Buying in the midwest

[Mosnowman]

http://www.marinemax.com/stores/midwest ... #Inventory

I bought a new 2012 Harris Cruiser Tritoon - 25 footer - 150 Merc Verado brand new for 30k from MarineMax LOTO...

There are a lot of dealers at LOTO...

[rob28]

Just to add my experience.......
We purchased through 61 Marine, just south of Minneapolis in Hastings. We first saw them at a boat show in Minneapolis and they had a very good show price on one of the boats we were interested in. That deal was still available several weeks later when we were in a position to purchase - so the deal was done.
They deal in Sylvan pontoons.

[jayw]

Price out the JCs, we very much like ours. We have a Neptoon 21TT. We bought ours new from Liberty Marine Center in Grayslake IL. For JC try them or try Klave's Marine, about 30 mi. west of Ann Arbor MI. FYI LotO dealers also sell a ton of them and always have them used. They are also a very popular brand on Lk Havasu.

If you want late model gently used you can definitely get in at that $30K price range. If you want new you can you too, just have to work harder. I did a ton of leg work but saved over $10K on our boat new but passed on the trailer. We can't pull it with our current vehicles, and we do dry stack summer storage with forklift service anyway.

We started out looking for a used 2 log 115HP but didn't like ANYTHING, and moved to the tritoons after a JC demo wowed us on the ride. And 115 on the Neptoon we felt wasn't going to cut it. Thank God we upgraded, I really appreciate the punch the DF150 gives me. We almost bought the DF140 but the DF150 is a big step up in power and worth the $$. If the Neptoon had the SportToon pkg I would have upgraded the engine to the 225, but as it stands with the 150 the boat is maxed out.

We like JC in part because they are stylish and sporty, with more flare than typical pontoons. They are also excellent build quality. Funny you mention seats, I thought the same at Bass Pro when we looked at the Tracker Regency even. JC (with the exception of the price point Spirit line) and a handful of other top makers make their seats in house, in the USA. Our vinyl is stitched by a machine that is run by a person at the plant in IN. Most of the other makers outsource them overseas or MX and use mass produced seats. We have plush seating. Seat quality is HUGE in boating and means the difference between a sore behind and a comfortable car ride home from the lake.

I've always like other makers too, like Manitou and Harris. I also like Bennington and Premier but I think you overpay for their name. They are overpriced IMO (sorry Premier and Bennington fans out there). IMO definitely stick with a tritoon, and definitely get at least a 150. Do it right once and you won't be sorry. When we bought ours we found the best motor price online out of state, so our dealer bought the engine from them instead of Suzuki. It was a volume thing, and we were the winners saving over $2K on the engine itself. Worth the phone calls.

And set aside $500 for a QUALITY SS prop if you get a 150+, you will add 15% power and economy to the boat over aluminum.

I personally would not buy Bentley, our neighbors at the cottage had one and I was never impressed with the quality. They are price point boats. If you are going toward Bentley then DEFINITELY pick a SunTracker over that.

[curtiscapk]

great deal on this one!

http://kansascity.craigslist.org/bod/4135016909.html

[dmclone]

great deal on this one!

http://kansascity.craigslist.org/bod/4135016909.html

How is this brand?

[curtiscapk]

Personally I haven't seen one, but I know there are quite a few members that have them. The only down side to this one is there is no trailer and it's not a tritoon, but depending on type of water your boating on may not be needed. I just like the look of it!

[curtiscapk]

how about this one! tritoon and trailer.

http://loz.craigslist.org/boa/4136140594.html

[dmclone]

how about this one! tritoon and trailer.

http://loz.craigslist.org/boa/4136140594.html

I'd love it but $36k is well above my budget

[curtiscapk]

It's so much easier spending your money though!

[ToonGuy]

http://grandrapids.craigslist.org/bod/4087012312.html

[dmclone]

http://grandrapids.craigslist.org/bod/4087012312.html

Looks nice.

Heading down to KC this weekend to see what Midwest Marine has available.

[curtiscapk]

Sweet last time I drive by about 5 weeks ago the were just getting some new ones in... did you give them a call? I think John is the main man everyone likes to deal with.

[dmclone]

Sweet last time I drive by about 5 weeks ago the were just getting some new ones in... did you give them a call? I think John is the main man everyone likes to deal with.

I didn't call since we have other things to do there anyway but I thought I'd stop. I'm more concerned if Oklahoma Joe's is open.

[curtiscapk]

Zman!

[ToonGuy]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2008-South-Bay- ... _339wt_913

If this is a real deal you better go jump on it right now...Makes me a little nervouse that there's no specific location given, and the seller has no FB record in the last month. Would want to check it out in person...some times the scammers find dormant ebay accounts and hack in to them...you'll know it's a scam if they don't want to meet in person.