Pro V vs Impact… Validate a salesman’s claim…

Hey folks!

I’m sure this has been discussed to death, but would love some Pro V and Impact owners experienced feedback to validate something I heard from a salesman at the Minneapolis boat show. I’m in the market for a boat and have my heart set on a Lund as we’ve had several in the family way back to a 93 Pro V 1700, 2003 Pro V 2025, 2005 Fisherman 1700, 2005 Fisherman 1800, and even a little 1440v Rebel tiller. Always had great experiences with Lund, so why change right? I fish lake Pepin regularly in the 1800 Fisherman (current boat) which has a 175 Suzuki and 9.9 kicker. We also trailer up to Minaki Ontario for a week each year and fish some pretty big water up there with 4 guys in the boat. Almost exclusively walleye, with some pike/smallmouth fishing mixed in. Current boat handles it well enough, but would like a bit more room and more power would be nice too as it is a little sluggish out of the hole with all four of us in there and all our gear/full tank of gas. Looking to spend 50-60k (used), and my “must have” list is to be 20′ long, 200+ HP, tandem trailer (current is a single), walk through windshield, good electronics (side scan, trolling motor with spot lock, I already have livescope that I’ll transfer over). Kicker is a plus, but I don’t troll a ton, just a nice safety thing for the remote areas we fish.

I’ve found a few 2014-2016 Pro Vs (2025/2075) with 300 Verados on them and up to date electronics in that price range, as well as newer (2019-2021) Impact XS’s with 200s or 225’s, similar electronics. I like the layouts on both, probably prefer the Pro V overall but when I was at the boat show a couple weeks ago a dealer told me the Impacts “wallow” and have “no lift” in the hull when compared to the Tyee or Pro V with IPS2. Either one is a big upgrade over my 2005 Fisherman… But what say you real world owners that aren’t trying to sell me something? Is the IPS2 with more weight and power THAT much better than the Impact hull? If it was your money, would you do a slightly older but more powerful pro V, or a newer Impact of the same length?

Appreciate your insights! Hope you are all having a great Sunday!

ProV all day every day. For 40-50k you are going to buy a nice boat. I sold a 202 ProV (fiberglass) with a 300 Verado for $52k a year ago. Start looking now, when you find what you want buy it, don’t diddle daddle around thinking you will find a better deal because you might not.

It’s been discussed on here before but yes the hulls on the impacts are complete garbage. Pro v all the way.

Having worked on both boats I would take that Pro V over the Impact. Thicker material and it seems to be a lot better supported. They are also put together better.

Dutchboy wrote:

ProV all day every day. For 40-50k you are going to buy a nice boat. I sold a 202 ProV (fiberglass) with a 300 Verado for $52k a year ago. Start looking now, when you find what you want buy it, don’t diddle daddle around thinking you will find a better deal because you might not.

And I would buy it again in a heartbeat!

Can’t comment on the specifics of the Impact vs ProV, but you will notice a big difference in ride going from a 18 foot boat to the 20’. The ProV are basically the standard that everyone else is trying to compete with in the aluminum boat space.

As far as the verados go. I don’t have a negative thing to say about mine. The motor is so quiet. For the first month or so, I would literally leave it running cause it’s so quiet. My 300 is more quiet than our 115 Merc with a Yamaha power head.

Loomis13 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Dutchboy wrote:</div>
ProV all day every day. For 40-50k you are going to buy a nice boat. I sold a 202 ProV (fiberglass) with a 300 Verado for $52k a year ago. Start looking now, when you find what you want buy it, don’t diddle daddle around thinking you will find a better deal because you might not.

And I would buy it again in a heartbeat!

Can’t comment on the specifics of the Impact vs ProV, but you will notice a big difference in ride going from a 18 foot boat to the 20’. The ProV are basically the standard that everyone else is trying to compete with in the aluminum boat space.

As far as the verados go. I don’t have a negative thing to say about mine. The motor is so quiet. For the first month or so, I would literally leave it running cause it’s so quiet. My 300 is more quiet than our 115 Merc with a Yamaha power head.

I’ve thought of you several times over the last year hoping you liked the boat. Glad you are happy with it, it is a nice boat.

Just be aware that some of those older Lunds may still have wood transoms.

Wow, what a resounding vote for the Pro V! I shouldn’t be surprised, as you’ve all mentioned they are the benchmark. I’ve had a couple Verados, a 2012 225 on a big ol’ 28 foot South Bay tritoon and a 2016 200 on our current tritoon (minivan of the lake but the wife and kids love it!). Absolutely love them, so quiet and excellent torque. My last 20 foot pro V had a 225 Optimax on it, can’t imagine how nice a 300 Verado would be. Appreciate the feedback everyone, looks like I’m on the lookout for a Pro V.

Greenhorn wrote:

Just be aware that some of those older Lunds may still have wood transoms.

2018 I believe they all changed. 2017 some models changed.

Are you dead set on aluminum? For your price range you could potentially be looking at used glass boats. You’d be much happier with the ride quality and the way they fish. If your only after aluminum another thing to look at is what kind of trailer it has. Those bunk trailers sure make life way easier. Dealing with a roller trailer just all around sucks. Just something else to consider.

I have a family member who works at Lund. He buys a new boat on the company employee plan every 2 years. The boat before his current one was a Pro V. This time around he went with the Impact because of it having more usable floor space. He also said the impact and pro v hulls are now the same.! A friend bought an 1875 last year. I fished in it with 3 of us in the boat. I’ll take my 1800 pro v any day over his 1875 with a LOT less floor space than my 1800.

fins wrote:

Are you dead set on aluminum? For your price range you could potentially be looking at used glass boats. You’d be much happier with the ride quality and the way they fish. If your only after aluminum another thing to look at is what kind of trailer it has. Those bunk trailers sure make life way easier. Dealing with a roller trailer just all around sucks. Just something else to consider.

x2. At the prices you’re considering I’d at least check out a few glass boats.

I have a smaller fiberglass Tuffy (17.5′) and the bunk trailer was a substantial upgrade over my previous aluminum boat. It will launch in under 2′ of water and has fewer moving parts making reliability less of a concern. The only way you could load it more than an inch off center is if you basically missed the entire trailer.

Another substantial “pro” is that the fiberglass boats hold a line much better in the wind/waves. The large aluminum boats with high sidewalls and a full windshield feel like a kite. I fish out of an 1875 Impact quite often with my fishing buddy and it’s night and day difference. It’s a nice boat, but if you are trying to hold a line trolling in a crosswind on decent sized water it’s a nightmare.

If you change your mind and think about going to glass I will be selling a 2014 Ranger 621 loaded with everything and current electronics for $60k. That being said I had two Prov’s a 1775 and a 2025 and they were both really well built boats just wet in big waves. Never been in an impact, but I would go with the ProV if I were buying a Lund.

Pro-V Vs Impact is apple to oranges.

What is the price difference?

I love the glass boats and have drooled over a couple 219GL’s as well as plenty of Ranger 620 and 621s. My concern is that the lakes we fish up north are all rock, big boulders everywhere and not that well charted. We also pull up on big rock islands for shore lunches. I’ve never seen any glass boats at the resort, but dozens of Lunds and Alumacrafts. If I was fishing Michigan, Erie, even Mille Lacs regularly and not messing with that rocky stuff I’d go glass for sure. Not sure if you guys agree with that take though, would love your opinion.

As for the question on the price difference, same price just newer boats in that price range when comparing Pro V to Impact. (2014 vs 2019/2020 typically)

I’ve owned Ranger glass and Lund aluminum.

It’s pretty tough to damage glass. I wouldn’t beach a glass boat on the rocks, but pulling up on a shoft shore is no big deal. Just put a good keel protector on the front.

I’d never beach a nice aluminum boat up on the rocks because you know it will come back scratched and dented. I wouldn’t beach a fiberglass boat on the rocks, either, but I’d honestly expect it to come back looking better than the alumnimum.

Anything that causes structural damage to fiberglass will cause structural damage to aluminum. It’s also easier to make glass look new again in most cases. For what it’s worth.

I tried to attach a picture of one of the shore lunch spots but got a “you’re blocked” message … Weird? Anyway, it’s just pure rock. The whole lake is that way, no soft shores from what I’ve seen.. We don’t really beach it, but nose up and tie off. Good keel guard would probably do the trick, good point. I’ve had a couple fiber glass Sea Rays in the past so it’s not totally new to me but never on my fishing boats. I’ve always admired Rangers and the newer Lund GLs are awfully nice too. Might have to keep the door open!

FYI: My ranger is now posted for sale in the classified section

Jeff Marty wrote:

I tried to attach a picture of one of the shore lunch spots but got a “you’re blocked” message … Weird? Anyway, it’s just pure rock. The whole lake is that way, no soft shores from what I’ve seen.. We don’t really beach it, but nose up and tie off. Good keel guard would probably do the trick, good point. I’ve had a couple fiber glass Sea Rays in the past so it’s not totally new to me but never on my fishing boats. I’ve always admired Rangers and the newer Lund GLs are awfully nice too. Might have to keep the door open!

Current owner of a 2018 impact 1775, it’s a good boat for the price, or it was back in 2018 anyway.

Now I see impacts going for 45k+ and pro V’s as low as 55k, there’s no question I’d rather a pro V. I paid 29k for my impact in 2018 and the closest pro V was still 50k, and we were making less money overall in our household so the decision was easy.

Pro V will have much better build especially on the storage compartments. Rebel vs impact vs pro V the storage gets more water resistant and better engineered with each tier.

Impact has a nice sturdy hull though. I have no lift problems, and if you felt it were slow to jump on plane you’d fix that with a prop change or adding cup to the prop anyway. I’m sure the ips2 on the pro V is a better ride though, how much better is the question.

Both good rigs but probably V is objectively better in just about every way.

KPE wrote:

Current owner of a 2018 impact 1775, it’s a good boat for the price, or it was back in 2018 anyway.

Now I see impacts going for 45k+ and pro V’s as low as 55k, there’s no question I’d rather a pro V. I paid 29k for my impact in 2018 and the closest pro V was still 50k, and we were making less money overall in our household so the decision was easy.

Pro V will have much better build especially on the storage compartments. Rebel vs impact vs pro V the storage gets more water resistant and better engineered with each tier.

Impact has a nice sturdy hull though. I have no lift problems, and if you felt it were slow to jump on plane you’d fix that with a prop change or adding cup to the prop anyway. I’m sure the ips2 on the pro V is a better ride though, how much better is the question.

Both good rigs but probably V is objectively better in just about every way.

The ride is night and day difference and the storage is way more thought out and well placed in a pro v. The layout in a pro v actually makes it a fishable platform. I’m not sure what Lund has in mind with those impacts but they aren’t very user friendly if you use it for a fishing boat. Probably a great family/fishing boat or awesome for people on a budget like you said but you get what you pay for.

Do you fish in the waves? Like others have said I’d go glass. If you are set on these 2 the impact got that name for how your spine feels after hitting a few waves. It’s a nice family boat for someone that goes out on non windy days. It’s definitely not for the person that goes out in anything. I don’t own one but have fished out of the 20 foot quite a bit.

Onthewater wrote:

Do you fish in the waves? Like others have said I’d go glass. If you are set on these 2 the impact got that name for how your spine feels after hitting a few waves. It’s a nice family boat for someone that goes out on non windy days. It’s definitely not for the person that goes out in anything. I don’t own one but have fished out of the 20 foot quite a bit.

I couldn’t agree more. The money you’d save by buying an impact would more than get ate up on chiropractor bills.