yorkieman
 

Thanks to the folks at Mariah Owners Club for their courtesy and accomodation
in making membership a pleasure. Thanks to MariahMan for the help and kindness.
I am working on research and searching for either a Z275ST or a Z302. So, as the
new kid on the block, I welcome all information, cautions and boat locating. Thanks,
Warren, Lake Keowee, SC

Welcome aboard Warren. You will find both of our admin guys (Chris & Ryan), our super-moderator 'WetWilly' and a large group of us regular members to be very helpful wherever we can. We are also lucky enough to have a few ex-Mariah employees amongst our membership so we can draw on their memories when needed. There's even a bit of knowledge here too ;) and we'll look forward to hearing about your experiences.

Well Warren, looks like we'll be competing with each other for that perfect Z275ST or Z302!!! :wink_thumbup: I'm currently looking myself! We want a mid-cabin/open bow set-up, but not fond of the $75k+ prices of some newer boat brands/models. Besides, I'm still stuck on the original Mariah!!

Your best places to look would be the following...

http://www.jaxed.com/cgi-bin/mash.cg...state=&ys=&ye=
eBay
Boats.com
iBoats
BoatTrader
And our own "boats for sale" section on this site

They're getting quite hard to find, but one usually shows up every month or so. I've been told by a previous Mariah dealer that the Z275ST wasn't quite as refined and "polished" as the Z302. I don't know how true that is, but the Z275ST is higher on my list anyway. They're both great boats!

Good luck!

Welcome to the board Warren! We've got many people here to help, even some Z275ST and Z302 owners!

I will tell you, there is a beautiful Z302 for sale in our "Mariah Boats For Sale" section. Here's the link

It's located in Louisiana. It's a great buy, especially for the condition it's in.

There's another one in Lindenhurst, NY, although it's white. It's really nice and I think they're asking about 29k for it, it's been on ebay, boats.com, and yachtworld.com for a while. Might be worth looking into that one!

As far as other models, the Z275ST is a beautiful boat as well, but the layout and upholstery on the rear seats is a little different. They have split entry points from the transom, where as the Z302 has a large sunpad. See the pics below. This could be a deterring factor if you've got a wife or girlfriend who likes to lay on the sunpad a lot!

So, here's what you should do. Do some research, and post all of your questions, links, photos, anything you can up here. We'll all help you make the right decision. :wink_thumbup:

Hi, 8545warren,
I have the Z275 st you can see my pics at:
http://www.mariahownersclub.com/gallery/index.php?c=162
I have a friend who has the Z302. It is longer of course but I have more cockpit room due to the large sun pad and larger mid-cabin in the 302. Like Chris said if you like the large sun-pad the 302 is for you. Although a filler cushion can be placed in the back seat area of the 275 to make a large sun pad. If you do a lot of water sports like I do the 275 seems to turn sharper and cut side to side better. I would suggest the largest HP engine you can find/afford as these are very heavy boats and can be sluggish with smaller engines.
If you have any specific questions let me know and I will answer to the best of my knowledge. I have not been logging in as much lately but I will try to check in more often.
John W.

Hi Warren,
I have a 2001 Z275ST also and would be happy to answer any questions you might have. Like Z275ST mentioned above, the Z302 does have less cockpit room due to the design of the rear seating area. I looked at both also before buying and preferred the layout of the 27-footer. Plus that extra 3 feet can be a handfull if you are towing and launching/retreiving a lot.
One thing I really liked on the Z275 is the large table that sits in the middle of the U-shaped rear seating which makes it very convenient for eating and conversing with people since you can sit around the table. This same table lowers down and has cushions to turn the back into one big sunpad.