I need some advice...

I'm looking to upgrade to a faster boat and just recently sold an bowrider baja. I'm looking for something in the 22-25' range that fits in my budget for under $20,000 built in 1990 or newer.

I'd like good hull with potential to add power to it in the future. I dont mind something that comes with a smallblock, but obviously a bigblock would be nice! I understand that you generally get what you pay for which is why I'm willing to settle for a little less power if it means getting a better hull.

Boats that I've seen that fit into these requirements are generally: 22 Pachanga, 22 Scarab, 23 Wellcraft Nova, Pantera.... Help me out... I need to know what boats I should be looking for and what I should avoid. I've looked in the classifieds here and at other sites but I mainly see boats priced above my budget.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I would look at Checkmate, they build a variety of boats that fit into that your catergories. They are also a great boat. Baja would also be a good choice. I think you will be hard pressed to find a pantera for the kind of $ you are trying to spend. Are you financing or paying cash, that makes a difference. Alot of lenders don't like giving much $ for smaller older boats, I ran into this when purchasing my first boat.

Here are a few boats in the 22-25 range that I would look at....
All these boats have pros and cons. The Outlaw and the Thunder will have a bigger feel than the rest. The Nova and Pachanga are nice boats but they will never be fast.

22 Donzi
22 Velocity
24 Pantera
24 Superboat
25 Sunsation (actually the same size as the two above)
25 Outlaw
25 Active Thunder
25 Powerplay (might be hard to find)

Used Pantera.

for under 20k i would go with a 25 checkmate. i still love these boats. i think that the older ones are built better then the newer ones.

22' Donzi. Go to www.donzi.net and see what they have there on the classifieds.

Site is down right now

You should buy my Chaparral Villain for $13k. Would leave you $7k for fuel!

Check it out -> click here

You can look at 230SX Stingrays as well, but its a sit down boat, and really only good on a smooth lake. They come with everything from a 305 to a 496/former 502.

Talk to Waterfoul. He might have a boat that would fit your bill nicely.