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| Looking at a 2000 Triton 205 DC with 225 merc efi. Any input on this boat is appreciated.Owner says boat has some gel coat stress cracks.Is this normal? I have never owned a fiberglass boat.Would like to use boat for Walley on Lake Erie and Bass on Kentucky Lake.Thanks again for any input! |
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| Great Boat for what you want. Fast hull and fishes well. Triton had probelms with gel coat stress cracks during that year . Usually they can be fixed and maybe covered by warranty. I had this same probelm. Depends how bad they are, this can be a sign of abuse also. Generally the cracks started somwhere under the front cleat but they are only in the gel coat not the whole so you should have no structural damage. Good Luck Nice riding boat |
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| Stay away from that boat. These boats cracked like an eggshell on a countertop. And they weren't just "stress cracks". Many of those cracks were structural in nature. |
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Posts: 2300
Location: Berlin | I owned a 205 and loved it! If they still made it I would buy another one. Mine also had stress cracks but so do most other glass boats. I ran mine as hard as a boat could be run and had zero problems structurally. I only know of one 205 that had those kind of problems and he got a brand new boat out of it. |
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| I know of three guys that got brand new boats out of it, and they were all original owners. The company has apparently been slightly less willing to work with 2nd and 3rd owners. I don't disagree that the boats are nicely laid out, handle the wave well, and are in general a super boat for fishing - but ask yourself this: If those were only minor stress cracks, why would Triton be giving the owners new boats? Sorry, there is a structural issue with those boats and it is well documented. |
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| Well Documented. I'm curious where your documention is. I heard lots of great things about the 205.
And yes all glass boats get stress cracks.....even Rangers.  |
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| I don't disagree that all boats get stress cracks. But I will tell you that what happened to many 205s was much, much, more than stress cracking. Like I said, they are nice boats, but there were some real problems with the 99s and 2000 models. I'm just providing info for a prospective buyer. If it were me, in terms of documentation, I would simply call Triton - ask for customer service - and nicely ask them about he performance of the hulls and how many have been replaced. If they say none, they are lying. I suspect that they will carefully work their way around that question. The prospective buyer asked for info, and info he has gotten. There is another walleye website out there, do a little search on triton 205. |
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Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | Whats nice about digman is he keeps the resale of 205's very low. They are a steal to buy because he keeps saying how much of a piece of junk they are. He has all the facts and he is a marine expert. Take his word for it.
That being said, you sure can get alot of 205's and that means a whole lot of boat and motor, at a great price.
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| By the way, having said that, I have absolutely no problem with the Triton line. The 202s, 215s etc are excellent boats. Unfortunately, Triton clearly didn't have the kinks worked out in 99 and 2000. Not trying to be an expert here, just trying to get the guy some info. |
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Posts: 2445
Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | And you have adequetly supplied to him a link to an internet thread in which someone, that we do not know or what the whole story is, is complaining about his boat. Thats true detective work.
I am getting just a bit sick and tired of guys who think that someone they have never met, has done things correctly regarding there boat, and now they have problem and its a design fault. Better yet, supply to him the percentage of returns this boat had instead of the actuall number that had problems. 2-4% return of product is the norm in all business' today. I like it tighter, but thats the norm. Remember this: 93 out of every 100 americans are working, but the news tells you of the 7 that aint. Be on the good side.
Edited by stacker 3/5/2009 10:01 AM
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Location: Lake Erie | One of my best friends had a 99 205 DC, I actually know the guy who purchased new as well, his boat was sent back to Triton twice and when my friend sold it there where very visible cracks near the rear of the boat in the exact same spot. they wheren't there one day then after a wicked rough day on Erie they appeared I was out in my boat that day and it was god aweful rough. I can confirm by personal expererience from 2 friends that these boats did have problems, Triton did fix them later on down the line but the initial crop of them were not all that great. This boat was number 7 off the line in 99 when they came out. I fished off the boat many times on Erie and it was a fast moving rig, 60 MPH with a 200 EFI, the boat ran good and wasn't to shabby in big water, trolled and fished great, layout was good and overall I did like the boat and so did the two owners. |
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| This is what I would do. Have the cracks checked out by a professional. If the cracks need to be fixed, have the seller try and get Triton to fix them (Provided he is the original owner). Then you make the purchase. If he is the original owner, he'll have better luck trying to get Triton to pay for something than you will if you file a complaint after you bought the boat.
Stacker,
If they reported about the 93% that are employed, then they would have to report on the fact that 92% of us are still making our house payment as well. Good news on the nightly news, are you serious. Next thing your going to do is tell me that investing all my money in Citibank was a bad idea. ; )
By the way, I can verify that Rich S. did put his 205 to the test. I have the doctor bills to prove it. Very fast boat and his didn't have any structural damage that I new about, except for the time my kicker prop found the side of his boat on the water. Those pro kickers trim down fast, but sometimes, not fast enough.
Mark |
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Location: Berlin | Digman, I remember that thread well. I knew a crap-ton of guys running 2000 205's and one with a '99. The guy with the '99 is the one that had the problem.
My CMC kicker lift broke so many times I lost count. I remade it out of Stainless Steel and it still broke. I put a new one on and broke that one. That boat had the ever loving crap beat out of it. You could not beat on a boat harder without killing yourself. I am not proud of this in any way, it was my first glass boat and I have a bit of a speed problem if you could not tell by my avatar. My 2000 was BULLET PROOF.
Now, I won't speak for others and I am sure not saying your full of bull but this has been my experience over the 6 years I owned my 205. |
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| Hey I'm really not trying to offend anyone, just providing some insight and some observation. I know of three, personally, that had problems. That's all that I am saying. I'm not trying to affect the resale value, and not trying to upset anybody. I should clarify years though, two were 99s, and one was a 2000. Two were boats that were used on Erie, and one spent most of its short life on Green Bay. Yes, three bodies of water known for destroying boats, agreed. But the facts are the facts. Maybe I just happened to know the people that were the only ones that had problems. I will say that finally Triton did GIVE these guys new boats, so I am not complaining about the company. But the fact is, of the 205s that I know about, they were not stellar performers as far as cracking up. And Stacker, I am sorry that you are both sick and tired, I wish you good health. |
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Location: Berlin | Sounds good Digman, let's get some warmer temps now so we can all go fishing! |
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Location: Rhinelander | I've been in the boat business as a sales rep for over 30 years, and can tell you almost every builder out there has a problem child model now and again. The good manufacturers take care of the problem, identify why it happened, and fix it so it doesn't occur again. The 'bad' ones don't take care of the customers and as a result are driven out of business...I've worked as an independent sales rep for two of those over the years, BassKota (Aluminum) and Patriot (fiberglass). Try as I did, I couldn't get the factory to respond to customer's warranty issues and now both are gone. The true test is whether the product lives up to expectations, and warranty issues are handled in an acceptable fashion over the long haul. Triton has been around for awhile and is doing well, so they have to be doing things right....overall. |
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