I have a 2011 Freedom 275 + Yamaha 350 which has been a good boat for us for the last three years but it's in need of some updates. Before I spend more money on it, I wanted to hear the opinions of other owners on whether it would be better to trade up to something newer or larger.
If we keep the boat, I will get all the seats and bolsters recovered and updated to look more like the v1.5 (2015-2016) or v2 (2017+) seats, get new isinglass, a cover, and update the Simrad display. All together this will cost $20K-$25K. If I repower the boat with twin 200s that will take the cost of upgrades to $60K-$65K.
I can trade the boat in as-is for $70K and then have a few options:
If we keep the boat, I will get all the seats and bolsters recovered and updated to look more like the v1.5 (2015-2016) or v2 (2017+) seats, get new isinglass, a cover, and update the Simrad display. All together this will cost $20K-$25K. If I repower the boat with twin 200s that will take the cost of upgrades to $60K-$65K.
I can trade the boat in as-is for $70K and then have a few options:
- Get a 2019 Freedom 275 with twin 200s for $150k-$160k, which would be $65k more than upgrading what I have (not including repower). It's the same boat but I'd get an updated interior (dash, floor plan, seat design), twin engines, and a boat 8 years newer with 1/4 the total hours.
- Get a 2018 Freedom 285 with twin 250s for $170k-$190k, which would be $90k more than upgrading what I have (not including repower). Reviews say the 285 feels much larger than its specs (1' wider and 1' longer) would indicate, even though the floorplan is effectively the same as the 275. I would get more beam, twin engines, better performance (holeshot and top speed), an updated interior, an aft SunShade, and a newer hull.
- Get a 2018 Freedom 307 with twin 300s for $200k-$220k, which would be $120k more than upgrading what I have (not including repower). I would get a different class of boat (3.5' longer, 2' wider, 4000 lbs heavier), better performance (holeshot and top speed), an updated interior, an aft SunShade, Helm Master joystick, and a single berth.
Last edited: