sandm
03-31-2011, 10:06 AM
just thought I would share this.. sorry it's kind of long.
went to the competing dealer yesterday to pick up some rope, as the skiers dealer is 30 miles away. this dealer used to sell skiers products years ago, but has been the local centurion/mc dealer for the last 10 years. last spring, they picked up nautique and this winter, picked up mb. had a very interesting chat with the salesman there. They haven't sold a single new mc since the boat show last year, ordered one 2011 centurion last fall and no bites, and have yet to order a nautique, while having mb only 3 months, have sold 7 boats, delivered out the door. talked that 2 of the last mb sales were to guys that had someone else doing their purchasing(a "handler") and were heading up to cabins on the lake 100 miles away(very high incomes). 4 years ago, he stated that these would have been 100k mc customers, but are now scaling back spending what is the minimum for a recreational towboat realizing that the family doesn't use it 24/7 and looking for value. I have always thought of Moomba as a pricepoint boat and one of the best values for the $$, but it would appear that mb is out after that crown. they are selling either the 21tomcat(picklefork) or the b52(standard bow) for $49,000 otd(bet there's some wiggle room) and that's loaded minus tower speakers. included 2axle loaded with fulton f2 gear, tow cover, spin racks, dual battery, bow filler, gps zero off, 2amp stereo and the list goes on.. that seems to be quite a bit of competition for the lsv/xlv. I haven't ever ridden behind one, but looking at the hull design, it appears to be very similar to the centurion in it's ability to list for surfing, much more so than the xlv/lsv hulls. looks like the 1800lbs of internal ballast(and fills in under 2 minutes) would surf well with no additional sacs. they had a 2009 demo there with 24hrs on the clock, had every option mb offered and sold it for $38500 otd. I climbed around these for a minute and the fit/finish is really on par with every other boat out there. gel is extremely clean, interior fit/finish is top quality and everything seemed to close/open nicely. my only complaint would be graphics behind the gel so you are essentially stuck with the same pattern forever unless you wrap(guy that bought the '09 was wrapping it as the color was not the most attractive, but for 38k, lots of cash to do it)..
from a mc and nautique standpoint, I wonder how much longer they will be a dealer if they are not ordering any new product and really carry 2 of the top 3 "premiere" boat lines. I would think that both companies would want to get their brands in the hand of a dealer that will order new product to try and sell and not one pushing a new line hard..
as a future boat shopper(hoping in 2 years to be ready for a new one), it is both good to see that there are other companies that don't see the need for another 75k wakeboat, but on the flip side, looks like there are others out there that are coming up to challenge the value statement that built moomba into the bargain it is today.
I hope skiers is watching.
went to the competing dealer yesterday to pick up some rope, as the skiers dealer is 30 miles away. this dealer used to sell skiers products years ago, but has been the local centurion/mc dealer for the last 10 years. last spring, they picked up nautique and this winter, picked up mb. had a very interesting chat with the salesman there. They haven't sold a single new mc since the boat show last year, ordered one 2011 centurion last fall and no bites, and have yet to order a nautique, while having mb only 3 months, have sold 7 boats, delivered out the door. talked that 2 of the last mb sales were to guys that had someone else doing their purchasing(a "handler") and were heading up to cabins on the lake 100 miles away(very high incomes). 4 years ago, he stated that these would have been 100k mc customers, but are now scaling back spending what is the minimum for a recreational towboat realizing that the family doesn't use it 24/7 and looking for value. I have always thought of Moomba as a pricepoint boat and one of the best values for the $$, but it would appear that mb is out after that crown. they are selling either the 21tomcat(picklefork) or the b52(standard bow) for $49,000 otd(bet there's some wiggle room) and that's loaded minus tower speakers. included 2axle loaded with fulton f2 gear, tow cover, spin racks, dual battery, bow filler, gps zero off, 2amp stereo and the list goes on.. that seems to be quite a bit of competition for the lsv/xlv. I haven't ever ridden behind one, but looking at the hull design, it appears to be very similar to the centurion in it's ability to list for surfing, much more so than the xlv/lsv hulls. looks like the 1800lbs of internal ballast(and fills in under 2 minutes) would surf well with no additional sacs. they had a 2009 demo there with 24hrs on the clock, had every option mb offered and sold it for $38500 otd. I climbed around these for a minute and the fit/finish is really on par with every other boat out there. gel is extremely clean, interior fit/finish is top quality and everything seemed to close/open nicely. my only complaint would be graphics behind the gel so you are essentially stuck with the same pattern forever unless you wrap(guy that bought the '09 was wrapping it as the color was not the most attractive, but for 38k, lots of cash to do it)..
from a mc and nautique standpoint, I wonder how much longer they will be a dealer if they are not ordering any new product and really carry 2 of the top 3 "premiere" boat lines. I would think that both companies would want to get their brands in the hand of a dealer that will order new product to try and sell and not one pushing a new line hard..
as a future boat shopper(hoping in 2 years to be ready for a new one), it is both good to see that there are other companies that don't see the need for another 75k wakeboat, but on the flip side, looks like there are others out there that are coming up to challenge the value statement that built moomba into the bargain it is today.
I hope skiers is watching.