turbofox54

The only reason I can even think of having a boat is the fact that I can work on them myself. There's no way I could afford to pay someone to do the repairs or maintenance. That's my hold up on the Pachanga, it needs fiberglass work and I do not like it nor is it my specialty. It's been frustrating to the point I'd rather sell it but it gets no interest even priced well below part value. I'd love to to get it done and run it but if it ends up going it will prolly be replaced with a 22-24 ft dual engine Vortex jetboat. Lifetime hull and 5 year power train warranty sound really nice right about now. But even that is in the 60-70k range. I love the look and fun of a powerboat but like others have said they are a lot of money for a small function. If I had looked more before I got into the Pachanga I prolly would have tried to find a MCOB as it adds some function to a go fast style. There's not many entry level options around unless you are willing to take on a project that most people can't handle or don't want to. It is true that the younger generation just isn't interested in turning a wrench or doing anything more than turning a key and adding gas.

Jupiter Sunsation

1. Can't give away something and then walk into the dealership and pay top dollar for something new or new to them.
2. On hot rods, guys value them as the sum of the parts invested rather than the total package. If you take a Pinto and put 5K in paint, 5K in motor, 5K in wheels/suspension then it has to be worth 15-20K right? Nobody is going to spend 15-20K on a hot rod Pinto! Boats have the same problem. The auction/car shows don't help valuations either. Guy sees a 57 Chevy sell for 200K on tv and suddenly his 75 Chevy Impala has to be worth half that (after all it's 18 years newer!).

powerqrudy

Our marina on lake st clair is packed .. the lake seems not as busy as it was 20 years ago but its still early.

but high gas might not help.. i think $2,00 would help....

I think may first timers are going the Pontoon route ...i am not a big fan of pontoons.. unless you are 80 years old. They just look like something that a couple of cheap engineers put together with leftover parts so they could go boating over the 2 week shutdown.

Is it me or has the Govt has assisted in killing off anything that was fun ? Boating Snowmobing... look how expensive they both have gotten.

The collage i Graduated from 17k a year ? WTF ?

vintage chromoly

Saw a pontoon on Lake Erie last Friday. Even the wife said, "what are they thinking?"

vintage chromoly

Im talking about market value declining, not the sum of building a boat or car. Dreamers will always think they have gold bullion.

Good clean boats and cars are holding their own.

If the hobby is "dead", one would think the market value of the boats would reflect that. Maybe guys with big dollar boats are losing their shirts on them? I'm not privy to that as I'm a small fry.

Jupiter Sunsation

Plenty of "bleeders" in the classifieds. 51 OL, listed for 269K and seller notes this boat was over 1 million new. The guy that built the 2mm 47 Apache got about 1/5 of his money back. Check out the quad 1075 50 Nortech.....asking 399K on a 50 hour boat that was a million new. Even at asking price that boat cost the owner $12,000 an hour plus fuel, plus insurance, plus misc. costs......Sounds like fun losing $200+ a minute!

I have a neighbor that bought a chopper in the height of that craze. I think the bike is butt ugly and it definitely runs like sh1t but he still owns it....WHY? He wants to get his 80K back so he figures when the market returns he will have a mint low mileage chopper ready to go. I think he will be lucky to find a sucker that wants to pay 1/3 of that.

thirdchildhood

'Toons are everywhere. Lake Huron, Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair, the Rivers. Our local lake gets so clogged up with toons idling around on week-ends that the boats that want to run the lake's perimeter can't even run their boats. I hate toons more than I hate sailboats and PWCs jumping my wake. They aren't even boats. Aren't they technically "rafts"?

hoodoo

General aviation has been in the same situation for years.

Nate5.0

Why say that? At least they are on the water and enjoying the day.

If anything the newer ones coming out these days look half decent and are loaded with features and comforts.

Pismo10

Where I boat, sadly, it is busier than ever. Lower gas prices this summer will add to it. Bow riders, deck boats, cruisers dominate. Manufacturers are pricing themselves out of the mkt. With student debt and welfare being the biggest "employer" thanks to our current "leadership" it is hard for youngers to get involved..