Friend of mine is looking at this boat. Cant remember if they are west or east coast manufactured boat...

Good boat?

http://www.lespac.com/alma/vehicules...&requester=SCH

That model in the Pic was made in Washington Missouri

You better shoot me the HIN number as I know that was not made in 2008 - I bet it was restamped on the HIN year. I was dealer for them until they went under in in Aug 2008.

IMO its a 2006 or 2007 and the HIN will tell me more

If I remember correctly a car dealer / attempted boat dealer on the side bought that boat as a left over from Challenger who was located South Carolina

Thanks for the info
Comparable to a 288 in size, cabin size, speed?

They are pretty good size boats, I would say bigger than a 288 overall. Fit and finish is not even close to a sunny though. I would say a couple steps down from a baja in that category. I've never rode in one in rough water, but the Missouri water Patrol used to run them at loto and I was told by a couple of them that they rode much worse than the boats the replaced. Donzi center console's if I remember right. Been a few beers/years ago.

i know nothing about this boat when i say this, but i would for sure get a survey. i have heard of some of them being wet at a young age. there was a i think a 34' with twins up here in michigan that was wet and it was not very old at the time. again i know nothing about this boat. just saying.

todd

I've crawled all over a couple of them.
Make sure he really checks out the boat.
I saw a lot of electrical issues, and extremely hard to access anything for troubleshooting.
Black painted plywood in cabin/cockpit back structures, held together with woodscrews was also a red flag.
There are other questionable attributes, but I'll stop there. There are some other threads on the brand in the past.

I would invite anyone to come check out my 2007 - 28 DDC all OEM stock, the quality might surprise you. Very Heavy and built like a tank. Merc Smartcraft and gauges, REAL carbon fiber dash, All composite material used by Space Age, Livorsi controls - everything mounted very stout including the pop up cleats - all wiring and connections plug and play - very simple plug in wiring harnesses thru out, Cole Hersee electrical components and all switches by them.

Has 496 Mercruiser with silent choice - extremely clean and a very good engine install and alignment was perfect when I got on my hands and Yes I pulled it and checked it new and again at 50 hours run times -

The boat is very slow but handles very well and especially in the rough, It does plane in blink of an eye with ZERO bow lift, no trim tabs installed either. Has a Merc LABBED FINISHED 4 blade bravo one prop Never one rattle or flex even running in Poker runs at WOT. Like I said solid as rock and you will break your hand trying to find any weak areas in the glass.

I kept one as a dealer brand new. The only problem I had was OEM stereo amp installed would overheat and shut down, also the sunpad mount - a bolt fell out that stuck the sunpad from opening. The only other thing I can add is waterpump access is poor and my engine compartment floor area could have been finished out better. I am being real picky about that one. My 28 was built for boatshows and I knew they spent extra time and care building it plus I overseen alot of the build.

Fit and finish and the cabin are very nice - way above average. Rub rail installation perfect and 100 % straight - stainless steel insert and SS screws all facing the same position (basically) - the bends are perfect and no gaps on the install. If some one wants PICS that can post up here I can send them. Mine is built right but I also made sure of it. I was extremely picky on the builds of boats as being a dealer for whomever and brand.

Some of the ones the quality could be questioned but that depends on which year and which owner of Challenger was at the helm.

Sorry I completely missed post 4 as I just seen it.

Sunny 288 before they changed all of that in 2007. I am 6 3 / 240 lbs - the Challenger cabin is fine for an overnite stay and bigger than the Sunny especially the headroom - I was cramped in the Sunny. One of the reason I kept the DDC 28 because of the cabin size plus the price was right for a brand new boat and trailer. I also have a 2000 year model 280 Velocity inwhich the 28 DDC Challenger no questions asked is a better build quality and rough water ride. But we are comparing a 2000 to a 2006 / 2007 year model, So maybe not as fair ???

The Velocity 280 is the same centerline length ALMOST about 4 inches shorter - but the 28 DDC is far bigger in the cabin and the 28 DDC fit and finish kills the Velocity thru out the cabin. Should say at least mine does and again 2000 Velocity compared to a newer Challenger. The Velocity handles corners is prob one of the best for a 28 footer and is hugely fast for a stock app. Especially top end against the Challenger DDC 28.

Also the Challenger will kill the Velocity 280 on a dead start take off and planing. Prob the Challenger 28 DDC and NO TRIM TABS is one of the best planing boats for its size I have been in and mine is only the 375 hp 496 at that. Speed is 60 mph for the Challenger again extremely slow past 2/3 rds throttle and top speed. Do not buy this boat with a single 6.2 L engine - it is a pig. I test drove one at the dealer meeting. Past on that one.

Also I know some of the Challenger DDC 28 had porpoising problems as well so test drive the boat before buying it. They do NOT like to be over trimmed either.

The bottoms needed to be blue printed - I made sure (they) Challenger corrected all of that before I got mine and some others.

The one I kept - again it was a boatshow boat and basically to be my demo boat so I wanted the ride & handling right. Complete boat with a 496 / bravo 1 package completely bone Dry all stock - weight was over 6800 lbs so again heavy and top end speed was very slow.

Keep in mind not all were built by the same owners and some sat around for a while in dealer hands and some sat around at Challenger before they could unload them. I can send pics if you want to post them. Anything else ?

1. How long can we go out for?
2. Family of 4 ok?
3. What are you making for lunch?
4. Can you spare 2 bedrooms for the weekend?
5. Do you have a Kuerig? I like the Hot Chocolate cup in the am.
6. Lots of WOT runs I assume?
7. I can drive right?

thank you.

Dan