JJH

Hi guys. I'm starting to look for a 24' boat and only know of a couple, Pantera, and sunsation. My price range is under 25K for a used boat of any year. Who else makes 24's and whats the difference in quality between them? I'm down in Miami, and want the boat to be able to handle a 4' chop easily at the very least.

Thanks for your help,

JJ

Von Bongo

You found it already...Pantera

JJH

Thats the main boat i was looking for. My dad used to have a Pantera waaaaay back in the day. I guess i'll just keep my eye out for a decent one. I could probably turn it into a project if its not in great shape too!

jpclear

There is some great vintage stuff out there that will fit your requirements. Look for the 7' beam, 24-26 ft., Magnum's, Excalibur's, Martini's, Pantera's, Cobra's, and more that I don't recall right now, that all came from that same Aronow mold. Sunsation, Panther, and Superboat are the current versions. Activator is a real good one if you can stretch to 27'.

Allan4

Lots of happy 24 Baja Outlaw owners out there.......including me

Smitty

iTrader: (1)

I'm with Allan. Usually when it gets really rough, I seem to leave most other boats behind. You can find alot of 24 Outlaws on boattraderonline.com. They have great bolster seats for the rough stuff and have a true 24 degree V bottom.

Pantera makes a good boat but I think you'll spend a little more money for it.

JJH

I'll look into the Baja's. There's just something about the Outlaw that I can't seem to put my finger on that i don't like. Thanks for the suggestions, i'll be looking for all those boats. The other one that I was going to look for was a 24' Carrera. Anybody have any info on these?

Thanks

vtec

The Baja Outlaw 24 has a small delta pad, so it's not really 100% v-bottom.

The hull construction is nothing special (1996). In fact, some of the wood panels in the engine compartment have some cheap useless paint on them, and they also fall off. The wood that is used in the construction is not resin coated before is is installed, so when you get a crack in the interior coat of glass water can seep in and damage the wood.

Rigging is subpar as well. On my Baja the negative ground wire came off shorting the ignition(had to get towed). The trim pump plug fell off as well(not that big of a deal, but it should not happen). The orginal battery braket broke, letting the battery toss around the engine compartment.

Baja's customer service is useless as well. I lost the key for the cabin, none of the dealers were helpfull at all. Once they sell the boat they don't care about you anymore. When you order parts it takes 9 months to a year to get them, then the dealer loses them. Warrenty is just a word used to sell boats, it is woefully useless in practice.

Whatever you buy, check the rigging. If it's Pantera vs. Baja, the Pantera could not be worse.

vtec

Chris288

I'm selling a 96 Baja 232 w/ 454 and 195 hours w/ trailer in excellent shape and its in your price range... its in the boats for sale section of the board...

Its certainly not a pantera, but a very nice boat for the money, drop bolsters, dual ram tabs, pop up cleats, roller trailer, ABSOLUTELY fresh water only... . NADA said 25,000 without the trailer, I'm asking 24,000 OBO w/ everything..

My experience w/ Baja has ben exactly the opposite and i'm sure many baja owners will agree... I have had ZERO problems w/ my baja and customer service has been EXCELLENT.

Dave M

24 Superboat or Pantera. Personally, I don't think there is another 24 foot boat with EQUAL POWER that will out run a 24 Superboat. The Pantera is a couple hundred pounds heavier. It may have an edge in the rough but is a few mph less in top end.

I am not trying to cut on some of the other boats mentioned here but the market is flooded with them. It takes a lot of power to get them moving too.