|
I bought a boat today!
It wasn't the Bayliner, Sea Ray, Monterey, or Rae Line.
However it wasn't the Four Winns either!
I was totally convinced not very long ago that I wanted the Four Winns. I was totally sold on the boat. It seemed well made, well specced, the dealer would take off the swim platform so it would fit in my garage and save me $800. It was a really great boat.
Then I saw the Crownline. The dealer took me through it, this was before we had discussed price at all. I remember thinking at the time that I didn't think I would be able to afford it.
It had 5 years manufacturers warranty on everything, a tandem 2000kg trailer, pop-up cleats, full safety gear for 8 people, sunsport seating, which gives acres of storage on board for all your kit, wet weather gear, eski etc, and the most beautiful finish ever, very lovely inside.
Imagine my surprise when the dealer quoted me a price that was less than the Four Winns. I was amazed. I looked for drawbacks. The only one that I could find was that the floor was marine ply with glued down carpet, instead of snap in carpet on fibreglass which the Four Winns had. This put me off for a while. I started talking to the Four Winns dealer again about price, packages etc. I also talked to existing boat owners about how their marine ply floors were holding up.
Then we had the AU$ issue which Alec on this site kindly alerted me to. I talked to both dealers about what they could do for me. Crownline could hold the price if I bought a boat they had already paid for. Four Winns couldn't hold the price, in fact for the sunsport seating which I like they wanted to add another $1000. Additionally the Four Winns dealer was going to charge me $550 for a swingaway trailer, whereas the Crownline dealer would make a minor mod to the existing trailer and save me that money.
I was now faced with a choice between a Four Winns that was $2000 more expensive, had a restrictive warranty, a standard trailer that would not cope if I chose to put camping gear etc in the boat, safety gear for only 5 people and not quite such a good finish, but had a fibreglass floor with snap in carpet or a Crownline that was $2000 cheaper, had a full 5 year manufacturers warranty, an over-specced trailer, safety gear for 8 people and a finish to die for, but had a marine ply floor.
I bought the Crownline and take delivery in July.
The Four Winns is a great boat, if I hadn't found the Crownline I would have bought it and been perfectly happy.
I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone on this forum, especially Ardy who took the trouble to ring a complete stranger and give me lots of advice, and Aussie_Horizon_190, who gave me the nudge to go and buy a boat (even if it wasn't a Four Winns).
Enjoy your boats!
JB
_________________ 2010 Crownline 180BR 3.0 litre Mercruiser Onyx black Narrow hull and middle deck band Bimini/Targa, Bow and Cockpit canvas 2000kg tandem Dunbier trailer Tow vehicle - Nissan Pathfinder Ti 
|
Login
FAQ
Search
