Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

My local Bennington dealer is offering me a 22% discount off MSRP plus tax out the door on an ordered boat. He seems firm on this at this point. Is this a reasonably good deal? What more might I do to get a better deal with this dealer? The next closest dealer is over a hundred miles away.

Thanks.

Contact other dealers in your state and get some itemized quotes on the boat with the same options. You will be surprised by the differences when you put them side by side. Take those prices in to your local dealer and see if they can meet or beat the lowest quote you received. Be sure to tell them you would prefer purchasing there.

The marine business is very competitive, and manufacturers often cut dealers big discounts and/or free options from time to time.
Their efficiencies often come from completely filling up their production schedule 52 weeks per year. Builders might cut a dealer a deal to take a production slot certain weeks of the year.
Dealers will also be cut some deals during manufacturers' Fall order writing periods--at big sales meetings.
Dealers often get manufacturer incentives to be part of a large boat show--an expensive proposition for the dealer. Sometimes their sales reps will be present at boat shows, and they're known to throw around some money to make a deal.
I've also heard of a dealer receiving volume discounts--for paying cash for a bunch of boats.
Another dealer originally had about 5 pontoon boat brands, and he got 3% discount for dropping all the other brands.

In other words, not all dealers get the same wholesale prices as other dealers. Manufacturers and Dealers scratch each other's back.

Compare prices between competing dealers is suggested.

The other guys are right. I would call around before you make a final decision. Bennington seems to have very inflated MSRPs from my research, 22% is a good start but you may be able to find better!

rdeterman wrote:Bennington seems to have very inflated MSRPs

Compare apples to apples and line items to line items and forget using MSRP in any calculation.

In the tow boat industry (Mastercraft, Malibu, etc.), it is widely known that MSRP from some manufacturer's is a complete joke.