From the factory brochure in 2005. There was about a $30K delta between the 496 and 525 pricing at the time.

We stayed on our 38PQ every weekend that we could for years. Enjoyed the hell out of it, but our lives changed too. Trailering and maintenance/down time got old and we sold the big boat, bought a lake house and now have a 27' Tri-toon with twin 400's and two jet skis. So I still get my speed fix when needed, but we can haul 15 people to the sandbar and I don't have to freak out about everyone's coolers wrecking my seats Instead of wiping down the boat and cleaning while everyone else enjoyed the water, I now get to enjoy my time on the water as well. And it sits on a lift 100ft from the house, so we can be on the water in minutes instead of hours. The big boats are a blast and when my boys are older I plan to have a small o/b cat, but they are also stressful and time consuming. Good luck whatever you decide!

I bought a 19' yamaha jet boat and loved it. So relieable, easy to tow, launch etc etc .
$120 in gas got me all weekend and then some, instead of spending money on gas and staying at a marina in the boat we would get a room instead. Worked out just fine. Very stress free boating year and we still went all over and had a blast
but I liked it so much i sold it and bought a 24'... so I think Im doing this downsizing thing wrong..

Dan,

Nah. You just overshot your end goal.

Thanks. Brad.
(937)545-8991

Been there. Had a 42 triple engine Fountain. Got a small little cruiser type boat but wasn't big enough, so we jumped up to a 32 Carver to "live on" in the summer. Missed going fast so I bought a second boat and built my 28 Checkmate. Carver got too small for me, wife, and our 120# yellow lab so we bought an even bigger cruiser, a 40 Silverton AC/MY. Now we have the best of both worlds. Good luck!

I bought a 1998 290 sea ray to use since my go fast was/is still a little while before it will be back on the water. We did enjoy it. We stayed overnight on it a little bit, but it wasn't very comfortable for more than 1 night.

It was nice to hang out on at the beach and cruise to dinner but I just never got into it. We are on lake erie and for me over an hour boat ride to go 25 miles was painful. It also did not ride all that well for a 10k lb boat.

But my biggest b!tch was how dirty it would get sitting in the water. I am not one of those super clean freaks but it was a pain on the ass spending a couple hrs each time just to make it presentable. All of the bugs, dust, dirt and sea gull poop got really old really quick.

I loved having it at the dock to just jump in and go but that never seemed to happen. I think I spent more time cleaning than I did my old go fast on a trailer.

I think if I went back to a cruiser it would have to be a 40ss or a sunseeker....with a dock boy to clean it....I'm just not in that tax bracket yet.

But I do agree if you dont like your boat try something new. You can always sell and buy something else....

Good luck.

There are a LOT of 35 twin steps of my vintage that have 496's. The dealership that mine came from built at least 5 out of the 8 he sold that year alone.

well you made sound as if the dealership was installing the engines,

Why yes, you are nuts. haha

Been there too!! We downsized from our Formula 353 to a SeaRay 290SDX outboard. It was time to go tubing and water skiing with the grand kids instead of just going fast and looking good. I do miss the rumble of the big V-8's, but the Mercury twin outboards are so easy to to keep clean and maintain. Add in the additional bow rider space and it was a good decision.

It may not be “downsizing” depending on what you get.

My 27PC was a lot bigger boat than my 353. I always enjoyed driving the cruiser and miss it some days. If you are keeping it in the water make sure you get something with some reasonable space in it.