I owned a 2013 Z7 for 6 years. Biggest issue I had was loss of speed over the years. Ended up being a hooked hull so I traded it off for a Triton. Leaps and bounds ahead of the Nitro quality wise. I also had several issues with my trailer. The fenders were only tack welded and eventually ended up cracking all over and were extremely loose and noisy. Ended up having a new set fabbed up because I got sick of constantly reinforcing with angle under the fenders.

 

Check out the Nitro FB groups. I know a ton of new Nitro owners are constantly posting how bad their trailers are and how the keep failing. Seen a lot of complaints with the touch switch panels also.

I owned a 2013 Z7 for 6 years. Biggest issue I had was loss of speed over the years. Ended up being a hooked hull so I traded it off for a Triton. Leaps and bounds ahead of the Nitro quality wise. I also had several issues with my trailer. The fenders were only tack welded and eventually ended up cracking all over and were extremely loose and noisy. Ended up having a new set fabbed up because I got sick of constantly reinforcing with angle under the fenders.

 

Check out the Nitro FB groups. I know a ton of new Nitro owners are constantly posting how bad their trailers are and how the keep failing. Seen a lot of complaints with the touch switch panels also.

I saw Chris zaldain’s nitro downtown yesterday. Shew buddy that thing is sharp 

First off !

Since when has a $55,000 boat been considered a budget boat ?

I paid 62K for my 1st house, brand new. Lol

 

In my network of fishing friends, more Nitro's are being fished out of then any other boat and yet to have heard a complaint.

 

My longtime best friend has had Skeeters, hydro sports and now a Cheetah. 

He never winterizes properly, no maintenance on lower units, never replaced an impeller, leaves boat uncovered.

We've had numerous issues almost every trip out. 

It's gotten to the point that we only take my boat.

It's the owner, not the boat.

13 hours ago, Bird said:

First off !

Since when has a $55,000 boat been considered a budget boat ?

I paid 62K for my 1st house, brand new. Lol

 

In my network of fishing friends, more Nitro's are being fished out of then any other boat and yet to have heard a complaint.

 

My longtime best friend has had Skeeters, hydro sports and now a Cheetah. 

He never winterizes properly, no maintenance on lower units, never replaced an impeller, leaves boat uncovered.

We've had numerous issues almost every trip out. 

It's gotten to the point that we only take my boat.

It's the owner, not the boat.

Welcome to the world of high inflation, if you havent shopped for new boats in the past year or two, you are in for a surprise....big surprise !!  Last summer I downsized to a 16' aluminum boat, not seeing much on the used market, I started looking at new models.  

Sticker shock is a nice way to say " holy $hi#" are boats expensive !!  I was looking at 16' side console with 40-50 hp motors at 25K and up to 30K....bass boats were double that !!  Went back to the used market but expanded my search out to 250 miles plus.  I was lucky and stumbled across a garage queen, like new, original owner boat. Drove over two hundred miles with cash in hand.  Owner had all reciepts to back up his story and the boat was imaculate...I never negotiated, just gave him his asking price of 4500, knowing full well a new one was almost 25K !!!

15 hours ago, airshot said:

Welcome to the world of high inflation, if you havent shopped for new boats in the past year or two, you are in for a surprise....big surprise !!  Last summer I downsized to a 16' aluminum boat, not seeing much on the used market, I started looking at new models.  

Sticker shock is a nice way to say " holy $hi#" are boats expensive !!  I was looking at 16' side console with 40-50 hp motors at 25K and up to 30K....bass boats were double that !!  Went back to the used market but expanded my search out to 250 miles plus.  I was lucky and stumbled across a garage queen, like new, original owner boat. Drove over two hundred miles with cash in hand.  Owner had all reciepts to back up his story and the boat was imaculate...I never negotiated, just gave him his asking price of 4500, knowing full well a new one was almost 25K !!!

I just bought a new Bass Boat about a month ago and drove over 1000 miles round trip.

I ain't paying 55K for glass when I can it for half that in aluminum.

On 3/24/2023 at 7:14 AM, Bird said:

it's the owner, not the boat.

Quite often you can tell what kind of shape everything else is that a person has when you see what their car or boat looks like.

 

Cars, boats, guns, and just about everything else with moving parts are generally going to last longer and perform better when you maintain them at a high quality.

14 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Quite often you can tell what kind of shape everything else is that a person has when you see what their car or boat looks like.

 

Cars, boats, guns, and just about everything else with moving parts are generally going to last longer and perform better when you maintain them at a high quality.

You'd have to meet this guy, super nice but not a care in the world.

His boat has sat all winter with ethanol blend fuel, needs an impeller, oil hasn't been changed in years, lower unit as well.

Oh, rotting fuel line and No trailer maintenance. 

He's 67 and not likely to change anytime soon.

On 3/24/2023 at 6:13 AM, TnRiver46 said:

I saw Chris zaldain’s nitro downtown yesterday. Shew buddy that thing is sharp 

I've often wondered if KVD, Zaldain or Ott's Nitro got a little extra love at the factory to insure it didn't become a nightmare for the world to see on TV.

 

Living in TN and so many pros living in TN I have a lot of them as clients but don't really have the relationship to ask them if their Nitro is the same Nitro the public would get. They're always in salesman mode.

 

I do have one pro and when I was a freshman and QB for freshman team he was a senior and QB for varsity. He wound up playing football in college and I played baseball in college, but we had never spoke. Fast forward 25 years and his Dad builds a house in my neighborhood and asks if I can help his son taxwise. Now for 10 years he's been a client and we're good friends and it's weird - we didn't talk in high school but still feel like we've know each other for 40 years. LOL!

 

He had a boat deal with Nitro for a long time and he really loved those Nitros, He was offered a better monetary deal with Skeeter year before last and took it. One year in the Skeeter he opted out of that deal but did not have a deal with Nitro and just paid for a new Nitro. He loves them.

I’ve owned a 2021 Z-18 with 150 HP pro xs 4-stroke for a year now.  I love it and have zero complaints other than wishing it had the 175 it’s rated for.  But money was an issue for me so it is what it is.  It runs 50-55 with full tank all my gear and my 340 pound self so it gets me there quick enough and is a solid boat.  Just my honest assessment.  

I've logged a lot of hours on @Fishing Rhino's Nitro over the last 10 years.  I believe it's a 2007 with a Mercury 200 HP 2-stroke.  He doesn't drive anymore so I've taken over getting him and his Nitro out on the water.

 

It's a lot bigger than my RT178 and handles the waters we have up here quite well.  Tom's always garaged it and is 100% on maintenance and repairs.  I've been through it myself wiring a couple fish finders for him.  It was easy to work on and good quality.

 

I'd consider a Nitro if I wanted to pay more for it than I did my first house.

On 3/1/2023 at 7:53 AM, Captain Phil said:

You can catch bass out of anything that floats.

 

Yep.

 

 

And no Nitro nor Ranger can launch here:

 

 

On 3/1/2023 at 7:53 AM, Captain Phil said:

You can catch bass out of anything that floats

 

So true.

 

Bass boats are above my pay grade, but I'd love to fish out of one just once in my life to experience it.

 

One day, I'd like to buy an aluminum 12' V-hull. It could be 40 years old. And I'd like to mount a modern electric outboard on it. If Nitro decides to sell 40-year old 12' hulls with modern electric outboards, I'm aboard. Until then, Nitros are far beyond my means and Rangers doubly so and even if I owned one, I couldn't tow it and couldn't launch it at any of my ponds/bogs. It would just sit and decay in my driveway like @airshot's neighbor's boat.

 

Maybe @Darth-Baiter, you should consider buying a 12-foot v-hull too. I've caught thousands of bass out of such boats. The hulls cost a few hundred and the motors cost about a thousand. Like @Captain Phil wrote, you can catch bass out of anything that floats.

 

On 3/25/2023 at 1:32 PM, gim said:

Cars, boats, guns, and just about everything else with moving parts are generally going to last longer and perform better when you maintain them at a high quality.

 

Gim, I've learned over the years that you take no short-cuts other than shortening your screen name. I wish I were more like you. I take so many short-cuts. Look at my canoe above. It's a mess. It's always a mess. To cut myself a little slack, poling through the swamp will forever keeping it from shining. 

On 2/28/2023 at 8:50 PM, Jig Man said:

They used to be low grade and didn’t hold up.  Things have changed.  Evidently Johnny Morris made some changes a few years ago.  I have a Nitro Z20 that is pushing 7 years old.  It is holding up well.

This is about the time frame that Nitro upped its game. I’m a headhunter and was doing some engagements for BPS back in those days. They had a head guy they brought in from Whirlpool and he brought strong quality and lean processes in. Even won some industry awards for the first time.
 

Like others have said, they may not have some of the fit and finish of some higher-end boats, but for the price, it’s good quality. 
 

The older Nitros, now that’s a different story - 

I live near the Ranger plant.  I have heard dock talk that recent Rangers and Nitros are very similar.  It was also said that Nitros have been improved and Rangers have gone downhill in quality since the two have come under the same ownership;  like I said, it was dock talk , but a lot of Ranger employees live here.  I own an all fiberglass Vexus VX21 and would not consider switching.

1 hour ago, Tackleholic said:

I live near the Ranger plant.  I have heard dock talk that recent Rangers and Nitros are very similar.  It was also said that Nitros have been improved and Rangers have gone downhill in quality since the two have come under the same ownership;  like I said, it was dock talk , but a lot of Ranger employees live here.  I own an all fiberglass Vexus VX21 and would not consider switching.

And yet, the poorest quality boat/trailer I’ve ever had was a Ranger (before BPS bought them).

 

I had 21 warranty returns in the 3 years I owned it. In good conscience, I got everything fixed (again) in the last month of warranty and then sold it. 
 

The biggest issue was the trailer. Axle was defective which caused over heating, melted wires, electrical problems, brakes, etc. Two years in after multiple multiple issues - Ranger refused to replace the defective trailer. Finally the dealer stepped up and gave me a new one at their cost. 
 

The next time I bought a new boat, it was at that dealer, but it wasn’t a Ranger… 

1 hour ago, Swamp Girl said:

Gim, I've learned over the years that you take no short-cuts other than shortening your screen name. I wish I were more like you. I take so many short-cuts. Look at my canoe above. It's a mess. It's always a mess. To cut myself a little slack, poling through the swamp will forever keeping it from shining. 

I think your canoe looks pretty decent given that it essentially just sits out in the elements. And let’s be honest, how difficult is it to maintain a canoe? Not like there’s electronics or outboards or moving parts. It’s a piece of plastic, aluminum, or fiberglass.

 

Those other items I mentioned above are important to me, and they are also very expensive. I want them to last a long time, so it’s worth it to me to maintain them. Sometimes you just get a dud though too like @FryDog62 example above on the trailer.

 

I’m sure your familiar with how much time and effort a house/property can be to maintain too. But a house is probably the biggest lifetime investment each of us will ever make. Letting it slowly rot or fall apart is not an option IMO.

So I write this not to brag or give unsolicited input, take it for what is worth. I’m retired, 45 years as pilot/ aircraft mechanic, to say I’m annal about maintenance or upkeep on anything I own is an understatement. I’ve fished and lived in many countries in the world, Nile perch in Uganda, kayak fished for Kingfish and Tuna in. New Zealand, Florida keys and Michigan Salmon and Walleye.

Had some amazing boats, trailered, in and out rack storage and boat Slip on Lake Michigan. When I retired I was convinced I would buy a new fiberglass Lund. (In my maintenance career I was trained in Germany on aircraft composite repairs). Visited dealer 6 or more times, inspecting what I believed would be my new boat.

But after so many little issues found, I just couldn’t spend the money and walked away.

Then stared looking at Nitro, never owned one before. Impressive and loaded with gear, ended up buying new ZV21, 2025 model. Fished it for a year on Lake Michigan. Wow, 400HP Mercury, at half throttle it cruises at 35-40 knots, have never used full throttle yet, ride is as comfortable as my 34’ Pursuit was, maybe better! Wife even likes the ride. (Happy Wife happy Life). Options I never even knew about before I bought it, like auto trimming the boat!

Cisco Tracks factory installed with 1/4 “ aluminum imbedded in fiberglass! And hand rail also has 1/4” aluminum imbedded in the fiberglass. Recessed cleats, insulated live wells, built in cooler and it’s still built in America.

Just my 2 cents worth, hope it helps someone make decision on their next boat,I don’t work for Nitro.

Boats I have owned, Wellcraft, Boston Whaler, Trophy, Carolina Skiff, Tiara, Pursuit and Nitro.