Hello from Tampa FL

[WTFover]

Hello,
I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Jason, and I live in Land O' Lakes FL, which is a suburb of Tampa Florida, and is on on the north side of town. I have lived here my whole life except for when I was in the Marine Corps, as well as a short period in Daytona Beach. I have boated and fished plenty during my time here but never on a jet boat. I am building a new house on a ski lake up here, and as such I am looking at boat to do duty there, but also head to the gulf, bay, or multitude of inland waterways we have here in central Florida. I believe I have settled on an AR240 from Yamaha. I am struggling with the decision to buy used or new. Having owned or helped friends maintain used boats in the past, I really just want to use my boat, and not work on it constantly (other than routine maintenance). It seems like the Yamaha boats hold their value quite well so the depreciation is not as bad when buying new, which is why I am leaning both towards Yamaha and a new purchase. Whatever boat I buy will be stored on a covered boat dock, out of the water. Has anyone had any luck at the boat shows (specifically Miami) striking a better than average deal for a new boat?

 

[ArmyChief]

@WTFover ,

Welcome...we decided on new because of a few reasons. The obvious....all nice and new
Secondly, the 2.99% finance is a no brainer. I'm guessing for used, the best rate you'll find is close to 6%.

We bought at the Tampa boatshow and were able to negotiate a good deal. Cycle Springs up in Clearwater has a program if you pre-buy service (they give you a $$$ loaded gift card), they match it 1:1. Plus, they will warrantee the engine(s) for life!

Good luck and maybe we'll see you one day. We live in southern Sarasota county!

 

[Bill D]

Hello @WTFover , welcome!

I just purchased my 242 Limited S a couple months ago. I too was looking at both new and used. We went to an on the water boat show and test drove a brand new Limited S (which was AMAZING, btw). But, we needed up going with a used boat, a 2011.

The reasons we went used really came down to value per dollar for me. For more than $30k less, I got a similar boat with so many of the upgrades I would have wanted to do to a new vessel.

• All the standard upgrades. Thrust Vectors, Tru Locks, Stereo upgrade. (Stock stereo wasn't great.) $1,500?
• All the extras. (Life Jackets, wakeboards, tubes, kneeboards, racks, ropes, fenders, grill, filler cushions, and so on... $2,000?
• SeaDek flooring upgrade. $1,200
• Tons of cleaning products, toys, floats, etc... $400

Then there was the things that I wouldn't have done right away.

• Garmin GPS unit installed. $1,500
• Perfect Pass Speed control $1,200
• Gaffrig throttle upgrade $600+
• Trailer upgrades (Fulton Winch, UBBs, bow roller, boat buckles...)

So the more we thought about it, we were really spending $40k less than a new LS. Which I figured was a depreciation of $5-7k per year over the first 4 years.

As many will tell you, these boats are very comfortable, reliable, easy to work on, and hold their value well. Whatever you decide, I'm sure you'll be happy with it.

BTW, our used boat loan rate was 4.19% for up to 8 years through BB&T. The difference in purchase price/term saved us over $8k in interest if we let the loan go to term.

Don't get me wrong, the 2015 models are awesome and the improvements over the previous years are awe-striking. (Especially the connext and sound dampening) our situation just made the used option a better fit. Good luck and happy shopping!