Need opinion, please: 2000 Maxum 1900SC vs 2005 Mariah 19SC

[psousa]

Hi there.

I'm willing to buy my very first boat. I'm looking for something easy to launch/retrieve from the water (19 feet is ok) and a sport cuddy since it will be used on a big river, very close to the Atlantic sea. Also, I also set a maximum budget of 10k€.

After almost 1yr searching I'm focused on the 2 boats above. They are both well preserved (they seems so), both are powered by mercruiser 4,3lt v6 190hp and both come with a single axis trailer. The Maxum is about 300 hours and Mariah 200 hours (owners values since both hour counters are not working - maxum stoped around 200 and Mariah around 30). At the end of the 2014 summer I've tried the Maxum in the river and I like it. It's very well preserved. It is on the river for 2 or 3 months a year and then maintained, winterized and hosted by a specialized boat company. I did not tried Mariah yet. It's still winterized. it's also on the river for about 2 or 3 months a year but is hosted on the owners garage the rest of the year. I'm more confident on Maxum maintenance but this engine seems very nice too.

2000 Maxum: 8500eur (nadaguides price 7596eur, a1.12 radio)
2005 Mariah: 10500eur (10180eur which makes the requested price a fair price)

I love Maxum. Inside, outside, everything on it! I like it very much. But I'm afraid of construction and the bad reputation of Brunswick corp products... And it's 5y older!
I don't like much the Mariah lines/design, it looks bearish and it shows less importance on construction details, any way it's something on the budget set and I can't find anything looking better on this budget. In the other side it's newer. Engine is newer.

Reason tells me to go with Mariah, but emotion makes me focused on Maxum. Can't explain :/
Any experienced opinion, please?
Thank you!

 

[rafiki_]

I can't really comment on either of these boats, but don't dismiss the Maxum because of Brunswick. They have a variety of brands, and while Bayliner is their budget brand, they are still good boats if well maintained. The things that are most important to you are how ell the boat has been maintained, the engine and drive being the most expensive parts, and do you like the boat? It is unlikely that your first boat will fit your needs. Noir first was a Sea Ray Cuddy, which we really liked at the broker, but turned out not to suit our needs, so we upgraded to a sports cruiser after 4 months!
Good luck.

 

[Spi D]

Maxum, also known as Bayliner's well dressed sister, was discontinued in 2009. As such is was a sibling to Brunswick's entry level brand and offered good value indeed. Not on par with the high end brands from the same corp, but definitely a good buy.

Mariah struggled but being a smaller manufacturer they didn't cope and was taken over by Sea Fox. I believe the quality depends hugely on when in their lifetime the boats were made.

Mind you, that engine and driveline is the same regardless of boat make. Most common from in US brands is Mercruiser, another Brunswick company.

 

[Bojangles]

I had a Mariah 19SC (I think it was a 2007) in 2008 although only for about 5 months as I upgraded quite quickly. Thought it was a great value for money boat, some of the fittings were a bit flimsy but then again I would go out in weather that the boat probably wasn't designed for. I used it for skiing and pulling ringos etc and thought it performed well, I even spent a few nights onboard, great fun but a bit cramped.

I've owned 2 Maxum boats although not the model you mention, the finish on the both I had was excellent, upholstery and fittings were of good quality.

If everything else was equal between the two boats, maintenance record and condition wise, I'd probably go for the newer of the 2, good luck

 

[mlthomas]

We had a Bayliner 205 with a 5ltr Mercruiser on 2005 - still have the grin on my face
Few pics in logs and a couple of videos in the video section (website below)
What ever you get, enjoy

 

[Sea Ray]

When I bought my Sea Ray (now sold) years ago I looked at Maxum among others. I recall chatting with a guy in a boat yard that showed me a Maxum with the stern cracked, the owner had bought it without a survey. This guys opinion, and it made sense, was a lot of these boats, Maxum, Bayliner, Sea Ray etc, the USA mass producers, are manufacturing for the lakes, you've only got to look at their brochures, the waters like a sheet of glass ! and they don't tend to fair too well in the rough if abused. An inboard and drive is a lot of weight to come crashing down if pushed in the rough. Don't get me wrong, I'm not condemning them as unfit for purpose in the UK, I had one, it was great, but this guy seemed to know his stuff and made a lot of sense. I went with a Sea Ray at the time as it had the best rep/build quality of the various brands I was interested in, plus they finished the interior hull nicely with a spray coat. There's a lot of these boats blasting around the UK and it's not as if they fall to bits as soon as they drop of a wave, but like anything its down to how its been treated. Condition is King, whatever you buy, find something that has obviously been loved and well maintained, even if it is a bit more money. Personally for that size boat I would be looking for something with an outboard, depends on your personal skills and how deep your pockets are, but once drives and inboards start to play up it can get expensive. That's not to say outboards can't be expensive, but having had both, I would choose an outboard on anything under 25ft, a few manufactures, Jeanneau included I think, don't put inboards in anything under 8mtrs now, but I may be wrong. Like mlthomas says, whatever you get, enjoy.

 

[Sheppy]

I often go out in a friend’s Maxum 1800 SR, and we've been out in some very rough waters, far in excess of what we probably should have, and his boat has done ever so well. I didn't think much of these US boats when I first come across them but now with my current experience, I would say they're pretty ok, although his has become nicknamed the ‘Tea Tray’ due to low deadrise. I do agree that on average their deadrise isn't much but most of us don't go out in rough waters anyway. I've also had a few Fletchers and although their hulls are probably superior, I would probably swap for the comfort and extra beam of the US boats. In fact, and ironically, that's exactly what I've done. But I did research first and went with a Sea Ray 215 Express. Very deep V so great in rougher water, good build and finish, very beamy so lots of room, and still trailerable. I think given your decision between the two, I would look at the running gear. If one is carburettor based I wouldn't bother as the running costs will be that much higher, go for an EFI if you can. I assume at 190hp neither are MPI. We run a sports boat rally every year and the 4.3 EFi uses about half the fuel of the carb version at normal cruising – something worth considering.

 

[mlines]

I am not 100% sure of your location or the location you are buying them from (I note you have Euro prices and mention the Atlantic).

They look to be towards the upper end of what I would expect to pay as the view from the UK is that European boats should be cheaper both because of the Euro but also because of the slowness to come out of recession, although as you say the Mariah is better priced. The Mariah appears to have a higher bow which will help with rougher water.

In simple terms and having looked around at boats in the range a lot I think that when you see the boat that's for you then you will know it. As has been said, the condition of the engine and sterndrive is vital.

 

[psousa]

Thank you all!

Maxum is already on my garage. Owner made me a fair final price, even against maintenance company owner opinion and will (which is also trying to sell this boat for some time now)!
Ready to go but weather is not helping grrrrr

Cheers!

 

[gjgm]

Just to echo what someone else queried.. where will you be using this? If it is on quieter rivers, then a shallower deadrise (the angle in the middle at the back of the boat, bottom of the hull) the less wake it will make. Skiboats for example are very flat. Issue here is that these boats are not well suited to the sea. Here you need a steeper deadrise. Regals are about 24 degrees and good sea boats; a shallow deadrise is about 17. So, I would really take this into consideration- you dont want to be making a huge wake on the river maybe.
Besides that , any manufacturing error in the hull should be well evident by now. Most engines will be out of the same factory for USA boats, but get fuel injection. Make sure the layout actually suits you, kids, number of people etc. Rest is just quality of vinyl, cleats,carpet etc.
Your money is going into the engine so make sure that is in good shape. That will cost alot more to fix than replacing a bit of carpet or giving the boat a good polish.
Lastly, lesser brand names are always harder to sell. Does not mean they are not a better boat, but one day you will want to sell it, so make sure you bargain hard.