Seeing that Lund is dropping the LE series for 2009, do you think that the LE's will now be worth more or are they going to drop in value?

I expect that they will drop in value as every other boat on the market is doing right now.

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Bottom line - the market is what it is. Any object is worth - EXACTLY what one particular person will pay for that item.

Find the right person and that item is worth a lot.

Don't find the right person and that item isn't worth much at all.

Take care
REW

p.s.
I think that the prices of boats have done the same thing that the prices of houses have done over the last 20 years. i.e. become much more expensive than what they are really worth.

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If you look at the boating industry you see a peculiar result:
For example, my neighbor has a 21 foot glastron boat with a 200hp i/o unit in it.
This boat will easily run at 60 mph. It will sip fuel at 1/2 throttle.
It will easily take 4 foot waves on any of the inland lakes around here.
It has a wonderful ride with it very well designed hull shape.
It has lots and lots of room, with a huge underfloor storage in the boat.

Yet, the new price off the showroom floor was just over 20K.

In contrast, a similar sized "fishing" boat of comparable hp etc. will be $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ higher.

Sure, a fishing boat has the following:
Livewell,
3 added pumps
3 or 4 different storage compartements.

All of that adds to a total of about $100 in total build parts.

What is wrong with this picture?

It would be really nice if the market would do some nice price corrections as the housing market is in the process of doing.

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As each day goes by and you hear stories of more and more boad dealers going out of business, I think that we are beginning to see the fallout.

End result - if boats are going to stay around, there needs to be some price adjustments as is the case for other objects int he free market to stay in business.

Take care
REW

Thats some good info REW. But I'm not refering to what the market is today. I'm just wanting to know if the LEs will not be as popular because of the company not making them anymore. In other words, in the past when a certain boat manufacturer quits building a certain boat, does that particular boat drop in value or go up. Seems to me that the LEs are pretty popular, but maybe I'm wrong.

As a long time Lund dealer (ret) I can tell you... it never was a big seller.
Don't worry about it.
Boats aren't extremely wonderful investments...PERIOD.

Folks need to realize a boat is a for fun...and a good fishboat makes for more fun when fishing. The LE is a great fish boat!

If you like the LE..buy one. The guys who have them love them.
I had a couple. I loved them.

The thing with LE's is ...when you cut to the chase...they are a 2 man boat.


But...they are an awesome 2 man fishing boat!

Thanks T Mac for the reply. Only thing I dont need to go buy one cause I already own one. And I do love the boat. I was curious because IF I decided to sell it I wanted to know if I'd be taking a bad hit on it.

Thanks again

It's all about finding the right buyer IMHO.

There was never a huge market, but it seems that the guys that liked/wanted the LE's were very loyal to them. If anything, I think the LEs may have a slightly higher value down the road simply due to supply and demand. Because they're rare, someone may be willing to pay a premium to get one in really good shape.

Waxy

If you look at the boating industry you see a peculiar result:
For example, my neighbor has a 21 foot glastron boat with a 200hp i/o unit in it.
This boat will easily run at 60 mph. It will sip fuel at 1/2 throttle.
It will easily take 4 foot waves on any of the inland lakes around here.
It has a wonderful ride with it very well designed hull shape.
It has lots and lots of room, with a huge underfloor storage in the boat.

Yet, the new price off the showroom floor was just over 20K.

Prices are higher in Canada (although they are coming down) but theres no way I could touch a 21' runabout with a sterndrive around here for 20K, especially not one that'll do 60mph. A base model, with the standard power option (way below max rated HP), might be close. However, depending on the manufacturer, model, HP, and options, you could nearly double that number in a real hurry.

Firstly, no 21' runabout with a 200HP i/o is going to run 60mph. Not a chance. You might see high 50's/low 60s with the new 300hp fuel injected 350ci Alpha Ones. A 21' runabout with a 200HP V6 or small V8 is a mid 40's boat, and a dog out of the hole.

Secondly, no runabout with an inboard, whether it's 200HP or 300+hp "sips" fuel. I can tell you that from experience. They are gas hogs. My 200HP Optimax is like driving a smart car compared to my father's 21' inboard with a 350 Mercruiser in it. Granted it's an older boat with a 4 barrel carb, but fuel injection isn't that big an advantage over a well tuned carb. You're still operating a 350 Chevy V8 at high rpms and high loads.

Like any boat, the bigger they are, the better they ride in the rough water. Having a boat that weighs in over 3000# is also a factor.

When it gets right down to it, I agree with your main point - Fishing boats are too expensive, they demand a premium dollar. However, I don't think they're that out of whack when you figure in the quality of them and their very use specific nature which limits their market. It's hard to compare them to the typical family runabout. If you want to compare them to something equally as use specific, compare them to high end waterski or wakeboard boats, if you do that comparison, fishing boats are a bargain!

Waxy

Here is a link to performance statistics for the Glastron Fish & Ski for 2008 with a 220 hp i/o. It is with 2 people and normal load with half tank of gas. REW might be a little off, but with a light load and perfect conditions/prop this boat might close in on 60 MPH. Approx. 4 mpg at half throttle sounds ok.

http://www.boattest.com/boats/test_results_Printp.aspx?ID=1675

Here is a link to performance statistics for the Glastron Fish & Ski for 2008 with a 220 hp i/o. It is with 2 people and normal load with half tank of gas. REW might be a little off, but with a light load and perfect conditions/prop this boat might close in on 60 MPH. Approx. 4 mpg at half throttle sounds ok.

http://www.boattest.com/boats/test_results_Printp.aspx?ID=1675

Impressive. I guess sterndrives have come a long way in the last 10 years.

The new Volvos are definitely good performers, but I just can't see that boat hitting 60mph. Once you get up over 50mph, every additional mph is VERY hard to gain. I know, I've spent plenty of time and too much money trying to coax a few more mph out of my dad's boat over the years.

The mileage is pretty impressive as well, at least as impressive as 4 mpg can be lol. Still, if you load that boat up with 4-6 people, gear, and then throw a skier/tube behind it or run it near wide open all the time like most runabouts get used, you'll see fuel milage closer to 1 MPG LOL.

At any rate, I guess I was maybe a little overboard, but my point is largely the same. I see a lot of guys buying $60-150,000 wakeboard boats and not batting an eye, so I guess everything is relative.

Waxy

ON EDIT: I signed up and looked around on the Boattest site to see if I was really that out of touch. The Glastron must have a great hull, and those Volvos must be impressive, because other similar size and HP boats (mostly Mercruisers) were right where I thought they'd be - mid to high 40 mph range. Fuel mileage was consistently 3.5 to 4 mpg though, which is better than I would have expected.

Seeing that Lund is dropping the LE series for 2009, do you think that the LE's will now be worth more or are they going to drop in value?

I can't comment on the market as a whole. But as a boat buyer, with the intention of buying either a tiller or LE Lund boat. The decision by Lund to drop the LE line has swayed me to look for an LE more than a tiller. I can buy a tiller later in life. For now, if I want a late model LE, I'd better do it now.

Too bad it looks like an LE IFS is going to be just a touch out of reach for me. So I'll likely be behind a bubble or two.:raisin:

hey Burr. If you can find a dual console you should be able to just order the glass pieces for a walk through and swap out the bubbles for full shield. I think, please dont quote me but I know it can be done with a few other boat brands.

I thought I had read somewhere, it may have been here, that the consoles for bubble were different than they were for the windshield, with Lund. I dunno. I'm lookin at a single bubble now, and I've got a couple friends with IFS LE's, so I can pull em along side and investigate.

I definitely prefer the LE. If SE was my only choice, I'd probably buy a tiller.

hey Burr. If you can find a dual console you should be able to just order the glass pieces for a walk through and swap out the bubbles for full shield. I think, please dont quote me but I know it can be done with a few other boat brands.

Unfortunately, this can't be done. The consoles used on the IFS boats are different than the SE with bubbles boats, at least they were on the 2006 models.

To convert my single console SE to an IFS would have cost me in the neighborhood of $5000. I would have had to buy two consoles and swap out all the instrumentation, switches, steering wheel, etc.. I decided it wasn't worth it.

Adding a second console and bubble cost me around $1300, and it gets the job done.

Waxy