Honest boat tests
 

I get Hot Boat and powerboat and it seems to me that They never say anything Bad about any thing??? They use words like " The headroom in the cabin was acceptable???" Or "The holeshot was within reason" I find myself reading it 3 or 4 times to try and get a feel for how it really was. I know they have to keep advertisers happy BUT where can I go to see like a comsumer report on Boats????:confused: :rolleyes: :D

I have seen powerboat have a less than wonderful review of an awesome cat. That is the only time I saw it. They did have several compaints about the dodge truck they recently reviewed. They sounded all BS to me, but I own one... Later in a subsiquent issue, they compared a certain vehicles ride as "even better than the supple ride of the dodge". In the original article, they bashed the ride. :confused: :confused: Not too consistent or unbiased. They are all trying to keep advertisers happy at our expense. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: Read between the lines.

Since Bob Teague drives almost all of the boats, try emailing him or calling for the straight shoot on a specific boat..

Magazines don't make any money on bad reviews! Only some one like consumer reports would give an accurate review. But these are boats not toasters. The best tester is yourself and possibly a friend that has experience. The magazines only seem to stress the positive and not mention the negatives. IMO

I'm going to play the devil's advocate here.

Many people on this board look for Powerboat, Family, Hot Boat, etc. to be critical and "get tough" on their boat reviews. I read in this forum all the time how money or advertising dollars create the reviews. I don't think I'm going out on a limb by saying that Bob Teague has more experience than most of the members here, and at the very least, has driven many more brands of boats than anybody here. I also don't think that he would steer somebody wrong in a review just because magazine $$ are at stake. He has too much at stake himself to be caught in distorting the facts in one of his reviews.

With that being said, I think the reason that you don't see Pantera, Nordic, Powerquest, DCB, Cigarette, Hustler, Progression, Eliminator, Kryptonite, (just add the many other brands) etc. get bad reviews is because they are all well built boats, just different. Let's face it, if the mags were reviewing the types of boats that the general public was buying (half the cost of these fine offshore boats) the reviews would be scary. Instead, the articles point out features such as freeboard, handling, amenities, configuration, hull, lay-up, structure, rigging, speed, etc. that a buyer wants to know in determining if that particular boat fits their needs. Although I love some brands, they don't fit my style of boating and I can read about them in the mags and eliminate them without ever seeing them. That way I'll spend my time looking at those that meet my requirements.

Most of these offshore boats are fine machines, some better than others, but all much better than the average boat. To find a clunker in this high end market would be unusual. It would be foolish to purchase a boat soley based upon a magazine article, but it's a good place to start. I think the magazines to a pretty good job.

SOOOO It is all Bul$h-T well I know you have to check it out for yourself BUT , I would like some Unbiased opinions, If you talk to guy,s who own them they usually don,t pick out the bad, It seems to me that the best source of honest info is Previous owners. It,s still nice to look at the pictures( Especialy Hot Boat":rolleyes: :D ;) :p

I agree with indy when it comes to Bob, and also that most of the boats are high quality to start with. However, I question how much real input Bob has on the whole article. I'll leave it at that. :D

Indy I agree wholeheartedly. The reason I think you won't see a bad review is that the review has to appeal to many diffrent kind of boaters. Like headroom for instance. Not everyone gives a crasp about excessive headroom in the cuddy. Not everyone will be spending much time down there except in the T#TS-UP position.

When driving a Pantera, Powerquest, Sunsation, Baja, Donzi, or what-have-you, a guy like Teague has to rate it from a person's perspective that would be interested in the styling and particular amenities. Hence no real complaints unless the hull or hardware is really cheap in contruction, not just to the biased eye.

That being said, I have seen little quips within articles to touch on generic things that stand out negatively and similar quips on things that stand out very positively. You just have to read carefully and not just skim over them....

Honest!? I just read the title to this post and started laughing.

I'm with Sydwayz. Never met a boat salesman that didn't love "everything"about the boat he was selling. Your own instincts,as well as your friends,will help you more.