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.

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 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.