Boat Buying - Your Thoughts?

[jigger]

Basscatcher.. if this boat is going to be used for recreation.. you are going to need the swim ladder, sun top, radio and such....believe me you are going to spend more time pulling a tube, a swim tube that is, than you know..."Dad can we go tubing" will be repeated more than you know.

[NWBuck]

Amen to that jigger

We went with the 1800 Fisherman and 150...back when you could get a new one with a 4 stroke Yamaha (2003). Had I wanted strictly a fishing boat, I'd have gone with the Pro V. Strictly a pleasure boat, certainly another breed as well. But the Fisherman is a great combo boat that has caught a ton of fish and pulled kids and their friends about the same amount...perhaps more.

If we had waited until we could afford this boat (or similar) for cash, my kids would be gone. I have a photo album full of pictures of my 7 year old son and I catching anything from bluegills to pike. He bugs me almost daily to go fishing again, and I wouldn't trade these memories for anything. The boat will be paid off soon enough, and it is part of the monthly budget I enjoy paying, because it reminds of good times had, and yet to come.

[Pikeslayer]

I wish I would have bought anew boat.I like old clasic stuff so Iwent with a 1959 16ft alum Starcraft,nice boat but finding parts for my power trim has been a nightmare

[Down Deep]

My opinion, based on what you have stated thus far, is that you already seem to be cutting a fine line financially. You state that you had to take 5K to replace your HVAC cutting into your boat fund. This type of expense should be accounted for in your household budget for home repair. I'm not preaching, but a boat is a luxury and shouldn't interfere with what should be predictable family expenses.

A $20,000 boat at 7.5% for 12 years ($215.00 per month) will cost you approximately $10,500 in intrest over 12 years. But raise your monthly payment by $100.00 per month and you can knock the intrest down by 2/3rds and 6 years off the number of payments. $100 is roughly 1 sack of groceries per week. Point here is that if you go long term to get more stuff now you will spend a fortune in intrest and the more you finance the more you pay BIGTIME. Long term financing for a purchase that will almost totally deprecialte by the end of the term and more than likely will require substantial maintenance cost makes no prudent financial sense. You also limit your flexibiity to trade up or sellout without getting stung with a big payoff.

The only reason that these 10 to 12 year finance deals are offered is so boat sellers can expand the market base for higher priced and more profitable units. Like you said the more years that are financed the higher the interest because the risk of default for the lender increases.

My advice would be to set a payment that you can live with now for a term of 5 to 6 years and purchase a boat the fits that price. There is nothing preventing you from upgrading in 3 to 5 years if your financial picture changes: but it could also change for the worse. (ie the furnace goes again)

[eyepatrol]

All very good points here! First, yes, we are looking into the family/fishing type of boat. The Lund Fisherman, The Alumacraft Trophy, the Crestliner Sportfish, the Stratos 386XF and so on (there's about 8 models we're eyeing). We're looking at the 18.5' lenghth boats that have the jump seats, the bow cushions, the ski tow bar, swim ladder, sun top, etc. although we could do without the swim ladder as my folks have one they no longer use.

My kids just turned 3 and 1 a couple weeks ago. It will be a while before they're skiing yet, but tubing could be in the cards next year (slow trolling speed) and progressing from there. I do have other relatives though that like to ski and rough it up on a tube.

We're certainly going to miss the additional $5K we had allocated for a boat, but the "loss" (for lack of a better term) of that money simply means instead of getting a totally decked out boat, we'll get something a little less now and add other equipment on later (i.e. - kicker motor, second sonar, etc). The other items will be put on in 2008 (unless we find a used boat with all the goodies) We've been financially responsible enough to have the means necessary to buy a boat, replace the HVAC and still have money left over. We just have our limits that we won't exceed for minimums and maximums.

12 years or more I believe is certainly out of the question. I know we could get the boat paid off in less than that, but if we go 12 years, I know my wife will hold me to keeping the boat for that long, whether we pay it off early or not. I'd like to keep my options a little more open than that.

Thanks again for all the great comments, suggestions and concerns. We've been looking over, studying and considering boats heavily for at least 6 months now, although on a personal note, I've been researching boats since the first day after I sold my previous one. It's been quite a learning experience and a whole heckufa lot of fun! My first boat, I just took my buddies advice and went and bought one. This time, there's a lot more thought process being put into it (and I have a wife to appease now too)!!!!