Sylvan Viper 180

[Glassfishingguy]

Just wondering what the thoughts are out there about the Sylvan (or Starcraft version) Viper 180? I have been looking at this, the Stratos and the Ranger Reatta. I don't want to ruffle any feathers, but for the life of me I can't figure out why the Ranger is $4-5 thousand more, other than the name. The fit and finsh seems comparable, as well as the features. I have spoken to a couple guys that have them and they both have great things to say about the performance, fishability etc...
I really don't care about the name on the side, just looking for the best value and the best boat.

[Phil T]

When my backyard neighbor quit guiding on Sakakawea, he bought a Sylvan 18' or 20' glass boat, powered by a 150 Merc. It worked really well for days on the "big lake" with grandchildren and his wife. Decent ride, but not really capable of going out regardless of weather. But amateurs can pick their days, tournament anglers can't.
He had one with the removable carpet, which he really liked.

[codycuster]

I recently went through the same evaluation. Ranger Rieata, Sylvan Viper, Stratos 386XF. The Ranger priced out 8 - 10 K higher than either of the other two. The Stratos 1 - 2 k higher than the Sylvan. I worked with several different dealers during my evaluation.

In my opinion, the Ranger was the nicest of the bunch and if I had let my heart decide there would be a new Ranger sitting in my driveway right now. Clearer heads got in the way though and to be honest one of those clearer heads belonged to my wife. We concluded that there wasn't 8 - 10 k difference in value between the Ranger and the other two alternatives.

There is a Sylvan dealer 70 miles from our home but this dealer is also a Ranger dealer and was not interested in talking with us about the Viper. He would work with us on a Sylvan aluminum boat though. We did get to look at a local 2006 Viper so we were not totaly blind. River City Marine in Bismark ND is the largest Sylvan dealer in the country - so they say. I talked with this dealership by phone (they are over 700 miles from our home in Colorado) and got some very positive input regarding the Sylvan Viper. The Bismark dealer also handled the Stratos as well as 5 other manufacturers. This dealer says that each year they deliver more Sylvan Viper and Stratos 386XF boats than the total of all their other competing lines. Dealer went on to say that if we were to come to Bismark and take a look at both boats side by side, his bet would be that we would like the Stratos better.

We finally decided on the Stratos after spending almost 3 hours on a lake test of the actual boat we were considering. and we felt very comfortable with the dealer. Our feeling about the dealer was confirmed when we contacted several current customers of this dealer for their input. One of those positive inputs came from a member of this very board.

We are very happy with our choice and don't feel that we sacrificed any quality or feature that was meaningful to us. By the way, Stratos and Ranger are manufactured by the same company and very shortly will be manufactured in the same facility in Arkansas. The trailer that came in our boat package is the same trailer that comes with the Ranger boats.

So the question remains. Where is the 8 - 10 k difference. I don't know. Maybe someone else can quantify this. My question though is - How long can a company continue to manaufacture competing products with no real difference in functional quality or features leaving the primary difference being that 8 - 10 k? I don't know and, I don't care. I have a boat that will do what I want for as long as I want it to.

Good Luck with your search!

Cody

[ColumbiaR]

I think advertising and sponsorships has a lot to do with it. Ranger has to make that money back. But, the opinion on this board is that Ranger has the highest quality. Is it 8-10K different? I hope to be taking a personal decision on that question in 3 to 5 years.

[Miami Vice]

Cody
You brought up a good point. Almost every one would agree that the Ranger is better than the Stratos, but at what price? There comes a point where you just can't justify the price difference.
I think you made the right choice.
I'm more familiar with salt water glass boats, and the king of the Hill is Grady White. But when Grady's are 10% to 50% more money than other brands, you say to yourself at what point do I draw the line.
If you are financing a boat, by purchasing a less expensive boat, your extra savings each month can go to a lot of good uses.
Gas, bait, fishing gear, electronics, yearly tune ups, dockage fees, trailer repairs, etc.
If you carry that analogy to cars, I always felt if I had a choice of buying a Mercedes Benz for $50,000 vs. buying two $25,000 Toyotas (this is before their problems), I would rather have the 2 Toyotas.
A weekday car for commuting to work, and a weekend car.
Yes the Mercedes is better, but in my opinion it's not twice as good as the Toyota.
If some of us are in a financial position to buy a Ranger without breaking a sweat go for it. But for the rest of us, buying a boat like a Stratos may make more common sense.
Miami Vice

[Esoxchaser]

I find very little information on Sylvans website about the construction of the Viper, is it wood free like other boats? The only warranty I can find is the 10 year warranty on their tin boats, no warranty mentioned for the Viper in the fishing catalog where the Viper is listed. Ranger has a lifetime warranty on the hull. I wonder how long a warranty and what construction you get for a few grand less? Is it really a good value? What about resale value? I have been buying new boats for 30 years, never knew Sylvan even made glass boats.........

[codycuster]

I think ColumbiaR has a good point. When I first started out looking for our new boat I sent away for product information from a large number of manufactures. I also spent a lot of time on each manufactures' web site and lurked at more member message board sites like this one than I care to admit.

I'll give my assessment of the three manufactures that I ended up seriously considering regarding several of the issues ColumbiaR mentioned.

Product Literature/Advertising:

Ranger - Really really impressive. I not only received a stunning Product Brochure but they included an accessories catalog that had every conceivable article of clothing and gear that anyone would ever want emblazened with the Ranger Logo. Reminded me of the Harley Davidson brochures and catalogs.

Stratos - Competent - more focused on the bass models - must be were the money is.

Sylvan - Pretty good about their Aluminum boat line - very little about the Viper.

Web Site:

Ranger - One of the nicest sites I have ever visited.
Stratos - OK but not very informative.
Sylvan - Relative to the Viper model this site was a joke.

Sponsorship:

Ranger - What can I say. Almost every fishing show I watch has Ranger in there somewhere.

Stratos - Win first place fishing from one of their boats anywhere and Stratos will match prize money up to a maximum amount - I think 10k.

Sylvan - Huh?

All of this goodness costs money and lots of it.

So, I agree with ColumbiaR. It cost money to have your name out in front but you have to get it back somehow if your going to stay in business.

Having said all of that, to be honest I ride a Stratos on the water but when I go to Sturges once a year I'm on a Harley.

Cody

[beeman]

I know for fact they sell for good money used. Boats both will catch same fish, sylvan will cost alot less money. Shop for some new repo sylvans online. Im about the money my opinion may differ.

[glassfishingguy]

Guys,
I really appreaciate the feedback thus far. This has all been some really, really good info and so far anyway, is right in line with what I have found so far.

[Pezman38]

Resale is something to consider, unless you plan on owning this boat forever. I have a Reata and love the fact that if Ranger comes out with something I want I can still get good money for my boat 5 years down the road.

Search the classifieds here and try to find a reata and do it monthly. I bought my reata because I only saw 2-3 used boats in the last year (1850s) and most were sold in a couple months. That told me that the people that buy them really like them so they don't sell often, and when they do get listed, they go fast. I have only seen 1 used 2050 in the last year, and that was Juls boat which I don't think counts :-)
So i decided to pick up an 08 last year because some dealers were hurting I got a bit better deal than some others.
Just something else to think about.

[klungses]

the reply indicating that Stratos would double tournament winnings if you place first caught my eye to I went to their website to check it out. It needs to be noted that this is only for bass tournaments and there is a very specific list of tournaments that this includes. To bad this does not apply to any walleye tournaments.

[rebs]

Resale is something to consider, unless you plan on owning this boat forever. I have a Reata and love the fact that if Ranger comes out with something I want I can still get good money for my boat 5 years down the road.

Search the classifieds here and try to find a reata and do it monthly. I bought my reata because I only saw 2-3 used boats in the last year (1850s) and most were sold in a couple months. That told me that the people that buy them really like them so they don't sell often, and when they do get listed, they go fast. I have only seen 1 used 2050 in the last year, and that was Juls boat which I don't think counts :-)
So i decided to pick up an 08 last year because some dealers were hurting I got a bit better deal than some others.
Just something else to think about.

you should expect to get a good return on selling a used ranger, look how much more you paid for it and have invested in it.

[srj]

The resort across the bay from me on Lake of the Woods (south shore) runs an 18' Viper most days all summer. I think it's an 03 and has a Yamaha F115 on it. It's used when there aren't enough guide clients to run their 27' Sportcraft and for the owners personal fishing. It sits on the water nice, moves well with the 115 and handles LOW well enough. The Vipers look like quite a bit of boat for the money...not a full featured tournament boat, but a nice fishing platform.

[nd viper]

The dealership in Bismarck sells allot of vipers, or at least they used to. Over the years they have gone up in price quite a bit and aren't the great value they once were.
I bought an 180 in 2004 brand new with a 140 suzuki 4 stroke. This was a very nice setup, they set them up with 150F yamahas now days. 2004 was the first year for the viper to have a front bow rod locker.

I spend most of my time on lake sakakawea and never felt unsafe in the viper. I sold it to a friend and he is still running it on the big lake with a large family. They take big waves very well and the rear livewell is huge. It has a very nice open layout.
There is a loaded up 05 with kicker on bisman online right now you may want to check out, original owner.
Here's the link, sylvan makes a nice boat for the money. Very popular up in this area.

http://www.bismanonline.com/getListing.php?tcat=&cat=&p=1&a=548213