I've never bought a boat before, but I hope to within the next few years. I have a few questions about buying boat brands with no local dealer. As far as I know, in St. Louis we only have two inboard dealers. One sells Mastercraft, and the other sells Malibu/Axis. Now if I don't want to do all my own maintenance and repairs, how much am I limited to buying just those three brands?
I assume, for example, that I could buy an 03 SAN and get it serviced at the Bu/Ax dealer. Is that correct? Would they possibly do a slightly or significantly worse job than if I bought an 03 VLX?
I also assume that if I rolled into the MC dealer with a brand new 2011 A20, they would tell me to GTFO. But what if I came in with a new F21 Tomcat? Would they be cool with that or no?
So to boil it down:
I'm trying to figure out if I'm limited or need to lean towards buying a brand sold by a local dealer.
Do dealers service brands they don't sell?
Do they do a better job servicing brands they sell than brands they don't sell?
Does it matter if the boat is new or used?
Does it matter if the boat is a brand sold buy a different local dealer (new or used)?
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