Has buying a new boat or a boat with a better reputation always been a better boat for you.

I sold a 2004 Ranger 520VX on here so I could buy a beautiful 2012 Skeeter ZX250. If I had to do it all over again, I would keep the older Ranger. Not because it was a better boat, but simply because the Ranger was paid for and I owe a good bit of money on the Skeeter. I'm just a weekend/holiday fisherman and don't fish many tournaments. It's just a fun hobby for me. So, although I'm faster now than I was. I'm better looking now than I was. I'm less worried now about things breaking and I don't have all the little blemishes to bug me, I'm not sure it was worth what I'm paying for the newer boat.

My dad bought a 1986 Cajun 16' bass boat in 1995. Sold it after buying a 1996 20' skeeter about 12 years ago. 6 months later he decided to buy it back. Bought a brand new center console, kept the skeeter and sold the cajun. He then bought the cajun back for the second time. Sold it again after buying a brand new bass boat. Literally bought it back at the end of that summer. He gave it to a family member who has always wanted a boat and that will be its home for a long time. After every new boat he bought he would rather be in his old $1500 boat. He still says he wishes he could put that old Force 120HP outboard on his new 17' Skeeter. He loved that boat and obviously regretted selling it enough to buy it back 3 times. Of course he also would rather drive his 1976 or 1992 chevy than his brand new one, so maybe it is just him. LOL.

I bought a 2004 (i think) Nitron 591. That boat didn't owe me anything. It was a great boat. Since then i have owned Rangers and am currently running a Phoenix 920. I often wish I was back in my crappy old Nitro.

I've run almost every major boat brand at some point. At the end of the day I bought another used nitro. You get more boat for the $. Plus since they are at a lower price point they have always been easy to resale. I've regretted selling my z7 with a 200, so after running Ranger for a year I bought another one.

An interesting topic!

It's an example of diminishing returns isn't it? You get older and can afford more and/or you get a bit deeper into fishing as a hobby: you buy a "better" boat.

Most of us can empathize via the cars we have owned. New ones are certainly improved, more comfortable but way more complex. I sometimes close my eyes and imagine being back in my first car, a 1965 Mustang, with hand cranking windows and manual seat adjusters and tune jobs were simply points/plugs and condenser, reset the timing, all on the driveway.

It was great at getting from point A to point B, the same car today is likely valued well above what I paid for mine in 1968. Boats can be like this, I am sure.

Brad

I bought a new Stratos VLO189 withe an Evinrude 150 about four years ago. That was a good boat and since I fish by myself a lot, It was the right size. But I made the mistake of looking around for new boats and bought ZX250 Skeeter and loaded it up with all of the bling I could get. I didn't need it, just did it because I could. Love the boat but miss the smaller Stratos.

I have a 1997 Ranger 372 that I bought brand new and love it. It's paid for, it runs like a bat out of hell, and I beat it all to heck with stumps and it just keeps on running. I hauled it 1200 miles this winter into Mexico to lake Oviachic and had no problems except one of my trailer fenders started falling off, I finally had to pull over and screw it back on. I would like to have a bigger boat so I can put my rods below deck, but I just hate to start making boat payments. I'm going to be buying one in about 18 months and have about 34k saved up now, but I'm really not sure I want to get rid of mine.

Strange way to word the Topic to ask the question you asked but here goes.

Yes, I have bought a few off-brand boats over the years that I regretted. One was a brand new 1985 Spirit with a Yamaha 220 Special

The boat fell apart in one year while the motor kept on ticking.

I've really enjoyed my Blazer, went to it from Basscat. It may not have the reputation Basscat has but its a sweet boat. I also really enjoyed my Cajun and I know they don't have the best reputation either. All older boats though, never owned one newer than a 95 model.

My 15' Super-Skeeter sure caught a lot of fish for me and wish I still had it.
Would be going out this weekend if I did.

I sold a 98 Bass Cat Jaguar with a 225 Optimax and bought a new Phoenix 921. I love my new boat but still not quite sure why I did it. That Bass Cat was a great boat and fished awesome.

My first boat was a 2008 Stratos 186XT with a 115 ETec sold it to buy a 2012 z118 Ranger my first stratos was put together better then that ranger and my 2015 294xl Eco its brutal and sad to be honest of the quality from those two lines of boats the past seven or so years

My first boat was a 12' Jon one hp paddle drive, later added a 5 hp rude. Sold it and the buyer was as happy as I was when I bought it. After about 6 years bought a early 70's Terry bass 15' w 40 hp Johnson, sold it to a guy that was as happy as I was when I bought it. Bought my first brand "new" 91 16' Tidecrap w Merc 115. Was really satisfied with it even though so many people had quality issues, it still looked in show room condition because where and what I came from learned to take care of my stuff. I traded it on my current brand new 2001 Triton Tr186 with Merc XR6. Its paid for and every upgrade I've done has improved it and taking care of it still looks as good as the day I drove it off the lot. I've thought about trading it in on a new bigger boat then I think there isn't anything wrong and this one still fits my needs. So put new electronics, charger and trolling motor and look at the paid for toy I enjoy. So no regrets here.

I had a wooden Skeeter with a 10 HP Wizard motor. Caught a lot of fish out of that boat in the lakes and bayous of Northwest Louisiana.