Help! About to buy a Rinker 260 EC

[markbellino]

Hello Everyone,

I am new to Rinkers. I have been looking at boats at the Toronto Boat Show over the past couple of weeks.

I am going to buy a boat tomorrow.  I have to choose between the 2011 Rinker 260 EC (which I like) and the 2012 Four Winns V285.  Both are brand new, never been driven.  I am only interested in a new boat right now. I know about the depretiation - consider me crazy, and stubborn.

Let me explain:

The 260 EC is a great boat, it has everything we want. It comes with a 350 Mag Engine with B3 drive. AC/heating, windlass, fully loaded galley, etc, etc.  The only thing it doesn't have is the vacuflush system and the built in generator.

The V285 basically has everything except for the windlass and generator.  It comes with a Volvo 5.7L GXI with electronic drive.  It is about $2500 more than the Rinker.

Now to the guts of it - I have asked a few people what they think about Rinkers vs. Four Winns and the answer has come back mostly in favor of the Four Winns. Some quoted issues with Rinker build.

That prompted me to investigate a little further. The dealer was willing to have me do a survey on the boat, which is at the show, so I took him up on that. In short, the survey came up better than expected. The surveyor is fully certified and had lots of good things to say about the construction.  That eased my mind a lot.

But I still have people telling me to buy the Four Winns. I don't know which way to go. So, I thought, "why don't I get the facts from Rinker owners."

Over to you - I would greatly appreciate it if you could share your experiences with your cruisers and provide reassurance that we will enjoy our boat for years. I know it will need maintenance, but I don't want it to be related to design issues that make me sour about the product.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Mark Bellino

[osead]

Tough call IMHO.  People who don't have trouble will give you a + response and those who don't will be - and its personal experience.  I picked Rinker because of what you said.  It was the value of a fresh waer cooled boat with evrything I wanted but if you want the options for the money, either go with the 4wins or see what the cost to put them in the Rinker and compare.  Which do you like better?  That's the real reason to pick, to me!

[markbellino]

Well Osead,

If it wasn't for the couple of negative responses I've had on the Rinker, I would be buying her over the Four Winns tonight.

The reasons for this are:

(1) the dealer is amazing, really good, truthful, informative guy. He doesn't knock the competitors, but shows me the advantages of the Rinker.  He has been more than great putting the deal together with the 30 extra things I've asked for.  The Four Winns dealer sells too many boats to be interested in helping me get the boat ready (I want to undercoat/paint the hull - he doesn't have time to do it).  

(2) I've had a survey done on the Rinker I want to buy. The surveyor had a good look and came back with a thumbs up, so I know that particular boat is in great shape on delivery.  It also has a few neat features.  The Four Winns is still in the USA, so I don't know what I'm getting.

I guess my real question is, are Rinkers reliable in general.  If you had to sum up the experience, would it be mostly positive or mostly average to negative??

Thanks.

[Vuja De]

Great dealer support is hard to beat.   Especially if it's your first cruiser.
That is one reason I moved away from Rinker.  We started in the 250EC.

If I had to do it all again, I would have started with a 310 or bigger though.
Twin engines, bigger beam, built in generator.  All of the comfortable stuff.   
I would have saved a ton of money when I moved up to a bigger boat.

Good luck.

[royela]

We have the 280EC. Sounds like you may have the same dealer as we had when we bought in 08. We were going to go with the 260EC but our dealer opened between Xmas and New Year's and put the 230,260 and the 280 beside each other in the showroom and left us alone to decide. Big difference in room between the 260 and the 280. We decided on the 280 for the little more cost. As for pros and cons, our experience is that new boats go through a shake down period and fustrating as it is, it is part of the boating experience. If you have a good dealer then that goes a long way. Any problems that we had were not major and all but one were related to suppliers to Rinker so keep in mind that other boat manufacturers use a lot of the same suppliers. Rinker boats have come a long way over the years and for the quality, standard equipment and price I don't think you can beat it.

Buy and enjoy, life is too short,

royela

[markbellino]

Thanks Royela.

I'm glad you have a positive overall experience.

Out of interest sake, what was the one Rinker problem that came up?

Thanks again!

[Le Meez]

We're very happy with our 340. We've had her since new, two seasons now. You can't go wrong with a Rinker IMHO.

[osead]

As VU Deja said, a good dealer would make my decision since you will likely have a long term relationship unless you do your own work. And, if you had a Volvo, like I do they only provide some parts through dealers to you.  Good luck with whatever you decide.  I'm happy with mine but I wish it were bigger!

BTW, what problems did they tell you Rinker had?

[markbellino]

Okay everyone. So I am ... The proud new owner of a Rinker 260 EC!!

We are very happy with our decision. We now have to wait 4 months before we can put her in the water.

Osead you hear just about everything on the net and with people but you need to ask how much is true and if Rinker has already fixed in their manufacturing process. From what I gathered Rinker had a bad year with gel coat in 2004 and a few years where leaks came in from the deck. I don't think this is the case with the latest models.  Fork Winns has had some problem boats as well but that doesn't mean their a bad boat. Same goes with Rinker. Boats are complicated and sometimes it is difficult to get everything perfect in the budgets they have to work with.

Best regards!

[Vuja De]

Congrats on the boat purchase.

It's going to be a long 4 months.  LOL   

[PBJT]

welcome,   We purchased our 08 26 from Maplecity.  Who did you buy from at the boat show.   We just got home from the toronto boat show ourselves

Pete

[markbellino]

We got ours from Boatmax in Midland, ON.  Craig Murray is the salesman. Brilliant guy - really patient, and I felt that he was really honest as well.

[Le Meez]

I think I overheard you today talking to the Boatmax guy. I heard the mention of Four Winns vs. Rinker and his analogy, he was very polite without dissing them. We just spent two days at the show and head home to Ottawa tomorrow. Congrats on the purchase. And you don't have to wait four months, you should easily be in the water by the third week of April, that's when we'll be in. That's only three months to go!

[Rinker342]

Congrats on your Rinker, Mark.  Didn't get a chance to weigh in because I was at the Baltimore Boat Show over the weekend.  Good luck with her and welcome to the RBO!

[markbellino]

Congrats on your Rinker, Mark.  Didn't get a chance to weigh in because I was at the Baltimore Boat Show over the weekend.  Good luck with her and welcome to the RBO!

Thanks!  Still would be good to get your feedback on what I purchased and the decision I had to make.

What won it for me over the Four Winns, which is a good boat, is 1) the joint between the hull and deck being glassed together while Four Winns is screwed and caulked, and 2) the wider cockpit on the Rinker that accommodates an extra bench which can seat 3 more people. 

I was also told that the Rinker handles itself in the water better than the Four Winns. But then the Four Winns dealer said exactly the opposite. Wonder what is the truth?

Thanks again!