Evening guys

I'm looking at getting a new boat. I see Bass Pro has these on for a pretty good price during this classic. Has anyone had any experience with these boats? Are they made any better than they used to be? Reason is, my dad used to have a '01 Nitro 896 and that this had it fair share of quality issues.


Thanks for any help

Ive had a few Nitros over the years and never had issues with any of them. They build a solid boat and I would buy another one. Sorry to hear your dads boat had problems. What were some of the worst issues that he had? I never owned the 898 or any of those in that series but I noticed Nitro didnt make those models for long.

I had a Savage 896 for 7 years, and not one single problem, She was a good boat.

I have 2005 17.5 ft with a 115 and it's been a good boat. Some small issues with some hardware like locks on the storage boxes but nothing major.

It has always been hard to steer and is getting worse. For instance my wife doesn't like to drive it because it's to hard for her to turn.

This is the only performance boat I've had and it seem to porpoise an awful lot and once it starts you have to bring it off plane and start over. So I guess it's hard to keep trimmed on plane at moderate speeds.

The prices are less than 2005 especially the 18.5 ft w the 150hp

I have 2005 17.5 ft with a 115 and it's been a good boat. Some small issues with some hardware like locks on the storage boxes but nothing major.

It has always been hard to steer and is getting worse. For instance my wife doesn't like to drive it because it's to hard for her to turn.

This is the only performance boat I've had and it seem to porpoise an awful lot and once it starts you have to bring it off plane and start over. So I guess it's hard to keep trimmed on plane at moderate speeds.

The prices are less than 2005 especially the 18.5 ft w the 150hp

I looked at an X-5 yesterday. It will fit in my garage. Looked nice and with a 115 I think would be pretty nice. I didnt see any great price here nothing below 20K.

He didn't keep it long. He had a dual console and the fiberglass started to crack and seals were coming off left and right on all the storage boxes.

I like the Z7 and I think they build them better than they used to. I found a used Ranger today I think I may go take a look at.

Thanks for the comments guys.

Interesting...I figured you could get the X5 for right at 20K? I think I would like the Z7 a little better. It's get a little too windy down here in SE Texas so I think that 18' 8" platform woudl be the smallest I would probably want.

I think the z7 for 22 grand is a great deal for a new boat....especially since they now come with the 150 optimax instead of the basic efi.....2 graphs...70lb trolling motor...3 batteries....plus 5 year warranty on motor.....not too bad of a deal if you ask me

Yeah I saw the Z7 for 22 or 23ish. One would think a X-5 would be alot less considering the 115 optimax instead of a 150. The X-5 was 21K with the optimax....

i have a 115opti x-5. I have no complaints. I got my for less than 20grand. Great boat. Let me know if you have any questions on the boat.

I like the design of the hull on the X-5 it looks alot like a champion hull. I heard they was going to discontinue it and have only the Z-series boats. I do like the new Z-series hull feature of the R.P.S. (Rapid Planning System), I ask Mr. Stacey King how much of a difference it made and he said it would plane it about half the time of there previos hulls. I have an 898 and when I have full gas, gear and livewells it takes forever to plane out.

There is no comparison between the Nitros of years ago and the Nitros of today. Today's Nitros are comparable to any other boat on the market in regards to quality, performance, etc. The X-5 and Z-7 are highly rated boats. You can go to the Nitro Board on BBC and get a lot of info. on them. The Z-7 with a 200 Opti. will run in the low 70's with a full tournament load. There are a lot of guys seriously looking at Nitro now with the decrease in prices and they're finding out what great boats they are.