are designed to be run, and run hard.

As far as some of the options such as shore power, A/C Heat, fridge, gennie, etc, they have always been an option if you want it, most just don't. My boat now has a fridge and a vacu-flush toilet with a holding tank, I believe it's standard now, but we never use them, if they were not there it would make no difference to me at all. Some want thes things and they are available as on any other brand.

Well said!

And we all know Fountains love to run hard!!! :ernaehrung004:

[QUOTE=Paisan;2846483]Hey OSO Brothers....

Quick background, then my question. I have a 33 Outlaw and long story short my insurance company has denied my claim after hitting a log in the Hudson River. It may come to a head soon and I'll be getting some money for my boat. Anyway, looking forward to replacing it and have been contemplating Formulas and Fountains and Sunsations. Curious what your take on them were. In terms of stability, reliability, etc. etc. I'd probably be looking at a 31-35 '98-00 so feedback on those years is more important.

Thanks in advance.

Contact Jim Wilkes of Wilkes Marine in Santa Ana, CA. He is currently an editor with PerformanceBoats.com / magazine. He is a former test driver for Hotboat. He knows the Sunsation intimately and can give you great information about them, or any boat. I do believe Sunsation is in his top 3 of favorite boats/companies. I would have purchased one but there arent many to choose from on the west coast.

Thanks for all the great input guys, I really appreciate it. I've been without my boat for 1.5 years and it's killing me that my insurance basically screwed me over on what was due to me in terms of coverage. As I said I'll probabl be settling and getting a bit less than what I should have gotten but such is life.

I'm not too concerned about the motors and drives, cause as you guys point out the hull is the important part. Heck if I could find a boat with no power my motors are actually in good condition to swap over.

But as a followup, I'll be 95% day boating so a generator isn't a big concern, nor is the cabin space. Heck I'm mostly interested in cockpit space, stability (NY Harbor and the Hudson River are my playground and the wakes can be a PITA) and most importantly a hull that isn't going to go south on me, especially on a boat that is 10 years old and I hope to keep for at least another 10 years, since I'm not in a position to replace it as I was when I got into my 33 Outlaw.

Keep the comments coming and I will definitely be in touch with folks when/if I get a settlement from the stupid Insurance Company.

-mike

The problem with Fountain is you will need buy the 42 to find a comparable size boat such as freeboard or cockpit. Also they seam to want to sink at the docks.:party-smiley-004:

I owned a 22 Searay Pachanga for 7 years, a 272 Formula for 7 years and a Fountain 38 SC for 3+. My opinion is Fountain is the best quality but Formula closer behind than Searay. Fountain is always ahead on performance and they apply the cutting edge concepts to all models not just the few. If Formula had a 38 fastec with some headroom I'd have considered another Formula. That being said they were all great boats.

I've never seen a fountain sink at a dock???

I watched 1 and have heard of others on this site.... maybe those boats were ordered with the "sink at dock" option. The sinking at the dock is in fact a problem but I am just busting your balls like you Fountain guy's do the Baja guy's


Now my Baja will outrun "most" of your Fountains and I have beat the piss out of it every weekend for 11 years but I do not have any loose screws :grinser010: It is a lot nicer looking, bigger, wider boat than all of your Fountains that claim to be the same size hell its bigger than the ones that claim to be 2 foot longer so I can understand why you guy's get jealous of your stepless brothers.

Its a " BAJA NATION " look around we out number every brand offshore on the planet.

Be carefull now, you might want a new Baja and if you pizz of Reggie he might throw in that "sink at the dock option" on you just to get even.

You should out number us, hell you can buy two or three Bajas for the price of one good Fountain. No reason not to have spares!

I have owned a GLASSTRON'aCHAPPERAL'SCARAB&now aFOUNTAIN it drives lile a dream 'Ihava spancked so many SONICS 'FORMUALS' CIGARETTES'&Oyes ''''OUTERLIMITS''&VELOCITYS''(the only thing better is the clear coat on the SCARAB ):drink::cool::ernaehrung004:

B.S. !! Same H.P. there is no way a Baja is faster than a Fountain, no freaking way. I seem to have missed a Baja at the Worlds, or any where else in the racing world.
I'm not going to knock Baja's they're great boats, but they are not in the same league of FOUNTAINS.

I am on my 2nd Fountain and they are soild built boats.

Speaking of Baja's...you should have seen the look on the guy in the loud 33 Baja as my quiet Fountain 38TE center console out ran him.

You guy's are missing my point.... of coarse a Fountain with the same power is faster it is a much smaller boat for the size they claim. My 32 Caliber has 32' 10" of hull a 35 Fountain has less than 30' of hull. I am taller, wider, heavier and look at the size of the cockpit. in a 35 Fountain 5 guy's would be balls the butts...maybe you guy's like it that way. Here is my 32 with 6 guy's (Mic counts as 2) and still room for 4 more. Come on guy's is she not the nicest boat you have ever seen...... Please do not hate your BIG none step brother.

I don't think anyone is missing what you said here. So the obvious question here would be just what does the "Fountain Killer" run?

It looks like from that picture you like it that way, wont insult the rest of the Baja owners, no girls, 5 or 6 guys, however you count it, and wanting 4 more. Dont be a hater, you know you wish you were in a Fountain.:traurig001::traurig001::traurig001:

Thats funny. Come to think of it everytime I see a Baja it's always a pickle party!

I have owned three of the boats you are looking at.
1996--Baja 32' OS with twin 454-- Nice looking, hard riding in rough water, poor handling in rough water,Very poor quality and reliablilty. Every time I ran it hard something in the interior fell apart. Had to leave a poker run because all of the cabinets in the interior separated and fell down blocking the cabin door. I was always rebuilding or rescrewing something and got rid of the boat within 3 months of buying. Note the boat is running today with a local guy and still looks pretty good.

32' 2005 Sunsation Dominator--twin 496 mag HO's-- Excellent boat and quality-- handles like a sports car. Very good rigging and material. The boat was a lot of fun and Sunsation has the best company customer service. None are better. 2 things we didn't like about the boat were it was not a great rough water boat. We run in a large bay and 3-5 footers are common and you definetely felt it. I had to take it easy. My wife did not like the rougher ride.

42' Fountain Ex--twin 525's--Best by far of all three. The boat handles anything that I can throw at it with no problems. Rigging and quality of material is better than average. I have had no problems with the Fountain part of the boat. A few problems with the Merc engines. Runs 80 plus in 3-5 and is smooth and stable. I never feel out of control. Runs on rails. What the boat lacks in engine size makes up for in ride, I can run faster than most in rough water. Vinyl, bolsters, and interior are all excellent. Don't let anyone tell you the size of the boat is smaller or the beak takes up too much room. All of the benefits of Fountain make up for the few negatives. Most who complain about their size don't own one and wish they did cause they are usually following us and looking at our tailpipes.

The pic is from the fall LEOPA poker run, I brought the big guy's so the Fountains could keep up but it did it only work out for 1 of them but it was a canopied yellow Fountain race boat. As you can see mine is a pleasure boat not a race boat. If I get her trimmed just right I can hit 68 mph on GPS full of fuel and pickles, just be careful if you decide to give me run I might have to open her up and put a wippin on ya.

I am not a Fountain hater guy's I make a living working on boats and get to drive many different makes and models I am just giving you Baja haters a taste of your own BS.

There is not a comment in this thread stating a Baja is chit. Nor any Baja hater comments.

At 68 mph I just don't see you being able to "put a wippin on" too many Fountains. :rolleyes:

Mike,

I have a 98' 38 ft Fever, I love the boat. I live in michigan and you know the what the current economic climate is here. I have been kicking around listing the boat forsale. If your intrested let me know I have pictures. I have rack fees due for the year right now. If I sell it now I can move around on a price.

Brian

Thanks for the input guys especially gerritm. It will make passing over the Sunsation a bit easier, because that's one thing I'm looking for is a nice smooth ride for the wife, speed isn't a top priority for me, stability is.

Thanks and keep the comments flowing.

-mike

68? My sportfish cruiser with hardtop, eisenglass, dinghy, etc. can do 70, with stock 454 385 HP magnums. Of course, out on the Pacific, the ocean sets the speed, not the engines. Length matters!

Again, staggered and as long as you can get will give you a better ownership experience.

There are a couple Baja comments if you reread from start but you guy's always give us chit and I would not be joking with you guy's if I only ran 68mph. I run 68 at 4000 rpms my engines make power to 5800 rpms.

Perhaps you should be looking for a 32' Baja Caliber. I see you can take all your male buddies with you. :D

He would do very well if he could get his hands on one as anybody that worked for Baja back in the day would tell you that the 32 Caliber was one of the best boats Baja ever built.

Now I am starting to see a pattern here... the Fountain guy's have some kind of closet issue about riding with there male buddies.