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What would you do?


tn_rider

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I recently had a newborn and thought it would be best to get rid of my boat. The minute I watched it being pulled away I knew I'd want another. A few months have gone by and I cannot stand it. Despite a very near death experience on the water, I want to get back on the water worse than ever. So next year im going to make the push really hard to get back on the water. My biggest question is what would you do? Would you buy used? Put 10-15% down and pay around $600 a month for a few years? Or do you just buy new, 10-15% down and drag payments out for 15 years like some do? I know that boating is going to be a part of my families life for forever so I'll keep it for a few years and get another or possibly keep it for a long time. What's you guys opinions?

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ahopkins22LSV

That's probably a loaded question on these boards but here is my take.

There are great used boats out there. But the new ones are obviously amazing too. If I were you and have 10-15 to put down on a new boat you probably wouldn't find me looking at used boats. I would take the longer loan and pay extra per month and know you have a fallback for a month or two if you need some extra cash.

But that's just me.. I totally understand when someone comes in after me in this thread and says buy used and cash so there is no payment.

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I'm in the slightly used crowd. Let someone else take a couple years worth of depreciation hit and still get a like new boat. Sure, you don't get to pick all your colors but the initial teething pains of the boat should be done with too.

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I use my boat for surfing more than wakeboaeding now. (Never thought I'd say that at 23) but both of my knees have been abused. But I do load my boats up with tons of weight. Almost 5000 pounds in my LSV. I loved my LSV's space. I usually have 6-7 people out so space is important. I really wouldn't like a payment above $600 a month.

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I know you didn't ask for this...but my suggestion would be to wait until the kid is closer to 2 years old. Our 1 year old takes two naps a days and getting her to sleep on the boat, in the heat, wearing an uncomfortable life Jacket isn't easy. As they get older they get easier on the boat and you can be out on the water all day. Our 1 year old is is a serious time on the water killer.

I know others will swear that if you start them off early on the water they get used to it but I think it's more trouble than it's worth and a PITA when they're under 2 years. At 2.5 years old my oldest daughter was camping and house boating and did really well!

Just my 2 cents

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Most new boat loans will require 20% down, just an fyi.

I'm in the same boat (see what I did there). I have to agree with what jetski said. My 2 year old had a great time on the boat this year, but my 2 month old made getting on the boat a pita. My plan is to buy a new boat in the next 2-3 years. I've been researching the annual flip concept and if it pencils out on paper I will probably go that route.

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It can be a PITA, but my kids were on the water early as we could get them out there (as soon as 3 weeks) and the 3 and 5 year old love it today. Yes, on hot days you got to watch the little ones and keep them cool. Outings are usually shorter than I like and I spend way more time just driving across the lake to the cove to swim vs. actually being behind the boat, but the one great thing is that it is always done as a family.

New vs used you'll get a million different opinions. My vote would be for used or a new, leftover boat from last season.

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Everybody will have different experiences with kids of all ages on the boat. I think you have to look at your expectations when you decide to go boating with kids. I hate tubing, the kids love it. Their friends seem to love it even more. I'd rather be wakeboarding or surfing all day but with young kids that doesn't happen for me! I make sure they surf and wakeboard before the tube comes out though.

We took our kids on the boat starting at 2 months old. It may have gotten them used to the water sooner, at that point it was probably for more selfish reasons though.

As far as new vs used, that has to depend on your wallet. I didn't want a payment so new was out of the question, it did take 6 months to find our "new" boat after selling our old one, it takes some patience.

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It's definitely hard with little ones. As stated earlier, 2 naps a day kills boat time, even if your wife is a saint. If you want new, a holdover is a great way to go IMO. Otherwise a newer used boat might have some kinks worked out, and you wouldn't have to do the painful 10 hour engine break in. Also somebody else takes the biggest financial hit that way. Either way, I'm sure if you find something the family likes and it keeps you on the water you'll be happy!

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My wife and I had a near death experience on the water two months ago. Long story short...we now have a 119 hour 6.2L '08 Response LXi in our garage. A new boat was not in the cards with the money we had on hand and this suits our needs perfectly. We ski 95% of the time, though. Low hour Wakesetters of similar vintage would've been out of our price range anyway. We did get very lucky an find the right boat at the right time. The color scheme is definitely unique and I'm not sure we would've been 100% satisfied with something that looked like everything else on the water.

Edited by Porkfight
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Once kids get used to the life jackets they sleep awesome on boats... Wind, engine noise and vibration puts them out. Get a Bimini and be smart about the hot days. Rates area super cheap right now, shop a couple banks including the dealers finance source, don't be afraid to ask them to beat a credit union rate.. They will. I'd suggest buying new leftover stock, always great deals to be found on boats, there are still 2014s out there with 2016s rolling in as we speak.

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My take is that it depends on the rate and what you can do with the money that you don't tie up in the boat. If you put 10-15% down on a new close out, you should remain in an equity position and should be able to get out if you need or want to. In my experience, rates are a little lower on new boats. For me, I choose to drive crappy paid off cars and have a long term loan with low payments (at a low rate). My loan is with b of a and my payment is less than $400. I have been paying 500+ for 2+ years. The extra is going toward principal but the way the loan is structured, I can also use the over payments to not jake payments for close to a year if something were to happen and I fell on hard times. I like having options an dan exit plan if need be. Like others have said, there is no right answer. Now..., the cheapest way to buy a boat is to pay cash. Only you can decide which is the best for you.

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Make sure you have a good term life insurance policy 1st, then get the boat of your dreams. Take care of it and your kids will be bugging you for the keys in no time!

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Everyone has good advice here and i will back some of them up. I have two kids, 2 & 4. Both of my kids have been on the boat since basically birth and they love it! We are a motorsports family, motocross, snowmobiles, quads and of course boats. I buy nothing new when it comes to this stuff and pay cash for everything (Alberta Economy is less stable) and financing scares me. So I would say to a new father to buy a boat (in your cash price range) and start creating family memories, you'll never look back and you family will love you for it!

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I recently had a newborn and thought it would be best to get rid of my boat. The minute I watched it being pulled away I knew I'd want another. A few months have gone by and I cannot stand it. Despite a very near death experience on the water, I want to get back on the water worse than ever. So next year im going to make the push really hard to get back on the water. My biggest question is what would you do? Would you buy used? Put 10-15% down and pay around $600 a month for a few years? Or do you just buy new, 10-15% down and drag payments out for 15 years like some do? I know that boating is going to be a part of my families life for forever so I'll keep it for a few years and get another or possibly keep it for a long time. What's you guys opinions?

I don't think there is any "right" way to buy a boat. The way I saw financing a boat, I could of paid cash 28000 for my vlx, but instead financed it for 10 years at like 4.1%. Some people will say why would you be so crazy to pay interest? So over the course of 10 years I will pay a little over 6000 interest. With that 25,000 I didn't put down, I slammed all into the stock market. At standard gains of 7% yearly (which this year I'm at about 25% already cause market soooo hot) I will make back my interest I will be paying in 5 years, and actually make $20,000 on top of the 25,000 in ten years. That's why I didn't pay cash, my money can be invested better some where else.

Now I could potentially lose it all lol, but who cares I justified a boat as a smart investment!

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Buy new if you can, get the warranty. Go Axis if you want to save some money over the Malibu and still have a great boat. I recommend putting down as much as you can, then get a longer term loan. Pay the minumum in the summer months when you are paying a few hundred a month in gas. In the off-season, double up the payments. (This is of course if you plan to keep it for a while). If you are going to try to upgrade in a few years or less, consider it a lease and get the cheapest payment you can.

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