RIB prices

[badbaws]

Who on this site thinks that RIBS and boats in general are very over priced
A 4 metre Avonsearider hull and console set u back About £3500 new... a trailer £1000, and a 50 HP outboard £3500 for a basic one... For esentially an open day boat which can practically carry 4 adults... as for the bigger RIBs that top 50 plus knots and start having a few more creature comforts maybe the money is a little better well spent
I would love to buy a new RIB but the bargain second hand market stops me wasting money on a brand new design that may and probably is no better than the current model..
Alex

[matiboy]

for a 5 metre boat with trailer , engine etc, expect to pay 10k ish or more

you dont seem to get a great deal for your money either, other than a basic hull , tubes and something to perch on

compare the technology and design and thousands of parts that go into a new vehicle, seems crazy...

all boils down to economies of production and ribs are labour intensive to make and generally made by smaller companies,
perhaps Henry Ford needs to get into Rib production

the one thing I do not understand and I dont think there is any excuse for is the huge prices for outboards which are mass produced by big corporates, how can an engine be worth 7k when you can buy a bl**dy whole car for that ?????

[Brian]

You may find it interesting to compare the price of engines, at RRP, in other European countries.

[matiboy]

compare the US prices

[benjamin]

Manufacturing costs for labour intensive products in the UK are inevitably high - Ribeye have moved production to South Africa for precisely this reason.
The nearest thing to mass production is seen on the continent where companies like Valiant (Portugal) and Zodiac (France) are volume-producing PVC - tubed RIBS.
Some of these products (Valiant / Gemini) are actually cheaper than equivalent-sized UK built boats. Although Ribeye seem to have relatively expensive list prices, my experience is that it is not difficult to get a sizeable discount.
Coming back to your original point, I went to the S'hampton Show this year to look at / test, even buy a RIB. However, as a lifelong 'rag and stick' man, I allowed myself and my wife to be drawn towards the sailing yachts. Came away with the feeling that whereas £20k would put me into a very nice 6.0m (ish) Avon or Ribeye, three times more would get me into modern French cruising yachts in the 32 - 34 ft range. It just seemed that the labour, materials and design effort to produce a cruising yacht is a lot more than 3 times the equivalent to produce a RIB (is this making any sense?) Anyway, I thoroughly agree with the point that new RIBS do seem somewhat expensive for what they are. Going for a used boat has to be the answer, as long as you accept that the number of variables in a RIB set up (hull form, engine type / power, colour, seating config. etc. etc. ) means that you will almost certainly have to make some compromises - I continue to comb the 'boats for sale' pages!

[thewavehumper]

There is a lovely Avon SR4.7 for sale on the Forum if you want value for money.

[Keith Hart]

You don't HAVE to spend a fortune. Let someone else buy the RIB new and kit it out. They 5 years later buy it off them at a much reduced cost.

If you want to see a great set up at a very reasonable price check out David Mannings Avon Searider.

Keith Hart