Opinions Please

[wallacer]

We are looking to purchase a new (2014) South Bay 524RSTT. Boat is very well equipped with...
Full vinyl floor with snap in carpet
Amp and subwoofer stereo upgrade
Water temp and depth finder module
GPS with speedometer
24" removable bench seat
Extra cupholders (2)
Lighted cupholders
Underdeck LED lighting
High back captains chairs (2)
Power assist steering pump
Stainless prop
Rigged with Verado 250 Pro
Tandem axle trailer

Price quoted of $62-63k. Would appreciate opinions on this price, good, bad? Got basically same deal at 2 different dealers. Opinions please.

Thanks!

[sunnyside]

The RS layout is really nice. I have a 2013 South Bay 522CRTT with lots of options like yours except it has a Yamaha F150 outboard with double axle/brakes trailer. I purchased the boat, motor and trailer new last September for $36,600. My deck is actually almost 24' with the extended aft deck. Not sure the higher price of $62-63K is justified in the RS model with the bigger outboard, underdeck LED lighting and 24" removable bench seat which I do not have.

[Cycleman07]

Question, Where are you located?

That price to me seems a bit steep and I was thinking that is more along the lines of a 7 Series price. My guess is somewhere around 54-56 with a trailer is more inline.

[Cycleman07]

The reason I say this is this: Not the exact same model but unless its the entertainer series the price should be close...

http://www.northtexasmarine.com/boat-fo ... 8643139516

[wallacer]

Thanks for your input. I'm located in Ohio. I agree the price seems a little high for a 5 series, thus the post for opinions. From what I've been told by dealer, the radio upgrade, removable seat, all the led lighting, difference between 225 and 250 verado pro, and power steering pump all totals about $4500. These were items I didn't see on the boat in your link. If I add these options to your estimate of 54-56 with trailer, I start getting close to quote, but I think there's still a little room on his end. Again, thanks for taking time to respond, it's deeply appreciated.

[curtiscapk]

Good luck! that is 12 x times my toon!

[Traillblazer]

I have a 2012 SB 525CR with a 115 Merc 4 Stroke. It is a sport toon (2 and 3/4 toon). With trailer out the door I paid $31,500 which I felt was a good deal for what I got. I almost settled for a Sweetwater but glad I found the SB.

[Gonefishing]

I purchased a 2013xcursion 23x RFC with 115 Yamaha tandem trailer with break. Sink, changing room, Porta pottie, Lawrence color fish finder, many others extras price. 33 out the door. Xcursion is made by South Bay. I think that price is high.

[wallacer]

Looks like some of you have gotten some really good deals. I did check out the Excursions on Boat Trader. Looks just like South Bay and Berkshire. Prices on Excursion 23RF (same floorplan as S Bay RS) ranged from 21-52K. I believe some are just the boat, no engine or trailer. Internet pricing can be very misleading, often have many hidden costs. I think a lot of it comes down to price of options. Some of them are extremely overpriced. Might add that we currently have a South Bay and really like it, just want tritoon and more engine. Have found our family is more into water sports than we anticipated. This will be our "last boat", so we want to make sure we get everything we want this time...at the best price we can. Again, thanks to all for your input!

[Bamaman]

When I was looking for a new toon, all we had locally was Suntracker, Lowe and Cypress Cay. And the Cypress Cays were low line twin toons. We have a bunch of old pontoons on our lake, with few "modern" large engine tritoons.

I decided to branch out and look at other brands of boats, including Bennington, Premier and Manitou.

At the price point you're talking about, I too would suggest you look at different brands--if you have not already.

And let me also say that the Verados now perform very well, but they're very, very heavy. You can drop an additional $5K on SmartCraft gauges, fly by wire controls, special wiring harnesses and extra charges for plugging in the motor. I like simpler, less expensive controls and have no need for SmartCraft gauges on our 16 mile lake.

Buying decisions are just so difficult to make. But when you get in the $60's, you must be more attuned to the retail market. There are just so many different brands of tritoons I'd be perfectly happy with. But a dealer must be willing to compete for my business with a "fair price."

[Bryden24shp]

Whoa, The 6 cylinder Verados come with factory power steering. The dealers popping your cherry on that one. Better have him do some home work. Get an invoice sheet and start itemizing line by line options. If he won't get it for you, South Bay should be able to help.

[BoatCop]

The Verado (which costs around $25 grand by itself) does come with the hydraulic steering cylinder, but the pump, hoses, helm, etc. are dealer/manufacturer add-ons, so a line item for those is proper.

$62-$63K is very good for that boat. When we bought our 27' Crest Upper Deck Tri-toon in 2007, it ran around $57K with a 150 Verado, which we bought separately and had drop-shipped to Crest. We saved about $10,000 by buying direct from Mercury on Government contract.

If I were to do the 250 Verado and was spending that kind of dough on a boat, I'd also do the DTS (Digital Throttle & Shift). For those not familiar with it, it's a computer controlled fly-by-wire shift and throttle system, with no cables to worry about and positive gear engagement every time. We've got them on all our patrol boats, and you can shift and increase/decrease the throttle with one finger.

[wallacer]

Thanks! I still am wondering if he has some room in this deal, but your experience makes me feel better about the price. The boat does have DTS and from your remark of being able to operate with one finger, that will be nice for me as I lost a hand in an accident a few years ago. Thanks again for your input!

[Towdaddy]

IMO, I think it is a bit high on the price. We paid in that range for our boat and it is a 10' wide beam. For the Premiers, the 10 wide option was 10K but it also automatically added the larger 36" middle toon if you selected the PTX option.

[wallacer]

As suggested, we have looked at other brands and really like the Benningtons. The dealer I prefer to deal with sells these as well as South Bay and Berkshire. Spent a good deal of time there yesterday as he pointed out some of the construction differences in the different models. Bennington is very impressive, not to say the others aren't well built, but there are differences. Since I can go to Bennington's web site and build a boat with the options I want and it shows MSRP, my question to you all now would be what percentage should one expect to get off MSRP. Also what are your opinions on the Yamaha Vmax SHO engines. As always, thanks for any input, it is appreciated.