2005 320 vs 2004 340

No Deal

The boat has Smartcraft - It's in the engine gauges. It's really cool. It has MPG, GPH, RPM, Sync, Hours, % Fuel.... The Chartplotter is awesome -She's been to the Bahamas, twice, and the Keys several times.

The radar arch has been cut off and hinged back on - Not the nicest of options. The left prop was bad - not a great test run. It had an electrical problem - the right battery wouldn't come on line, so we couldn't get the hatch open after the test - no fun. Before that, the hull, cockpit, interior and engine room were near new. It is NOT the boat I posted a link too, but almost identical.

I flew to Pompano Beach - 1400 mile round trip today - Not real impressed, but the boat hadn't been prepped either. Probably my mistake as much as theirs. But, if they want to sell it.....

The 340 was about the smallest boat in the water - They're just not impressed by a couple of hundred grand in Pompano. I recommend going to Lubbock to buy a Yacht.
 
The arch was cut off and reinstalled with hinges?

I'd personally be very concerned about the resale impact of the arch modification. Did the local dealer do the work?

I'd be concerned about the strenght of the arch with that modification as well. About a year ago, toward the end of my 320 ownership period, we got caught in some 5-7 footers..the wave action was so violent that the 320 came completely out of the water seveeral times. I was only making 9 knots SOG and we were getting battered. The very last thing I would want to have to worry about in weather like that is the arch breaking free.

regards
Skip
 
I have seen these arch mods to fold on several boats, especially of course when bridges prevent you from passing with arch. these mods can look very professional and be very functional (Doral actually has an electric tilting arch on some models and Chaparral has folding arches that the customer can actually fold on many of their cruisers like the 290 for example) if you need it. Now the trick is to have it done right as with all modifications.
 
I have seen the boat at MMax Pompano with the hinged arch. It is actually pretty slick and a nice solution if you have fixed bridges.

I am surprised that you found MMax Pompano not too interested in a $200,000 sale. I have purchased several boats from MMax Pompano and never found them disinterested in a sale. Frankly I have found their sales and service to be excellent. Perhaps you just caught a sales man on an off day. If you want to send me a private message with a bit of info like who the salesman was I may be able to provide some insight.
 
The truth is that we tested the boat before it had been accepted into the sales program. It had not been touched since it arrived from trade. My salesman is from a different location across state, and I'm from the panhandle. We arranged to see the boat on Sunday, and showed up Monday. It wasn't show ready.

It wasn't even water ready. The guy who took us out wasn't involved in the deal, and he seemed dis-interested. The boat ran very rough. He pushed it up anyway. Neither my saleman nor myself felt comfortable. After our orientation, he told us to take it back out. We didn't.

It's a no deal for me.
 
It's been close, but not really. The 340 seems to be the right answer. My wife couldn't tell the difference. She preferred the 2005 to the 2004, but that wasn't the question. When I climb into the cockpit of the 340, I'm on a big boat. the 320 is a slick boat, but it's not a big boat. When I go below decks to the salon, the 340 is wide and roomy. The 320 is nice, but it seems narrow.

When I look at the two, it's as if the 340 was 2 feet wider. It's only 6 inches, but it seems that some times my wife considers that significant too.

Winner.......................................................2005 340!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

120 hours, Blue/blue/light neutral interior w/cherry (std). Nice boat. Test drive next week.
 
Hampton said:
It's been close, but not really. The 340 seems to be the right answer. My wife couldn't tell the difference. She preferred the 2005 to the 2004, but that wasn't the question. When I climb into the cockpit of the 340, I'm on a big boat. the 320 is a slick boat, but it's not a big boat. When I go below decks to the salon, the 340 is wide and roomy. The 320 is nice, but it seems narrow.

When I look at the two, it's as if the 340 was 2 feet wider. It's only 6 inches, but it seems that some times my wife considers that significant too.

Winner.......................................................2005 340!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

120 hours, Blue/blue/light neutral interior w/cherry (std). Nice boat. Test drive next week.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more with you ! :thumbsup:
 
A little closure to this thread. Everyone has helped out imensely in the decision process. Thank you all very much for that. For those of you with 320's, or looking at 320's, they are awesome boats. With a little work, we were able to stretch to the 340, and that's the boat for us. I doubt we'll be trading anytime soon. This has been a huge pain!

We don't have as many great deals in the Panhandle. As a guy in S. Fl put it. "We deal in boats all year 'round. In the Panhandle, they have to make a year's worth of money in just a few months." That is an exageration, but the point has merrit.

Bottom line, I've been shopping in S Fl, just because that's where the boats that caught my interest happened to be. That's why it's been painful. So, like our last boat, we'll probably keep this one for several years (10 +). That, among other reasons, is why the 340 is the right boat for us.

Thanks again for everyone's help. There are two 320's locally that would have been soooo easy to get into, but I got nearly the same deal on a '05 340 down South.
 
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