and so it begins.......

[fund razor]

100% right on.......... To show a current example: last year my local GMC store had 2 year old brand new crew cab diesels sitting on the lot along with 25 current model diesels. As of last weekend they had 2 that I saw. When I asked about the selection the salesguy said they got killed last year and won't order as many in the future. The days of dealer floorplanned high end boats is over (they can't afford to do it) and the trend will be manufacturer direct sales hopefully saving the client/buyer money by cutting out the middleman.

Pull your own boat parts may not happen though since boats take up a lot of space for just the rear end holdling all the good stuff. I could easily see boats cut into a 1/4 and shredding the 3/4 of the unusable stuff.

I know a guy who has a newish Excursion sitting on the shelf for when his current excursion gets old.
You never know... lack of new parts could drive up the value of used parts enough to make it worthwhile. What would happen is save/don't save decisions based on chances of resale. Booo.

 

[Tony]

I didn't say that. Just remember who is gonna take care of you end the end. And if the repo is a dealer repo there could be waranty issues. RV manufactures are not honoring warentys on new units that were repoed off dealers lots that were not sold by franchized dealers. Some dealers will not perform waranty work on units they know were bought from sub retail outlets. Just some things to think about. Know what you are getting into before you make an expensive mistake.

Apparently some of the dealers still dont want to take care of you. That little problem that we talked about last fall...my folks had to all but sue the dealer to get the warranty issues worked out. Franchised dealer, the story was, unit was bought there new by original owner and traded a year later. My folks bought it along with the rediculous $$ extended warranty, had several issues within a year, took it back to the dealer. The dealer says its up to the Mfg. The Mfg. says its up to the dealer, and neither one is touching it, or agreeing to pay the bill until both the dealer and the Mfg. can reach an agreement. In the end the issues were supposedly fixed but the damned thing still doesnt work right.

 

[Chris]

The days of dealer floorplanned high end boats is over (they can't afford to do it) and the trend will be manufacturer direct sales hopefully saving the client/buyer money by cutting out the middleman.

.

Or it could go the other way. There could be fewer outlets and those retailers with the strength to survive can get better distribution terms from their existing manufacturers.

Boat manufacturers have always had the avenue of direct distribution available to them. Many smaller manufacturers have tried to build an equivalent product and sell it direct for a substantially lower price than their larger competition. Not one has ever succeeded in any discernable scale. The model has never worked and I don't see any reason it will now. I still remember the luxury tax days where the entire industry came close to disappearing and no one's direct-sales model ever took hold. Even in something like the parts business, the "warehouse outlet" models have never really taken hold. There's a very narrow sliver inside the vertical for the highly-capable do-it-yourself'er and support costs money. This isn't unique to the boat business. Visit any wholesale auto parts jobber, a construction supply, plumbing, HVAC or industrial supply house. You'll find knowledgeable, capable sales/support people on those phones, computers and counters. Even the professionals need support. And believe me, every one of those industries has attempted to "cut out the middleman".

In the days when 90% of the fast boat population was in South Florida, it had a chance. Nowadays we have go-fasts boats on pulled across the country. And they need support for their half-million-dollar toys. And they get that from the dealer.

 

[Chris]

I know of some very high dollar non repos that are sitting in storage that need 50K in work right now. Do you think that will be disclosed to the buyers?

Any used boat can be a time bomb......A repo/ cheaper boat just allows more money to be pushed over to the repair/maintenance side of the accounting chart.

Depends what you're buying. If you're bottom-trolling for a bargain, that's to be expected. If you're shopping for a nice boat and the seller has what you want, has detailed maintenance records and you can visit the reputable vendor that maintained the boat, I think you have a much better chance than buying something that the guy spend all last season thrashing knowing full well that since he's missed his last 5 payments it wouldn't be around long.

I've bought pristine stuff and I've bought absolute projects. And I've bought OK stuff that "just needed a bit of TLC" The only thing I ever got hurt on was the third one. In every boat's life, there's a point of equilibrium- where the boat still looks decent, but is just about to the point where it's either going to begin it's swift decline or it's going to need alot to bring it back. You see an awful lot of boats for sale at that particular point. Always have, always will. These are novice-traps. The guy that is either less-observant or less experienced gets in and finds out quick his bargain wasn't. Often this is someone's first (and usually last) boat.

 

[Magic Medicine]

not till im done... most i know of arent listed yet

why start the thread then?????

 

[Davidmnc]

100% right on.......... To show a current example: last year my local GMC store had 2 year old brand new crew cab diesels sitting on the lot along with 25 current model diesels. As of last weekend they had 2 that I saw. When I asked about the selection the salesguy said they got killed last year and won't order as many in the future. The days of dealer floorplanned high end boats is over (they can't afford to do it) and the trend will be manufacturer direct sales hopefully saving the client/buyer money by cutting out the middleman.

Pull your own boat parts may not happen though since boats take up a lot of space for just the rear end holdling all the good stuff. I could easily see boats cut into a 1/4 and shredding the 3/4 of the unusable stuff.

As many of you know I am NOT in the boat business, but I am in the RV business. The two pretty much go hand in hand. I totally agree with the statement that dealers are not going to be selling floor planned high end boats or RVs in the near future. This too will pass, but today dealers cannot afford to do this. The floor plans sources have raised our interest rates, and the amount of curtailment (principal) we are required to pay. Dealers cannot afford to have that much investment riding on one sale. We can have 5 or 6 nice campers on the lot for the same cost as 1 Gas Class A motor home. And don’t even think about carrying some thing diesel! If you look at the dealers who are failing. It’s not the ones with 100 campers on the lots, it’s the ones with 20 Class A’s! People are spending money right now, but they are not spending BIG money right now. This is why the dealers who sell and service these high end boats and RVs are struggling. If you don’t support them. They WILL be gone. And that guy who always takes care of your stuff…………………he is not gonna be there for ya any more.

 

[Davidmnc]

Apparently some of the dealers still dont want to take care of you. That little problem that we talked about last fall...my folks had to all but sue the dealer to get the warranty issues worked out. Franchised dealer, the story was, unit was bought there new by original owner and traded a year later. My folks bought it along with the rediculous $$ extended warranty, had several issues within a year, took it back to the dealer. The dealer says its up to the Mfg. The Mfg. says its up to the dealer, and neither one is touching it, or agreeing to pay the bill until both the dealer and the Mfg. can reach an agreement. In the end the issues were supposedly fixed but the damned thing still doesnt work right.

Yea, I hate to hear this story. It really sounds like your parents got taken, and the dealer will not, or can not fix or afford to fix the problem. The sad truth is this is what happends some times. Makes me glad to work for a dealer who is not affraid to step up when needed.

 

[Dreamer]

why start the thread then?????

because the repo market has been on fire for a year.... but just now is the hipo stuff coming in..... nothing in the last 6 months now alot rolloing in

 

[cuda]

why start the thread then?????

Publicity hound.

 

[SKATIN]

Any auto dealer can go onto Manhiem's OVE and there are a lot of boats on there. There was a fountain and a skater on there a while ago. It's worth checking out

 

[JupiterSunsation]

because the repo market has been on fire for a year.... but just now is the hipo stuff coming in..... nothing in the last 6 months now alot rolloing in

think that all red ZRC is still available in Cali.....you remember the 165K price with "NO LOWBALL OFFERS" written into the ad.......:sifone:

 

[JupiterSunsation]

Depends what you're buying. If you're bottom-trolling for a bargain, that's to be expected. Ifmaintenance records and you can visit the reputable vendor that maintained the boat, I think you have a much better chance than buying something that you're shopping for a nice boat and the seller has what you want, has detailed the guy spend all last season thrashing knowing full well that since he's missed his last 5 payments it wouldn't be around long.

I agree with you to a point but some of these repo hi-po boats were for sale on OSO by the then current owners. They were being pitched as mint, one owner boats at one point. 36 Pantera/ 37 AT come to mind as examples. At some point they were mint boats and since most are sitting very short times on repo lots there is a chance to get a decent boat at a great price.

The 80K 01 T/S TG with 625 hours was listed for years at 139K on boattrader but it never sold even when other boats were 150K. 80K took it at national liq. and that guy put it on Craigslist a week later for 100K. This boat needs work but at 139K it wasn't a deal, at 80 you should be fine after a 40K redo. It needs the same work at 139K that it does at 80K. But with a lower buy in the boat becomes a deal.

 

[JupiterSunsation]

As many of you know I am NOT in the boat business, but I am in the RV business. The two pretty much go hand in hand. I totally agree with the statement that dealers are not going to be selling floor planned high end boats or RVs in the near future. This too will pass, but today dealers cannot afford to do this. The floor plans sources have raised our interest rates, and the amount of curtailment (principal) we are required to pay. Dealers cannot afford to have that much investment riding on one sale. We can have 5 or 6 nice campers on the lot for the same cost as 1 Gas Class A motor home. And don’t even think about carrying some thing diesel! If you look at the dealers who are failing. It’s not the ones with 100 campers on the lots, it’s the ones with 20 Class A’s! People are spending money right now, but they are not spending BIG money right now. This is why the dealers who sell and service these high end boats and RVs are struggling. If you don’t support them. They WILL be gone. And that guy who always takes care of your stuff…………………he is not gonna be there for ya any more.

You RV guys still have to wonder if the manufacturers are going to be around with a few of the big guys going under......

 

[Chris]

Not all these guys are on floorplan. Some have the financial resources and the proposition is better than parking the money in a near-nothing-yield CD. And my guess is that they can take advantage of some favorable treatment from more than a few manufacturers to take on inventory.

Good or bad, someone with foresight and resources will make the situation profitable.

 

[RHC]

He has kicked more tires than a Truck Driver !

 

[RLJ676]

think that all red ZRC is still available in Cali.....you remember the 165K price with "NO LOWBALL OFFERS" written into the ad.......:sifone:

Now it's like 117 and "NO LOWBALL OFFERS". Odds are at the beginning they thought 120 was a "lowball".:sifone:

 

[Heavyhauler]

These are novice-traps. The guy that is either less-observant or less experienced gets in and finds out quick his bargain wasn't. Often this is someone's first (and usually last) boat.

This is the category I fell in. I had owned lots of boats but never had a twin high performance boat. After spending the money to make it right, the market is all but gone and I can never recoup the money I spent making it right, so my only hope it to find a trade out there somewhere for something I might enjoy or try to find some enjoyment in my now very expensive powerboat. Won't be my last boat, but will probably be my last twin engine boat. I did take it to a poker run at Lake Murray a couple of weeks ago and had a ball and like someone said you can't put a price on a good time.

 

[phragle]

for a bunch of drunken jackasses, there i a lot of brainpower, insight, knowledge and information on this board...seriously...

 

[Tommy Gun]

http://www.boatauctionsdirect.com/?hop=ncsm02

 

[mosi]

In theory, people who know they are going to lose a high ticket item beat the chit out of it before they lose it. I have found that, in reality, most people on the verge of losing those high ticket items....cannot afford to use them let alone beat the chit out of them.