Northwest Fishing Reports

So I'm looking at buy a new boat and I am wondering if dealers can be treated like car dealers. My point really is if a MSRP on a motor is 8k what is the lowest they will go, they obviously buy them for less I just wondering if I offer 10% below the msrp price, that goes for the motor too.
Anyone have any recent or past experience buying a new boat.

i have no knowledge of profit, but i believe they will be more apt to throw in accessories without charging you any extra, maybe you could get 10% more from the shop ;) thats the way i've worked with bike shops, and most dealers in general prefer to work that way

You can offer whatever you want, whether they will accept your offer is another thing entirely. In my binary way of thinking, there are only two answers to any question.

I prefer to work my best deal for what I want to buy, exclusive of "accessories" unless I have priced the identical item/s elsewhere first so I know their value.

In my personal experience with both our boat purchases, the things offered as teasers, sonar, rod holders, USCG kits, etc. were all basic bottom end bargain items the dealer was getting good margins on. Easy to throw something like that in and make it seem like one is getting a good value when priced at full retail.

We got a great deal on our second boat, note MSRP:
Adding a 20" shaft 8hp electric start kicker, kicker hour meter, second battery, TrollMaster Pro II, and a tach plus labor brought the pre-tax total to $32,766, $3229 less than MSRP for boat, motor, and trailer alone. Probably didn't hurt we bought our first boat there too and we were trading up with the same dealer.

A 2015 18' ProV soft top with extended transom (20' 8" overall length) and a 115hp Yamaha at this year's boat show had a sticker price almost half again what we paid in '09.

I plan on offering 20% of total cost of package and plan on walking out.

I'll echo what Hewesfisher mentioned regarding current boat prices. What I saw for "sales" prices at the boat show and the sportsman's show was insane. Not sure I could afford to buy a new version of my current boat. I bought my current boat at Inland Boat and Motors in Ellensburg. They have a low overhead and don't keep much inventory on the floor so their prices were a bit more reasonable than what I found in the Puget Sound area. I don't recall haggling too much over the price, but there were some extras thrown in to sweeten the pot. Have a look at the NADA pricing site for boats, it will give you current and the historical new list price.

Ya, I know how expensive they are lol. Used prices are coming down a little. I'm not looking for a new big boat more a little one. I'm gonna wait for the bubble to bust before I get a big boat again.

Go in pre approved or with cash. Talk to them and listen to there sales pitch. Leave. Come back a few days later and have a sit down. Say how much you wanna pay for it, if they say no way then walk. Make sure they have your phone number though. They will call and start working with you more. Most salesmen are commision and making sales is how they get paid, and they will work with you. Using this tactic I got our Denali for 8k under asking price

Steelheadin360 wrote:Go in pre approved or with cash. Talk to them and listen to there sales pitch. Leave. Come back a few days later and have a sit down. Say how much you wanna pay for it, if they say no way then walk. Make sure they have your phone number though. They will call and start working with you more. Most salesmen are commision and making sales is how they get paid, and they will work with you. Using this tactic I got our Denali for 8k under asking price

The amount isn't the issue its paying what I think its worth and making them feel like they are making some, to do that you really need to know what they actually paying for them.
I pretty much plan doing what you wrote.

I'm wrestling motor differences at the moment, once I decide on them I sit down with him and take it from there.

I'm sure no expert. I've owned 5 trailer boats over 40 years. The last two boats I kept track of the prices starting early in the year and bought them in July. They seemed a little more price flexible then. A dealer told me once that the difference between a good year and a not so good year is May/June. If it rains constantly in May/June, boat buyers lose interest and the dealers have to cut prices in July/August to get sales. I bought my 2005 Seahawk in July and compared to boat show prices I think I did save 2K or so.

Before I buy anything, I pay myself by investing in research. Narrow your search down till you know exactly what you want, then research the heck out of it.

I bought a Tribute once by walking into the showroom with a pad of paper and a pen. I told the first salesmen that walked up that I already new exactly what I wanted, no need to test drive or waste time. I told him to put down the lowest price he would be selling it to me for. I then said I was going to the next dealer with the pad and will buy from the best priced.

The first place wasn't interested, but the second took me into the sales managers office and I ended up getting the vehicle for far less then I thought I could.

Every salesmen has a price.

My 2 cents

Bay wolf wrote:Before I buy anything, I pay myself by investing in research. Narrow your search down till you know exactly what you want, then research the heck out of it.

I get crazy with research. Silly example, but our toaster is dying. I'm fed up with cheap toasters that last a couple years, then you throw 'em away. So, search mode on, just like when I wanted something better than my pull through vac sealer. You can find toasters all day, cheap China stuff, that sell for more than they're worth. I wanted something better, I found Dualit, never heard of them until I searched. Hand made in England with replaceable parts should they ever fail. Great, something I can repair instead of throwing away. New one arrives tomorrow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIJruyGfnUw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW_bka_lDZM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My wife commented that we're buying our grandchild's toaster.

Now that is a nice toaster!! Nothing pays you more then research.

I could sure buy a lot of toasters, bread and butter for over $400.00. Pretty swish but, I'm not sure I eat that much toast.

Lol..i eat tons of toast us Brits love almost everything on toast. I've a 50 dollar one that's enough for me.

Bodofish wrote:I could sure buy a lot of toasters, bread and butter for over $400.00. Pretty swish but, I'm not sure I eat that much toast.

Was only $215.96 to my door. We use our toaster, a lot, and have replaced several. Hand made, reparable, and "last a lifetime" made it worth the price to me.

hewesfisher wrote:

Bodofish wrote:I could sure buy a lot of toasters, bread and butter for over $400.00. Pretty swish but, I'm not sure I eat that much toast.

Was only $215.96 to my door. We use our toaster, a lot, and have replaced several. Hand made, reparable, and "last a lifetime" made it worth the price to me.

I'm certain it will bring you much happiness. For me $19.95 from Freddy's has lasted me a good ten years so far, along with the waffle maker. It seems the cheaper they are the longer they last.
It's all about what makes you happy.

PS I hope you got the red one, it's really cool. 100mph sitting on the kitchen counter.

Since this thread has gone a little sideways I'll jump in

I am a big time researcher also, I also hate loans if I can avoid them. When I went to buy my current Harley I spent a couple years saving up, comparing bikes, options, my riding style, etc. By the time I was ready to buy I had most of what I was planning to spend in cash and was pre approved for the rest. I printed out exactly what I wanted - model, color, options, modifications, everything. I meant to roll out of the dealership with the exact bike I wanted and in that way EVERYTHING would be tied to the warranty as it would all be installed either at the factory or at the dealer before I touched it.

Then I started driving to dealers. Showed em what I wanted, told them I was comparing prices and the best dealer would win not only my purchase of the bike, but all maintenance for it for as long as I had it or lived in the PS area. One of the dealers I went to the salesman jumped on me as soon as I walked in the door - he sits me down, I showed him what I wanted and he says "hold on, let me talk to my sales manager" jumps up and runs away. He comes back five minutes later and starts in on this finance plan he can do for me. I stop him and tell him I don't need financing, I want to know how much it will cost me IN CASH to walk out of their doors with this exact bike. Again he jumps up to go talk to his manager. I stopped him, said it is obvious he either doesn't understand what I am saying or does not have the authority to provide what I am asking for and suggest he just GO GET his manager rather that running back and forth. So the salesman and his manager come back this time and the manager starts in on finance packages. I stop him and explain again that I am paying cash and says says "Oh, we can't do that." Just to be sure I heard him right I summed it up "So you cannot order a bike from the factory, add the extras that need to be added here and send it out the door %100 paid in cash?" He says "nope, not without financing." I told him he was a f-in idiot and walked out.

That was in 2005, guess which of the dealerships I got prices from have gone under since then - only one.. oh and by going that route knowing exactly what I wanted and pitting each against the other I was able to save a good amount of $$ on shop labor and get helmets and other gear thrown into the deal

So I just got a new 150ph Mercury Four Stroke for my bass boat. I did my research online for what outboard was best for me, and for the cheapest internet price, and went to the boat show. When I asked for the dealers best price at all but one place, they just pulled out the book and read me the price. No discounts or anything. I know there are a few good boat dealerships in the area, but Tracker boats were the only ones at the boat show that really seemed interested in my business. Their best price was only $200 more than the best internet price I could find. I'll bet some people could have talked them down even more, but I was totally content with that price. They were absolutely outstanding to work with. Maybe it's because their shop is in the new BassPro shop in Tacoma and they are all new employees, but they were so friendly, and really took care of me and my boat. Their install was way below any other price I had quoted, and they even did a couple upgrades on my boat. It makes it fun to work with people like that, and I can't recommend they any higher.

Great price and great service, what more can I say?

Where did you get your quotes from online if you don't mind me asking?

I knew I wanted the Mercury 150hp Four Stroke, so I just google that and discount. I just went through and looked at all the marine dealers that had published prices. If I got an older but never sold motor the prices would go down. That was kind of my target area as I knew what they were selling last two years models was most likely the closest I could get to the bottom of the pricing market. Most of the lowest prices were in Florida, that's why I didn't mind paying only $200 more for a local one.