Don't get hung up on brand. I would suggest you look at
www.boattraderonline.com for a 18' runabout w/ a V6 inboard/outboard engine.
This will give you plenty of power, good amount of room for people, and will
do whatever you want. Decide a price range you can afford and start
shopping in your area.
Since you are not familiar with boats, a good suggestion would be to go down
to the local marina/boat dock and talk to people. Boat owners will be
willing to talk about their experience and who offers good service in your
area. Then once you find a boat - take it to a good service place and have
them check everything on the boat. They will tell you what, if anything is
wrong with it and what it will cost to fix.
I do recommend you find a boat w/ a Mercruiser in it instead of OMC. Volvo
is ok but not as many people work on them.

Now, having said that, some brands are overall better than others. Here my
rating guide.
1. Cobalt
2. Crownline, SeaRay, Doral
3. Chapparel, Starcraft, Stingray, Four Winns, etc..
4. Maxum
5. Bayliner
I know everyone has an opinion and this may not be others.
Bottom line, I would avoid Bayliner and Maxum as they do use less quality
materials in general.
However, a well maintained Maxum would be worth a lot more than a Cobalt
that has been left out in the weather and even left in the water for months
at a time.


Tony
my boats at http://t.thomas.home.mchsi.com



"Misiora" wrote in message
om...
Hello everyone,
I am so new to boating that I have no idea where to start... I'm
looking for a used runabout approx 17-19 ft with 100-150 HP engine.
I'm not even sure if that's what I need... Anyways, looking at all the
brands I can't figure out how to rate the manufacturers (like with
cars, generally Mercedes is better yhat Hyundai or a Volkswagen - no
offence...). How do boat manufacturers rate, ie. how does a similar
model of Bayliner compare to Stingray, Crowline, Doral, etc...

Any advice?
Thanks,
martin