Mariner Owners- Give me the Good, Bad and Ugly

We love our 1999 Mariner. It has been my dreamboat for about 5 years. we kept moving up and up and did it the hard way ( took us 5 boats to get there). our last boat was a chris craft 30 foot express, and wow- what a difference. we love the styling, houseboat room without the houseboat looks. wife loves the fact that she has a water level aft area that she can hang out with her friends. we looked at the motoryacht and didn't like the fact that as soon as you board the boat , you have to take stairs to the hangout area. This is especially a pain when you have coolers, friends, pets, kids, etc. with the mariner, everybody just piles on with no fuss. when inside looking out - you look over the water rather than the water practically at eye level - like an express cruiser. the express makes my wife feel like shes in a cave or a submarine. when we cook on the boat - food and drinks can be handed up through the hatch into the flybridge. the dual stairs are not only wide and convienent for gett around on the boat , but they are also great seats to hangout on at anchor. we've had over 10 people out with us and actually don't see much of them as people are in the front lounge area, on the platform, in the back lounge area or inside. its that roomy! our express - was all elbows and ---------. cannot say enough good about this boat. okay now the bad- v drives make the engine room very cramped. ( still not as bad as the express) and some of the parts ( interior light trim rings) are obsolete. on an 8 year old boat , i had to pay $10 dollars apiece for a small ring of plastic because of their rarity. thats about it. we are going to sell ours to get our next dreamboat. a bluewater 50 footer. which has alot of the same attributes as the mariner in a larger size. if they only made a mariner 50!
 
There is a bigger Mariner coming. Twin Volvo IPS distinct Mariner layout...not like the previous 42 Mariner of 2004 to 2006
 
wish i could afford it. what should a 1999 freshwater mariner sell for? twin 7.4 mpi's
 
A '99 Mariner 350 was just sold in San Francisco for around $95K.
 
akitchell - where did you find the interior light trim rings? I'm needing to get some of these myself.

I hear you on the Bluewater - LOT's of boat!!!
 
good, them i'm not out of line. i was asking 125k for mine and got no bites. i dropped it to
109k and now have some inquirys. the trim ring search was fun. i just started calling carver parts departments all over the country and had them look through thier old parts stock and i finally found some. village marina in missouri had some the first time and they were somewhat reasonable at $5.00 per ring. then i bought them out and the next dealer sold them to me for $9.55 per ring , plus shipping of $9.00 for 3 rings. bear in mind that these are plastic rings that weigh nothing. $37 for all 3. sorry for sounding a bit bitter. i guess ,its supply and demand. if any more break, i am just going to swap out all the lights with leds.
 
ouch - that's steep! Thank you for the reply.

I bought my '99 350 Mariner in May of '05. The original ask was $125k (or was it 129k??) - waited them out, megotiated and bought it for $113k. Based on what I've seen/read - it seems that I got a good deal for a very well-cared for boat. I wouldn't say that I stole it and I wouldn't say that the seller robbed me - seemed to be a fair price for both of us.
 
thanks capt. buddha. thats great info. i guess i am asking a reasonable price. i maintain my mariner with an open checkbook. although it has not required much. mine also has a furuno 4kw radar and a furuno color chartplotter/gps. i also insatlled a flatscreen moniter in the stateroom and subs and amps. but i guess one cannot add for that stuff. if i cannot sell it, my wife just bought me a magma grill to put on it this summer. i really do love the boat. cant wait to grill on it.
 
sure thing. we've got the magma grill (Newport, I think) for ours (came with the boat!)...love it! We always go to the boat shows and look at newer/bigger boats - but we always walk away with a smile on our face - we made the right decision...sure we could buy a bigger/newer boat, but don't need it (we don't *need* the one we have...but we LOVE it!).
 
Hey Buddha - where/how have you got your magma grill installed? We're looking to buy a new one this year, have a "kettle" sized one right now, bow rail mount only.
 
awesome, that's where we want it - so i'm looking for a "rod holder mount"? I'm not very familiar with how those work, so forgive me for being dumb - does it stay in there while underway?
 
no worries - our set-up came with the boat - I believe that Magma sells a rod holder mount for it. Yes, it stays in while underway, it's quite a good setup.
 
I want to put in one of those grills that Chaparral offers as OEM equipment that mounts on their swim platforms. I think those are really neat. Does anyone know the brand??? If not I'll have to ask my buddy who's a Chap dealer, I just haven't had a chance yet...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top