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VIP Boats


shawncuz

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I have an older (96) VIP 215 Deckliner with fishing package, love the boat but the company is out of business.  There is not much info out there on them.  They weren't top of the line boats but certainly not bottom of the barrell either.   What model are you looking at?

I'm actually looking to trade mine in for a bass boat, soon.  Very soon.

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I was always told to avoid them by a mechanic and fiberglass repair guy. This was in the late 80s/90s. 

Any used boat requires THOROUGH inspection by a mechanic you know and trust.  Soft spots in deck, motor inspection, hull leaks, etc.  Crawl under the boat and look for stress cracks.  They are hard to find sometimes.  

 

When pull the plug after test driving and water coms out, it's got a leak somewhere.  Could be something, could be nothing. 

 

Used boats are like taking home a questionable girl. Lol

Need marine repair? Send our own forum friend "fishinwrench" a message. 

He will treat you like family!!! I owe fishinwrench a lot of thanks. He has been a great mechanic with lots of patience!

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VIP tried to position themselves as the affordable alternative to Ranger and Skeeter bass boats and Cobalt and Mark Twain pleasure craft. They did this by using derivative designs and by using "standard" components. Think Bass Tracker from 1990 to 2000. What they made were pretty good boats with standard/easy/less expensive parts. With their boats I suggest you carefully look at the use and care the boat received. Less of the former and more of the latter could make for a good buy. And vice versa.

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And my comment was mainly the decks used OSB board or something and the decks rotted out easily.  Can't remember the specifics but what RPS said sounds right. 

Need marine repair? Send our own forum friend "fishinwrench" a message. 

He will treat you like family!!! I owe fishinwrench a lot of thanks. He has been a great mechanic with lots of patience!

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A local dealer here on LO sold VIP's during the 80's and there are still a bunch of them around that still appear to be holding up well.   Most are fish-n- ski types that are typically tough in the transom but weak in the bow.   

They were rated for plenty of HP as a bunch of the 18 footers were rigged with monster Evinrude 235's

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26 minutes ago, fishinwrench said:

A local dealer here on LO sold VIP's during the 80's and there are still a bunch of them around that still appear to be holding up well.   Most are fish-n- ski types that are typically tough in the transom but weak in the bow.   

They were rated for plenty of HP as a bunch of the 18 footers were rigged with monster Evinrude 235's

And if anyone has seen these in the shop.....

 

^^^

THIS guy has. :-)

Need marine repair? Send our own forum friend "fishinwrench" a message. 

He will treat you like family!!! I owe fishinwrench a lot of thanks. He has been a great mechanic with lots of patience!

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