Buying your first boat or your 21st boat, all depends on your application and what your intentions are for the use of the craft, hard core bass fishing or moderate or beginner, if you are on your second boat or more you should by now have a good idea of what you need from your boat.
Are you going to fish tournaments and how serious are you going to take it? Well, we all know that it's not the boat that catches the fish, it's you the angler, but at the same time we have to consider how many times we loose out because someone has beaten us to our spot, high end tournaments are going to require a good higher end boat with lots and lots of options for extra storage and speed, you have to take in account your fishing gear along with everything else including the kitchen sink it seems, and be prepaired for anything, these upper class bass boats are purposely built for the hard core angler who live and work on the deck and can handle just about any kind of weather mother nature can suprise them with, so a full blown bass boat may or may not be what you need.
Are you just fishing for fun and competing in tournaments? well maybe a mid range boat will be good for you, you can load up your boat with all the fancy nick-nacks and big huge monitors just like the pros and still go out for fun for about half the cost of a pro, what really makes this mid range boat is there is a wide range of options, these boats come in both Aluminum and in Glass, the width and length is decided by you for the options you choose to have, when you are out there looking at mid range boats, one very important factor to consider is family and or friends or both, room on the bow deck and room on the stern deck are couple of things you want to think about along with seating, you may find a fish and ski model is best for you or you may find a bass boat style is more along the lines, either way, the advantage's that each have over one another must be thought out for all involved, not just for your intentions or you are simply throwing your money out the window, If I were to ask myself what I thought the most important option was on a mid range boat, it would have to be the engine size, more often than not I find these boats are under powered for the length and size, this application for me would have to be at the very least be powered by a 150hp engine, excellent tourqe range, plenty of power for skiers and really good speed across the board for fishing with lots of options for more speed if needed and generally cheap to keep serviced and maintained, if you go higher than a 200hp engine it really starts to get more and more expensive to maintain and work on.
Just fun fishing, here is where it gets interesting, the options you have are absolutly endless, jon boat to bass boat, new or used, pump up's or kyack's, the mind gets a little fried when looking around in this area.
To each their own, we can throw ourselves to the wolves it seems, the best advise here is to find what interests you the most and start there, start weighing the options of this craft vs. that craft, eliminate the options that are of no use to you and find things that can be easily upgradeable in the future, you will find that most boats will only allow you to upgrade to a small extent, jon boats for example, a small light weight boat is not ment for anything more than roughly a 10hp outboard and maybe two people depending on their combined weight, yet if we want to upgrade we have no room to do so, if I am fishing by myself, this may be a great option to consider depending on my areas I have available for use of that kind of rig, but if I want my children to go, I am limited as they grow older and I will eventually need to upgrade, once maybe twice, maybe even three times, why not save your money and get something that will expand and have the option of being able to upgrade without the hassle of looking for a whole new boat, so it's really up to each individual to think for themselves and plan ahead for the future needs of their boating and fishing experience.
New vs. used, What would be the first thing to consider for each, well, here are a couple of things to think about.
New, there are so many things that we look at, the first thing to get over is the sticker price, new boats have a really wide price range no matter the material it's made from, first thing to consider is luxury, do you really need a wood grained steering wheel and leather seats, you might be suprised at how much that knocks off the price of a boat, depending on the price then you need to figure out what the property tax is going to set you back as well, cost of ownership will also include the service on that new boat, some manufactures require that the services be performed by the selling dealer so that the break-in is recorded and properly performed, if not performed correctly the company has the right to void that warranty, usually it's the engine manufacturer that is really strict, most services are in the $300 range, a new boat can cost as much as my house or more and just how can I justify that? some of us only see the sticker price and go into a thing called sticker shock, what are you really paying for? first off is technology and the brand name that builds that technology, not the technology in the electronics but the craft itself, for starters, research and development of new and improved hull designs, (Engineers) research and development of safety ( More Engineers) research and development of newer and more enviromently friendly materials and paint that can stand up to all conditions and still perform ( and yet more Engineers ) and then we have to build the boat and train people on how to put together and apply this new technology so we also have a labor force added in there somewhere, plus the manufacturer needs to make a profit to be able to keep supplying the product, all of these things go into each and every boat on the market and we do our part by paying for the new advances in technology, another quality to look at is it has a warranty against any manufactures defects, this means or should mean less problems for you on the water to think about or worry about, at least for the first year or so, no matter what, there are always going to be problems, but they should be lessend by the product being new and durable, one thing to keep in mind as well is that the boat manufacturer does not build the power plant attached to the stern, that is outsourced and attached to the total build sheet, that new technology is also something else you are paying for from a completly different source, and then there is the trolling motor up front, another outsource and more technology, PHEW !!!, and then there is one more factor to consider, that would be the WOW factor, the bling, bling factor, There is nothing wrong with having a brand new boat, it's something you have worked really hard for and if it's within your means to do so then you should be able to enjoy it no matter the cost with or without all the bells and whistles.
Used, These boats have their good and bad points just like the new ones do, only these can be or are more pronounce, lets start with the good, the biggest advantage of a used boat is that it is cost effective, you can get a really nice boat for half the money and only a couple of years old to boot, thats more money you can spend on upgraded electronics, who knows, it may already have some of the latest and greatest and you could already save even more and put it toward upgrading your fishing gear, or even buy that wife of yours a really nice gift........... it is also more cost effective to own with lower personal property taxes and being able to service it yourself.
Owning a used boat however has some down sides to it as well, start with the service, that's the most important part after it is deemed to be safe, how well was it taken care of if there are no records to go by, both the trailer and the boat, it's the unknown chances that we take that are the biggest disadvantage to owning a used boat, it helps if the seller has all the records of it's history, it's also better if the seller had taken it to a marine center for everything, but how many of them are out there like that, very few that I can find when we think about how many boat owners are out there in the world today.
It's definatly a buyers beware kind of market for used boats, don't go after it alone if you have no experience, no matter the condition on the outside, there are always some kind of hidden bugs that may be learking from within, I have been in the Automotive and Marine industry for a very long time now, every day is a learning experience for me and what people try to get by with still drives me crazy, when you are considering a used boat, no matter how big and powerful or how small, just make sure it's the right one to fit your needs safely, one that will allow you to grow as you and your family grows, if it looks like junk it very well just might be junk and cost you more money than the boat is worth, if you are not sure of what the boat is worth then get an unbiast opinion from your local marine service center, look at the book values before you even go to look at the boat you found, chances are always greater you are paying much more than you really need to be.
If you are thinking of getting a "new" or "like new" or "new to you boat", talk to your banks and your finance people who loan you the money if you should have to use a loan, find the best deals with and without down payments and how much of a down payment or trade-in, wait for the right time to buy, some of the best boat deals will yeild more for a trade-in allowance than what you originally payed for your used boat, just recently a friend of mine got 8 grand more for his trade than what he paid for it toward a new Nitro Z-8, so stay in touch with dealers and the locals and be sure to look around for some really great deals, they are out there !!!
