Idea of the day - Is it a bright one?

[davecw000]

Just a thought - does this sound like a good idea....

Currently doing research for my new boat – It seems a bit difficult (well for me anyway) to find constructive owner reviews.

How about a section on the site which does just that – gives the owners a place where they can provide a qualified opinion/commentary on their particular model. This would provide a great resource for people undergoing their research.....

What do you think..... Obviously owners would have to give an honest critique – the good, the bad, the ugly so to speak – or am I being naive in thinking that people would do that?

David

 

[Trundlebug]

Sounds like a cracking idea to me. Wish I'd thought of it myself!

I've certainly found owner reviews on Amazon, Argos, Honest John et al extremely useful, so why not with boats?

From reviews I've read of other things it's usually clear which are tainted or the exception. There is often a concensus amongst the owners about the known faults and good points, which gets repeated in several of the reviews to give a clear picture.

Hope the moderators are taking note. Come on YBW, set it up!

 

[Firefly625]

Welcome to the mobo forum,

Your question is not a bad one, but there again people just tend to do what you have just done, and post a question about whatever boat they are interested in (Sealine S28 in your case), and hey presto you have got some response.... have seen it time and time again and it just works.

Last year I answered a chap who was interested in info about the same model Hardy as I have, 2 weeks later he met us in Beaulieu and crawled all over our boat, and 6 months later he is the owner of an identical Hardy...so I hope you get the same help...the thing is a lot of us are actually quite helpful when we put our minds to it!

 

[Philiz]

Sound like a good idea on the face of it. But wouldn't there need to be a search facility of some kind? Otherwise you'd have to trawl through a load of reviews/reports before you find the one you're interested in.

That might be a lot of trouble for the forum operators, particularly when they can sell you back issues of the mag with reports in.

 

[davecw000]

Firefly265

Point well made and understood.....

But I was kinda thinking of it from two aspects - one from the researcher - with obvious benefits, and the second from the owners point of view - I owned a lovely classic car which I have just sold (Never got any use recently) and like my boat was never happier when talking or writing about them - so a little space where I could honestly wright up my experience of the boat would be welcomed....

david

 

[davecw000]

Sound like a good idea on the face of it. But wouldn't there need to be a search facility of some kind? Otherwise you'd have to trawl through a load of reviews/reports before you find the one you're interested in.QUOTE]

Philiz - Good point

But I have just seen a site which does as I was suggesting (for speed boats) - (my idea came before I saw the site - honest.... )

The reviews are sorted alphabetically - by - manufacture - then by model - usually model number.

Agreed, it may require some initial setup work but after that should be ok - Or on the otherhand - reviews could contain the same format for search purpases i.e. manufacturer - model and the word review at the end (infact review anywhere in the title should be searchable) for example - SEALINE S28 Review.

regards

David-

 

[colingr]

There's always

BoatTest

 

[jfm]

Sounds a good idea to me. I think "professional" boat tests such as those in mby magazine are useful, and their authors get to drive (briefly) a lot of boats, but they don't cover all the angles. They are tested for driving and things like engine access, whereas actually on a mobo the most fun is had when stopped and playing on/off the boat, so you need to know how well a boat functions as a lunch platform for your friends, and how good the showers really are by day 4, and so on. Owners can tell you this better than magazine tests.

It needs some kind of web platform, and until then I'd agree with firefly625 and say this forum is an excellent source of info, even if the old threads are hard to find once they have become a few months old. Some threads also get lost because the thread titles are very often not descriptive of the thread's contents; titles like "I have a question" or "Advice please" or "Oh no!" are useless a couple of months down the line when folks are speed-reading the forum looking for something. But depsite those limitations this place does contain a lot of real-user information, and if you can't find what you need just post a new thread and ask. And to keep up with the firefly625ses, if you are contemplating a Fairline in the Med I do free rides too

The other thing you can find on here is advice on other aspects of boat buying, I mean other than the specifics of a particular model. For example, read the "Princess or Fairline" and "Essex Boatyards good/bad" threads in the last week to get first hand accounts of the top aftersales service you can get from both Fairline and Princess, and of EBY's offering as the UK's biggest boat seller

 

[Fantasie 19]

Sounds like a cracking idea to me. Wish I'd thought of it myself!

I've certainly found owner reviews on Amazon, Argos, Honest John et al extremely useful, so why not with boats?

From reviews I've read of other things it's usually clear which are tainted or the exception. There is often a concensus amongst the owners about the known faults and good points, which gets repeated in several of the reviews to give a clear picture.

Hope the moderators are taking note. Come on YBW, set it up!

+100!

 

[rafiki_]

David. This sounds like a very good idea, and perhaps could be expanded to subsections on things like Gear, Brokers, Technicians etc.

 

[maverickofpoole]

There is a site that does this for smaller fishing type boats at http://www.fishing-boats.info/

Would be good to have info from real owners to sift through. Might even make the decision process easier

Martin

 

[tico]

Our esteemed forumite Petem has just such a section on the Fairline Owners club site... only relates to F'lines tho

 

[Kawasaki]

I think its a great idea
Dunno about the managing of it ref Philiz's answer though.
Dunno about stuff like that
But what I do know
It's so difficult to get a 'Test Drive' in a Mobo or Raggie Whatsit even
Snot like nipping down the Car/Van/Motorbike dealership and having a go in/on different models.
Yeh I know Motorbikes are a little bit different ref test rides (was a Dealer for 25 years!)
Over the last 5 or 6 years me job has been helming various Mobos in various places (yeh I know tough but someone has got to do it!!)
What I have noticed is this
Some of the vessels had been listed in me 'I want one' dept
Having had a go in some I thought 'Bleedin eck that was not like I thought it would be etc etc etc.
Because all is what not it seems with boats
Yep, we read the tests in various publications
Unfortunately these articles cannot relay all, however well written etc
Proper feed back from Owners would be great I reckon
OK -- some will look through rose tinted specs an all that
Tother thing I have noticed on other boaty Forai (yes there are others) is the more in depth info you gleen from Owners of said Make/Brand
Kinnel, that's enough from Me
One finger typing really tasks the big finger on the starboard side

 

[SolentPhill]

It's ok but it's not always a question of the boat it's who you buy it from. I would buy and recommend Doral but not to buy through Simco or whatever they are called now. As they are the UK importers you have to buy through them but would highly recommend you or anyone doesn't . Therefore I can't recommend Doral which is such a shame.