I'm sure the wake is awesome and the convenience of built in ballast and quickly switching config for riders or activity is nice. I have said from a utilitarian perspective I'm sure it's great. Now if instead of riding behind one I had to repair one, I'd probably be fairly irritated at the unnecessary complexity. Riding in one, as opposed to behind one, I'd imagine would be comparable to my 26 year old boat. I'm sure I'd find the drive by wire irritating along with the lack of gauges and other nuisances but it's a boat, similar enough to any other large inboard.
Maybe you have the time to figure out ways to (hopefully) break even or make money on buying a brand new boat but I don't, and I'd imagine most people do not. Enlighten us as to how I can profit from buying a brand new boat every 20 months or so. Not that I would do that, I prefer to buy something I like and keep it for somewhere betweena long time and forever. Changing boats every year or two would be annoying and stressful for me, and I don't have the time to deal with the hassle. As an early retirement type interested in finances and investments, I'm curious.
Don't have time but have $100k+ to drop on a boat? Sounds like an easy solution. $$5k-$10k buys you a nice older inboard. $15k buys you a 700+ HP engine, and a couple grand for a trans. Another $6k for a stringer job with composite material. A few grand for upholstery and interior. That's maybe $30k-ish for a much more simple and reliable boat with a fairly minimal investment of time to outsource everything and define goals. You can even build in some ballast to switches on the dash or put a wedge on them. Not gonna compare to some new boats with instafill 4000 lbs but personally I'd not at the level to use that. It's awesome, but not worth $100k to me. You can buy brand new 460 and 454 blocks, heads, cranks, etc., they are still made. You can buy them off the shelf with a phone call for a 500+ HP package. CARB is irrelevant if you throwing it in a hull not going to California. Catalytic converters are a bolt on deal but irrelevant for a hull more than a couple years old... And while I've been harassed by police and coast guard a time or two for a general inspection and safety equipment, none have ever been concerned with checking emissions equipment. If you can afford to write a check and buy a $100k+ SA you can afford to write a check for a boat with far more power.
Those that enjoy classic boats (and cars, bikes, trucks, etc.) are a minority and a more close knit group. Start a thread asking for opinions on new stuff and I give my opinion. The masses want to have a payment forever and change boats (or other vehicles) as often as I change underwear. I think it's silly, but it's profitable so that market is catered to. Nothing against the fancy new electronic boats, they're pretty nice, but just not for me.
