No apples to apples comparisons?

Gary,
I think when they do your proper homework and comparisons, they will find that Nitro wins, Apples to Apples, no other way to put it, just like I found out.

I agree. That's what I have found.

Looking for facts, but I do agree with ya'll. Just a little tired of all of the nay sayers and my "BUD"stories from all of the guys who paid to much. Looked at a couple of high dollar Rangers in my shop today and the thing that stands out first is the poor mold quality. The hull under the finish was rippled, I then walked around and looked at a couple of Nitros...new and used and I must say that they were not flawed. Smooth not rippled. I think the guys that paid more for less are licking their wounds because I'm open to fact based conversation. Come on I know your out there.

I read through all of these post's and have been selling boat for quite some time, been in during the good times and the bad times. I sold Ranger and Stratos in MIchigan were I am originally from (Go KVD LOL) and then have sold Skeeter and Nitros down here in South and East TX. Before I ever lived down here I thought that Ranger and Stratos boats were the best there was, to me they handled the biggest water use great lakes Smallie guys could through at them. I ran 3 Rangers and a Stratos 200 Prol XL through my dealership and truly thought that my Stratos was dryer and deaf way faster than the Rangers. Moving to San Antonio I started selling Skeeters and after understanding the engineering that goes not these boats and seeing them built at the factory, there is truly nothing on the water that even compares. Starting with the Torque transfer system and then including an aluminum deck system to strengthen the floor, along with a constant curvature design so we aren't stressing our fiberglass to be perfectly straight which will give you longevity in your fiberglass. There isn't anything on the market that can compete with it!!!! Being a power matched company with Yamaha makes it that much better. Now I sold Nitros at the San Antonio Bass Pro Shops until they quit paying commissions, but that's another story! The boats are OK not great but they do have quite a few cool ideas I like the trash bin and the extra large storage compartments. If you look at a Z-9 and Z-8 they seem to be following in Skeeters foot steps with a constant curve on there fiberglass instead of having a pizza shaped boat where the front deck is smaller than the back deck. I.E. Legend and Champion and Ranger and Stratos. Bang for the buck it's a great buy but check out Skeeters TZX 190 26,995 plus T.T.L it is competing with the Z-7 and I feel it has more upgrades for the only than the Nitro! This will be a never ending battle so this is just my two sense LOL!!!!

The truth is = Just check my post in Trading Post section #7246823 on the 2007 Nitro for sale. Not one single reply!

Thanks NVERGIVEUP. Tracker Austin, traded a fellow out of a Z7 into a Z9 and we had the Z7 sold before the Z9 was registered in the new owners name. Purdy, my offer to take the Z7 that your "BUD" is selling is still up to disect it for a display. If your not intrsted bring it to Austin and I'm sure we can sell it for full market .
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No doubt they're much harder to sell. Some of the prices I've seen used Nitros go for, it almost seems like you have to give it away to get rid of it. Ranger has been making boats for a long time and they've been more expensive than most for a long time, so they must be doing something right. And to be clear, I own a little 17' Triton, so I don't have a horse in this particular pi$$ing contest.

That being said, I have seen the new Nitros at BPS and I don't think there's anything wrong with the quality of them at first glance. They appear to use decent components and they're certainly very good looking boats. They are, generally speaking, underpowered and under-accessorized without adding a ton of options. But as Gary said, the price with all those options to get an apples:apples comparison is still lower than Ranger/Skeeter/Triton/BassCat. Obviously you take a big hit on the resale too. But just because the Kia Optima looks just as nice as the Honda Accord on the lot doesn't mean the cars are equally well made.

I do think there's a market for those folks who want a new 21' boat but can only spend $45k for a Nitro instead of $65k for a Ranger. But for those of us who don't have either of those amounts of money and will always be looking at the used market, you've got a lot more faith in buying a used Honda than a used Kia, and that's why the Nitro boats are tough to sell. I'm not trying to make a direct comparison to the quality of a Nitro to the quality of a Kia, but they do target the same market segment in different industries.

Not get too far off subject, but I thought when Triton first came into the market, they were selling boats cheap and really making good quality stuff. But now they're up there with the Rangers and Skeeters and I really am not sure how they're selling boats at that price. I would think they'd have to stay somewhere between Ranger and Nitro, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Our 17' Triton was bought brand new in 1997 for $13,500. You can't touch a new glass boat for that now, and it really wasn't that long ago.

in Apr. 2010 I bought a 2010 Triton TR-18 SE. It is a pretty base model boat with an Opti 150. Lowrance X96's, Motorguide 82lb, 6" hydro plate, cable steering. Total price ended up at $22,374.

In the same year BPS had Z7's rigged the same, minus a jack plate & price was $21,995 not including all the other fees.

Got a proven TR186 hull for quite a bit cheaper than a Nitro. I guarantee my boat would be easier to sell thaa a z7

We had no problem selling our z7 before the customers z9 was registerd. The z 7 was a trade in and sold in 3 days. i don't think that was a long time. we had a used z6 that sat on the lot for 25 days or so and sold. so my experiance with Nitro resale values and ageing has been positive. I think because of quaility improvements in Nitro you will see a more positive trend in resale values. Nitros will naturally be less value than a Skeeter/Ranger upon resale because the savings was up front on purchase price meaning cash in hand now rather than take a resale risk later. also, i've watched the used boats on this forum and there are a number of Rangers dropping the price to move the boat. Resale risk is a reality and if you prescribe to the time value of money/ present value you will take the savings up front like with a Nitro because of the uncertainty of the future values,economy and so on.

Here's what I think.....Owning any boat that put you on the water enjoying life and fishing is better than no boat at all...

One if the best comments i've heard yet on this thread.

On BBC the other day a guy bought a loaded out (two HDS 7s with structure scan with a 250XS that was a 2011 model brand new on the showroom floor for under 38K. Add two powerpoles and you are at 41K upgrade the 7s to an 8 and 10 or two tens and you are at maybe 44K with every option of the other brands so lets do trade in math, I will use 45K for nitro

45K Brand new nitro
Keep it two years and sell it for 28K
total money spent = 22K (thats a steal)

found a USED 520 with only a HDS 5 and 8 and 250SHO = 55K
keep two years sell for 38K
Total money spent 22K and you will be lucky to get 38K

the money is the same and I feel I was generous on Ranger resale and low on Nitro resale.

Now we are talking, so what do you guys think. Thanks for the comparison.

Hate to bust yalls bubble but their is a 2010 Z7 in Trading Post section right now for 20K and he is throwing in 1500.00 worth of fishing gear.