What to buy?? Please help me decide
 

Okay so hears my dilemma budget is sitting at $7,000.

Two boats to choose from

1994 Bayliner Capri-w trailer. 150 hours on rebuilt engine with receipts and completely redone interior and wood. Asking price is 6,800. Open Bowrider seats 7 with plenty of storage. New top cover

1992 Mariah Diablo SS. No hour meter but current owner estimates 230. No receipts but hull and motor appear to be in great shape. Minimal tearing on some rear seat cushions but this boat rides outstanding on the water. Asking price is 4,500. No Bimini top


What should I go with if its me and my family of 4? A little input would be helpful, I've only ever owned jetboats

Re: What to buy?? Please help me decide
 

What are the length of the boats? What size engine in the boats? Check NADA blue book on both. I can tell you Mariah's will ride better the any Bayliner. Go to the for sale section of the forum and look at the stickies. Remember each mariah was custom ordered and not mass produced like the Bayliner. Everywhere I go people ask about my Mariah (Even Dangling Rope Marine on the middle of Lake Power) not sure you will ever get that with a baylines. The hulls are just great and mine still looks similar to new ones of other brands without the dated look. No promises, but you are starting with a much better boat in Mariah.

Re: What to buy?? Please help me decide
 

Firestone, thanks for the quick feedback.

Mariah 18'3" 4.3 Mer Cruiser
Bayliner 20'. 4.3 Alpha one

Re: What to buy?? Please help me decide
 

Does the Mariah come with a trailer? How many axles?

Re: What to buy?? Please help me decide
 

Yes trailer is dual axel and is in perfect shape. Not a scratch on this thing. I honestly don't
Know what he did to keep it so clean but it looks like it just came off the assembly line.

Re: What to buy?? Please help me decide
 

Well duel axles are great for trailering. So glad I have one because they make backing up much easier. So what us your reservations? How do the match up to book pricing?

Re: What to buy?? Please help me decide
 

The nada guide had them roughly the same asking price.
My only hangup honestly is will I enjoy this as much as I enjoyed my jetboat (Yamaha ls2000) my old boat ran everything I threw at her and never gave me a problem. Are these easy to maintain with a little mechanical skill? Need something dependable for the family.

Re: What to buy?? Please help me decide
 

Lol. Hope someone else can answer that for you. Just bought mine 3 months ago. Yearly winterizing with oil change. The rest is similar to a car motor. I check the fluids and that's been it so far.

Re: What to buy?? Please help me decide
 

There is no comparison between a Bayliner and a Mariah. Hold a flashlight inside the hull at night. You will see light through the Bayliner. Just a little biased.

Re: What to buy?? Please help me decide
 

Ended up purchasing the Mariah. Took the kids out on the river today, couldn't have been happier. Absolutely love the boat. Especially the Bimini top.

One question since I'm new to these type of boats, how should I bring my boat on plane. Still trying to get a feel for the trim up and trim down, seems to bog down a little and when I get on plane the trim seems best at about 1/4