fastboater...this might be better posted as a new topic. I think you'd get more responses to it than you will here under this one.

GFC

Since I have been shopping now for about a month, I can honestly say that all offers from dealers I have received (independent from each other and five different manufacturers dealers) are all magically about 20% under the sticker price for the craft.

Now until the end of Feb. is also of course the best time to buy ... after working through all this negotiating, I would suggest you should never pay more than retail minus 20%, unless it is a new model with high demand or you are buying in season.

Friends of mine just bought a brand new holdover 2003 model year 21 ft. deckboat for over 30% under list.

My suggestion is to shop around for best buy and give consideration to giving dealer has the most convienant location final shot. Bringing the boat to same dealer for service provides obvious advantages. If selling dealer is inconvient for service it might not be the great deal.

This thread hasn't been active for a while but I just recently got the bug to purchase a boat for the first time. I'm not in a big hurry since I don't plan on taking delivery until next spring. The boat that I am interested is not available in the showroom. I was planning on ordering it outfitted just the way I want it. I am looking at the Tahoe 215cc.

My question is under these circumstances should I be paying near MSRP. The dealer that I have talked to so far said that there is very little profit on these boats and this is the going price. Obviously, I am free to order from a variety of dealers since any dealer can get the boat for me. Should I be looking at some discount off of the price.

Also, in all of the posts on this thread nobody indicated the price range of boats that they feel have are up for negotiation. Obviously there is more room to get a few thousand dollars of a $100,000+ boat then a $40,000 boat. Is there much room for negotiation on the price of boats that are less than $40,000.

Thanks in advance for the advice, Jeff

Run. Bye bye dealer.

Like Play Deep Said! This guy is giving you a line!!

Try a dealer who would like to sell a boat! If this guy lies to a new buyer like he did you what will happen when you need dealer service?

Put them there running shoes on and run to another dealer!


Good luck

I'm not so sure the dealer is lying in this case. I believe that Tahoe is one of the few brands that advertises (nationally) what their "real" price is, or at least pretty close to it. I'm sure the dealer has some leeway, but I've talked to a couple of different Tahoe dealers, and both were using the advertised price as their actual price.

And, the price generally seems to be in line with what you would expect to pay for the boat.

Eric,
I would still think some negotiating would be in order. Like a Coast Guard pkg. or extended warranty, free slip for the first season.

Boatsrule -

Oh, absolutely...he should be able to negotiate a little something. Its just that in the case of Tahoe boats, I don't think its reasonable to expect the sizable percentage "discount off MSRP" like you expect to with most builders.

From the comments here and in the other post I made... here is what I have gather so far... included in the price you should have (depends on the size of the boat and what is standard for the boat you are buying... but this list gave me a good idea of what to ask for... thanks for the forum members that provided their comments):

1. Extended warranty - seems like 2 (standard)+ 4 (extended) for a total of 6 years is now the norm in terms of total years of warranty...
2. Trailer with brakes and a spare tire(if you need the trailer)
3. Safety equipment required by law... flare gun kit, PFDs, a throwable type IV PFD, fire extinguisher (B-I), whistle or air horn, firs aid kit, dewatering device (manual pump or a bucket)
4. Basic items needed... anchor and rode, fenders (at least two and make those a good size, not the small *** ones...) with their lines, dock lines
5. VHF radio (but check what they charge you for this... street prices and what the dealer charges can be quite different... in my case a 250.00 difference for the same radio). Antenna, Stainless steel antenna mount
6. Depending on the boat some electronics... GPS, depth finder
7. Flush kit
8. First service visit after break in period
9. Canvas and a mouring cover
10. Tie down boat strap... one for the back and one for the front... you should not rely on your trailer winch to do the holding...

others will surely continue to contribute to this thread...

Here is one tactic I tell interested parties in buying a boat. You and the wife go look at all the boats and break it down to 1 or 2 that you like. The either the husband or wife goes to make the best deal with the dealer. Then when the deal is set bring the other spouse in for approval and make like there is something unacceptable about the boat deal. At this point the dealer see his sale going south, so he/she will make some other offer to close the deal.

Friend of mine did this last year on a use boat. Wifey came in a nixed the deal, salesman offered free seasons slipage to close the deal! Slipage worth $3200.00.

Mike -

After having been involved with Tahoe, I can tell you that the Tracker Marine Group, the owner of Tahoe, has instituted a national pricing policy. Every price of every boat and every option is given on their web site. The only variable, dealer to dealer, are the shipping costs. Dealers can actually violate the dealer agreement by not adhereing to their pricing policies as outlined in that agreement. For what it is worth, the margins in that product is much less than I thought it would or should be in order to maintain profitibility for a smaller dealer. Their whole concept of sales it based upon volume and (according to them) high quality customer service.

Vendors can't get away with price fixing. They can try but it's not legal.

No salesman in his right mind (if such a thing can be said) will play along with not being able to negotiate.

Sure, vendors want to maintain fantasies about customer service and the like but that's all basically just bull****. They want to move boats and not have too much inconsistency in pricing. They generally want to avoid having a dealer in one region making outrageous deals (out of panic, stupidity, cash flow issues, etc) and selling into another market and disrupting that region's reliable dealers.

Wadda ya say we bump this baby to the top for those fall boat sales.....

EVERYTHING is negotiable. Price, trade-in value, interest rate, extended service contract cost, accessories, after-sale service.

If you have a dealer who does not believe that, and you can read this, you have Internet access and can find a dealer who DOES believe it.