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Good advice, thanks!

Well good news! was able to get my dad to up the budget with me. We're now in the price range for a Ranger Z518. I'd love to find a 16 for the discounted price (I know they're still out there now) but I doubt they'll be around come January. Here's hoping. Aa far as what comes standard on them from ranger, what specifically do I need to make sure it has? I'm sure I'll upgrade as I go, just want to make sure I get what I need to from the dealer but don't throw a ton of money at them for upgrades I can do myself. Thanks! Oh and yes, we are keeping our eyes open in the Atlanta/Chattanooga area for a used option. This is is the absolute longest wait ever. I'm dying to get this thing and get out on the water.

No, I'm probably wrong on the models. Im referring to the intro fiberglass models Ranger has. I saw a couple of them in that same 30-35k price range.

How do those compare to the Rangers? Because... I AM going with Ranger Just between the Ranger RT198P or one of the Fiberglass options in the 30's. Thanks ya'll!

Am I foolish for not considering the 2017 Ranger Z185 considering they seem to be around the same price point? Like I stated, room/organization are two huge selling points for our situation.

So, as of today we're going with the Ranger RT 198. Its got the storage/organization we're wanting, has TONs of room for three people to fish comfortably (it will 90% of the time by myself, dad and my fiancé, so the room is a huge selling point), my dad doesn't get around to great so he loves the step ups that are in place. Seems to be able to get plenty of speed considering I won't be a heavy tournament guy or anything like that. And no matter how many times I looked at a Tracker or Xpress over the last week my eye and heart just kept going back to the Ranger. We plan on saving as much down payment money as we can between now and January and walking away with one at the Atlanta Boat Show in January, assuming all goes to plan. (ill of course be keeping my eyes open for a used one to hit the market but thats obviously highly unlikely between now and January for such a new model.) You guys have been awesome, so I'm hoping you might be able to help me with this as well. Based on the boat specs listed at the 28k price point on Ranger, is there any absolute upgrades you would get right off the bat? Or can I take the boat as is on the water without needing any upgrades from the start? Thanks ya'll!

I certainly appreciate all your input and help. It seemed the Ranger aluminums I could find had stronger motors from the get go for the same price. The 188C I found was the same price as tracker (24,400) and came with the 24v trolling motor and 150 engine. So if I get aluminim I think I'm leaning toward the Ranged. Seemed to have as good of build quality as the xpress and the organization and storage was significantly better. Im no longer opposed to fiberglass though, that's for sure. I still think my budget will be no more than around 30 grand so I think I'd either have to go used or the base low end Nitro, which I can only assume most people on here would suggest not getting. I really appreciate everyone's help/guidance!

Found an xpress dealer in the area. Man, those boats are sharp. However, not a fan of the layout or storage at all. Couldn't even fit my 7'2 rods or bigger in the rod storage areas. Boat was sharp and very well made, but was not a fan of the deck layout or storage. Also saw a 2017 ranger 188C (camo edition) in person and was a big fan. Def preferred it over the xpress boats I saw today. However, there was a Ranged fiberglass in the showroom as well and man, they have my attention. Ended the day at Bass Pro and I'll say this... Really could tell the lower quality of the Tracker builds. They just felt cheap and poorly thrown together, which I hate, because I honestly love the Tracked layout over any of the other boats. From the deck layout to the rod organizers they're by far my preferred boat... But I just can't spend that kind of money on them after realizing how subpar they are. I think at this point I'm between Nitro and Ranger fiberglass (or maybe the Ranger 188.) I honestly have no idea though.

But then I look in the area and see something like this for that price range and have no clue what to get. https://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/bod/5682826264.html

Don't really need/want the fiberglass. Waters we fish on down here are very calm, and do have a lot of submerged stuff in the water so I need a boat that can take a hit. Also don't want to deal with the upkeep and extra cost of the fiberglass down the road. Id rather buy new because I don't have to worry about how it was taken care of, previous owner, things going out of warranty quicker, ect... Im the same way with cars, I buy new just to have the peace of mind. I also looked at used models but nothing is available that's new enough to have the recessed trolling pedal, which is a deal breaker for me. All that said, I could be an idiot with this mentality and convinced otherwise, but I really enjoy the peace of mind of buying new and not have to worry about anything that comes with buying used.

Help! My dad and I are finally going to be buying our first boat together. He has some medical issues and we're basically at the "if we don't do this now, we're never going to do this" stage, which is the worst thing in the world to think about but I"m trying to avoid that reality and just realize we're finally getting a boat together! Been fishing our entire lives, but just always from the banks or when members of his church would offer to take us out, so to say we're thrilled to death is an understatement. Here's our gameplan: We're going to get with our local band and credit union and figure out what we need to do today so come January we can get the financing we want and know ahead of time what we're looking at. Our plan is to get approved for 30,000 dollars, and we'll hopefully have between 5-10K to put down as the downpayment and finance somewhere between 20-25k on the boat. I live in Atlanta and there's literally a Cabelas and Bass Pro 20 minutes from my house in opposite directions, so sticking to these two brands makes the most sense to me. I am however very torn between the two. From what I can find, it seems these two boats are around the same neighborhood price. I think they are both listed around the mid 20's. My fear with buying the Ranger is that with the recent buyout I can only assume 5 years from now the ranger aluminums won't be around as the tracker aluminum is BPS's strongest seller. So if I DO get the Ranger, how hard is it going to be in 5 years to get work on it done, where if I get a Tracker I can take it to BPS for the foreseeable future anytime I have any issues with it at all. I don't remember exactly when, but come end of January/Feb there's this huge boat expo here and you can usually work out really good deals, along with BPS and Cabelas putting their stuff on sale to compete as well, so our plan is to have that 30k and come that expo walk out with the new boat. I'm just really torn between the two. We will be fishing 3 people often (my dad, myself and my fiance) so anything smaller than these is not really a comfortable option. I've never seen a Ranger in person, but have seen and sat in the trackers a ton of times. I really like the trackers for the most part, but I'm not a huge fan of the dash. The Ranger dash system seems way more modern and sensical for the equipment I'd want to put on it. However, I'm a HUGE fan of the Tracker center rod organizer, but maybe this Ranger has the same layout, I just haven't been able to see it to know. In March BPS has some sort of deal where you can upgrade your boat and get 2 hours of free labor, I'm planning on using that time to upgrade the trolling motor and install the Fishfinders/GPS I want. My question is, if I DO get a Ranger, does BPS still work on those boats, or would that be Tracker incentives only? Anyway... long first post and a ton of questions. So any help would of course be appreciated. I've done as much back reading as possible on here and seems everyone would say get the Ranger, the buyout just scares me a bit. And I also know that any concerns mentioned on here for the Tracker, BPS (according to the person I spoke with this weekend) every single thing mentioned has the limited lifetime warranty, which to me, would negate any of those concerns and I can't imagine them offering to cover those issues lifetime if they were having tons of problems. Again, thanks for the help! Go dawgs! (all of this is assuming of course that new models won't be out come early next year and these will still be the two most appetizing options)