www.iFourWinns.com

Thanks all. Much appreciated congrats and compliments.

230Mike - Yeah I know the shell is offensive and since winter is over it would be switched with the tonneau already but I figured it would still serve me to have a dry, lockable place to lug my cr@p while in NH. Turned out that I did not feel as though I needed to lock anything up but who knew? Laptop was in the back seat most of the trip and I just left the windows open most of the time to enjoy the smell of the flowering trees.

OK, so the extra I liked so much - I suspect this is the reason it was dropped from the manufacturer in the first place. Nobody really notices.
Its really difficult to appreciate in a photo, especially since mine is equipped with the wakeboard tower. The windshield is the WaterBonnet type rather than the TaylorMade - it wraps in one piece from the walkthrough all the way around and down the side. No Supports and seperate pieces of glass to break the view. It is much more noticable (to me anyway) without the tower than it is with; but then again with a tower it would have been just another bar you have to look around.
Just a really nice touch in my perspective, but I suspect a wraparound piece of tempered would cost more and with nobody really noticing such a thing it became an economical extravagence I am guessing.

Kind of hard to believe really; that my dealer went through that much trouble for the sake of making me happy and it wouldn't have even been a deal-breaker. Most dealers I have had experiance with in the past would not have even made the effort to harrass the factory much less go on a pirate mission.

There are very few remaining of this type around (unless you have an '05 - or was it '06?) so it kind of gives me a feeling that mine is just that tiny bit unusual. A little pic that kind of gives you an idea . . .

_________________
2008 Four Winns 210 5.7 GI/SX
2007 GMC Sierra 2500 Crew
1966 Fed-Up Wife

You're right, much more noticeable without the tower. VERY nice!

_________________


Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

That is a great story. I grew up in Portland Me. We often went to White Mountains & a lake called White's Beach. Unfortunately we didn't have a boat. In fact I never had one, till last year, Now I'm HOOKED!!

_________________
2008 H190 4.3L Blue W/Red Graphic
2002 Honda CBR954RR BLK/SLVR slightly modded
2003 Yamaha Warrior 350 6spd < SOLD!

Very nice, also very nice story to go with the boat!

I agree about the windshield, I like the 3 piece myself.... Mine is an 05 H200 which is actually the H210 now... I believe that 05 was the last year of the 3 piece windshield, some 06 might have a 3 piece leftover windshield, but not many.

You are going to love that machine!

_________________
2005 FW 200/210
2007 Ford Expedition EB

Blessed, nice boat and great story. If you don't mind me asking; what do you think you saved by purchasing your boat in the States with purchase price, border taxes, and exchange (if applicable) factored in?

I bought my current "pre-owned" boat in Wash. State and the import experience was painless. The border service didn't even come out of their office to look at the boat or in my truck. I was only there long enough for them to run my Visa card through. I now want a "slightly used" 268 Vista and trailer, but selection is limited on the West Coast. I am currently exploring transportation costs from the Michigan area. But based on your story, maybe I should be looking at a new boat from a dealer south of me.

Rod

_________________

2010 278 Vista
5.7 GXi DP

Past:
1999 225 Sundowner
5.7 GSi SX

My dealer was very good to me in my situation. I am hesitant to give up precisely what I paid not because I care about what people think regarding my finacial status or the crazy way I sometimes waste money but moreso that I am extremely grateful for the amount they did for me and out of respect for the other party like to keep the deals I make private. However, in the spirit and purpose of iFourWinns I will share this -
My local retailer eluded to the fact that he would be "hooking me up" with a 5% off MSRP and that was substituting the snazzy FWs trailer and no extras (I know the "niceness" of a FW trailer is argueable with some but as far as I am concerned the only thing I would like more is an aluminum I beam).
My NH Dealer (wholesaler?) offered me cut-throat pricing without dickering plus my timing was apparently perfect so I also qualified for the best of the boat-show discounts as well.
Factoring in what I spent on fuel (16 hrs each way + 2 days touring NH = $600) I did better than 25% off MSRP - plus the truckload of extras that went into it - some of them big-ticket items that would have been much too expensive to do here - plus the piracy resulting from nit-picking "oooh I like that on this boat and one of those from that boat" (I am still scratching my head on that one) - plus the meticulous testing, preperation and delivery that you don't see here (pull off the shrink sign the papers and trailer home).
Not only that but because I saved so much off MSRP and I had a few thousand in extras included in the price and I purchased from a tax free state (I am not sure how or if you pay if your exporting new?) of course I saved better than 30% or $2k in taxes - YEAH take THAT! Basically I got brand new, fully loaded and then some, built to my specs for less than I could have purchased a much lesser equipped used copy locally and I have seen a few (a couple model years old) to substantiate it.
In the used market in mint / turnkey condition I understand that you should expect in the area of 30% (as much as 35% but not less than 25%) of savings from loonieland - but in Vancouver your market would be much larger so that may cut into your savings.
On the East coast I have friends that often bring boats and campers back from the US but seem to agree not to search futher south than NY due to the longer boating season, salt water or silty lake use unless its a demo or a re-build. I can't confirm or deny this is a valid stratagy - I don't have the experiance.
Cougar came all the way from Seattle to shop on the East Coast so perhaps it has something to do with the region?

_________________
2008 Four Winns 210 5.7 GI/SX
2007 GMC Sierra 2500 Crew
1966 Fed-Up Wife

Man, I just love your boat! Just Awesome! Great story also. Thanks for sharing. Always good to hear about the postive, we tend to focus on the bad stuff that happens to us a little to much sometimes.

_________________
2008 H210SS VP 5.7 Gi/SX
2011 Ford F150 FX4 EB

Thanks Impulse, appreciate it. You know, it was not long after I ordered, your pics showed up and I nearly switched back to the black SS. Then came the orange SS pics and I almost switched to it. Ultimatly, I decided I would stick with the ccb black & red and try to be a little more under the radar on the lake - Try to dissappear in the background amongst the Regals and Bayliners. When I picked it up I had my second guesses - seeing the red, black and yellow SSs on the lot but I kind of have the position now that it is just going to be tough blending in no matter what FW you ride.
Don't think I have seen one yet that I didn't like!
Yeah, have to take the good with the bad. Haven't had any real gripes yet (as far as the boat or dealer goes). So far so good.

_________________
2008 Four Winns 210 5.7 GI/SX
2007 GMC Sierra 2500 Crew
1966 Fed-Up Wife

Just a great story, told my dealer about it. I think they need to know how fast good word travels with good boat owners as well.

_________________
2008 Four Winns 224 Funship 5.0 GXI/DP Black w/ Tower
2007 GMC Crew Cab Short Bed / Bose Ed.
2007 Fourwinns H180 (SOLD)

"There are no stupid questions, only stupid people"