Can you recommend any unbiased reviewers? I'm not picking a fight; I'm really asking. Magazines that are running an ad for the boat being reviewed that month? Internet posters ("my boat is wonderful, and btw for sale")? Internet sites with sponsorship?
At least, it seems to me, Pascoe was independent. He claims to have conducted more than 5,000 surveys. He did not post all of them. So what he posted was a selection. How did he select? Worst case? Best case? Typical of the brand? Top of his desk? I don't know. But having posted one survey of a model does not imply he only was on one of those boats. The problem with his site, IMHO, is the information is getting stale. I wish he was still active. Here's his bio:
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I know his biography. At some point he migrated from surveyor to writer. I don't know how that impacted what he wrote or published. As to other reviewers that aren't biased? I don't know any who publish who are not. David Pascoe is trying to sell books, but at least has no allegiance to the manufacturer. I have never read a bad review. I do with all reviews like I do with his reviews, I try to find concrete information that may be of value to me. Sometimes it's the smallest thing the reviewer let's slip in. Most of the time it's just more information on the boat. But every reviewer for magazines and web sites is not wanting to hurt themselves with the builder.
As to reviewing used boats I think it's far more difficult to give a fair assessment. Every boat reflects the build but also reflects the care and maintenance. I'll give a personal example. I have a friend who was convinced he wanted an Albin. He looked and looked. He traveled. Every boat he saw had major problems, structural in nature, whether hull or deck or both. Now, I know there are those here who have Albin's and are very happy with them. Some did have to do major work on them. I suspect newer Albin's are also much different than the ages he was looking at. So even though I am aware of 6-8 Albin's out there with problems, I'm not going to condemn the brand, but I will just warn anyone looking to be sure to check them carefully and get a good survey.
One thing we all have to be careful of is applying different years or models to other years or models. A couple of reviews. Unless I've overlooked them, I don't see Bayliner. I do see Sea Ray and it's pretty far from my experiences owning Sea Ray and the others I've known and talked to. I don't swear Sea Ray is perfect, but some of the issues he points out are old and some are just neglect. I can show you similar Sea Rays in excellent condition. However, he's also pretty relentless against Mercruiser. Well, I owned Mercruisers and was on a lake with hundreds, perhaps thousands. The general consensus and my experience are far different from what he reports. At some point it just seems like he has a strong dislike of Brunswick and that's fine, but there are more happy Sea Ray owners than any other brand. Similarly he just destroys Mainship in his review. Again, some of it seems like poor care to me. Other just not what I've heard. I know there are many very happy Mainship owners on this site. So, I'd hate to see others scared away from the brand by Pascoe's reviews. Pascoe is very kind to Bertram. Well, between the period he seems to have reviewed and today, they turned out a lot of problems, boats regularly de-laminating. Their last few years in the US were disastrous. Please don't read his reviews and go buy a 2010. Now the renewed boat about to ship from Italy. Guess we'll see.
So, my warning remains. Pascoe isn't God as some make him out to be. I'm not saying he's the Devil either. I do personally find that I disagree with much of what he rights. Now that doesn't mean what he writes isn't accurate for that specific boat. Also, his information is now getting quite old and one can't use his reviews of 1995 models to apply to a 2005 model. Many of his reviews don't even indicate what year boat he was looking at or when he was doing so. That seems important to me. Now, my warning also applies to every other reviewer and review site. Know that if boattest reviews, most of those are advertisers, if PMY reviews they're either advertisers or potential advertisers. That said, the one "objective" site is Consumer Reports and their reviews reflect bias as well.
I just see a lot of people sent to Pascoe, and, frankly, if I agreed with everything he ever says, I'd be scared to go near a boat. (Well, perhaps a SF, he's pretty kind to them). Pascoe's reviews are information based on the survey of that boat at that time. Information I feel comfortable passing on is going to be based on what I've heard from many users, seen myself, and believe based on the years being discussed.
One thing I attempt to do but know I often fail at is when someone asks about a boat, I try to answer in reference to their intended use and to their budget. There really aren't many bad boats new. Most are various levels of good for various uses. There are a couple of builders (diminishing number as these continue to go out of business) that I would never buy new because I would never trust them, but I try to make clear that is my personal thought and what it is based on. I did state such warnings about Northern Marine and turned out quite right. I actually had some non-public information prior to the fiasco but also some public information such as current litigation and previous history.
I learn from everyone here and their comments on boats. I don't like Nordhavn especially and think it's overrated, but then I'm going to say it's basically a good boat and for certain uses it has one of the happiest ownership bases there is. Not by any means all owners are that happy but in general their owners are very pleased. When people start attacking Chinese builders I will certainly defend with Nordhavn and a few others. And when asked about a boat, I never answer on the basis of whether I'd want that boat. The boats I would want to own are not the mainstream here. I believe my wife just answered a question on what one would change with "more speed." It will always be "more."
Then there are boats, largely due to their periods of build, I know nothing about. Willard is an example. I know my wife thinks they're cute. I know their owners are lovers of them. That's enough. I have never been on a Seahorse product but I sure know some happy Diesel Duck and Coot owners.