Need opinion on next boat.
 

Currently will be up for sale 97' 29 outlaw. twin 454's

Wanting to step up to a bigger boat boat 38'

Heres the four I have narrowed down too. Looking to spend 100k and under.

1. Cig Top Gun (Top Choice)
2. Donzi 38zx or zr.
3. Baja 36 or 40 oulaw
4. Huslter 388 slingshot


Any opinions would be great

Thanks Robert NW Ohio

For all around room, ride, quality, and speed the Hustler 388 is a very nice choice. I would also consider the 37 Outerlimits.

Out of the four posted my pick would be the Cig. But 100K is a litttle light fos a T/S so you need some real power to get her to move. Decent room and a heavy solid ride in the rough. My #2 would be the Slingshot. Fast with moderate power but a shallow boat with little headroom in the cabin, I'm not impressed with the quality though. Check out 37 ActiveThunder and 37 Outerlimits...

The 388 has more headroom and a bigger cabin than a Top Gun! We owned a 388 for three years and it was a very solid boat.

You might want to check out the 37 AT's as well. I would skip the 36 and 40 Outlaws. They are not in the same league. Any TS Top Gun is going to run over 125k and the straight bottoms will need 650hp a side to keep up with a 500hp TS.

Cig's and Hustler's are nice boats as are AT's but you should look closely at Fountain. Like the earlier post said, the Baja is in a lower class than the others for sure. Otherwise, enjoy your search and when you find used boats post them on here. You can get a lot of history of most boats from people who have seen them first hand. All I can say is drive them all and the Fountain will shine!

Robert, what ever you pick should have some other things in mind before you buy and after you take it for a ride..
1. Find out the cost of insuring the boat! many boats are becoming very hard to insure and come at a high price to pay for boating.
2. Based on the fact that you are in N.W.Ohio you are going to boat in fresh water Do Not buy a Saltwater Boat --you will be sorry later when you need to repair something!!!
3.Look at a 33or 38 A.V.S.Scarab ..You might like them.They stopped making them in 2002 but there are some nice boats out there.that wont break the bank

Jim

What about Baja puts Baja in a lower class?

At $100K you might be only looking at Baja...

Posts like that.

I'm not sure why the bad rap with Baja? Other than there are tons of them out there & they are a "production" boat & often times are bought by guys just getting into performance boating.

I've been in the average guy's share of performance boats. They all have their own short comings be it in rigging, performance or fit & finish.

It is my opinion that the majority of Baja owners step up to another Baja or they go to a Cigarette.
Either we all don't have a clue that our Baja's are lower class or it is that they produced a good product that is a fair price for us.

Personally, I'm in the market for a T/S Gun.

Also look at a Hustler 40! lots of cabin room can boogie as well. Miss mine like crazy

I'm not disagreeing at all with what you have to say, but I know of a Lip-Ship 01 Gun with 500EFI's that recently sold for under $120k. It was a perfect boat. Perfect! Another 02 or 03 T/S Gun with 575's & boxes that went under $125k.
I'm in no way saying that is the standard but there are deals out there to be had. True those numbers are over 100k but in today's market almost anything can happen for green money.

There are several 388's for sale right now that are in the $80k range with blue power.

Cash is king right now. I wish I was in a better position to blow some coin on a new ride. :drink:

I'm not knocking Bajas at all. They are a good boat for the money. They are production boats and the rigging and quality control can vary quite a bit, but still a decent boat.

It would be like comparing a 29 Outlaw to a 30 Cigarette Mistique. Its not really a fair comparison.

Kind of like comparing a Lambo, Porsche, Ferrari and a Corvette. All nice cars and all fast. The Vette is not the same.
Call Larry Goldman Xtreme Marine about the Cig Top Gun they had for sale. It was under $100k. I saw it last week and it was very nice. 500EFI and Bravos.

Another comparison: Chevy Corvette to a Ferrari--production car versus a handbuilt one. The Corvette is nice but not in the same league..
Same can be said for houses--tract houses are nice but nothing compared to a custom built home..
It just comes down to the time spent designing and the quality of materials used..Boats, cars, houses--its all the same. You get what you pay for. The nice thing in this market is that nice, quality boats can be purchased for cheap if you have cash to buy them with...Cars and houses can still be bought on credit which keeps the prices (somewhat) in check.

Also lots of raves about the Active Thunder lately. Reasonably priced and fast with stock power. Im presently going to battle for Cigarette in general question section. Read the thread and that may turn you on to an AT !!! (All in good fun)

If I had a $100K to spend, I'd be looking at this Hustler...

http://www.powerboatlistings.com/view/8059

+1 BUT:
1) Is it insurable? Probably not
2) Is it financeable? Probably not

Want speed or cabin room,

28' or 32' Skater, Spectre

Thanks everyone for the help and input. When I bought my baja 1.5 yr. ago the bank would not give a loan out on it. Think they said it had to be a 02 or 03 or newer. I managed to pay cash. However, a lot of ppl I know buying these boats take a line of credit on their house. This is what I will be doing with a rental house of ours.

Here are a few I have found, but I'm sure more will be popping up as the season gets closer.

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/cph/boa/1590884060.html

http://www.boattrader.com/listing/19...zi-ZX-96424275

http://www.powerboatlistings.com/view/5758

http://www.offshoreonly.com/classifi...o32842-en.html

I know a guy with a 38 & it is a really nice boat. His runs in the low 80's with 575's on boxes.
I rode in it on Lake of the Ozarks & it was a solid ride.
TONS of room over everything else you listed.
The back seat will fit 4 fat guys or 8 skinny chicks.

How fast do you think this one pushes 70?

There is a reason there is a big red 1 on the side.
And if you can do it go T/S. My built up 575s push mid 90s

And i moved from a 29 outlaw to my 38.

36 Apache!

a god friend of mine bought a new 388 slingshot in 2004, he said he never liked the ride, ran 3 years ,traded it,

If your considering a 36, have you given any thought to a 35 cigarette? Alot of nice cafe's out there way under your 100k. You should even be able to find 35 Top Gun or 35 Playboy. Cafe and Top Gun have the same hull (no steps) playboy is a newer hull with steps.

Cigarettes are not the fastest on flat water but they are solid wave crushers.

There's a lot of good deals at 100k out there.

I would definately ride in each boat you're considering before you buy (hopefully in decent size water). The ride varies from boat to boat in my experience with the ones you posted. You may be suprised.

Also, don't let a salt water boat scare you. If it's well taken care of doesn't matter what water you boat in. Just like if it's not well taken care of, it's not going to matter.

Take a good look at the ergonomics of the boats you're considering. Some of listed are very funky in my opinion.

I wont bash a brand in public. But I know of a brand that has been mentioned here that I've ridden in that was HORRID in big water and two that I know of had delamination problems (as in cracked hull at the strake!).

I moved up from a Baja to a 38 Top Gun. Would not baulk at owning a 36 Outlaw or 40 Outlaw again. I think most people that talks sh!t about a Baja has never owned one. The majority of people that have owned a Baja would own one again from what Iv'e heard/read.

If you're thinking about financing a boat after you sell yours, you better get some firm quotes before you sell your boat. I'd hate to see you boatless and not be able to get a loan. From what I've heard, getting a loan right now on a boat is next to impossilble...And that's from people that could buy the boat cash.

Oh, and of course, you could always buy my boat!;)

Interesting...glad to see someone out there spending some money, but don't be fooled...as it's been stated here there are some craz7y @$$ deals out there. Depending on how patient you are there are some deals you won't believe...you just need to make sure that if you're taking something in that $100K mark that's a steal that it's not in need of some serious TLC or for that matter major repairs.

Not meaning to bash anyone, but I would stay away from boats with big power or power that's been modified...you're typically buying someone's problem (I know there are exceptions to the rule) but there's nothing worse than going as deep as you can on a boat only to have it break and you don't have the coin to fix it.

Some of the boats you were looking at were well under your $100K budget...that means money left over to pay for fuel baby!!! LOL, all kidding aside, you can invest a little coin into some nice options (GPS, new canvas, stereo, etc.) and still not be close to your $100K limit.

I don't think the car comparison between the boats you've listed is fair...I don't own a Corvette, nor would I personally buy one, but take a Z06 for example...that engine is handbuilt...so to call it a production car is hardly fair. The performance is Super Car capable at a fraction of the cost and far more reliable than any of the Italian cars you've mentioned...so I don't get the analogy there...not at all.

Pretty sure it was as if the Baja were the Corvette...and last I checked Baja isn't performing at a the same level as some of the boats mentioned...they're not a bad boat...and I'm not sure what some of you are thinking, they're not exactly cheap...not new at least. Certainly though, they're not holding their value as well as some of the other boats listed in the used market.

It's been a while since I've really looked at a Hustler, they're nice boats, but I would still consider it a production boat...along with Donzi. Cigarette was the only custom boat I saw listed. Now you might qualify that by saying that Baja is a "mass produced" production (if you stretch it) offshore boat in comparison to the other productions boats. They don't build a whole lot of their bigger models...not as many as you might think.

One thing I will say about Baja...love them or hate them, they're responsible for getting a lot of people into the offshore market...they did a great job years ago in promoting and marketing their products and making offshore style boats attractive to a larger audience.

I know how a lot of people feel about Bayliners (not comparing them to Baja) but they're got an enormous amount of people into boating by offering some of the most affordable boat and trailer packages around...but on the other hand, they're also one of the biggest reasons other manufacturers were forced to cut materials and in many cases quality in order to compete with the lions share of the entry boat market. In my opinion giving many newbie boaters a bad taste regarding boating...they felt that all boats were simply junk, fell apart and were continually in need of repair. Efficiencies in production by many marine manufacturers enabled companies to compete in this market and cut materials out without sacrificing overall quality, or at least to the point where they boats weren't actually falling apart on the showroom floor, during delivery or in the first few days of ownership.

So...if it were me...shop around...be patient...call some banks find out about repo's....pray on the weak and get your best deal!! Glad to see you're upgrading...anyone right now spending $100K gives us all hope that this economy is turning around.

Hustler is far from a production boat! But yes the ride isnt as smooth as a Cigarette.

Cig

Well I'll be honest I'm 24 living at home still, no steady GF, no kids. Own a succesful lawn & landscape/snow removal/fert app business, Got to get the toys while I still can.

Awwww, GL, you still got a little soft spot huuuuh??? :drink:

Have you seen a picture of me? There are plenty of soft spots!


"Is that oneaah them thar Cigarette boats?"

HAHAHA! You can still squeeze into the canopy of that MTI, you're doing ok:drink:

Hey if you are interested in the Hustler, I live in Indianapolis. Don't know where you live.

I'm in Toledo

I rafted up with that Hustler this past summer. I did'nt look at it very good, but it did run good. I live in Indy also. The owner is a friend of a friend of mine.

Morry

Well then I am sure you have heard this before then. "Take that $100k and invest it in this rock bottom real estate market."

I don't know... IMO some of it is deserved. I don't think they build a bad product by any means, but I do think they go cheap on some items that they shouldn't, and don't spend enough money/time on R&D.

Reading the owners forum brought to light that for a few years they built boats with an improper X-dim, and later corrected it. I was shocked to hear how little R&D went into the actual design and final product. It seemed more of a guessing "get it close" kind of game, and they would seem to just run with anything to get product out of the door.

What really bothers me is it shouldn't cost all that much to R&D an X-dim. Build 4-5 boats with diff X-dims, see what works, and sell them all as demos, and know how to go forward from there.

Also, they're one of few manufacturers that do not automatically put K-planes on boats that are bigger than 30'. I realize that this is an "option" and up to the customer, but IMO it hurts the brand to put crappy parts on what is supposed to be a performance boat. The difference in parts is a matter of a couple of thousand dollars on a $100K boat, but they're willing to cheapen the product at the buyers request. As you mentioned, many baja owners are first time boaters. IMO it shouldn't even be an option to go cheap on things when 1) it's not really saving the Co. much money (in fact you could argue that it is costing them money through bad reputation), and 2) it makes you look bad.


This I can't argue with. I love their product for the price.

For sho, for sho!
Although it is hard for those with an affinity for depreciateable assets to do sometimes.