I myself would never buy a new boat again. I have been looking at used boats lately and have seen the same boats for sale for over six months now. These are boats that are two years old with low hours that owners are trying to sell for half of what they paid new. I was looking at a 2004 33 Eliminator Daytona with twin 525S. The guy paid almost 300,000.00 before TTL and is asking 159,000.00 OBO. I have looked at the boat and it is mint with 92 hours on it, I would buy it right now but I need to sell mine before I can do so. After buying two new boats in the last five years I can say I will never buy new again.
I dont know about lower prices for used, at least in the deckboat market. When I bought mine in July 2004, I had been looking seriously for a used Conquest or Magic (thats all there was to choose from at that time) and I could not find one anywhere. Its a different story now with quite a few to chose from but I really think I could get close to what mine cost, minus the tax of course if I wanted to sell it, mainly because prices have increased and Deckboats seem to be holding thie value very well. Answer to question, YES BOATS COST TOO MUCH. NSF