Well they say that a man is happiest the day he buys and the day he sells his boat. There are a lot of things to consider here.One of the main reasons I chose the boat I have was resale. I had a 21 foot Winner with a 200 black max that I had bought for $11,000 used many years ago and I for various reasons wanted to change. I too went to the Fred Hall show and basically there are two boats in California with name recognition...Ranger and Champion....This was 3 years back and there was no Triton then. I went with the Champion because it looked like it would be easier to maintain by me. By this I mean wash/wax..etc. The console on the ranger looked like a pain to maintain. I have a 187 Champion elite with a 150 Optimax. There's the second part of the equation ....Motor. I went with the optimax because I don't trust this state not to do some foolish prop whatever and kill off the whole industry because of emmission stuff. At the time this was scary because it was the first year for the optimax. I will tell you that I LOVE this motor because it is quite,economical,and doesn't burn a bunch of oil. No more clouds of blue smoke! Now this is just my slant on stuff and I really like the Ranger and the Triton they are exceptional boats. I've been in them and they are sweet. I am bummed that champion went under but it has been bought by the same company that makes about 8 other boats one of which is Ranger so it is expected to be back in business as soon as they can do all the chapter whatever/legal stuff. I don't think this will harm the resale on these boats as they aren't gone just under new management. Now I don't know what type of fishing you do but bass boats don't troll for trout very well and you may want to consider Getting an aluminum "Tracker comes to mind" boat. The upkeep is less and the cost. And when it comes to the motor, These new 4 strokes that are out.....Those you can do anything with. Troll all day. It's tough to buy a used boat because of the way things work at the bank. Financing a big expensive boat that's not very old becomes more difficult because you can't stetch out the payments like a new one but there are very high quality used stuff out there, Right after the show there is a glut. When your at the show ask for a test drive. I was driven down to the harbor and drove a new boat with Cary Skerlew and was much impressed with the way Rick Glover at Anglers Marine took care of me. Now I like my optimax but stay away from the Johnson ficht they are trouble. I have never herd of a bad Yamaha or Honda for that matter. This is my .02 cents ....I don't want to offend any other boat/motor makes I'm just happy with my Champion and I know that there are tons of other boats out there I just am always worried that in light of the 911 thing that luxuary items are the first thing to crash and burn in a bad economy and will that company still be around. I think the only things that break on boats are the things you bolt on....I Love my Motorguide trolling motor and I always had a minkota but I changed my mind And the motor guide seems a bit more bullet proof. Work out the whole package with your dealer including your electronics...I use Lorance x-65 up front and a x-85 in dash...In retrosepect I should have reversed that but I always can ...I only wish they didn't glass the transducers into my hull as they sometimes cross talk in shallow water and aren't a sensitive. Well gotta get back to work...
Kelly