TRACKER TARGA V-18 WT Review - What the F*CK Were They Thinking?!

I review my 2021 Tracker Targa V-18 WT Deep V boat and ask the question, "What the f*ck were they thinking?"

#anglinguploaded #boatreview #trackerboats
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[gusbell]

2023 Targa v19 200hp owner here. While I don't disagree there are a few things I'd like to do differently if I was designing the Targa, luckily, they are all little things that I can do. Cutting a little window screening in a circle and then buying some stainless steel round vents the proper size to cover your chipmunk holes is a solution I will use to also keep mud-dobbers and wasps out of it as well. It's something I had to do on RV's I've owned as well. Cheap solution. Your spare bucket is to put the other bucket inside when you go buy live bait somewhere. Come to the boat and take the bait bucket with vent holes out, the water stays in the white bucket (no cross contamination) and you put the bait bucket in the live well. Throw the water out and store the white bucket. Your "flooding" Compartment in your center rod storage, buy a dry bag that fits it and put your first aid kit, a couple beach towels or whatever you want in it that you won't be using very often. Same for your flooding glove boxes. Newer design on my 2023 and don't have that issue but I do have a couple waterproof boxes that I keep my registration papers, insurance papers, fishing licenses, electronics cords for charging, etc. in and store in the glove box. As far as the fishfinders space, a ram 12" arm mount would let you mount a larger fishfinder right behind the 7 inch one. I know because I have a 106sv garmin and a 93sv garmin on my dash exactly like I'm talking about, one above the other and I can still see over the top out the windshield. Mounting the ram arm on the backside of the instrument panel is also an option. With the long 12" arm it gives you alot of flexibility of placement and angles to the drivers seat. They've upgrade the magnets in the doors on the bow storage compartments and they are very strong now. maybe you could get some of the new ones and install. Hope you are still enjoying your boat as much as I am enjoying mine. For the money, I'm thrilled with mine. A few DYI upgrades, a few things I needed to redesign and fix, a few screws tightened and I've got my dream/retirement boat that I get to use now when I can and will use most days in a few years when I retire. Hope some of my suggestions help on any of the problems you're still facing.

[scottking]

Being a boat owner, we need more people posting videos of their boat, showing what they like and don't like. I bought a Lowe FS 1700 and while I love the boat there are a couple things I don't like which is causing me to start considering my next boat. Tracker wasn't even on my radar until I saw this video. Thank you for your posting.

[cubensis]

The absolute best review ever. Honest, to the point, and comical.

[donreese]

This is a great review. I bought my 2023 Targa V 18 about 18 months ago. The boat itself is super solid and love the layout. I bought every package they offered. Bimini top, tow package for a tuber, and a 9.9 kicker mother installed. With that being said my boat has been in the shop 7 different times for issues (currently has been in the shop for 3 weeks and probably 3 more). Multiple charging issues, they replaced the batteries a couple of times for bad cells and then finally all batteries were dead except deep cycle. Took it to the shop again and they had to pull all decking out and found that they had never hooked up the actual wires to either of the back batteries. They rubber trim around the outer edge of boat shrunk 10 inches, woven mat/carpet in the front is being replaced now. Love the boat but not impressed with all the issues I have had for buying a brand new boat.

[willmann]

I have the same boat with same motor but 2022 model year and I bought it 9 months before you posted the video). Mine is red, and I got the combo version (since I am a family man ha ha). They fixed some of the issues you are talking about. Others not so much. They put the battery charging outlet on the outside. Which I love! They also changed up the glove box a little bit. There are now two glove compartments, one above and one below it. I want to upgrade my trolling motor as well. But I think instead of changing the motor you can buy the iPilot Bluetooth upgrade kit so you can get the spot lock. I'll eventually upgrade the fish finder at the helm or I will just put one at the bow. I'm not a serious enough fisherman that I need the best electronics that money can buy. I take pride in the ability to find fish just by looking at the environment and learning a new body of water over time since I'm not tournament fishing and hitting new bodies of water all the time. Worst case I have no shame and I'm willing to ask locals the best places to fish on new lakes and ask them to give me some GPS coordinates to try out. Great video my friend.

[MrMulefan]

I have a 2018 targa 18. Love the boat. My glove box is a different design and never has water been an issue in the glove box. One thing I do like in your boat compared to mine is the rear storage. Mine has a 48 gallon rear live well. It's the entire width of the back of the boat. I would much prefer a smaller live well with more dry storage. Thanks for the review, cheers

[Lt.Dan.]

I have a 20 targa 19, I would say I learned to cover it at all times when not using it. Water gets into places you don't want. I have mine completely outfitted for salmon fishing just no kicker and it's been trusty trolling with the 200hp and ultrex for past two years.

[harvey]

Nice review. I also had a lot of WTF moments when I took delivery of my 2021 V-19.

[dangkhang]

Owner of a Lowe 1675 Deep V here. Own it for just over 2 years and it worked great in the Delta. On the other hand, my friend bought a Tracker Pro V Guide 16 and that thing makes me want to STAY AWAY from tracker. Come with broken wire and the live well dont even work. In addition, when you step on the Live well Cover on the tracker you can feel the thing flex. In the Lowe it as solid as steele. Of course I drove both. Lowe ride more stable and have better back wave trail. Tracker ride a bit lighter and have more rock. Tracker back wave trail is all over the place. Lowe have enough space for 3-4 rear batteries and 2 front batteries. Tracker have space for 1 rear batteries and 3-4 front batteries. Lowe have 1 front and 1 rear live well both equally big. Tracker have 1 huge front live well and 1 rear dry/ice well. Overall, I would stay with my Lowe because of the better experience I have with it. One thing I wish the Lowe will do is create a bigger front battery compartment. I want to upgrade to a 36V system because chasing Stripe Bass in Delta can be rough but can not due to lack of space.

[robertlawrence]

"Kudos to the designer, he must have been an alcoholic" got me lmao. Great review buddy and thank you very much!

[jeremynagle]

This is one of the best review videos I've ever seen. Because of the walkthrough but you're also killing me with the WTF's Hahahahahaha. Thanks for the laughs man. Tight lines!

[crappienaterfishing]

The spare bucket is used with the minnow basket when purchasing bait

[diggermcmahon]

Great walk through. Just bought one and this was very helpful.

[Rody]

I have a 2011 Targa WT 18, have over 1000 hours on the motor and it has been a fantastic boat. Did have to upgrade the trolling motor to A Terova 80lbs thrust, and upgraded teh fish finders. The trailer only came with a single axle in 2011, that is the only issue I have. As heavy as the boat is it should have had a double axle trailer.

[TheSaneRider]

Very good info. Had noticed the same thing about water getting in everywhere when I looked at a v-18 at the dealer in their parking lot. Was wet in a bunch of the compartments that I thought would be dry. Did like the overall size though, seemed like a relatively solid boat minus the quirks.

[stripermanly]

This a great review. Even the WTF issues are brought to light. Currently considering a 2019 model that’s fully rigged and ready to go. I’ve looked at a couple of them now from 2015-2019 models. As with homes, prices are coming down on used and new boats for that matter. Lund and other manufacturers are slashing up to 15 grand off new boats.

[robertlawrence]

The swiss army knife of boats, you said it buddy. Thats whats got me so intrigued about this model. Id love to have an enclosure for wintertime Lousiana speck trolling.

[bhplayer]

Love that you call everything for what it is.

[Matt-nhx]

I had owned a 2019 Targa 18 WT. Tracker has a long way to go for making Tracker boats worth the purchase. Mine spent more time in the shop than having it available for fishing. If anybody doesn't want problems, might be better off buying the aluminum Ranger, which is a better built boat from the same company. Tracker/Ranger same company. Buy the Ranger.

[workinprogress]

I wonder if seals could be added to the compartments to make them waterproof? Ram mounts can help with the screen size issue some.