Boat Buying Advice
 

Newbie taking the plunge and looking at used boats in the 19-23 foot
range. Runabout or Bowrider variety for skiing/wakeboarding. Never
owned a boat before, driven, used and helped maintain several over the
years. Want to keep for long term.

Don't want to get into the 17-18' category and regret buying too small,
ie. not enough interior space for people, coolers, toys, etc.

Leaning towards choosing from Chaparral, Larson, Sea Ray or Glastron
categories, preferably with EFI/MFI Mercruiser engine, of course with as
few hours as possible. Boat would be slipped first year.

Favorable candidates thus far (w/ asking prices):

'02 Chapparal 200 SSE, 220HP Merc 29 hrs, 22,800
'04 Glastron GX-205, 220 Merc 54 hrs, 26,900 (w ext. deck)
'02 Wellcraft Excalibur 21', 220 HP (Merc/Volvo?), 80 hrs, 21,900
'98 Glastron GS-235, 5.7L 350HP Volvo, 145 hrs, 23,500 w/4-5k stereo eq.
'05 Larson LXi 208 (new), 220 Merc, 28,500

Any good or bad suggestions, advice or experience with the above boats
would be very helpful to decide on purchase. Looking to buy within the
next two weeks or so. Mechanical check and test drive naturally.

Thanks
Chuck

"CP" wrote in message
...

Newbie taking the plunge and looking at used boats in the 19-23 foot
range. Runabout or Bowrider variety for skiing/wakeboarding. Never
owned a boat before, driven, used and helped maintain several over the
years. Want to keep for long term.

Don't want to get into the 17-18' category and regret buying too small,
ie. not enough interior space for people, coolers, toys, etc.

Leaning towards choosing from Chaparral, Larson, Sea Ray or Glastron
categories, preferably with EFI/MFI Mercruiser engine, of course with as
few hours as possible. Boat would be slipped first year.

Favorable candidates thus far (w/ asking prices):

'02 Chapparal 200 SSE, 220HP Merc 29 hrs, 22,800
'04 Glastron GX-205, 220 Merc 54 hrs, 26,900 (w ext. deck)
'02 Wellcraft Excalibur 21', 220 HP (Merc/Volvo?), 80 hrs, 21,900
'98 Glastron GS-235, 5.7L 350HP Volvo, 145 hrs, 23,500 w/4-5k stereo eq.
'05 Larson LXi 208 (new), 220 Merc, 28,500

Any good or bad suggestions, advice or experience with the above boats
would be very helpful to decide on purchase. Looking to buy within the
next two weeks or so. Mechanical check and test drive naturally.

Thanks
Chuck

Go bigger if possible. It's amazing how much crap you can try to bring
sometimes. And, HAVE THE BOAT SURVEYED (inspected). Or, read some of the
horror stories here and take your chances.

Consider looking at the newer deck boats w/ a windshield. They offer the
most room and seating capacity and w/ the 5.7L EFI engine it will perform
great. 24' class new is about $33 to $35k so you should be able to find a
good used one in a 2003 or 2004 model at a decent price.

I have found that even thought it is a 22' or so bowrider - it still only
carries 6 to 7 people and you don't have a lot of room for storage. Deck
boat is laid out a lot better.

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

-
"CP" wrote in message
...

Newbie taking the plunge and looking at used boats in the 19-23 foot
range. Runabout or Bowrider variety for skiing/wakeboarding. Never
owned a boat before, driven, used and helped maintain several over the
years. Want to keep for long term.

Don't want to get into the 17-18' category and regret buying too small,
ie. not enough interior space for people, coolers, toys, etc.

Leaning towards choosing from Chaparral, Larson, Sea Ray or Glastron
categories, preferably with EFI/MFI Mercruiser engine, of course with as
few hours as possible. Boat would be slipped first year.

Favorable candidates thus far (w/ asking prices):

'02 Chapparal 200 SSE, 220HP Merc 29 hrs, 22,800
'04 Glastron GX-205, 220 Merc 54 hrs, 26,900 (w ext. deck)
'02 Wellcraft Excalibur 21', 220 HP (Merc/Volvo?), 80 hrs, 21,900
'98 Glastron GS-235, 5.7L 350HP Volvo, 145 hrs, 23,500 w/4-5k stereo eq.
'05 Larson LXi 208 (new), 220 Merc, 28,500

Any good or bad suggestions, advice or experience with the above boats
would be very helpful to decide on purchase. Looking to buy within the
next two weeks or so. Mechanical check and test drive naturally.

Thanks
Chuck

I am selling a 2004 Sea Ray 220 Select in NJ if you are intersted in
taking a look. (I think I responded to another identical post, but
thought I would so so here too.)

The 220 Select seats 10, is 23 feet LOA, 8.5 ft beam, and has high
gunwales. It also has a huge sunpad and integrated swim platform. We
love the boat but my wife is pregnant and we don't think we can afford
it anymore or that we will get much use out of it the next few years.

It has a wakeboard tower, galv trailer w/dual axle brakes, fire
supression, and extras. Merc 5.0L and Bravo III are under warranty
until 2007. If you want more info or pics, email newlyn8793(at)aol.com