Best New Bass Boat For The Money?

[97procraft]

Jay,

If you want to look at longevity. Look at some of the 8-10 year old boats for sale in your area, or on craigslist as a whole. You will see a difference in how they are made and how they have lasted. It is not hard to see which brands consistently hold up over time. After that you can make a better choice on which ones you liked better and go from there.

IMHO if you want best bang for your buck, never buy new, always buy used.

[WeekendWarrior]

Best bang for the buck is a good used boat, there are plenty of good used boats from 10 to 20K. Just get motor checked out along with all the electronics in a boat and pocket the other 20K you would spend on a new one IMO.

[WeekendWarrior]

Jay,

If you want to look at longevity. Look at some of the 8-10 year old boats for sale in your area, or on craigslist as a whole. You will see a difference in how they are made and how they have lasted. It is not hard to see which brands consistently hold up over time. After that you can make a better choice on which ones you liked better and go from there.

IMHO if you want best bang for your buck, never buy new, always buy used.

You beat me to it! I agree totally

[Hunter53]

I agree the best deal would be a slightly used boat.

Since you asked best deal for a new boat; the 496 by Charger......... http://www.chargerboats.com/specialOffers.html

[trytofish]

KVD can afford any boat he wants, but he chooses a Nitro! It must have a HydroWave on it though!

[Whit Warriors]

I went from a Nitro to a Ranger. Both boats 90's models. There is NO comparison. The Ranger is a MUCH better boat. Now u have heard that the newer Nitro's have caught up with the big boys. A good friend of mine bought a brand new Z7 last year and loves it. It rides, handles and fishes very well. I fish from a buddy's Champion often and it's a good bass boat.

If your a die hard tourny guy look at the boat manufactures incentive program. It makes a difference.

If not, my advice would be to stay with boat manufactures that will still be in business in 10 to 30 years. I feel the that OEM longevity means a lot. Not just in boats but a lot of things.

PS: I love my Ranger!!!

[Ham]

I love my Bass Cat. No knock on the other boats. I'm sure they're great boats as well. You owe it to yourself to check out Bass Cats before you buy. I bought a lightly used Bass Cat summer of 2010. I'll likely never buy brand new.

[denjac]

So thinking about getting a new bass boat close to 20 ft and 200 hp plus just wondering what everyone thought was the best bang for the buck.

Thanks Jason

Best band for the buck would be Bill Bablers 2012 Phoenix 921 he has for sale. Priced around $20,000 less than a new one.

[Bill Babler]

Champion was absorbed by Stratos. President of that boat company was Jerry Clouse. When Ranger, Stratos, and Champion, and now along with Triton were purchased by a huge ConGlom.

Jerry took what he thought were the best features from all of these lines and produced Phoenix. Any of the major brands anymore are excellent boats, including the Nitro. A guy really needs to look at features and performance and see just what is important to you.

If you want a boat that has won every major JD Power award since the beginning of time I would look at the Bass Cat. NO better record for least repairs and quality construction, the best there has ever been, with no other boat company in its class and the hardware to prove it.

For what used to be the best resale of any boat company and very quality not only construction but very through detail, a Ranger is also in a class by its self.

For exceptional dry and smooth ride with speed in the top end of the spectrum, not Bass Cat Speed but getting on down the pike. Lots of emmenities Huge fishing platforms and unmatched stability and rough water performance. Lots and lots of fisherman friendly goodies just for you, Phoenix is a very big competitor. Take everything I just said there and throw an additional 10 grand on top of that and you have Stratos Elite. Or Stratos-Champion-Elite.

Legend offers a much more compact fishing surface but has very good stability and extreme quality made appointments

Nitro is continuing to tweek and adjust and if you watch yourself very close, you can put a package together with the boat company that all the other companies will be hard pressed to beat on price. Probably if you are a TR LO or Stockton fisherman you should stay in the Z8 or larger boat for the performance you want. Tons of deck space and again lots of goodies with very nice boxes and appointments. Probably the best carpet in the boat industry, but the worst vinyl. You would think?

Triton-Skeeter-Charger Are probably in that order when you judge performance to quality to resale. Other areas of the country the shoe may be on a totally different foot.

For me personally I will never own a Bass Boat under 19' and never buy a boat without at least a yr. full warranty hopefully two or 3 yrs. of warranty.

Recently had a buddy buy a 2008 no warranty the motor had less that 100 hrs. Long story short transom cracked/split and the motor blew chunks about a month and a half after he bought it. $7,500.00 later now and he hopes its ready for the upcoming season.

Should have been looking for a boat in the Fall, they are going to get harder to find what you want and no body is taking any money off this time of the year.

That being said. Just like Denny Said, my 2012 Phoenix is currently priced at $20,000.00 under new with 3 yrs. of warranty and looks like it could go on any showroom floor.

Good Luck with your purchase

[balsabee]

1. Basscat

2. Stroker

3. Allison

Champion would be my number one but since Prime Equity killed it it's not an option. For the money I would buy used.