New or Used Boats???
 

I am always blown away at the depreciation of boats. You see some people trying to sell boats only a couple years old for Tens of thousands less than they paid. Are manufactures taking a hit because more people are buying used or are there still alot of people buying new? Personally, I don't think I will ever buy a new boat, unless I hit the lottery. :D

I guess it all depends on what you want, and what you can afford $$$.


Me? I bought 5 boats. So far everyone has been used. I was just surfing used 2002 boats. What a Hit some of these guys are taking on them.

That sums it all up right there.

You might as well buy new...It takes a long time and lots of $ to make some used boats look and run like you want.
If I was to buy new today it would be a TopGun....

:) If money is no object, buy new. However, if it is, take your time and buy used.

There are alot of real good buys on 1 or 2 year old boats, and on the flip side if they dont have too many hours and look like new, all the new owner B.S. that goes along with a new boat has been taken care of and brought back to the factory for their warranty work. I personally like new, and whom ever buys my boats at the end of the year gets a good deal as well, and a well maintained boat, some of us are just a little more anal:p than others, I wish I could find a deal like that and be satisfied.;)

There are good and bad points for both. Used, you have the potential to inherit somebody else's problems as I have a few times buying used cars. I'm not mechanically inclined so I'd just be pumping money into engines/drives if there were enough hours on them. New is, well...new!! I bought a 2001 Nordic that I sold this past summer. Yes I took a depreciation hit, but the boat ran flawlessly every time I turned the key. There were no surprises so I was able to adhere to the budget my wife and I set for the boat. I'm able to make a monthly payment, but if you combine the payment along with upgrades and repairs, it gets a bit too expensive for me. I'll consider both when I get the next one.

new and used..........I have done both

Same here although sometimes there are no new for the type you are looking for . This time I had to go used when I was looking. Something to be said for either way though.

I have done both but only bought new because there were no used ones for sale. That made it easy to sell. Now I am ready to buy again but it will be used for sure. It is a buyers market and we have nearly 2/3rds of the boats in the US within a few hundred miles. Come spring people will be leaving boats by the side of the road with "for free" signs on them. Since I have rebuilt a boat from stem to stern along with the drives and motors I have a very good idea of what to expect if I buy and will be looking for a clean boat for a good price, I am not looking for cheap....you get what you pay for.

I've never bought a new boat. With a toy, such as a boat I'm not thrilled about borrowing $$$ or taking the depreciation hit after signing the papers. I'm also a person that likes the process of hunting down the right used boat, at least to a point that is. Took me a year to find the current one. There is also a bit of satisfaction of getting a much higher offer on your purchase, within a month of buying it! That gives me that "I did good!" feeling.

Will I ever buy a new boat? No guarentees, but for now, it's used.

I bought my current boat new. It was only 38K OTD.

My next one will definitely be used as I am going from 24 to 38 ft.

If I bought new all I could afford doing is skiing behind a 17ft Bayliner.

I've done both, new and used. I feel there are so many good deals out there on used boats if you take your time and look around. I would advise anyone to look for a FRESH WATER boat, not salt water. Everything weathers so much faster near the shore (cockpit, gelcoat, trailer, engines, drives, etc.).
I like the adventure of finding a diamond in the rough.

My current Formula needed new manifolds as soon as I bought it with only 150 hours on it!:eek:

Toolman

I've bought new and used......

New... dependable.. get what you want.... but you pay for it...

Used... can find great deals.. and as someone said, some of the fun is taking trips to locate that diamond in the rough....

With the drastic increase in prices in the past year or two on new boats, next one will be a 1-3 year old model...

Also depends on what models your looking for... some models bring a high price due to recent popularity whereas others are so numerous, they get discounted quickly....