Besides the obvious advice that is DON'T BUY A BOAT,I'm thinking about purchasing a new pontoon boat. Went to the boat show last weekend and found what I like and my question is this:how much wiggle room do I have ? Also anyone know of a good site for used boats just to compare ? The reason I'm considering new is used are almost the same price without a warranty. Overall and good purchasing advice would be greatly appreciated either by past experience or if your in the business.
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Pontoon Boat Buying advice
- Thread starter airx22
- Start date
Rule of three F's. If it flys, floats or f*#$s its cheaper to rent.
Great advice and I agree HOWEVER,the wife says "I want a boat this summer".
Oh, pontoon....somehow I read that as poontang 
Yes buy poontang! Get one in every color and size. My dear ole wise Daddy said "You can beat on em for a hundred years and they wont do anything but get bigger and better.".
This is very sound advice!
Although this is great advice NONE of it I can use,should the posts to my wife and with a chuckle she said"those guys are sickos" HA too funny.
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**showed**
with the above general disclaimers... buy now and you will have about as much wiggle room as a new car. Maybe a little less. The thing with boats, planes, etc. generally the folks buying new have money and are less likely to haggle. Moving inventory is not as key as a car lot simply because a boat is not a "must have" like a car is. Wait a bit longer into spring and they will be less likely to negotiate as much as summer is fast approaching and "rich folks buy on a whim" during that time to show off to friends. Ideally, I would wait until mid-fall to buy for the best deals.
Hopefully that is somewhat helpful.. but dont buy a boat. lol
I had a 20' pontoon that I stripped for a fishing platform that was fine and dandy for the first couple years. Then engine problems despite my best efforts to winterize and maintain it. Family has a 28' luxury pontoon now with all the bells and whistles. Still running great.. but it has a $8000 honda motor on so that is to be expected.
two jetskis... in and out of the shop or my garage. More time in repairs than hours on the water.
oh.. and dont buy into "fuel cleaners" "stabilizers" or anything else. If you can buy a boat, suck it up and pay the premium for NON-ETHANOL gas if you want to save yourself some headaches in the future.
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oh.. .yeah... dont buy a boat and REALLY dont buy a jetski
Hopefully that is somewhat helpful.. but dont buy a boat. lol
I had a 20' pontoon that I stripped for a fishing platform that was fine and dandy for the first couple years. Then engine problems despite my best efforts to winterize and maintain it. Family has a 28' luxury pontoon now with all the bells and whistles. Still running great.. but it has a $8000 honda motor on so that is to be expected.
two jetskis... in and out of the shop or my garage. More time in repairs than hours on the water.
oh.. and dont buy into "fuel cleaners" "stabilizers" or anything else. If you can buy a boat, suck it up and pay the premium for NON-ETHANOL gas if you want to save yourself some headaches in the future.
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oh.. .yeah... dont buy a boat and REALLY dont buy a jetski
Don’t just "look" at them!! It is a MUST to go and ride in them. It will greatly change your mind on which ones you like and which you don't!!. Just an example when looking we rode in a 22ft Crest with a 90 horse. The toons were evidently smaller causing less distance from the water to the bottom of the boat and the boat was built with exposed cross braces. All of this combined made for a very slow and "chugging" ride due to the water hitting the braces. I then rode in one with a large I/O and it had stainless steel plating across the bottom, COMPLETELY different ride!!! Totally changed my mind on what I was looking for. Get the largest "toons" (tri-toon if possible!!) and horsepower you can afford and by all means do not settle for something you're really not happy with, you WILL regret it!
Make Friends with someone who already has one and save yourself the hassle. They say the two happiest days of a boat owner is the day he buys it and the day he sells it.
