Why Are Bass Boats So Expensive.

[basscatcher8]

iv always been into cars. I have owned nice and fast boats and nice and fast cars. Here my theory. You can buy a bone stock corvette ZR1 with 700 horsepower for $100,000. Or you can buy a $2,000 piece of junk. Both get you from point A to point B. One does it faster and with a lot more attention. I sold all my fun toys except for my 2004 GTO. I had tons of modifications in to it. It was my baby, but i sold it to get a brand new bass boat. But after i sold it i realized that my 2002 Tracker Pro Crappie does me just fine. Yeah, it doesnt have the storage, deck space, and "look at me" factor as a brand news Ranger. But i upgraded the electronics and it does what it has to do. Boat manufacturers are just like car manufacturers. If i lived on kentucky lake or guntersville, i could justify buying a $50,000 boat. But I live in Illinois and fish strip mines and small rivers. For instance, if i lived near the Autobahn, id own a modded out Porsche GT3. As long as there are people out there willing to pay, theyll keep selling.

Thats where I am now. Id love to get a new ranger but I live in Illinois and spend most of my time on the Illinois and Fox rivers. No reason for the ranger an new aluminum does just great. But alot of guys around here want that new ranger instead and act like they live on ky lake or guntersville.

[clayton86]

iv always been into cars. I have owned nice and fast boats and nice and fast cars. Here my theory. You can buy a bone stock corvette ZR1 with 700 horsepower for $100,000. Or you can buy a $2,000 piece of junk. Both get you from point A to point B. One does it faster and with a lot more attention. I sold all my fun toys except for my 2004 GTO. I had tons of modifications in to it. It was my baby, but i sold it to get a brand new bass boat. But after i sold it i realized that my 2002 Tracker Pro Crappie does me just fine. Yeah, it doesnt have the storage, deck space, and "look at me" factor as a brand news Ranger. But i upgraded the electronics and it does what it has to do. Boat manufacturers are just like car manufacturers. If i lived on kentucky lake or guntersville, i could justify buying a $50,000 boat. But I live in Illinois and fish strip mines and small rivers. For instance, if i lived near the Autobahn, id own a modded out Porsche GT3. As long as there are people out there willing to pay, theyll keep selling.

I noticed this doing a local bass tournament held by a starting out tackle shop on our small little lake. there were 15 teams so 15 boats they were all big dollar high end boats a few rangers, 2 basscats, 3 Z9s, a few other big name boats then there was the boat I fished outa with my co worker a run down 14' with no trolling motor no electronics just the loud arse outboard. We were the only ones with out a bass boat and we finished in 4th place missed it by like 5ozs most the guys didnt even catch a limit and they had all these big fancy rigs. Dont get me wrong I would love a new nitro or bass cat anything really but the more iv been sitting and thinking on it iv realized all i fish is little lakes and I wont ever go out into the big part of ontario so iv found my self looking at smaller more economical boats that my wife and kids can enjoy as well.

[Dave P]

There's a lot of satisfaction in being able to do that Clayton86!!!

[Sam]

So you want to know why bass boats and other watercraft are so expensive.

There a number of reasons.

1. Cost of materials. Cannot buy massive quanties of materials to have on hand as boat building is a slow process.

2. Facilities to build the watercraft. You need to have a safe environment with good equipment and warehouse space which adds to the cost.

3. People. You need highly trained people to put the watercraft together.

4. Insurance. Ocean Marine insurance for boat building is expensive for third-party liability. Boat manufacturers have to purchase at least $10,000,000 of liability insurance over and above their basic $1,000,000 Commerical General Liability contract to protect their assets. Add in the cost of direct and indirect damage coverage, vehicle fleets, professional engineering liability, dishonesty bond, transportation costs and group health, dental and vision insurance and you have located the #2 expense on the profit and loss statement.

5. Number of units produced. You cannot set up an assembly line for boats. It is not like opening the door of a DeSoto and stepping onto the ground if something goes wrong. You have to have a tight quality control program and follow it to the letter which is time consuming. The number of watercraft a manufacturer produces a year is not a high number so the advantage of economics of scale is difficult to achieve.

6. Quality control. As stated in #5 above, quality control is the heart and sole of watercraft manufacturing. Blowing in the foam; checking the electrical connections; adding the motor and its cables and lines; making sure there are no cracks in the hull's plastic; have the correct trailer and tires to carry the boat safely; and the list goes on and on.

7. Aerodynamics. But in the water. Testing of hulls and other changes are expensive but must be done to improve future watercraft.

There are other items we could list as stated above.

When you put yourself, family and friends in a watercraft you want to make sure the watercraft is safe and efficient. You do not want any problems on the water. To give you this peace of mind is expensive.

This is why you are one your own when you buy a used boat. You have no idea if what the hull has hit; is the gas tank leaking slowly; has the motor been reveed up over 5000 RPS and if so, how many times; is the steerin safe and correct; and lots of other concerns that we block from our mind.

Boat building is labor intensive and people are expensive. However, remember the famous economic formula: People + Assets = Profit.

People are expensive!!!!!

[Triton21]

I have a 2004 21ft Triton with a 225 opti I bought as a retirement present for myself. The price tag was $58,995. This boat was used on a TV fishing 3 times. I bought it for a lot less than half price. It will last me the rest of my life. I have no payments and a GREAT BOAT. There are great deals out there if you look.

Kelley

[Long Mike]

A couple of years ago i bought a 2004 Tracker TV-18 with a 150 Merc for $8500. Tracker doesn't make that boat any more, but it was the type of boat I was looking for. It's an eighteen footer with a modified deep-V hull. I fish larger lakes so I needed something that would handle big water if need be. The thought of buying a glass boat never crossed my mind. I've spent probably another five grand on that boat, as I have added the latest Lowrance HDS electronics, a Minn-Kota Terrova trolling motor with iPilot, and a few other bells and whistles. I'm sixty-five. It's the last boat I will ever buy. I love it!

[salmicropterus]

There is a definite trend toward a downsized bass boat. The boat builders are getting it. The Z-7, smaller Skeeter, Triton etc. Basically an 18-18.6 boat with a lot of the bigger boat goodies, wider beam etc equipped with a 150 HP class motor. Price points in the mid to high $20s. There is a lot of utility to a boat like this and if you compare the marginal benefits of 2-2.5 ft of length and 75-100 hp, this class of boat makes a lot of sense. People have said "well if people are buying at $65K then they will sell". Problem is not enough volume at these price points so whatever little economy of scale there is in boat building (there isn't much to begin with) is lost. I can tell you that at any price, the dealer isn't making much either on the boat or the motor. I am a Mercury, Evinrude and Yamaha dealer and if we make $500 on a $15,000 motor, it's a cold day in July in South Florida. I don;t think the boat dealers are working with much margin either

[Nice_Bass]

My promblem is with Mercury. Dont get me wrong I love the motors, they have had issues but give 5 year warrenty- but the various engines are all on the same blocks. 75, 90 115, all the same. i believe 225 and 250 are the same as well. Why...i dont know.

[salmicropterus]

My promblem is with Mercury. Dont get me wrong I love the motors, they have had issues but give 5 year warrenty- but the various engines are all on the same blocks. 75, 90 115, all the same. i believe 225 and 250 are the same as well. Why...i dont know.

This is an attempt by the motor companies to develop some economy of scale. The differences in HP for each block or motor family lies in the mapping of the computer.

[Nice_Bass]

This is an attempt by the motor companies to develop some economy of scale. The differences in HP for each block or motor family lies in the mapping of the computer.

So a reprogram, along with changing out the airflow would essentially upgrade the motor?...interesting.

[WookieeJedi]

So a reprogram, along with changing out the airflow would essentially upgrade the motor?...interesting.

I was thinking similarly. I would think there would be some gear ratio differences in the foot section as well.

[J Francho]

Yeah, that simple. Throw in injectors, lower unit, and you can also throw away your warranty too. Basically everything you would need to accomplish this would cost more then just buying the motor you wanted in the 1st place. Why any of this is a "problem" is beyond me.

[Nice_Bass]

Yeah, that simple. Throw in injectors, lower unit, and you can also throw away your warranty too. Basically everything you would need to accomplish this would cost more then just buying the motor you wanted in the 1st place. Why any of this is a "problem" is beyond me.

You can throw away the warrenty, but no it would not cost more than buying a new unit. The problem is some boats (my boat) model year had a lower hp than the year previous- and if we are talking the same weight motor than after the warrenty is up i would like to upgrade- just would have to work within the means of the current max hp listed.

[J Francho]

You think buying a 75, and doing everything to convert it to a 115 will be less than buying a 115? Keep dreaming.

[Nice_Bass]

Just 90 actually. As always keep up the positive thoughts.

[J Francho]

I'm a very positive, and optimistic person, but I live in reality. A 90hp Opti is $7100. A 115hp Opti is $7425. You cannot make a 90hp into a 115 for less than $325.

[Nice_Bass]

No, but I can make a paid for free and clear 75hp into a 90 with only $325 instead of buying a new 90 for $7100. In reality, with the rpm boost top end will only be up slightly, and hole shot may be worse.

Boat is only rated to 75hp where as the year before it was rated 90hp, so even if I wanted to I could not just throw $7100 up in the air. it is the same weighted block, cylinder, etc. yet merc charges more for what is a ECM change and a more open air intake on the optimax- thus why I have this "problem" and how it is applicable to the discussion of why boats are overpriced.

Long story short- feasible, applicable, yet would make my boat essentially illegal in a sense, so really have no intentions of pulling it off.

[WookieeJedi]

I'm a very positive, and optimistic person, but I live in reality. A 90hp Opti is $7100. A 115hp Opti is $7425. You cannot make a 90hp into a 115 for less than $325.

I know of a couple of places around here that have some outboards for next to nothing. Some of them have bad lowers, some of them have bad motors, and the lower is just fine. A motivated gearhead could probably buy a combination of units, do a little work, and have an entire custom-made running motor for under 5 bills.

[J Francho]

Do it, document it, and share it then.

[WookieeJedi]

Do it, document it, and share it then.

I may just. I have a boat build planned. I have two other builds to do first, so it will be a while before I start it. That would make a good thread.

I did a similar thing once before. I had sold my first rig, a Tidecraft Spitfire, and bought a Pro Gator. The Gator had a Evinrude 85 with a bad lower. I found another boat with with the same unit, just a good lower and bad motor. The I wound up buying the whole rig. That upper had great compression, and lasted for years. I swapped out trolling motors, and got a 65 Merc to put on the back of the swap boat. I had to do some work to get it running right, but wound up selling the swap boat for more than I paid for it, and I had an upgrade trolling motor and parts hog for my Evinrude to boot. I only ever used the water pump, though. I got these "problem" boats so cheap, it was almost like a free boat. Very satisfying experience when you do something like that.

[J Francho]

Just an FYI, since I looked some of this up. The 75 and 90 have the same lower unit. A LU for a '04-08 115 was like $2200 for a pull-off. That included the $250 "core fee" which they use to eval of the housing, driveshaft, and propshaft. Already looking a little tough to get this under $325. That core fee leaves you just $75 in the budget, assuming you get the LU for free, or offset it by selling the 75-90 LU.

[WookieeJedi]

Core fee? That sounds just like New York. I'm a little further South, and Boudreaux and Geautreaux don't have core fees, just back lots full of stuff. Stuff with wasp nests, snakes, and animals living in them. Plus, you get a discount and a free beer if you get bit.

[J Francho]

Knock yourself out. When you go over budget, are you going to blame Mercury?

[WookieeJedi]

Why would I blame Merc? I'm more familiar with OMC, so I would most likely use one of theirs, but I got nothing against Merc.

I don't mind going a little over budget on a project like this, if the upgrade is good enough. There are only several thousand things that can go wrong when you start something like that, it isn't so bad if you go in eyes wide open and don't mind the taste of grease on your sammich. The whole thing sounds like fun.

[J Francho]

Why would I blame Merc?

Read above. nice_Bass complained that Merc used the same parts for different models - something the car manus have been doing since the invention of the internal combustion engine was put in a horse buggy. That's where the idea that it was a "simple software swap" to upgrade a 90 to a 115. If that's what you want, here's a list of 115 LU, for a start. Looks like Boudreaux and Geautreaux are selling for a little more than a beer and a bee sting - note the cheapest a unproven relevant LU without a munched skeg is $400 + shipping. I'm not even sure what else you need to get to do it properly, but I'm going to wager that the difference is quite a bit. probably easier and cheaper to repower, and sell the current 90.

I have no doubt you can cobble together a great running junk yard dog from spare parts. My dad's old Penn Yan woody had a 50's Johnson 65hp that worked fine, as long as you fixed whatever was wrong every spring. Didn't cost much at all, considering.

But this was about turning a specific 90 into a 115. Buy the motor you want from the get go, it's only a few dollars more. It's A LOT MORE to DIY.