I have a 2008 Nitro that is still in great shape, carpet still looks good but seats are starting to crack a little. It's all about how well you take care of them. Mine has been either under a carport with a canvas cover, or in a garage.

The carpet in mine is still in good shape, yes, it has stains but a good washing every other year perks it up and it looks almost as good as new. The seats are in great shape, no cracks or torn seams. The stick on letters came off a couple of years ago but that isn't a big deal to me.
The only thing I have had to fix that wasn't normal maintenance was the steering cable. Evidently it got water in it somehow and corroded. Wasn't a big deal to replace. BTW, cables are available at Amazon so I didn't have to deal with Bass Pro.

After doing my due diligence I bought a '15 Z7 with a four stroke Merc 150. Why? It fit my needs. I'm basically a beginner with a boat although I've been around them all my life just never owned my own. I really thought I needed a Ranger or a Skeeter but couldn't justify the cost. I'm not a tournament fisherman or a pro I'm just a guy who likes to fish. I'm happy with it as it fits my needs. I take good care of my boat and it's stored in the man cave so I expect it to last for years. If you decide what fits your needs and your budget go with it. Don't buy on peer pressure or what makes you look better. If it's a Ranger or Skeeter then by all means have at it. If not, don't. I love my Nitro and it fishes well.

I bought a 1991 model 21 ft. nitro in 1997 for $6800. It had stress cracks in several areas through out it. The 2 that worried me were in the transom comers. I took a 1/2" sheet of aluminum and bolted through the transom and remounted my 200 evinrude. I never had any trouble after that. I did idle over some stumps later and found a couple of cracks where the pad on the bottom meet the lower transom at the strakes. Fixed them and good to go till I sold it years later for $6500. That model boat I found out later was when they were changing up the gel coating mixture. It had issues from drying too brittle. I heard they changed the mix later and fixed the stress crack issues for the most part. I had that boat for 14 years fishing from fork to pk year round in ice, snow,hail 2xs, 110 degrees in summer. It only ran 73 mph but it took some 4 ft waves several times. Word of caution on that year model don't try to make a sharp turn when going 73. I found out how much cushion I could suck up my back side. Like above posts say it is not a Cadillac or Lexus. It will get you through several years of fishing with average maintenance and up keep without paying Cadillac prices though.

Nitro's fish pretty darn well with the trolling motor down, even with 2 big guy's pitchin' and skippin docks on the front deck.

Have a 2010 Z-7 now, 3rd owner, carpet is in great shape still, bought it from my partner and we fished this boat hard. He went to a skeeter so we can have a shot at Skeeter Real Money in tournaments as we won a couple out of the Nitro.

i got what youre saying but the last and only cadillac i owned, most the plastic inside either broke or came off plus had an unreal amount of trouble with the motor and sold the POS before it had 90k miles on it.

I have a 96 Nitro boat and it has served me well. I will not say they are the best boats on the water but they are not the worse either. I'm not a pro angler and I'm not on the water 5 days a week. I got what I could afford to enjoy my hobby.

Have you ever owned a Nitro?

Never owned a nitro, I wasn't knocking nitro boats.....thought really hard about buying one before I made the decision on a Skeeter

There were quality control issues in the past but I think they make a pretty good boat now, drove a triton 21 trx and a nitro z21 last summer, liked the nitro better.

I have been in Nitros for 15 years. Never really had the quality issues. Been in plenty of other boats dont see the big difference. But then again my biggest concern is fishing, not what others think.

I HAVE owned a Nitro so I speak from experience. As stated before, in older models, it's the little things, fit and finish stuff. These days, It seems Nitro has really stepped up the quality and design and I would run one of I was in the market, and take the significant savings and invest it in big graphs and upgrades.

I guess it's changed. In the old days, skeeters were the cheap boats and rangers were the tops. We fished out of an old cane cutter and caught plenty of fish on Rayburn and Nac. Now, I have a Proline 22, a kayak, a salty dog flats boat, a canoe etc. None of it fancy. Catches fish. The one thing I'd do away with in any boat is the carpet.

Exactly, as long as you are happy who cares what others are fishing out of and what they think?

Owned a 901 cdx 2003 other than being a little heavy it was a great boat. Not a more stable fishing platform
J D