www.iFourWinns.com

Besides the boat shows, one place you can still find some deals, is the 3 locations of the Midwest Repo Center. One in Wisconsin, One in Port Clinton Ohio, and One in Winthrop Harbor Ill. I get e-mails from them regularly with "featured" boats that they take in.

Today's e-mail had a 2006 Meridian 459 MY for $329K. It's a decent deal, but you can find ones for just under $400K that are not re-po's. For those that may not be familiar with this boat, here is a pic just for fun.


They also had a 2007 Silverton 50C for a pawltry $649K (reduced from $1,091,000)
The repo centers have boats from 17' to 60', so there is something for everyone .

These boats are waaaaay out of my league, but some of you that have 358's and 378's or someday may want to get out of the "cave like" express cruiser world, boats like these offer something different.

Just passing it along for reference.

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One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

Thanks for the tip, Cap'n. I had not heard of them before. I didn't find a link after a quick search - do they have a website?

I'm a fan of Meridian, although I've never liked the motor yacht design. They have moved well beyond the rebranded Bayliner status. Their 441 is actually very high on my list of Sedan Bridges - so much more boat than the comparable Sea Ray. Probably more boat than I even want to deal with, but it's still in the running.

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Previously:
2008 V358/Volvo 5.7 GXi Inboards

The new Meridians are now built along side the big Sea Rays. Look for the 2009/2010's to have more of the Sea Ray quality. The Meridian price will go up, but still be a better value than a Sea Ray sedan bridge.
That being said.... the admiral and I are REALLY thinking hard about a newish-barely-used Sea Ray sedan bridge (42/44). The 47 is an amazing boat, but not at 750k.

Sierra -- what's your comparison on the 441 versus the Sea Ray 44? Thoughts?

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2008 318 Vista -SOLD, but I am still around!
All Night Long, Seattle WA

Coug, funny you mention the Sea Ray 420DB. That is one on their site I was drooling over.
It's a 2004 (dark hull) for $325K. They have a few Four Winns large cruisers that are priced okay, as well. The 50 foot Viking is also appealing to me (after lottery win).

Here is the link to what they have, they also have a Twitter site that you can check for new arrivals.

Take a look !
http://skipperbuds.com/Page.aspx/pageId ... ntory.aspx

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One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

The only Sedan Bridge I have ever run was a Sea Ray 420 DB when I went to shakedown my 260 DA. I remember immediately putting it on my "someday" list. At the boat show, I spent some time on the Meridians, then the comparable Sea Ray bridge boats and the Sea Rays really felt smaller. As I have gained a better sense of what I want in a boat, as much as I like the Sea Rays, the fly bridges are smaller than what I would want. The bridge on the Meridian 441 is awesome and has more of the feel of a large express cruiser cockpit. The Meridian salon also feels larger, probably because of the galley-up design (which I prefer) and the design of the windows. Visually, and in terms of fit, finish and quality of hardware, the Meridian feels on par with the Sea Ray (Sea Ray die-hards would disagree, but this was my experience and I love Sea Rays). I haven't done enough investigating of what you can't see to compare structural integrity and sea worthiness.

Some of the smaller items that appealed to me about the Meridian include the air handling system for the salon HVAC - read about it on their website. The helm is really well thought out and docking on command is a way to have joystick-like controls without IPS. The 441 mid cabin is spectacular - I'd use it as the master. The cockpit is large and comfortable. They also did a great job with storage.

In the low to mid 40 foot range bridge boats, because of my desire for an extended fly bridge, I love the Viking Sport Cruisers, Fairline Squadron and even the Sealine 42/5 in terms of design. I love so much about the Cruisers Yachts 447 except the exterior styling, so it's off the list. Such a shame because so much about it is right for me. The Azimut 43 is cool but the styling is too Euro for me and it really feels small compared to the others in its class.

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Previously:
2008 V358/Volvo 5.7 GXi Inboards

Sierra, do you recall what price point that 441 was at vs the 42 Sea Ray? List on the Sea Ray is around 500k+, I had heard of deals in the low 4's on the Sea Ray. Lightly used they are all over the board... with an '06-'07 running mid-high 3's.

I have no clue on the 441, but it sure is a nice boat. People had complained that Meridian didn't even use stainless staples and cut corners in some places -- but with the move to the Sea Ray plant for assembly - it's expected that stuff like that gets alot better with the newer boats.

The 441 is a fantastic Pac NW cruiser -- and common in the Seattle area (maybe because they were assembled here for many years).

It's just tough to get over that 'Meridian = Bayliner with lipstick' concept...

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2008 318 Vista -SOLD, but I am still around!
All Night Long, Seattle WA

I don't recall the pricing off-hand but have a picture of the sticker from the show (this 441 was loaded) and will post it sometime this weekend. I've been trying to find time to sea trial it all summer but haven't wanted to be away from my boat long enough to make the trip. It's also the comparable boat to the 44 Sea Ray, not the 42. And there really does seem to be a glut of Sea Ray DB's on the market right now. I'm pretty sure it's off my list for reasons I've stated, but there are definitely deals to be had on 2006+ models. I have yet to see one on the market with DTS and that would be a dealbreaker for me. It's one of those features you never want to do without once you have it (same for autopilot).

This 441 is an all new model for Meridian this year so it really represents where the company is now. I hear you on the 'Bayliner with lipstick' association, but that's other people's perception, not mine, and I don't care what people think about a brand that I own as long as I like it. If you read other message boards there are a lot of unflattering things written about Four Winns based in perception, not in reality. I'm glad that those comments never kept me from considering Four Winns as my experience has defied all of the naysayers.

And while it's fun and challenging to ponder what's inevitably next, I can hardly wait to get on board my V358 tonight! When I've been off it, even for five days, I still get almost as excited as I was the first time. For me, that says everything

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Previously:
2008 V358/Volvo 5.7 GXi Inboards

I could only imagine if Four Winns made a Sedan Bridge!


Four Winns - are you listening??? !!! ???

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2008 318 Vista -SOLD, but I am still around!
All Night Long, Seattle WA

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Previously:
2008 V358/Volvo 5.7 GXi Inboards

We zoomed right past FW '408 dollars and straight to FW '458 dollars.

600k! YEOUCH! My local Sea Ray shop has an '09 Sea Ray 47DB for 699k. WOW.

My sales tax on that boat would be the price of a new H240!

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2008 318 Vista -SOLD, but I am still around!
All Night Long, Seattle WA

ok ok enough about buying other brand boats on my thread!! lol!!!

So update on the Newport Show...... We moved the 2007 318V finally!!!! It was nice to see people at a show actually interested in buying bigger boats here in the North East again!! Great weather all 4 days and lots of leads.... back to phone calls!!!!

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Bryan Mutter

http://www.twincitymarine.com
http://www.facebook.com/twincitymarineinc
http://www.youtube.com/user/twincitymarine
http://www.twitter.com/twincitymarine

Sorry for the hijack Bryan! You were busy working and we were left to our own devices. Of course, everything we write is in full expectation that FW is watching and hopefully getting a handle on what their customers are looking for

Congrats on the sale! Can you definitively say you felt an uptick at the show or do things seem to be holding steady for the moment?

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Previously:
2008 V358/Volvo 5.7 GXi Inboards

Sierra, we pass along a lot of info to FW about their product and what our customers are feeling and looking for in their boat. I know this forum has taken off and I have a few customers on here as well. We actually push it now so our customers can get input from other owners!!

As far as the show I think there was a definite uptick in interest in the bigger cruisers and we have a few 35 owners going to Ft Lauderdale to see the 408 and 458 hopefully coming back to order them. I'll let you know when the sales end sees the uptick as far as customers pulling the trigger. Biggest problem for us is the finacing part of the deal, banks are my biggest hurdle right now.

Thanks for the pat on the back too!! Taking the customer for his demo ride tomorrow morning then hauling it out to store until spring. I have a feeling he will be visiting my store often to see his new baby!!

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Bryan Mutter

http://www.twincitymarine.com
http://www.facebook.com/twincitymarineinc
http://www.youtube.com/user/twincitymarine
http://www.twitter.com/twincitymarine

Hey Bryan - what are the banks doing these days? Rates? Downpayments?

Are the days of zero-down long gone for the folks with great credit? Min 20% on big cruisers now?

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2008 318 Vista -SOLD, but I am still around!
All Night Long, Seattle WA

When I spoke to MarineMax, I was told an 800 score wouldnt earn you a zero down deal....no way, no how...and remember, I was talking about a boat for 50K....that was being sold for less than loan value. I am sure the days of boat lenders carrying negative equity is GONE...but to require cash down for excellent customers on a 50K boat, its a little extreme. I can totally see on big money boats though as they depreciate WAY WAY WAY faster up front.

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Current Boat:
2004 Sea Ray 320 Sundancer "Nauti Luvin'"

Previous Boats:
1999 298 Vista "Seas The Day"
2008 H200SS "Nauti Luv"
2006 Tahoe Q4