Personal question...

[Tstick333]

Answer if you would like. I am not trying to pry into anyone's personal life or finances but how do you guys afford these really new and nice Tige's? We have a 2001 22I Type R with 350 hours. We really love it but just don't know how people afford $60k to $85k boats. I am a teacher/coach in Houston and my wife is sales person in the medical device industry. We have 2 kids (4 years old and a 6 month). Just curious.

[boatwakes]

Financing for most, cash out refinance is also another good solution. However, the best way to afford a boat is have a buddy with one.

[talltigeguy]

I am a physician and I can't justify 60k+ for a depreciating asset that maybe sees 100 hours per year. So I dropped down into the used market. I had hoped for an 09, but with increasing costs of new boats, the used boat market has risen in price as well.

I am relegated to the fact that my 05 Tige was probably the last new boat I will buy.

I think with financing, most people can afford it, it just takes a major realignment of priorities. I could afford it too, but would have to slice something else out of the pie. The pie is not getting larger. I think if you cut out you or your wife's car and bought a 2001 Honda Civic, you could afford a new expensive boat.

[h2osk8er00]

Financing for most, cash out refinance is also another good solution. However, the best way to afford a boat is have a buddy with one.

Spoken like a true boat bum.. haha.. nicely put.. and wise!

[Kight & Christine]

We just got our new R20 for under 55 that has almost everything the RzR has the R20 starts off around 45 We put 10g down and went with Pentagon Federal our credit union 4.5 rate loan for 7 years. But you’re asking how most people do it they finance it for 15 years.

[Jeffe]

I sell drugs & pimp myself out on the corner.

The money is good and all, but my asss is so stretched out that I have to use tampons sometimes to keep from shitting myself.

[davidl81]

It is a tough choice just to drop 60k+ on a boat. But like anything it comes down to making choices on what you want. My wife and I both work, but we have no kids. I am 30 and she is 32 and we deicied that we can afford the boat, but if and when kids come along we may have to sell it. We save a little (ok really a lot for us) and put 15k down on a new RZ2. The goal was to put enough down and get a good deal so if we do have to sell we can get out of it easily. The boat purchase might not have been the most finacally smart decision, but we enjoy it.

[majestic]

I am with Tall, I currently own the last new boat I will buy. In the next year or so I will start searching for someone's gently used 2010 Z1. I don't have any car payments and have a small house is what warrants my boat payment.

[shawn74]

Plumbing contractor ; blessed economicly ,tyj, bought my rz4 for 65 spring of 09 ,kids were 13 and 15 and last boat was not practical in size for there frejnds and our fam,were the parents who keep our kids close and occupied and out of trouble and were running out of time to spend with them before college and adulthood. We put 5k down and 700 payments ,would do it again cuz there only teens once

[mls6722]

I am just a working guy - Engineer. I started looking over a year ago and was shocked by the prices of new boats. Finally I bought used. It was still a huge expenditure, but I have not regretted it for one minute.
I knew I was not going to go hungry doing it, but I have thought of how many days I am working to pay for it
To put it in perspective though, in 1991 when I was making less than 25% of my current income, I bought a 20' cuddy cabin runabout with 155 hp I/O for $19K. I used it for 20 years and sold it for around 1/4 of that price. Was it worth it - sure. This is way more boat, and I think the more I look at it, the current prices are not out of line.
I will keep this boat for a long time and I am sure I will never regret the decision.

[robert theisen]

MY house is paid for because i'm old.So i took out a mortgage at 3.9 to buy my boat.Just a 5 year note because i don't want any payments when i retire.Not everyone is as fortunate as me and my wife,so they usually finance longer terms.P.S. we don't have any children and that helps expenses too.

[mls6722]

MY house is paid for because i'm old.So i took out a mortgage at 3.9 to buy my boat.Just a 5 year note because i don't want any payments when i retire.Not everyone is as fortunate as me and my wife,so they usually finance longer terms.P.S. we don't have any children and that helps expenses too.

understatement of the day!

[knottsindy]

My wife is a registered nurse and I'm a power engineer with 4 kids who all love the water. We (upgraded and) bought our '07RZ2 as a demo at the end of season which helped us save considerably on the sticker price; with some careful planning (and a fair bit of luck)we flipped some real estate to pay off the boat loan last year. Even if we were still paying on it 5 years from now I wouldn't regret it - like shawn74 said, they're only young once and it keeps the family doing things together.

[ragboy]

Its priorities. You either have a ton of dough or you set priorities. We used to buy used cars cash, like 4-6 yrs old, and have no car payments, and we had our boat payment. Our best memories are our boat outings. Some people would say that's a waste of money. I "waste" money constantly. So much money with not much to show for it but a bunch of memories. But then again, we have so many incredible memories, and guess what, they last forever.

If I get to be an old man, you will find me sitting on a chair on a porch in a cabin in the woods or on my ranch, staring off in the distance with a smile on my face, hopefully with my wife sitting next to me. We may not have much money, no huge stock portfolio, but we will take those memories with us.

[duffymahoney]

I own a small brewery and don't make a lot of money. Boats are a strange obsession for me. I spend way more then I should ever on them. Honestly my first two boats I made a profit on. I would buy beaten up boats for cheap and flip them after a few years. My new boat Tige 24v will be my last for a while. Hopefully 5+ years. Until the industry makes a taller safer boat I will stick with the biggest and safest I can buy I love my new boat, it's been a money pit but I would do it over in a second.