which brand has the best resale?

I'm looking for a boat, and I'm particularly interested in resale value. you never know if you may need to flip it a few years down the road, so I want to try to minimize the hit. any insight is, as always, much appreciated.

and yes, I did try the search function on this one!

MASTERCRAFT

USED

I figured MC would be up there, do they get substantially better resale then malibu and correct craft?

what about v drive vs dd? which has holds value better?

Used MC.

Bought a 94 MC 205 with 59 hours on it in 1999 for $16k.

Sold it in 2006 with over 700 hrs on it for $16k. All I did to it is install a tower, heater & shower.... and ski the hell out of it.

Not bad if I do say so myself.

Hands down - Bayliner

(Message edited by Bigshow on September 20, 2008)

1 more for MC

I don't have first-hand experience with other brands, but MasterCraft is very very good. For example, I work at a shop that sells MC, and we recently sold an 01 X-Star for $34k that was originally purchased in 01 (from us) for $42k.

nautiques and mastercrafts hands down.

I would be interested to know the percentage of depreciation from new purchase price to resale price would be. Break it down as per cost per year to own.

Do some research, before blasting out the above names. As a percentage those have the worst resale value. They might have the highest $ amount for resale, but the seller also paid more, alot more at purchase. If you pay $15K more for a boat at purchase, but only get $8K more for the boat when sold, the boat has a lower resale percentage.

I don't think MC holds their value any better than the top 3.I think how expensive they are they lose value quickly for the first couple of years until they hit the medium price range than they hold very well. I think you would be fine with anyone top 3

I think Donny's right...I bought a 3 year old vlx, rode it for 3 years and only lost $2K off purchase price. they hit a range and hold.

The biggest depreciation hit is going to happen on a new boat the day you drive off the lot. Even a >1 yr old boat with low hours is worth a lot less than the day it was purchased from the dealer.

Also depends on which model of boat your talking about. The 205 happens to be a pretty popular boat now days. I have to imagine other popular used boats would be like the 205v, CC210, VLX/Vride, etc. Other models might not do as well because their not as popular with the majority of riders.

No new boat has good resale unless you steal it from the dealer.

But I agree that MC, Malibu and Nautique are going to have the best resale when considering used boat older than 3 years years.

It is not a pretty thing for someone who buys a brand new MC in the middle of the season and then goes to sell it a year later and can only get 20k less than what he paid. That has some to do with the state of the economy though.

Jack, what is your price range you are looking at?

IMO - the big 3 have the highest resale price because they are the most expensive new, but they don't hold their value. I think the less expensive vdrives (Supreme, Centurion, Sanger, Calabria, Moomba, tige, MB) hold their resale better. These boats sell new in the 40K range and then sell used in the 40K range (or high 30's whatever). When you a look at a new MC or Malibu they sell new for 75K and then in two years sell for 40K-50K.

I feel bad for the guy who bought a new XSTAR in 05' for 100K and now has to sell it for 50K - but congrats to the guy who saved 50K buying used.

I'm looking to stay in the realm of 15k, Brett.

the only person who bought a 100k x star in 05 was a fool. no x star was that price unless it had major after market upgrades. like stereo or some custom paint job. look at the old x stars. i think they were in the 30k range new. look at those used boats now. they still go for the low 30k. the big three are the best in re sale. its now that is a very slow market and boats aren't real popular right now.

Jack in that range don't worry to much about depreciation. If you get a good deal on one you'll likely sell it for damn near what you paid for it. I bought an MB sport for 10k and a year later traded it in for 10k on my current boat.

I would say cc or mc based on my past experience. You also have to take into consideration what the guys above have said. My last 210 I bought for 35 used it hard for 5 years and it was seven years old when i sold it for 28k not to bad imo not to mention the boat never left me stranded and the only part i ever replaced besides normal maintenance was a starter. The guys above talk about how well the boats they sold held value but you have to look at what the boat cost then and what it cost now. The o1 xstar mentioned above sold new for 42 and was just resold for 34. How much does a new xstar or air nautique cost now and what is it worth a year later? The new boats cost so much more that the older more affordable ones will hold their value better. Trust me i am learning that the hard way on my 236 i am trying to sell. I will lose more on this boat after one year than i did on my last after five years. it is based on the economy and right now nothing over 40k is selling well. Like everybody else has stated big three boats do hold their value best but i think it is relative to initial investment amount. So for resale sake try to get in a big three boat for under 45k and with the prices going up and up on new models you should be ok

Ponte - a friend of mine in 05' bought a red and black X-Star from Ski World in Rosa for 105K OTD and just sold it for 50K. With that being said the boat had everything you could get at the time, but that doesn't take away from the fact that more $$$ you initially invest in a tow boat these days the more $$$ you are going to lose if you sell. I paid 39K OTD for the boat pictured on my profile, added a nice stereo, put 200 hours on it in the first year and sold it for 40K. We will see if that happens this year - doubt it, but who knows ~

Correct Craft and MasterCraft do, with a few exceptions. On the MasterCraft side, the current iteration of the X2 is not a long-term win in terms of resale nor is the 226 on the Correct Craft side. All other models that I can think of from both companies are at the far end of the spectrum in terms of resale - hefty first and second-year dropoffs aside, such as 15-20k 1 year plummets for the X-Star and 230/236. Next is Malibu, quite close actually, but not as high of a percentage of their boats hold their resale as flatly as Correct Craft and MasterCraft boats. Then from there, there's a pack of quality models from Supra, Centurion and even Supreme that are little further out but still in solid shape. Down the lane a bit more from there are specialty/low-production-number-run/niche/locale specific companies. Unfortunate as it is, some of these brands may deserve high resale and may even get it based on geography but not enough data would support putting their names among the ones already mentioned. The industry also places a higher value on boats with Indmar or PCM powerplants versus Mercruiser powered boats.

(Message edited by juniorhawk on September 20, 2008)

well your friend got ripped off. thats a shame. its insane that he bought that boat for 105. they sold a couple of x 80's for that price. shoot. the 08 25th anniversary x star goes for 100 grand now. just goes to show you how people purchase stuff at any price when the economy is good. this is a great time in u.s.a's history for people to open their eyes. i know because its slapping me in the face right now.

Agreed, but even if he paid 80K the 30K loss is huge compared to the 10K loss from another boat manufacturer

Most of these terrific resale values are dependent on an ever increasing price of new boats. As was pointed out above, an early 2000 X-star was purchased for 1/2 of what a new X-star is now. If new boats were even close to the price of boats 5 years ago, you would see the used boat prices plummet.

Directly answering the thread starter's situation, you are in a terrific position if you take care of the used boat in the 10-15K range, and have no large failures. You will not lose much at all.

our nautique 210 was
a 95' and we bought it in 2006 for 18k
11 years old and still worth quite a bit

I don't think it has as much to do with brand as it does buying the boat right.

^^^agree with Brock and if you are buying a boat and have any thoughts of it as an investment...don't buy a boat.

I agree with Brock as well. In the last 2 years I have had an 87 nautique that I sold for more than I paid, a 2004 Cal-Air that I sold for more than I paid and currently have a 2000 Mobius V that have every intention of selling for more than I paid.

It sounds bad but right now is a great time to take advantage of someone who overextended them self.

So all in all if you can get a good price on any of the desirable models from the big 3 in a used boat..... that is the way to go?

How about this I keep buying 10-12 year old mastercrafts and keep making money on them.

1987 Tristar 190 bought for $5,500 used it for 3 years sold for $10,000
Added tower, stereo and cleaned it up.

1996 Prostar 205, bought for $10k put a tower on it, carpet, cleaned it up sold for $16,500 three months later.

Oh and a Malibu
1996 Malibu Sunsetter bought it for $9,500, put a tower on it, Took the decals off, sold it for $14,500

1996 Mastercraft Maristar 225 VRS bought it for $7,000 on the market now for $16,500...though will take $15,000 now, but will go back up in the spring.

I don't mean to brag, well, just a little, but you can find good deals out there and with a bunch of elbow grease make em worth more. Have a boat for free or make money on em if you know what to buy and wait for a good deal. Do the work yourself instead of paying someone else to do it makes a big difference.

My vote for best non refurbished boat goes to V-drive nautiques, I've never owned one cause they haven't dropped to my price range yet.

Mental note don't buy a boat from Rob or Brett...

Hey Rob sometimes honesty is not the best policy. You've told everyone here your little secret.

^secret? He said he puts work into the boats and makes them better. I would much rather pay 14k for a boat in good condition than 8k for a boat that looks like junk. Selling comes to how you present your boat if he fixes them up of course he will get more.

(Message edited by rarasaurus on September 22, 2008)

Yah, I like to give too much info sometimes. But George is right, I didn't list how much more money I spent on them and how much of my time I put in to them. I enjoy projects, if you were to calculate my hours on some reasonable rate I often probably just break even. For example I bought that mastercraft and posted it on here with almost every step I took I documented what I spent and on what. On this Maristar I picked up the boat and immediately dropped it off at the upholstery shop and redid the carpet and the entire interior, added a ballast system a $575 Acme, tower, rack, stereo, steering wheel, rub rail an a whole list of other things for another $4K, plus a bunch of my time. I'm hoping to get near book value for the boat. And its still priced $4-5K less than the other 96 Maristar in the area. So you tell me what is a fair profit.

i get a new boat every year and I do ok or I would not do it. Never had a problem selling and I always go with Supra...... So a vote for Supra, but as said before it is all about buying it right..... I was once told
"it doesn't matter what you sell it for, but rather what you paid for it"

As far as brand recognition...Mastercrat, hands down. More people recognize that name than any other IMO. A mastercrafct will alwasy be easy to sell on brand name alone.

Just about any v-drive with tower that you buy for around $20-$25K will depreciate very little if you keep it running and looking nice - IRRESPECTIVE of Brand.

Case in point, bought an '00 Centurion Eclipse V (Cyclone) for $20K and sold it for $19K 3 years later. Added nothing, but did replace starter and alternator and usual maintenance.

That would depend on where you live Sam, as far as brand recognition.
I would say CC has great brand recognition, they have been building inboards longer then any inboard brand of boats, going on 84 years now.

CC = Mastercraft on name

Malibu is (at least where I am from) what every weekend warrior owns... Malibu Response with a tower = the boat will only will be out on the weekends.

So I will give Malibu some name recognition because with my experience its just what people buy when they don't know any better
**Not saying Malibu's are •••••• and whatnot... just that where I'm from lots of D-bags driving Bu's**

...again, im a fan of the wakesetter.
not picking fights

thanks, everyone. this really helps.

Nick, thats kind of funny because I know a lot of towered Responses that do seven days a week on the water and a lot off CCs and MCs that hit the water 3 times a year. It's just your perception and not reality.

If I could redirect this post a bit,

How many hours max should a used boat have on it if you're trying to buy with resale in mind? Let's just assume a budget of 15k, with the intent to put about 75 hours on the boat per season.

It doesn't necessarily need to be one of the major brands. Take a look at Toyota. They were made from 99-02 model years. They feature a Lexus engine, same as used in the LS sedan, that uses very little fuel compared to other inboards. Plenty of power and performance. Excellent fit and finish.

Take a look at the Toyota Epic classifieds:
http://www.epicmarine.com/forum4/index.php?board=4.0

I'm not sure any are for sale in the midwest right now. If you are interested, I'd call Skipper Buds in Pewaukee, Wisconsin as they service Toyota boats in the Chicago/Milwaukee area. I think they get contacted by people interested in Toyota boats because they've asked me from time to time if I'd be interested in selling mine. I bought my boat from them used. I'm sure I could sell it for a profit and I've owned it for 5 years. I think the Toyota reputation helps with resale, even though is it not one of the major brands.

jack kloepfer (naptownwake) on Monday, September 22, 2008 - 3:17 pm:How many hours max should a used boat have on it if you're trying to buy with resale in mind? Let's just assume a budget of 15k, with the intent to put about 75 hours on the boat per season.

So are you planning to resell immediately? Or use it for a few years & then sell it?

Finding boats low hour boats is easy. People actually get so wound up about the hours on their boat that it seems like they intentionally don't use it to preserve the boat's value.

Assume 75 hrs per year & use that to gauge if a boat has high or low hours for it's age. The 205 I had was 5 yrs old when I bought it & had 59 hrs on it. Their not tough to find.

Bill,

I would definitely use it for at least a few seasons.

And in regards to the max amount of hours to look for, I was wondering more if there was a commonly known amount of hours to avoid in an effort to preserve the most resale value.

as an example, assume I plan to put 200 total hours on which ever boat I buy before eventually selling it. I would expect the RATE of depreciation to be greater when going from 500 to 700 hours than It would be to go from 200 to 400 hours assuming both boats were built in the same year and are at least 5-8 years old. Is this correct?

In other words, at which point in a used boats life span does the RATE of depreciation see a drastic increase?

A few years back I bought a 2001 SANTE with 650 hrs, used it for 2 seasons and sold it with 1200 hrs for 2g less than I bought it for. Then the next year I bought a 2003 SANTE that had 90 hrs. I powdercoated the tower because it was the wrong color and hung some speakers. SOld it the following season for $3k more than I bought it for, and that was just because of cosmetics.

before

after

in Canada its def. CC

but its the most expensive too

All new boats will take a big hit by say year 3. However, MC's are pretty darn good.