A friend of mines son just purchased a new crestliner and he has had nothing but problems. His has been back to the factory twice in the first year. I thought it was a good looking boat but he was none to happy with it.

What were the issues? I did a lot of research and everything I found was it was a great and reliable boat.

my 2014 RT 188 is a great boat. Merc ProXS 115 sips gas, and will rum 40 mph all day. I put a Trick Step on mine,
I'm 72, and wife and I have no problems with transporting, loading/unloading. I got all the bells and whistles,..luv it..

I would add Avid to the search.

One of my neighbors has an Avid and it looks good passing it on the highway.

I need to catch him close to the house so I can get an up close and personal look at it.

Speaking from experience and growing up in Louisiana what ever you buy make sure it has a pad hull like a fiberglass bass boat. I ran a Tracker TX17 aluminum rig for a while with the normal bottom like most aluminum boats would have and what I learned from running that boat is if you get up on a stump or cypress knee pretty solid it is next to impossible to get off it, the boat will only come off going backwards or forwards. I got hung up a couple of times and experienced this. A pad hull boat; because of the steps in the hull, will come off a stump almost infinitely in any direction. That being said I definitely avoid fiberglass; especially if you are going to fish tight waters. My choice would be the Ranger RT188P or one of the Vexus models with a pad hull.

Over the years I've broken more aluminum hulls than most folks will ever own. Broke 2 Xpress so bad they were sitting on the level flotation. One had a 46" crack right up the middle of the keel. Xpress made good on their warranty and built me a new hull, that cracked in about a dozen places. Cracked the ribs in a Crestliner, broke the hull to side welds on a Monark. Moral of the (my) story is that if you plan on running rough water on lakes like Rayburn or Toledo, don't expect a tin boat to hold up. I've seen very few aluminum boats that I can't find cracked welds.

I seriously have no idea how you all bust up aluminum rigs. I got an 04 TX 17 that I beat the [censored] out of.....my lake starts getting wavy after 5mph sustained, and just gets worse the faster it gets. I regularly run in 10-15mph through whitecaps and drive full throttle (Only 26-28mph tho LOL) and do get beat up, but Ive never felt like I was gonna break the boat no matter how hard I came down after a wave.

I go super shallow...run into rocks, bump into docks....and in general make sure i get my moneys worth with that boat! LOL so its crazy to hear some of the negatives. Those new boat complaints happen with most all rigs imo. Anecdotal stories, but those are the exception not the rule. Id do a final walkthrough like a mofo if I ever bought a new boat...as is I checked the hell out of the used one. Id do the same with a new boat....and I bet lots of those complaints would get solved there versus while using the rig after purchase.

Some Guys just have little weeners and need to have a glitter pony and a lifted truck. To each their own.

When I said wanting something lighter and easier to deal with, I meant easier to move around in my garage. Launching and loading is not a concern. After backing boat into my garage, I always move it closer to the wall to allow more room between my wife's car. I have to do this by hand...

Let me guess, you can’t afford what you really want?

I have looked at a Vexus aluminum boat up close and agree it is impressive looking. I have also looked at the Ranger aluminum boats and like them too. Hard to find new inventory at the dealerships, but eventually I will decide what to buy and get one. I appreciate all the advice and personal experiences. This is what I was hoping for. Thanks again!

Damn Dirk Digler! We can’t all be like you!
I fall in the average category. My boat is a fiberglass boat, with zero glitter and my 4x4 is 100% stock.

they don’t make the lower urinals for everyone