Looking at getting a slightly used runabout. Open bow 4 cylinder. 17-19 foot.
Prices for the Bayliners are pretty good. The newer ones seem pretty good.

Bayliners reputation used to be pretty bad.

Anyone have some input on the newer ones?

Thanks

Bayliner uses Mercruiser now and the're great.They used to have a cheaper grade of upholstery, but i'm not sure about the newer ones. Keep the oil changed, hull waxed and don't let the sun bake the seats and you should be fine.They're a very affordable boat.

Well said! The boat is targetted at entry level / budget minded boaters.

Bayliner used to use Force motors ( made by chrysler I believe), and they were underpowered pieces of shit. Now with Merc motors in them,
they are not a bad choice in boats. Certainly not a top of the line boat, but they are a pretty good value for the $$.

Bayliners are cheaply built but reliable. Good basic or starter boat & u get good bang for the buck. The interiors are very spartan & even the higher end Maxum line of boats ain,t a lot better. I would get a 5-6 year old 18' sea-Ray/Glastron/Larson mid-grade boat with a 4.3 190 hp V-6. Way more boat for about the same money.

I, also, am looking to get a used bayliner capri. I'm staying away from the Force crap. Mercruiser is the way to go. Did some of them have Volvo's in them at one point?

This is true. They are cheaply built but my buddy had one that went for years and years. I also agree with the older sea-ray comment. We just sold our 01' 185 with the 4.3. It was a great motor and with 250 hours gave us absolutely no problems. You will be happier with a older sea-ray than a new bayliner.

Thanks for all the input.
This will be my first boat in years. I just got a place on a lake with a dock and slip.
So We will be out on the boat a lot. I like the idea of new or almost new.
I'm going to look closer at the Bayliners to see if I would be happy with the interior
and fit and finish.

Go for the older more quality boat SeaRay Chapparral etc forget the bayliner

Force.

Fucking
Old
Recycled
Chrysler
Engine

A lot of opinions on bayliner yet no one stated they owned one. I owned one and my father owned one too, dad bought his new and I got mine second hand. Dad had the Capri 18' bow ride and I bought the Cobra 17.5' bow ride, both had the 125 OB Force on them, couldnt kill those motors they ran flawless and the only maintenance either one of us ever did to either engine was replace the fuel filter and plugs ever season but only for preventive maintenance. As far as them being built 'cheep' it will depend on how you define cheep. What I saw with mine was that they only did what they had to do to make it comfortable and functional, no more and no less. Nothing on either boat was cheep, nothing fell apart or worked half ass, but it was not near as fancy as some of its competitiors boats, and in the same fashion it was lighter and good on gas. I could run all day on a full 24 gal. tank with mine and dads was even better but then my driving habits were more focused on WOT then his. A lot of their flaws I feel came about from poor support and poor cutomer relations due to the dealer ships not making a lot of profit compared to other boats they sold and not wanting to take much time to take care of warrenty items due to this fact.
It is a great starter boat and with the usually good price you can get into a used one real right and have many years of fun.
I still know the guy that bought my Cobra from me almost 7 years ago and I owned it for 6 years and he loves it and uses it a lot every summer and has never had an issue with it.
Come to think of it I did have one issue with my boat, the starter went bad and I had to replace it. That 125 Force on my Cobra spun an SS 19p the whole time I owned it and consistently ran mid to high 40's.
It was a great boat and served its purpose well, it even had a ski tri-pod that was easily removed and stored under the floor which made it great for family fun like tubing and water skiing.

I owned a 1988 bayliner cobra. Came with a 125 force & did 44 mph tops. Traded up to a 150 force & got 47 mph. Got real pissed & traded up again to a 200 merc Black max. Boat,s mph jumped to 70 mph with a 26 cleaver prop! Did 66 with a 25 laser 2 but was more fun to drive. All my buds boated & lots of em owned bayliners due to having a large local dealer. I have been around Bayliners every weekend for 20+ years! Like I said, cheaply made but really reliable. The 08,s look close to a 1998. Not much change & we have a ton of em on my lake.

Wow, you were pushin the limit of that hull... LOL, musta been a blast. I never played with mine, left it stock, my kids were young and they took all my time then. I still have a boat now and its just a little faster then the ole cobra...
I think they are a great entry level boat.

How about Starcraft runabouts?
See mostly aluminum fishing boats. But just saw a nice runabout for sale online. This one had an outboard. But they have i/o's too.
Anyone own one? Opinions?

A boat is nothing but a whole in the water you throw money into! LOL

I have a need to throw money away in the summer, just like I do in the winter!

The price for fun!

true, but they hold their value waaaay better than a car, truck, wheeler, or sled ever will.

My parents just bought a new leftover maxum boat....i think it is the 18 footer with the extended platform back. It has the mercruiser 4.3 litre and the thing looks real nice the quality is 10X better than the starcraft boat they used to have.....

+1 force is a total POS

My Dad has a '98 Sea Ray that is mint. A few of his friends have newer and older Sea-Rays and all are very very nice quality boats.

We have had Bayliners in my family for the past 17 years...The only thing I've had to do is new bilge pumps and batteries..
I won't speak on the force engines, but we've had volvos and mercs not one problem!!!

Got my best deal on a Sea Ray 175 Sport!
Sweet boat! Put a deposit down today.

BOAT


BRING
ON
ANOTHER
THOUSAND

A new 2007 Bayliner 175 with a 3.0L Merc retails at just $11,620. The best buy of any boat company I've found.

That model(170) is a cookie cutter boat & they sell a skazillion of em. They actually perform very well & will do mid 40 mph. It is a cheap entry level boat & dead nutz reliable with good mph. The only downfall is tho u go to any lake in my area & there are a crapload of em on every lake & the average IQ of the drivers is very low. Makes for some interesting moments watching em at the loading ramp!!!!

just like the ski-doo riders

Thats some of the best entertainment anywhere!!

Real nice boat PLAYN. Got lucky enough to get invited for a day out on a 39 foot Hustler race boat! 80 MPH ! nice!

What kind of boat is yours?

I always thought it was Break Out Another Thousand.

buy a used older quality boat . there is noting bad about a gayliner except the resale. but some good steals can be had on a gayliner. just rember it dosent matter what brand you get. its the time you spend doing nothing out on the lake that really counts. good luck.

I have been a boat mechanic for over 10 years, 1980's early 90's Bayliners are by far the biggest pieces of shit out there. Most of the wiring falls apart, transoms rot out, etc plain junk. But the newer Bayliners that they have coming out now are built to a much higher standard. The only difference between the capri line or a Maxum, or sea ray is that the Bayliners HULL is made out of chopped up fiberglass, not the typical matte and resin. Everything else in the boat is the exact same as any other entry to mid grade boat out there. Just that Bayliners are priced alot lower. Rock on and buy the bayliner, you will be happy with your choice, and like someone said before, how cares what your floating around in, as long as your out there with you family.

i got a 91 26" rendezvous ( deckboat ) with a force 150. have never had a lick of trouble and it is great family fun. oh yeah, the price was right too

I hope you like to drive and stand. those bayliners can't plane for shit. most runabouts are very similar though and dont ride for crap, this is coming from an inboard guy though.

ditto for the force motors... crap

the rite prop will make it plane great

yeah , bayliners are probably the lowest quality boat ever mass produced. you would be better off getting almost anything but one of theose.

My boat gets up on plane fine , I was pulling a tube last weekend with three people on it and it pulled them good,I had it up to 30 with them on and backed it off ,im a short guy and I didnt have to stand to see where i was going .

Got a 91 21ft Capri with the 4.3L merc. The cuddy is adequate and she runs flawlessly. Great great boat for the amount of money paid.

Good luck getting rid of it, you get alot for your money when buying new, but try to sell it used!!!! You practically have to give it away!

I plane just fine with mine. And quickly with 3 tubes, 5 on them and 4 in the boat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X65cpKVatmE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dvyky9WrOKQ

drive an inboard and tell me your boat planes quick... I've driven many outboard runabouts including chargers, jcrafts, hydros, bayliners, searays, cadorette, glastron, larson, mariah, etc...

they are all the same.. the nose goes way up in the air and it takes twice as long to pull a skier up.

3 tubes.. wow! jk/ try 3 barefooters....

Ever pull 5 people on 3 tubes behind a little 150? It's rather impressive for a small OB. 3 footers ain't going to work behind me or any 4.3 liter (190 hp) of similar size.

There are desires for both type of motor options, I happen to like the OB for more than just weight and performance.... like, being able to run her until the lake starts to ice up, pull her out, self drain, drop at dealer for winterizing, see ya in Spring.

I'd put quite a few bucks on lining up a 17-18' IO with a 190HP VS my 150OB, Nose up for a split second, yes. Then flat and I will be in front and on plane and surly put a woopn' on the IO.

Surly not arguing with you.

sorry dude.. we're talking 2 different languages.

you're boat should plane faster than an IO.. I'm talking straight inboard direct drive. no question the outboard will plane faster and go faster than the IO.

I will always have a direct drive inboard first. outboard or IO as a second (if I ever have that much $$$). they all have their pros and cons. after driving a direct drive inboard there is no turning back...

i make my living on the water , they are a pos find a used formula you won;t have any regrets
-seasled

Yes we were. Again, not arguing with ya

A couple friends have wake type boats, moomba and X2, no doubt about what they can do. Never been in one of them yet so I can't comment based on experience. All I know is my neighbor at the cabin has a nice 18.6' crownline with the 5.0, nice boat but talk about plowing water at start. Could be his prop also?


Next year I plan on upgrading the outboard to a 225 Pro XS Optimax, she should move nicely!

Don't be laughing, but we have a 1986 19' Bayliner I/O 2.3 Capri ( I'm pretty sure its a 2.3) and all we have replaced is.

1.Gimble Barring
2.The seal that keeps the lower unit fluid from going into the motor compartment (forget whats its called)
3.Oil
4.Gas
5.Side vents because of rough waves!
6.Drive Cable. The replaced the drive cable because before we owned the boat the thing sat outside for like a year and a half with no cover. So it got seised up. We replaced that and it has been fine. I know it sounds like a lot of stuff that we replaced but the boat just sat outside for 1 1/2 years! We usually didn't do anything accept hook on to it and go and never did maintain it but now we have a place at conesus lake (ny) so we replaced the spark plugs and tunned it up. I have to say though we are going to look into a new boat just because my dads friend has a 21 foot Wet Vette with the thru haul and stuff so my dad wants one. We got out of racing so my dad wants somthing kinda big and fast. We plan on naming the new boat "Alternitive To Racing"! So in my opinion bayliners are pretty good!

Ps: Are boat plains pretty fast IMO!

I know both these guys and the are selling good used fresh water boats. I don't recommend the Bayliner for alot of the reasons listed above. Especially the part about selling a used one. I've seen some Baaaad ones in my day. Yikes.

By: Robert Kaminski

Location:
Laconia, NH Phone:
617-290-3526
FOR SALE: 1996 20' Crownline 202 BR
1996 20’ Crownline 202 BR (bowrider) 202,5.7L Mercrusier I/O, bow filler cushions, bow cover, cockpit cover, bimini cover, table, depth sounder, wood grain dash, compass, dual batteries w/switch, fresh water only Lake Winnipesaukee boat, professional maintained, serviced & stored, approx 250 hours, $8,300 or bo, cell 617-290-3526
AD Number: 20858 - Posted on: July 31, 2007 Expires on: Oct 28, 2007
Click on name to send E-mail * Winnipesaukee Classifieds *

By: Ron Harris
Location:
Sterling, MA Phone:
978-422-0146
FOR SALE: Sea Ray for Sale
2001 19 ft Sea Ray Bow Rider with 120 hrs. 190 lp Merc cruiser V-G. Fresh water only. Full canvas with bad weather cover and side curtains. New battery. AM/FM stereo cassette. Comes on Sea Ray trailer. Dry docked at Y Landing. More info, call Ron @ 978-549-1998.

Both these ads come from the classifieds on Winnipesaukee.com you should check it out and what used Bayliners sell for.

Here's a thread I started on a boating site concerning bayliner quality.

http://www.thehulltruth.com/forums/thread-...884&start=1

I've had two bayliners and like them. First one was an open bow 16' or 17' with the 50hp force outboard motor. We would water ski on it all day. Ran great for us, never an issue. Think it was a 1990. Very reliable.

Second one was a 1987 21' Bayliner Capri Cuddy with the v8. First thing to go was the crappy Alpha one drive. Those are junk. It would pull three skiers no problem. It did not have a plane problem. The throttle cable was replaced and also the toggle switch for the batteries went. Had the seats redone once as well as the carpet and the cuddy pillows. Other than that it was a pretty reliable boat.

With boats, a lot of it is how they were taken care of. If properly maintained and winterized, they will perform well. Oh and stay away from salt water boats. They are junk.

Great topic. I too heard bayline was junk until i investigated them a little bit before buying my 95 Capri.

Turns out they roll of the same production line as SeaRay. There isn't much of a difference. The biggest diff is in the upholstry. It's not a high grade but with a little care you will never have a problem. Just take care of your boat no matter what brand. Mine has been pretty good. I have had issues with the Merc inboard, but that doesn't have much to do with bayline themselves. my boat looks brand new still. I would say bayline is a fine boat at a reasonable price.

i will add this, stay far away from Force motors. And also, that alpha one is not the greatest but you don't have many choices. The volvo's some of my friends own are worse.

Many of you talk about the force engines being underpowered but the main problem was the boat being to big for the engine. If seen over the years bayliner capri's 18 footer's with little 90 hp force engines a boat that size should have at least a 140 hp +++.