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Is flake a fad?


Cmb396

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So Malibu and a lot of others have been spraying metal flake the last two years on nearly all the boats I see fs. Granted, there are still some solid colors out there tho. I personally love the flake, especially the orange and bright green, not together, but on grey or black. Being a Vol fan, I'm on the hunt for a orange boat, but would go with something else given the deal.

Back to the flake. Kinda reminds me of bass boats from the last decade, but it looks damn good on these boats on a sunny day in the water.

If yall were on the search for a surfgate equipped boat, would a solid color vs flake be a deal breaker?

I found the perfect 2015 orange/grey bu for sale at an outstanding price, but just not in the position at the moment to buy brand new, and missed out on the deal. (Too many irons in the fire with flip properties).

Just curious how yall feel about color schemes.

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Boats with a modest amount of flake will always look good to me. But that's the key I think. It should be an accent.

Edited by Lance B. Johnson
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Flake has come and gone on cars and boats for decades, I'm sure this will continue. If you're worried if it will make your boat look dated in a few years, you probably shouldn't get it.

Flake on cars (aka "metallic" paint) has not come and gone. It's been a constant my entire life.

I don't think flake on boats is a fad. Certain colors may be a fad, but not the flake itself.

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I'm not sure if there is anything on these boats that is marked up as much, % wise, as gel flake. When you can add $700 for every flake panel, I expect that the boat builders will push the flake as long as they can. It's possible to cost upwards of $6k (MSRP) just for gel upgrades on panels they are already spraying. This is maybe an option that doesn't return costs when reselling, IMO. The second owner may not appreciate the initial costs of the upgraded gel in the price that the original owner had to pay. I think IXFE is right, colors will come and go but flake is here for a while. At least until they figure out something with more bling.

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I would like a little more metal flake on my boat, but I bought what the dealer had at the time. But I remember seeing a Bu that was covered in metal flake, and I thought it was way too much. Metal flake in moderation is the best IMHO.

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Ronnie, you don't suppose that some of that "markup" is labor and product cost, do you? Solid colors are generally sprayed in one coat. Flake is a clear coat, then the flake coat, and generally the color coat behind that. I suspect that most of the added expense is real, and not just a profit item.

I'd buy a flake boat before a solid color boat, all other things being equal. But in the used market, the hull, motor, and interior are the main drivers for me to buy, and gel color/style are at the bottom of the list. A boat would have to be bu-tugly for me to pass on it if it otherwise met my needs and price.

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No doubt its labor and product +profit. We all pay it and go on down the road on new boats. If you don't want flake, you don't pay it. It's not too much labor to lay down one spray head and pick up another. When one large panel that goes almost all the way around the boat (Hull Main) is the same upcharge as a small panel area on each side (Hull Accent) I'd guess it's mostly labor. That's not even counting when two panels are the same color of flake, you get charged for both panels as if they were another color change. This doesn't include the Deck Main (color goes inside the boat at helm and observer's storage) which is even more $$, almost double. Where it gets lost is on resell. We all will pay extra for more HorsePower and expect to. How many boats are looked at and the buyer adds the price of gel upgrades when comparing used boat pricing? When the solid color boat with white hull boat is >$6k cheaper to build, will the used market hold a boat with flake at a higher resell cost in that market?

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Funny thing is that the poop brown and beige interiors seem to be making a comeback. Time to sell those older boats before people come to their senses.

As for the flake, it is and will likely always just be a personal preference. I can't stand it and wouldn't have bought a boat that had it. But I prefer the "classic" look rather than flash of neon or glitter.

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Don't forget that different color panels require more masking and prep. A solid color mold spray job would be much cheaper to do without all the time it takes to mask different colors all over the mold.

If I buy a new boat, I'm buying what I want, not what I think someone else might want a few years from now. But I do tend to keep things a very long time.

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Flake is here to stay. Full flake, half flake, no flake, it looks good either way. I wouldn't shy away from a flake boat. My only concern is the paint correction if you did get it scratched up. Flake is nearly impossible to fix.

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I just ordered a boat without flake. It's speculation to say it is here to stay or not. My decision had more to do with the costs. I don't see the value of spending thousands of dollars for it.

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Flake is here to stay. Full flake, half flake, no flake, it looks good either way. I wouldn't shy away from a flake boat. My only concern is the paint correction if you did get it scratched up. Flake is nearly impossible to fix.

I think this is part of the reason for the premium on flake. If you get a blemish on a standard panel, you repair just that location, if that blemish is in the flake, you have to strip the entire panel, and redo the entire panel.

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I had some flake on my 99 Centurion. The silver checker was flake. In the end I quit buying for the next guy, I buy what we like but I don't turn them around in one or two years. I will say I don't think my view of a good looking vehicle or toy is so far out that it will be hard to resell.

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I had some flake on my 99 Centurion. The silver checker was flake. In the end I quit buying for the next guy, I buy what we like but I don't turn them around in one or two years. I will say I don't think my view of a good looking vehicle or toy is so far out that it will be hard to resell.

That's the key right there. Not many will buy a new boat and keep it for 10 years. Most turn it over in a lot less time than that. Buy what you like and can afford. If it does go out of style, you will have moved on to the next game changer anyway. That's pretty much true on most things that evolve. You can't listen to the guys that are only in the 15+ years old boat market. They aren't the ones setting the fads.

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If flake actually does go out of style it won't happen next year. It will happen in the next 5-10 years. People that are buying a 5-10 year old boat are a lot more likely to be looking past cosmetic things like flake or no flake. They are generally looking for a good value.

All that goes out the window if it's a skittles boat situation.

The biggest negative for me with flake is the repairs. I have done a couple small gel repairs on my boat and they are impossible to see. I have heard of plenty of professional gel flake repairs that are very noticible.

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