440: Does buying a 440 still make sense?

[xhogpilot]

Thanks, all for your replies.

[barnakiel]

Buy the one you actually like better.

Boats are expensive toys. Do you like to play with ugly toys that are better resale value or rather with exciting toys that have worse resale value?

I would buy something that excites me. That's the point of owning a yacht, a sports car, designer clothing, etc.

b.

[SV Bacchus]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Buy the one you actually like better.

Boats are expensive toys. Do you like to play with ugly toys that are better resale value or rather with exciting toys that have worse resale value?

I would buy something that excites me. That's the point of owning a yacht, a sports car, designer clothing, etc.

b.

Exactly!

[Sa Sailor]

I have wasted 9 months looking at second hand Lagoons and quite alot of money flying surveyor to Seychelles etc .I got close to buying a late 440 but got out bid which I felt was too much money anyway.I have now ordered a new 42 a smaller cat for not much more money.Very long delivery date June 2018 but I get spec that I want and reliability in the short term at least.Alot of second hand boats seem very highly priced considering the wear and tear factor.

[fabgo]

Have you seen the 42, 440 and 450 in person? If not, I would start there. The 440 was on my list for a while, but got crossed off my list real quick once I saw one in person.

IMO, it's not much bigger than a 380 (in terms of actual functional space), at much higher cost, and the engine rooms are super cramped. Inspecting a boat undergoing major repairs and talking to surveyors there are quality concerns as well.

If I were to buy a Lagoon, I would go for a new 42. I think it's a much bigger boat actually, again in terms of functional space, especially if the front cockpit and flybridge is not a must-have for you. And it's brand spanking new. And not much more money.

Regards,
- Fabian

[downunder]

Originally Posted by fabgo

Have you seen the 42, 440 and 450 in person? If not, I would start there. The 440 was on my list for a while, but got crossed off my list real quick once I saw one in person.

IMO, it's not much bigger than a 380 (in terms of actual functional space), at much higher cost, and the engine rooms are super cramped. Inspecting a boat undergoing major repairs and talking to surveyors there are quality concerns as well.

If I were to buy a Lagoon, I would go for a new 42. I think it's a much bigger boat actually, again in terms of functional space, especially if the front cockpit and flybridge is not a must-have for you. And it's brand spanking new. And not much more money.

Regards,
- Fabian

A 440 the same size (not much bigger than a 380)as a 380. You have got to be joking.

[tuskie]

Originally Posted by downunder

A 440 the same size (not much bigger than a 380)as a 380. You have got to be joking.

Totally agree, the internal volume, storage and space between these 2 models is absolutely huge. As is, of course the hull weight, payload, sail area, costs, etc.

Such statements erode the credibility of any other comments.

[Rickthesailor]

Originally Posted by xhogpilot

Hi all,
First Post:

My wife and I have decided to buy and cruise/live-aboard, as far and as wide as possible, a Lagoon 440 or a 450 sometime this fall if a suitable vessel becomes available. Having read every post in the Lagoon section of this Forum, I'm well aware of the very high opinions and first rate experiences those of you living on 440s have of your boats.

We would prefer a 440 for its size/weight and perceived fit for us, however, the last 440 was built in 2010...7 years ago. Few 2010's are on the market, but there are many 2006,7 and the occasional 2008...meaning 9,10,11 years old. Many of these are asking 380k-425k USD with original standing rigging, sails, genset, motors, etc. and usually with some recent upgrades of certain things.

I'm soliciting opinions and advice regarding the choice of say a 2007 440 that is in good condition for a 2007 as opposed to a 2012 450, also in good condition for a 2012. The question we have is would it make more sense to buy the 450 in this example because if we end up cruising and properly maintaining the boat for 3 years and decide to sell, would the depreciation hit be less than if we were selling the 2007 440 which would then be 14 years old?

I'm stumped by this dilema because we want the 440, but not if its age at our possible sell date will really hurt the resale value.

(we're very aware that any boat we buy will depreciate a lot, but I think I'm asking if buying a newer boat as in my example would depreciate a lot less.)

Thoughts?

Regards,

David

Hi,

Take your time and shop around... We were originally looking for a L440 also... but the asking prices were way too high... we were looking for a 2010, but like you, could not find one... so we started looking at L450's... but again the prices were very high... in some cases more than the cost of a brand new L450... we saw one for over $800k USD... Now it did have an in mast furler and some satellite domes, but was still too much...

We finally found a 2016 L450F that was 6 months old and had never been used since it was delivered (mattresses were still in plastic, fridges and freeze still had protection on the doors, stove/oven has never been used) ... we bought it when the Euro was dropping and was close to par with the USD... we got it for 460k Euros, which was lower than some 2011 asking prices...

There are deals to be made out there, you just need to keep looking,,, we spent about 18 months seriously looking and maybe another 18 months prior to that...

Regards, Rick