Indy

New boat prices have almost doubled in a little over a decade... it's preposterous and has killed a good part of the industry. Boating has become the activity of the wealthy from a new purchase perspective. A 28' Nordic that I paid $60k for in the early 2000s is double the price now...for a stupid lake boat.

Since prices are high people are either out of the sport or hanging on to the ones they have since they can't afford the newer stuff. After a period of time those older boats will become so expensive to maintain and upgrade those will go away too.

Depressing.

I don't trust the economy so I'm slowly saving for a boat that I'll purchase cash when I do, and chances are it won't be an offshore style boat since I'm not going to pump my hard earned money into engine rebuilds and other upgrades.

Jupiter Sunsation

Lots of good viewpoints..... But I see used I/O stuff as a dead market. Remember when the chopper fad was going full tilt? Everyone had one, custom builds were constantly being done for every big bike event and there were dozens of high end builders, many with Tv shows? It is a direct parallel to the powerboat bubble, they were both going full tilt at the same time.

When was the last time you saw a new chopper? For boats, a few very wealthy people will build what they want but many others have moved on to different styles of boating. A few mint boats will sell quickly but plenty of others will succumb to basic math.......boat costs too much to redo/repower and won't be worth the sum of the parts. Apaches have been in this territory for years and other boat brands will follow. The lower prices get, the more boats will fall into the equation especially considering the parts/labor continue to go up in cost.

Pwraddr

Hope my AT goes like that.

precisiondetails

It's a lot of things I feel. Check the recent ad posted on this site the 388 with 1350s the orange one. The owner has plenty of $ and is a great guy and has the best in my buddy Vinny help maintain and run the boat. I've been in the boat and must say it was the best boat ride I've ever had... Point I'm making is even he is tired of the ridiculous costs of maintaince of the turbo motors. Anything breaks on them and not many can fix them. The owner has bought a 28 Skater and is already looking to buy a 318 with 400s. More and more of even the wealthy are tired of the cost, maintenance and head ache. Boating is suppose to be fun not killer work. Ya it's fun to help out Gary with Predator cause you know you are one of the badest. But as we can see going 190 is over rated, played out and deadly, and for what? Nothin!! I've driven a 28 skater and it's a freaking blast. The 400 outboards are changing the industry just like the turbo motors in a way did to the big power market.

My prediction- Merc comes out with the NA version of the turbo motors, and in the near future most everyone will be either building 30-34 cats with out boards, or 35-40s with the NA motors. CCs are here to stay cause of the usability and low maintenance and low fuel costs. Cats are always great.

The real loser I feel sadly, is the V's. I love the Fountain as we have one, but I'm sure you all have seen that new 38 for sale for 428k. Ouch for I/O bravo drives Yikes... You can get one amazingly nice 318 Skater for that price and have a lot more fun, less fuel and maintenance. It's just the sign of the times I guess.

Crude Intentions

iTrader: (1)

Good write up but you can't compare maintenance of a 1350 to a 400. lol. The black motors don't require much but oil changes. people tend to compare 400 outboards to big power but they're not. I agree 428 seems crazy for the 38. Especially with that interior. Lol. I'm an offshore guy. I'll likely never build 1000s or anything because I like reliability. I'm working on some old 502s for my fountain. Shouldn't be anymore maintenance than a 525. I do my own work so we aren't talking astronomical numbers

tbanzer

I bought my current boat out of OSO classifieds in 2006 and there were over 1400 boats in the classifieds.

precisiondetails

I think u miss interpreted me. I was simply comparing the overal boating experience between the 2. I was not trying to compare them straight up. But rather the high hp stuff VS the efficient fun way of boating. Simple vs complicated in general.

Interceptor

One of these days someone is going to figure out all that billet bling, outrageous upolstery and paint that's outdated quickly does not contribute to performance.
Maybe then a reasonably priced boat will be approachable.
Something like a Sutphen, Saber or what a flat deck Cigarette was. A hot rod.

Speedracer29

http://m.powerboatlistings.com/view/41196

I bet in plain white with no plotters and 5 gallon pails for bolsters, it'd still run north of $150k with trailer... Beautiful boat, I'd love to have it, but hardly what I'd call affordable.

Given the choice, I'd hope for the best and take the (almost) 30yr old Power Play 33 with 2011 power from the classifieds.

t500hps

That Saber is listed somewhere for $159k.......but I'd build a 29 AT with 350's for that price!