Mariah (Not Carey)
10-17-2002, 02:41 PM
#3
Registered
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: LOTO
Posts: 183
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
From what I've heard, Challenger Marine was buying the larger boat line, and Sea Fox was buying the smaller boats...they were supposed to be in production again by the end of fall...
The better boat Mariah ever built was the Z302...30 mid-cabin bowrider..came with everything from TV/VCR to GPS Chart Plotter to a drivers side defroster....I"ve driven a couple of them on LOTO, good riding boat, just lotsa screws to work loose!
The 272 wasn't bad either...rode fairly good, roomy with stand up bolsters and lotsa goodies.
My .01.
WM
P.S. Both Mariah's have something in common, when you consider loose screws...
The better boat Mariah ever built was the Z302...30 mid-cabin bowrider..came with everything from TV/VCR to GPS Chart Plotter to a drivers side defroster....I"ve driven a couple of them on LOTO, good riding boat, just lotsa screws to work loose!
The 272 wasn't bad either...rode fairly good, roomy with stand up bolsters and lotsa goodies.
My .01.
WM
P.S. Both Mariah's have something in common, when you consider loose screws...
10-17-2002, 04:19 PM
#4
Registered
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: LOTO / Overland Park, KS
Posts: 375
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Had a single engine z272 (27') bow rider. Glad I'm rid of it.
Hull flex was horrible. Windshield had to be left open or the hull would flex enough to let the thing fall through. Then when you're stopped, you couldn't get it back in place because now you don't have enough clearence (no flex) so you had to unscrew it and remount it back in place... Arrrgh. Probably not an issue on a calm lake, but didn't work at Loto.
The thing was plagued with electrical problems when I first got it. Was back to the dealer 3 or 4 times. They took care of everything but the air/sea temp thermometer. Never did get it to work right. I will never own another boat with a power telescoping stern light again. I can't count how many times the thing wouldn't come up at night. Not fun to run w/o proper lights leaving a dock bar at night!!!
For a manufacturer that made it's sales pitch on quality and being a premium priced bowrider, I was dissappointed. Guess that's why they went under.
It was slow, about a 45mph boat. I never found the ride all that comfortable in the snotty stuff at loto, but there are a lot these at LOTO, or similiar bow riders so I guess the ride is acceptable to a lot of people.
The interior looked awsome, though. Cool looking power bolsters. Tons of cockpit space, had nearly a 9'6" beam. Had glued in carpet though.
Bottom line - looked good, not a performance boat, medium quality workmanship, medium quality ride, slightly overpriced, lot of depreciation (much cheaper now!)
For the money and that type of boat, I'd be looking at Cobalt or Crownline.
.02
Shorty
Hull flex was horrible. Windshield had to be left open or the hull would flex enough to let the thing fall through. Then when you're stopped, you couldn't get it back in place because now you don't have enough clearence (no flex) so you had to unscrew it and remount it back in place... Arrrgh. Probably not an issue on a calm lake, but didn't work at Loto.
The thing was plagued with electrical problems when I first got it. Was back to the dealer 3 or 4 times. They took care of everything but the air/sea temp thermometer. Never did get it to work right. I will never own another boat with a power telescoping stern light again. I can't count how many times the thing wouldn't come up at night. Not fun to run w/o proper lights leaving a dock bar at night!!!
For a manufacturer that made it's sales pitch on quality and being a premium priced bowrider, I was dissappointed. Guess that's why they went under.
It was slow, about a 45mph boat. I never found the ride all that comfortable in the snotty stuff at loto, but there are a lot these at LOTO, or similiar bow riders so I guess the ride is acceptable to a lot of people.
The interior looked awsome, though. Cool looking power bolsters. Tons of cockpit space, had nearly a 9'6" beam. Had glued in carpet though.
Bottom line - looked good, not a performance boat, medium quality workmanship, medium quality ride, slightly overpriced, lot of depreciation (much cheaper now!)
For the money and that type of boat, I'd be looking at Cobalt or Crownline.
.02
Shorty
10-17-2002, 04:41 PM
#5
Registered
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: LOTO / Overland Park, KS
Posts: 375
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Oh, I might also add that it was relatively heavy, at least compared to similiar sized west coast bowriders. There are some pretty trick looking west coast bowriders that are true performance boats. In retrospect, I'd have personally been much happier with one of those. Oh well, live and spend money on boats.
10-17-2002, 06:11 PM
#6
Registered
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: SW Ohio
Posts: 770
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My last boat was a Mariah. Great looking boats. Kinda in line with crownline. They were overpriced ( which boats arent'? ) You probally will not find any boat that had as many bell's and whistles in their class. Interior was first rate but as stated above they had lots of problems....I had a Gell coat problem that the factory just kept pushing off on the dealer. From what I understand most of there dealer network ditched them because the factory claimed the boats were Mercedes. But the warranty support was like a Yugo. I think they claimed more than they could back up.....There support and claims of quality remind me of when I read the Fountian board here.
