There was another post the other day talking about resale value. They were using 2012 Legend, Skeeter, Phoenix etc as the example and a 20 footer with a 250 is selling for 38-42k right now.

Here how some guys look at it....58k X 1.0625 is $61625. Add $300 for title and fees and you're at 62k out the door. Subtract your $5800 down payment and you're at the example of 372 for 240 months.

Now many guys will pay on that boat for 5 years. A quick amortization shows a balance of about 45k. I bet a dollar to a donut that after adjusting for inflation that boat will sell for payoff after 5 years. Remember, 5 year old boats that are comparable are selling for 40k right now.

So the average guy has 60 payments of $370 a month plus his $5800 down payment in the boat. That's $28000. 28k divided over 60 months is $455. Would you pay $455 averaged a month to run a brand new boat under warranty until time to sell and start over?

Lots of guys do and will. It's no different than leasing a vehicle. Most people only focus on the monthly cost as long as it's in their budget

How much down and how much a month.
It's the American way.

The price of the boat is the price of the boat. The additional cost is the price for using of other-people's-money to get the boat. Two different things.

A Boat in the end might be a better investment.

Once it is paid off in Texas it is your, if you pay off a house you will have to rent your house back from the Tax Appraisals District until you die, if not they will take your house.

It's called and Amortization Schedule.

K.D, I'm betting these guys that go that route are using your analogy and figures to talk their wives into letting them buy that new Ranger too, lol. But wouldn't you think they have a new truck financed the same way? And then insurance on the boat and truck, high dollar tackle and all the other related expenses. Have to have at least a six figure income and some REAL good credit. I call them 1%er's and I guess there's more of them than I thought.
Red Ranger, I do still pay taxes on my home but it has doubled in value since I bought it and it continues to do so. Boats go the other way.

Different strokes for different folks is the old saying and if your priorities are a new $75,000 boat and you can afford it, it makes you happy and doesn't take food off the table then go for it. I'll admit they SHO do look purty and run real fast. Notice how I slipped in the Yamaha plug, lol.

Boat? Investment? Umm.. No. Not for most people anyway.

These are novelty toys and everyone knows it. People have them because they want them, not because they need them. Now, a discussion of why people want them is a whole other topic.

Think I'm wrong? Look around your house. How many things that you really need did you have to ask your wife's permission to buy?

Damn Cabelas buyout is causing Nitros to be too expensive. Just like a ranger.

Just kidding. Of course.

It is expensive to finance a boat though....that's a fact.

The worst part about boat prices is that there appears to never be an end in sight for the price increases. Every year I think that this has to be the high point where they'll quit selling; but they never do. I do notice that guys are having a harder time reselling their 1-2 year old boats.

The prices have become insane.

Yep.

You're right Mr. River, guess it was the interest that caused the WOW factor. Got to checking how interest affected the cost of a house and came up with this.
$200,000 home financed for 30 years at 6% looks like this:
Total of 360 payments $431,676.38
Total interest paid $231,676.38

15 year loan looked like this:
Total of 180 payments $303,788.46
Total interest paid $103,788.46

Pay that boat off in 10 years and it's not so bad but 5 years makes better sense. Like another poster said, it's the cost of using other peoples money.

Here's a novel concept,buy a great boat new or used pay it off,take care of it and upgrade electronics every few years and if by chance something breaks,fix it.10 or 15 years in you'll have saved a boatload of money.

Your getting the $58K for the value of money today. In 20 years $58 likely buys 1/2 the boat. Just to break even the lender has to beat the rate of inflation. Lenders are not in the business to get even. Stretching out term is never a good idea especially when the term exceeds the potential life of the asset.

New boats are ridiculous in price. As long as they continue to sell them the price will continue to rise. If you want a 60K boat that's $1132 a month with zero down at 5% APR. With 15% down its still $962 a month. You run it out to 240 months then that's $336 a month.

About the best you can do is save up, get the best interest rate and try to find a nice slightly used boat that someone else takes the off the show room depreciation on.

One good thing about a simple internet loan is that if you take a 20 year note you can always pay more per month and that comes right off the principle. You need to do this on the front end of the note where most of your payment is interest with very little principal paid. The key is getting the same interest rat, or just a slightly higher rate on the longer term loan. On my boat the interest rate was the same for 120 months as it was for 60 months so I took the 120 months and paid it at the 60 rate or better. Doing it this way allows some cushion if something unexpected happened as you can always just pay the lower 120 note. You need the discipline to stick to the plan.

The bad thing about boats is its hard to get a great interest rate because recreational vehicles have a high default rate. You better have a real solid credit score to get a good rate.

240 easy payments

Not much sillier than someone financing a new car for 72 months.