Just a caution for anyone buying a new boat hull. WATCH OUT

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richg99

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Went to a number of dealers over the last week or so to replace my 20-year-old 1648 tin hull.
Two dealers; both boats built in the same town. ...both boats were comparable size and price....both were new boat hulls.

Dealer #1 wanted approximately $650.00 shipping and dealer prep.
Dealer #2 wanted approximately $127.50 shipping and dealer prep.

Watch out!

Dealer #1 was a normal trailer
Dealer #2 included a fantastic trailer

watch out!

Get the drive-out price, including taxes, dealer prep; shipping; license fees and sales taxes when comparing which boat to buy. I've been told that one way dealers cut the price is to reduce the size or quality of the trailer without your knowing it.

regards, richg99
 
It's funny you bring this up. When I was looking for my new boat package I new which boat I wanted but wasn't sure about the motor and didn't really care about the trailer as long as it had torsion axles. I called the only 2 dealers within a couple hours of the house and the first one which is closest didn't even know what my hull was when I asked if he had any MV 1648 NCS hulls in stock. After I explained to him what it was he quoted me a price + $700.00 freight. The second dealer had 2 in stock and wouldn't get anymore for about 3 to 4 months as he ONLY orders a complete semi load at a time and that brings freight down to $ 178.00 each hull. So like you said be careful one extra phone call saved me $528.00 plus I ended up saving over $600.00 on my motor and no freight on the trailer since the manufacturer is only 15 minutes away.
 
"Watch out" goes for a lot of things!
When I bought a new garden tractor in 1989, there was only $600 difference in price between two dealers!
"ONLY $600 difference" for the same tractor, pays to shop around.
 
I can understand that if a dealer only orders boats one or two at a time that their shipping costs would be higher.

In my particular case, the higher SHIPPING priced dealer has tons of X-brand boats on his lot and is a "big volume" dealer. The lower priced dealer had a total of ten Z-brand boats on the lot.

The big volume dealer also showed a 20 % discount on his print-out. Even so, when all was said and done, by the time he added all of his extras, his price was at least a $1,000.00 more for a comparable hull.

I think it is just another way for dealers to hide where they make their money.

I've been told that exactly the same thing happens when you buy a car. I only buy based on my "drive-out" price for pretty much anything.

richg99
 
overboard said:
"Watch out" goes for a lot of things!
When I bought a new garden tractor in 1989, there was only $600 difference in price between two dealers!
"ONLY $600 difference" for the same tractor, pays to shop around.
Got volunteered to haggle with a car dealer for my sis in law once. After we come to somewhat of an agreement on the price for the car, the salesman starts reading off all the items (mats, delux trim pkg, etc) and the price associated with each item as he tallied everything up for the out the door price. Well he sounds like he's speed reading as he's calling all this out and when he comes to the total, I said wait a min. That seems higher than the number I had come to in my head, so read those charges again. I paid special attention this time as he listed the items. Well even with him muffling his voice and reading as fast as he can, I heard something that didn't sound right. I stopped him and asked what was the thing about "preferred"? He quickly mumbles something that I couldn't understand and tried to go with the list. I stopped him again, and made him back up again. The 1,000 charge that he was adding to the total was for "preferred car". When the salesman realized I wasn't going any further until he explained this fee to me, he finally broke down and told me that the CRX was very a very popular model that year so this "preferred car" charge was added. Well I balked at that but the salesman wasn't about to back back that charge out, so we got up and left. I explained to the next dealer if they expected to charge 1k just because a lot of people are buying CRX's to let me know now and he would save us both a lot of wasted time. She ended up getting the car she wanted for about 1100 less than the other dealer wanted. Keep in mind when I questioned the first salesman about whether the dealership was having problems getting more CRX's, or anything like that he said no they could get as many as they could sell. #-o
 
So you said both boats were built in the same town, etc. But they were not of the same brand? Apples to oranges? Dealer number one was selling the exact same boat as dealer number two, or were they different brands? That was something that the dealer I worked for used to do...sold 2 different lines of boats, and they came from the exact same factory. One 1542, bare, was $1299, the other $2000. But they were different boats......
 
The same can be said said of E-Bay and other online sites. You need to shop around and get the the best price you can including the shipping. You may get a good deal on the price of the item and then get raped on the shipping. Be careful and do your research. You may save yourself some cash.
 
I will spend days researching and shopping before I buy anything. A car dealer tried to get me with the "freight and delivery" on a new truck. We were almost done with paper work, until 1200 was added for a truck THEYRE ordered. I also explained that he told me they needed the 3 tacomas off the lot asap, I told him he almost had one gone but I was gojng elsewhere since I didn't order it. He gave me $1500 off at that point
 
Two different brands. Both "bare" except the lower-priced one came with Camo paint!

When you charge more for freight; dealer prep; license and documentation fees. etc. etc. it adds up.

All that I am saying is to watch the total bill.... not just the boat price on top.

richg99
 
KMixson said:
The same can be said said of E-Bay and other online sites. You need to shop around and get the the best price you can including the shipping. You may get a good deal on the price of the item and then get raped on the shipping. Be careful and do your research. You may save yourself some cash.
I'm always aware of the added cost of shipping when I start shopping online for items. If I find the same item at 2 different sites and the prices are comparable, I start checking how much shipping & handling charges are added by each site. After that bit of checking, I next start searching for discount codes/coupons from sites like https://www.retailmenot.com/. I frequently get free shipping and/or some variable amount or percent off my order by searching for discount codes that were not advertised or mentioned on the site selling the item. Another thing that can affect the bottom line these days is that not all sites charge sales tax but some do, and every little bit adds up quickly.
 

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