After wading through the information on my website, a young gentleman rang me and said he was thinking of selling his smaller, trailerable boat to buy a 35 – 40 footer to keep in the water. He wanted to know which was a better boat to buy – a Riviera, Caribbean or Mustang.
I said it really depends on the the money you have to spend, the intended use and the waters to be traversed. I also asked, why are you limiting yourself to those three brands? It appears his main concerns were resale value and getting parts.
In WA in the past we have been particularly cautious about brand names that are not familiar to us. It is the so called ‘sheep mentality’. On the east coast of Australia, this is not as apparent. In QLD and NSW there are dozens of luxury boat brands on the market that even I have never heard of before. They all sell, and the general public don’t appear to be afraid of owning a boat with a foreign name over there. Maybe it is due to a larger, more multicultural population.
Some Australian brands have been so popular in the past that, in the words of my brother, they are like bottoms…everyone has one! Take Riviera and Caribbean in the West. Great brands of course, and very popular mainly due to the dealers who have represented and promoted them over the decades.
There are many other boat brands that have been and still are being imported from around the world, in some cases they are of equal or better quality than our own Australian manufactured craft. In many cases they represent far better value for money.
Think of Viking, Cabo, Tiara & Luhrs to name a few. Ten years ago you would rarely see one of these in the state. Now there are dozens of them and they have a good following. Many international brands have been manufacturing boats long before our Australian pleasure boat building industry began.
If you are worried about getting parts for those, not so common boats, then don’t! Most brands use very similar parts. A good boat management company or chandlery can source these for you, and if you damage the gelcoat, fibreglass, aluminium or stainless steel, there are dozens of local repairers skilled enough to restore it to original.
In short, don’t be afraid, be prepared to look outside the square and you could buy particularly well and end up with a boat that better suits your requirements….and budget.
Brendon Grieve
Motoryachts Unlimited
Director | Sales