Hello from a prospective owner

Hi everyone, Fred here from the boating capital of the world, Fort Lauderdale, FL

I have been lurking around YF for a few weeks reading as much as I can about different manufacturers, models, propulsion systems, etc; so much to learn! In any case this site has been very informative so far ! thanks

I am getting closer to making a decision as far as what boat I would like to buy but wanted to see if I could get some input from all of you. My wife and I are looking for a sport cruiser; preferably 3 cabins: master, VIP and one with bunks for kids; primary uses of the boat will be for cruising around the ICW, day tripping around South Florida and for weekend and week long trips to the Bahamas. We would like to be able to invite another family with a child to come with us that is why we would like the 3 cabin set up. Budget Wise we are trying to stay under $500k so you can guess that we are looking at some older vessels, anywhere from 3 to 10 years old. I am really trying to make it no older than 2000 and still be under the $500k if I can do it but know that it is very possible that either my budget or my age limitation may have to be dropped to get this deal done. We have just begun looking and so far we have looked at very few boats. The standout so far is a Viking V58 ( over my budget but lovely boat!); also seen the Sunseeker Predator 56-60-61 ( should be able to get close to budget), Neptunus 55, Atlantis 55 and also a couple of Pershings ( my wife loves the Pershings!.) We have also thought about going the Intrepid or Sea Vee route but my wife wants a little more luxury than that this time as we have had center consoles in the past. A friend of mine who is a marine electronics man has also suggested we look at Tiara as he says are great boats and easier to work on but I think he is just trying to make sure that when I call him for help playing around the boat to fix things he won't have to crawl on his belly too much
With thses details in mind, my question refers to what manufacturers or boat families tend to hold up better or in other words age better; also if you care to offer suggestions as to what specific boats might fit the bill for us please feel free to chime in. As further info, my wife and I are kayakers, Stand up paddleboarders, divers and we have been playing with the idea of doing some kite surfing so we would like room in the boat for some toys.
Thanks ink advance for all the help!

Fred
Fort Lauderdale, FL

CaptJ, Thanks for the reply! I'll check the Sea Ray; I was invited to a party at the dealer this weekend so I am sure I'll get to see a few of them there; however, plee correct me if I'm wrong but from memory I think the sedan bridge doesn't have a lower helm and this would be a problem for me. I would rather have a smaller salon and have the lower helm so I can be with my guests rather than isolated in the bridge or have the set up with the retractable roof over the salon so that I can enjoy the inside/outside experience albeit with a smaller salon. Regardless, I'll check on the SeaRays as well as on the Neptunus.
Thanks again!

Pascal, I'll keep that in mind as I search and I'll add some fly bridge boats to our search.

Thanks,

Nycap, thanks fir the suggestions! I guess you are correct and I am looking for an express cruiser rather than a sport cruiser ; got to learn the terminology better

Luckily, I'm not trying to impress anyone or else Id be in trouble here.
I'm going to see a predator 56 tomorrow and there are a couple of 61s that look like could be nice and not too far off the budget. I'm also going to see a Neptune 55 tomorrow that s supposed to be pristine.

Wish me luck!

Thanks for the suggestions

GFC, thanks for the suggestion and the offer. I am certainly looking at the Great Lakes area for boats.
Best Regards,

Pascal, thanks! I'll try to be on the look out for the silly designs that hinder instead of help.

Thanks everyone for the input thus far!
Yesterday I went to see 2 boats:
2007 55 Neptunus Cabrio; beautiful and immaculate boat; could still detect the smell of resin as on a new boat. Could eat off the floor of the engine room! And the Cat 15 engines were so clean and pretty and had the electronic panels in the helm. This was a really nice and solid boat and basically nothing needs to be done to it. Newer electronics. Flawless! But a bit above my current proposed budget although still very doable.
2002 56 Sunseeker Predator; great boat but older. The interior was surprisingly clean, no funny smells and very little needs to be done there. Engine room not as clean, nothing horrible either just older, outfitted with MAN D2848LE403 engines. Electronics are a mixture of some older and newer stuff, could use some money to make better but not 100% required. This boat is well within the proposed budget and would leave money in reserves for clean up and upgrades.
I also saw a 2004? sunseeker Portofino 44 but not what I want, so no comments.
Both boats had pluses and minuses but very subjectively speaking, and without doing a seatrial, survey etc, I liked the Sunseeker better. Even though on paper it is only a foot longer it really felt like a much bigger boat. The salon and cabins below had a more open feeling and the upper salon/deck also felt more spacious. I also liked the driving position better on the Predator and with the top open even more so. On both boats, with a dingy/tender on the hydraulic platform, the platform becomes very crowded and pretty useless for day boating and for kids to just play on the water, diving etc but I can think of ways to get around this objection on both boats. The predator 61 has a garage which should negate this concern and the layout is very similar to the 56 I looked at so I am encouraged to go look at one.
Tomorrow I go see another Neptunus 55 that has a different layout in both cabin and deck areas; a 55 Atlantis, a 56 Aicon and a 50 Sunseeker Camargue.
Overall a fun afternoon of playing around boats, ducking into engine rooms and looking at little details of the boats and trying to imagine how my family and friends would use the boats.

Life is good! cheers,

I hear you on the MANs but what other go fast style express cruisers in the 55-60 foot range are made that use Cats? I guess I'll spend th night tonight trying to find something. ;-)

Small world this one CaptJ! ;-) Today we went and saw the 2006 Neptunus 55; a nice boat as well with some very desirable features such as the desalinator and the hard backing but as you have been advised by others, the boat just didn't show as well as the 2007 so congratulations to you CaptJ on keeping the 2007 in really top shape! We have read, and heard from different people that the Neptunus are wonderful boats, Unfortunately, neither I nor my wife really fell in love with the Neptunus ;-( I can't even put my finger on what exactly it was that didn't appeal to me but the main thing for me is the upper salon area is almost too formal and I really like better the more laid back, open to the outdoor environment set up on the Viking and the SS Predator.
I'm going to keep searching for boats and something will come up that checks most of the boxes of what we are looking for, time is on our side. If all else fails I'll probably just look for a good Intrepid for half as much as we are going to spend on an express cruiser and the difference will pay for a lot of hotel room nights in the islands when we go there ;-)
Cheers and thanks for all the help and encouragement so far!

Yeah, the 58 I saw had signs that the retractable canvas roof leaks or leaked in the past. No perfect boat in the world. ...
Thanks for the help!