Good Dealers?

[sandm]

Moomba does have dealer territory when ordering, but if you buy an inventory boat there is freedom.

might want to check on that. we have been told over and over that there is no freedom until the next model year is released in june/july then all bets are off. that is all dependent on the integrity of the dealer you are calling tho... our boat came from 1500 miles away and salesman had to go check with boss before they would authorize the sale to confirm we were actually "x" miles away from nearest dealer to confirm we didn't have a "local".


personally, I get that boat businesses are booming BUT there is absolutely no excuse or reason to not be communicating with buyers or leads other than pure laziness. salesmen are used to seeing "x" leads a week and it's tripled. they know boats will sell and people will follow up with them so no reason to.
we shopped 5 dealerships while figuring out our next whip. only 2 ever followed up with us after the visit. not tough to send a quick call/text/email but they don't have to.

I would look elsewhere at other dealers and/or other brands if you are being asked to pay msrp. moomba discounts are not huge but typically in the 5-9% range seems be where most land and right now I would expect in the 5% range for a build and a tad higher if on the lot. it's what we expected when the dealers built out pricing out.

[brad460]

Assume no boat territory. Two Moomba boat owners have the same issue with a boat starter that needs to be replaced under warranty.

Boat Owner A purchased the new boat from that dealer and has a relationship with the dealer.
Boat Owner B purchased the new boat from a different state and different dealer and does not have a relationship with the dealer.

Who's boat will be worked on first?

Now assume that same dealer sells 20 or 30 or 40 Supra and Moomba boats per year and has a loyal customer base in the SC line.
That same dealer also sells other lines of boats like pontoons or jets.

Any change on who's boat gets worked on first?

If both are respectable, competent and customer focused dealers it shouldn’t matter... The dealer who didn’t sell the boat is presented with an opportunity to win a new customer for their next purchase. Plus, dealers are not doing repairs (warranty or not) for free! Revenue is revenue- (new sales, service and warranty work).

We closed on our new boat earlier this week- last week I emailed my dealer rep and he called me within 2 minutes! Same as when we built the boat and finalized everything- they responded almost immediately...Why? Because they are a competent dealer.

Everyone keeps making excuses for crap dealers...

[MJHSupra]

might want to check on that. we have been told over and over that there is no freedom until the next model year is released in june/july then all bets are off. that is all dependent on the integrity of the dealer you are calling tho... our boat came from 1500 miles away and salesman had to go check with boss before they would authorize the sale to confirm we were actually "x" miles away from nearest dealer to confirm we didn't have a "local".

Correct. I thought if the dealer has a boat in stock, they can work with another dealer to transfer that boat to be sold out of the new dealer. Since the new dealer would be responsible for the warranty work.

I'm betting this happened more when boat dealers had boats in stock at the end of the year (end of summer months around the time of new model release) and the original dealer did not want to risk holding that boat all winter.

I would assume both dealers would want to make something on the deal, but maybe the original dealer just wants to cover costs and move the boat off the lot.

[sandm]

Our 2012 was transferred in and dealer that had boat stated they could not sell to us until end of july due to agreements. It had to be a dealer transfer. Once 2013s shipped end of july and 12s are "1 model year old" then alls fair game. Tige, skiers and mb all told us same story in 12 and 20 when we shopped new. Supreme in 20 didnt care.

We did have to pay a grand in "transfer fees" to the dealer that had the boat but our dealer ate half and since we had a trade it all worked out but sure there are some that have good relationships with others and transfer regularly.

[larry_arizona]

All great points...I reached out on Monday with the sales person via text and he confirmed that they received my build from Moomba, he also said he was going to let the bossman know so he could work up numbers. Our lakehouse is actually closer to another dealer but the wrong direction so we thought the dealer closer to home might be easier for service. They mentioned that they have an April build slot for another boat that can be changed to a Kaiyen for a May-ish delivery. (True?)

Another thought is that they will not negotiate at all off the MSRP and if we keep getting stalled there will be no options left from other dealer/boats. I get the who will get service first argument but it's not worth it to me overpaying by 10K... I will follow up again today but it just feels wrong when your dropping over a 100K.

I understand there is a certain level of customer service expected when dropping $100k on a boat, but $100k isn’t what it used to be.

Not shocked dealers are stuck at MSRP pricing, just keep in mind the pandemic has driven boat sales up 355%.

This is not a buyers market.


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[brad460]

As a matter of principle I rather wait to buy a boat then pay MSRP..(guess I am too stubborn and this market won’t last much longer). We got a very good deal on our 21 Moomba...in fact I’ve yet to see a used ‘19 or ‘20 priced lower than what we paid by ordering new..

At a minimum perhaps they can waive the freight and setup..

[larry_arizona]

I would struggle pulling the trigger on a full MSRP boat only due to future resale.

The key to getting out of a boat is not overpaying for it.


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[sandm]

This is not a buyers market.

to a certain degree yes, but there are deals out there. just have to search.
we scored 28% off our boat in july last year at the height of the insanity(sure you're pretty close or over that as well) but it was 1500 miles away. closer dealer was only discounting 10-ish%.
I'm with both you and brad tho that paying msrp you'll be upside down for years and years.

[eder10986]

Likewise ^^^^

We shopped for well over 6 months. We found a Great boat for a decent price and negotiated the price down a bit as well. However, it was 1600 miles away in Texas.

Boat is a 17 SA 400

Dealer here has a 15 SC for more than what we purchased ours.

Definitely a tough market for buyers. But patient pays off.


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[Guppydriver]

I understand there is a certain level of customer service expected when dropping $100k on a boat, but $100k isn’t what it used to be.

Not shocked dealers are stuck at MSRP pricing, just keep in mind the pandemic has driven boat sales up 355%.

This is not a buyers market.


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The issue of course is that the boating market as well as the economy are both cyclical in nature. Those dealers who choose to squeeze every last egg out of the golden goose while simultaneously treating it like crap, will have a hard time when geese aren't as easy to come by.

Not offering a token discount in an effort to build a long term relationship on a product that families spend a lifetime of work to acquire is douchebaggery. There's an absolute crap load of margin built in to these boats without taking into account margin heavy dealer prep fees and doc fees. If only there was some sort of information super highway where people could openly chat about which dealers are interested in long term relationships and which aren't.