?Alumacraft Dominator SPORT 165/175 etec/yam?

Alumacraft Dominator SPORT 165 VS 175 & ETEC VS Yamaha
I am looking at the Dominator SPORT MUST be a 2009 or 2010 jump seats. I can’t decide between the 165 or 175. I am also pondering the ETEC VS Yamaha. I wanted a tiller but the SPORT was the deal maker with the domestic CEO and board of directors. I want to do a lot of trolling on Pepin and other large bodies PENDING the gas prices. I have a 3/4 ton so pulling is not a problem. I also have an oversized garage so space is not an issue.
I do not do a lot of casting so the deck space does not seem to be an issue.
I do not like the looks of the rod box between the pass through windshield on the 165 however on the 175 it appears to not be flush with the front deck as well. Can anyone offer an opinion on this?
BOAT… I understand the ETEC has a promotion going get a 90HP for the price of a 75HP (165) or get a 130HP for the price of a 115HP (175) plus a 5 year warranty. This is a good option if you think ETEC is the way I should go. Keep in mind I will be doing more trolling than pulling the kids around the lake. (I THINK)
I understand that Yamaha has a promotion as well 6 year warranty.
MOTOR… As far as the ETEC VS Yamaha what are the maintenance costs? Oil for the ETEC VS service on the Yamaha. PLEASE understand I am NOT a mechanical person. I am a computer geek and mechanical traits are something that was not passed down. Winterization the ETEC seems pretty straight forward even I would be willing to give it a shot.
Price… If 90HP is the MAX 165 then the price is going to be lower. But… I like to think my now 5 and 8 yr old will like fishing as much as I do and want to keep going so as the grown I do not want to then have to move up to the 175.
Resale… I know I have even made the initial purchase and I am already looking ahead. Well I know me and at least I can admit it. Because the kids are young I do not know what kind of interests/sports they will participate in and I have looked at used boats and a lot of people claim not to have the time or they are simply downsizing to the tiller model which if you recall at the being I indicate was my first option.
Lastly WERE TO BUY… This is where you all come in to play. PRICE yes for sure. OPTIONS you bet also because I am not mechanical installation of options. I do not want some high school kid installing me stereo or wiring my trolling motor while learning on the job. SERVICE if need who is timely turnaround and does a quality job the first time.
Feel free to email me as well if you have any additional information that will help me make my decision.
Tjbauer19 @ hotmail .com

I have a 2009 Dominator 165 with 90hp Yamaha and love it.Bought it a Cabelas no one was cheaper when I price checked. If you can afford go with the 175 has a bit more room up front but then you will want to go bigger on the outboard.Love the Yamaha very smooth running and trouble free for me. Had 2 evinrudes and were also very trouble free for me also but do not run as smooth as the Yamaha at low speeds.Either setup will be great and you will love the boat very well made and great for the kids also. The maintenance cost on the Yamaha are just oil changes, winterize and gear lube change not terribly expensive.

Decision decisions I have owned an 175 etec and now a 150 four stroke Yamaha, motors first – my etech when pedal to the metal was quieter than my four stoke Yamaha – idling speed can’t hear the Yamaha lots quieter. Etech sucked my pocket book dry with oil use – Yamaha nothing, only money to winterize and that very little, my vote four stroke Yamaha.

Boats – I had a 185 trophy with the 175 etec before and loved the trophy over all but pricey, I have the Dom 175 sport and love it to but not as good as the trophy, the only thing wrong with the dom is I bought a minn kota fortex which is awesome and runs great no issues but it’s to cramped to run trolling motor when trying to sit on bike seat, the rod storage pushed the seat up and now to far forward in bow. Need to switch out trolling motors and buy Terrova with I-pilot, power drive will work also but seem to burn out foot pedal to much. Terrova has better foot pedal. When river fish you use the foot pedal a lot and I burn out foot pedal from the power drives, just keep that in mine.

As far as resale goes – every Dominator I have received in trade has been sold again very quickly. I normally have a waiting list of people looking for used Dominators. They are very popular boats in this area and we have been an Alumacraft dealer since the 1970’s.
If you plan on keeping this boat for 10 years – get the 175 Sport. You will not outgrow it with your family and it will handle the larger water well.

i would prefer the yamaha over the Etec, and for the size motors you are looking at, i would only go 2 stroke, IMO.

as far as the boat goes, i would treat it like anything. buy as big as you can afford, and put the biggest motor you can afford on it. then you will never have any regrets a year down the road.

Yamaha P.S. if you want it rigged well dont buy from dans. My bow mount almost fell off and was put together wrong. The electricial tape wrap job on my electronics looks like crap! Not to mension my ram mounts for electronics were screw down with wood screws. Cheep batterys,no transom saver, no spare, had to tighten a bunch of bolts on trailer, Theres more I just have had so many problems I cant rember all of them. I think I could have rigged it better with sheetrock screws and speaker wire. I know people are going to say why didnt you take if back and have them fix it but I hate the place so bad I didnt even want to have them fix it. They have good prices but thats about it. I cant tell you how sorry I am that I purchased there. If it was the last marine store on earth Id make my own boat! Watch your trailer also I have a karavan and I havent had problems but seems really cheep compared to some other brands. The couple hundred to get it somewhere else is worth it!

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If it was the last marine store on earth Id make my own boat!

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TOO FUNNY THX

Buy the biggest boat you can comfortably afford and hang a 4 stroke Yamaha on it. I would max the motor although others here will disagree.

Do the scheduled maintenance and forget about it.

I 2nd the fortrex comment. I like the cable steer motors when im sitting in the bow…..but thats the problem you can only drive it from the bow. Terrova with I-pilot!!!!.Also if your only fishing big water Id think about a glass boat I love my aluma navigator tiller just fine but it dosent like waves! Pepin can be nasty at times. If your planning on keeping it for 10 years definatly glass I want to trade mine in on a skeeter or ranger tiller already. I have to wait untill Yamaha comes up with a 200 tiller before im making the jump.

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I do not like the looks of the rod box between the pass through windshield on the 165 however on the 175 it appears to not be flush with the front deck as well. Can anyone offer an opinion on this?

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the center rod locker in the 165 and 175 dominators are for 7 foot rods. thats why the locker extends back a foot into the cockpit on the 165. gotta allow for the extra foot somewhere.
thats one of the reasons i opted for the navigator. i liked the jump seats and big rod locker on the dominator, too, but just liked the overall layout of the nav better. it still has a 5-rod tube side locker, with lots of other storage.
i was set on a yamaha 90/4, but alum/yammy dealers didnt seem very anxious to take a targa/merc as trade-in.
have always been a merc guy but ended up with a honda 90/4, which i read a lot of good stuff about.
have fun shopping. i did a lot of searching and found a big range in prices/trade-in from dealer to dealer.

If your still looking for an opinion…
Resale on a Alumacraft is not nearly as good as a Lund or Crestliner. Don’t get me wrong, they are good boats. It’s just that they are cheaper to get into so the market is usually flooded with them. I’m on my 5th boat now 2 of which were Lunds. Let’s just say I didn’t have to eat hot dogs to sell the Lund. As far as the motors go. GO BIG or go home. If you dont max the HP you’re gonna push the little motor too hard. Which in turn is going to suck the gas or in the 2stroke case, oil. What dealer? Well thats a long story! Careful out there, theres some pretty bad ones out there. Like I said I have bought a few in my day and so far only one has my repeat business. I still don’t trust them for rigging though. I have to do that myself. I’m picky and have to solder my connections and tie everything up nice. After all who wants problems when you are trying to relax and catch fish. Or worse have a 5 year old that wants to ski and tube! If theres anything I can help with let me know. I hate to see a guy get burned out by a bad boat. I might even be able to get a few bucks knocked off your purchase. Good luck, see ya on the water
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Agree with above posts.Buy the biggest boat and motor you can afford. Yamaha 4 strokes,easy on gas,quiet and hassle free for me.