Gaaaaaah! Should buying a boat be this hard?

[SamF]

Trying to buy a nice new boat from a dealer. Prices in Florida seem to be high - dealers are listing boats over the MSRP listed on manufacturer's website. When asked about that, the two dealers I spoke with claimed ignorance of the website or said I was reading it wrong and that boats cannot be had for those prices. What? It's the manufacturer's website - not some 3rd party guessing at prices.

I keep reading on here how people are paying less than MSRP but the dealers here want over MSRP? Is that because the season never ends here?

Sadly there are no dealers less than an hour away and most of them are 3 hours at least. And so there is no competition in this area.

Decided to suck it up and pay over MSRP to closest dealer for nice new 2013 snazzy boat - even after a beyond crappy sales experience. Left a small deposit and was told boat would be ready this week. Now the dealer want us to pay for boat in it's entirety before they rig it.

Is the Florida market such that we are going to pay more than the MSRP? Dealer says MSRP manufacturer's website is "loss leader" pricing.

I am aggravated. This is supposed to be fun.

SamF

[cwag911]

When we bought our boat, we paid in full when we picked it up. I would wait and keep looking because paying over msrp is just insane. Remember, the internet is your friend. What brands of boats are you looking at? I will add that if I were treated like you were, I wouldn't go back. My $.02

[SamF]

Trust me Carl we have talked about walking away but it is sort of shooting ourselves in the foot because of the lack of dealers.

But we still may. Phone call to owner planned for this afternoon.

[bassn386]

Sam, have you gone online to see where else in Florida they carry your boat? We bought our boat from a dealer two hours away rather than closer to us because we saved almost $10K. I'm not happy with the doofuses at the dealership, but I can suck up a lot of aggravation for that kind of money.

[jimrs]

It would help to know the brand and model of the boat your looking at. I found the same thing but a lot of the prices on the internet are just either too high or too low depending on what your dealer is charging by what he ordered extra on the boat. Most of the internet prices seem not to match the local dealers because of how they order. Most manufactures list boats at base price without any additional equipment added.

Then there are those that don't include motors, trailers, ect. It's hard to figure out what your buying unless you go directly to the dealer and order what you want.

[rbiederwolf]

As stated above, let us know what manufacturer you are loking at. Some of us Florida boys (and girls) may have contacts with dealers here. Who knows....

Not what you know but who you know

[BobG]

I drove 1,100 miles for the best deal - saved $10,000 for my efforts. Awesome boat, and amazing customer support from the manufacturer. I wish I could say the same for the dealer. TERRIBLE dealer, but I love their prices.

[screwball]

Our experience. Just bought a new Sun Tracker 18' Party Barge. Optioned a 75hp motor and vinyl flooring. The internet price usually quotes with a 'standard' motor. Upgraded motors cost more. Anyway

We live in California and have a vacation house in Arizona. The dealer with the best prices and availability was in Nevada, 300 miles from the California house, and 100 from the Arizona house. Sales tax in Nevada is 8.5% on the full price, Cal is the same, but they charge another 1.5% Luxury tax.... guess only rich people have boats. Arizona charges 6.5% on the after trade balance, assuming you already paid tax on the trade in. We saved a grand buying from the dealer in Nevada, and another 3 registering it in Arizona. Tax was 6.5% on 10 grand, not 8.5% on 20. Registration in Arizona was $23.

I'm not big on car salesmen. (or boats). They have to make a living too, but don't need to get rich, and I will not give one my business only because they are close. Any dealer will do warranty work on the boat or motor no matter where you bought it. Most of the time you won't get preferentialtial treatment because you bought the boat there. Sales and Service are two different departments. I'm very open, and tell them up front I have no problem walking away and going somewhere else if the money and service aren't right.

Put that pen between your thumforefingersingers, write your name on the dotted line and go enjoy that boat!!!

[Pammy]

Sam,
We are going through the same issues here (in FL) so we have started to search for dealers in Ga at the recommendation of someone on this site.
What brand are you buying? We are waffling between Manitou and Avalon.

Pam

[Bryden24shp]

The best time to buy is at the end of the season. We are getting close. Hang on for just a few more months. I bought ONE OF MY BOATS, (not saying which one, because the new owner of it may look at the forum) for under 20,000 MSRP at the end of November. I sold it to him for $8000 more than I paid for it. Was still under KBB price. He got a good deal, still! I still smile about it....

[gramps]

Come to Georgia and save thousands and trailer it home. If you don't have a trailerable vehicle then rent a truck. There are tons of dealers in Georgia and they will deal.

[bigern76]

Come to Georgia and save thousands and trailer it home. If you don't have a trailerable vehicle then rent a truck. There are tons of dealers in Georgia and they will deal.

+1 to what gramps said. I have seen some deals on boats in GA. I looked at alot of boats online and thought the prices were ok, then read the fine print "doesn't include trailer,rigging or setup".

[Ray Jr.]

Give Ryan at Winnisquam Marine in NH a shout http://www.winnisquammarine.com/ they are Premier dealers, They do deliver, and they must be selling at the right price, cause just last month they delivered a 310 Boundary Waters PTX with twin 300 verados to Mississippi. Tell em the Heath clan sent ya!

And if ya wait ta buy till Labor day their 2012 rental fleet will be up for sale, and you can get a hell of a discount price on one and still get a full as new warranty on it.

[Texoma Toon]

Pontoons in Forida and elsewhere are hot right now so getting a good price in So Florida may not be possible. You might want to look at a slightly used pontoon or as was stated one in Georgia.

[Bamaman]

Dealers often want a $1K deposit before setting the boat up. They also get tired of making a deal with a customer and they then cannot get financing.

But don't fall to this dealer's bad business practices. And by the way: The boat business in Florida sucks just like it does in other parts of the U.S. under current economic conditions.

Tell us where you are, what you're going to be doing with the boat, your approximate budget and someone on this forum can demonstrate how to buy a boat at a fair price--far below MSRP. Like has been said, they deliver all over the U.S.