Buying new. Am I crazy?

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Originally Posted by Letterkenny

You lost me at the drug usage here.

you are lucky , your boat marc design 2002 and update later. and Sun Odyssey 39i, the Sun Odyssey 42i, the Sun Odyssey 36i, the Sun Odyssey 49 DS and the Sun Odyssey 42 DS.all this boat is good design.

[EmeraldCoastSailor]

I bought a boat brand new 16 years ago. I am readying to do it again this year. Sure, I could save tons of money buying used; and I’d likely get a well equipped boat.

But there is something about that new boat smell. Every scratch on her will be yours.

If you wanted to do the most optimized thing, get a 2-4 year old boat that meets your needs.

[argonauta1]

Looks like everyone wants a go at this one. Well, we bought new: a Beneteau/Moorings 445. Check the slash which means we bought a Moorings vessel built by Beneteau USA brand new and put it in charter in the BVI for four years while we finished off our respective careers. Then we took over the yacht. By this time we had a smidge more experience and recognized that any new yacht is limited in capability to modest coastal cruising. So we did a major refit to the tune of at least a third of the original cost of the yacht and went cruising. After the first three months now in Venezuela, we realized by our experience and by communicating with other cruisers that to go serious Bluewater we needed more gear: staysail, whisker pole, a Hypalon dinghy, solar panels, a second outboard and so on. Finally we entered our first ocean, The Pacific, and eventually circumnavigated. With a few further mods in Australia we had what we needed. No more add ons except for Immarsat C and a sat radio.

Depends on your objective but if you are thinking second hand, look around some of the major yachty hubs and seek a yacht returning from extensive Bluewater sailing otherwise with a new vessel you will end up doing a significant refit. Now that is not a bad thing as you might guess from our experience.

[Jweyndling]

I know a brand new boat is very appealing but they come with lots of hassle. I have bought three boats from new all from different companies and had lots of issues with all of them. I swore I would buy a lightly used boat next time and I did! In 2022
I bought a 2019 Fountaine Pajot catamaran which a German couple had owned and ticked out with every conceivable option. They looked after it immaculately and it truly still looked new when I bought it. Only 426 hours in the engines. Getting in for two years later I can honestly say that I have very few problems apart from the Fischer Panda generator (we all know what they are like&#128514

So my advice would be go for a 2 or 3 year old boat that has had the wrinkles ironed out. You won’t have to pay for most of the options you want and the boat will hopefully be well run in.

[Zhent]

I weighed a very similar decision 3-4 years ago and we ended up buying new as our first 'full-size' () boat - which is arriving imminently for this coming sailing season. It was a close thing, but we looked at the following:

* Warranty coverage, however difficult, at least gives us a starting point for repairs and replacement for items that don't work. By the time the warranties run out, we're hoping that we know better what we're looking for in replacements or repairs.

* Concerns about previous maintenance. We're under no illusion that this boat will arrive perfect, but we will be able to maintain our own records from 'minute one' of how everything was maintained and not have to worry about guessing or hoping for the best on potential hidden damage or issues. We've had to spend thousands of dollars in our house on what was 'unknown' but definitely known damage when we bought it.

* Fractional program: While we work over the next few years, we're putting the boat in a fractional program. This will defray some of those costs (while admittedly running up the maintenance), but the local manager is super committed to working with me on boat maintenance and education for the future upkeep.

The biggest suggestion I have, if you buy new, is to really engage with your broker and make sure you have a good rapport there. We're at the bitter end of the purchase process, and looking back would definitely have asked the silly questions and belabored the silly points to avoid some of the confusion at this stage.

[Fbfisher]

Buying new, essentially guarantees that you will have items which need follow up repair and as a result, you will want to have the boat near the dealer that sold it to you so they can address the many issues that are often part of purchasing new. Purchasing new means you also miss out on leveraging the expenses, paid by the owner of a used boat, like a dinghy and outboard and other running gear. As far as bang for the buck goes, you’ll likely do better buying a late model used boat that is fully commissioned and tested rather than buying a new boat which will require lots of additional expenses plus repairs to the mind boggling inadequacies of those who commissioned the boat.

[cottonsail]

Even when buying new, get it surveyed before you sign the dotted line. A friend of mine did. Surveyor found all kind of things wrong. Everything was fixed within a few weeks. Another friend bought a new boat without having it surveyed. It took him several years to get everything fixed.

[donradcliffe]

If you buy a new boat, plan on not using it for the first year, because you will be waiting for repairs under warranty. The second year, you will be repairing things that were improperly installed and upgrading things that were not designed right. Find a 3 year old boat where some other owner went through fixing all the problems.

[Skylark UK]

It’s 100% personal choice based upon your values in life.

I bought a new Beneteau and not regretted it for a second. No one has slept on the mattresses, no one has showered or used the heads. No one has messed with the cooker. The sails are new, running rigging is new. The engine is new. The electronics are new.

These factors may not be important for many, in which case doubtless they will be happy buying used.

I buy new cars, too.