buying boats in 09

How many of you guys are really going to be buying a new boat in 09. I was just thinking about it because of how dealers are already starting to drop off the map right now. Theres a lot of dealers that might make it threw part of the winter but will probably have to bail out half way threw or at the end of this coming summer. Would you be pushed more toward a left over 07 or 08 just to get the discount or would you bundle up the extra cash to get all the new stuff on the 09's. I know that boat sales wont really pick up at all this summer. they'll start to pick up in 2010 but most dealers wont be able to make it that long. Also are you going to bother spending the extra cash this winter to go to the boat shows. I know that we're not having one in Fresno. I think that a lot of the boating industry part of the Pleasington, Ca show are probably goign to pull out because of the cost of it. They charge the boating side of it $7.50 a Square foot but the RV's only get charged $4.00 a square foot for booth space. Probably wont be much to look at there. Sorry for the long post i'm just bored at work hahaha.

In all honesty there is absolutely no reason to buy a brand new 09. The boat manufacturers pushed too many boats into dealerships and now there is a crazy surplus of new boats from 07 and 08. Anybody that would rather spend 10-15k for an 09 of the same boat is crazy or rich. Personally I haven't seen anything that special coming out in 09 to warrant spending that much more. Just my opinion though.

Also it is going to trickle down to the manufacturers. If they don't start laying people off and cutting overhead/costs they are going to be out of business. It sucks to have to lay people off but it is better than everybody losing their job when the manufacturer goes out of business.

(Message edited by polarbill on October 23, 2008)

The over stock on non-current inventory is a problem for us. Not a problem that we have to much but that the dealers in my town have too much left overs. We care Tige here as our wakeboat and only have a 08 20v and my 07 RZ2 which is up for sale now that my 09 is on order. Our compeditores have at least 15 non currents of their wakeboat lines. I guess the good thing that if the customers decide to buy one of their non-currents over our 09's(which we wont order many. 5 at max) is that the dealer will not be making any money on the sale. They'll probably be loosing money.

As for the manufactures they are going to have to start making cut backs. I know that tige has. they laid off some people and are going to be shutting down for the month of december. i had heard that malibu or mastercraft(don't remember which one) were going to be shutting down for 2 months. it could of just been bs.

There are a ton of non-current boats in Seattle. The Malibu dealer probably has 20-25 boats, the MAstercraft dealer probably has 15-20, the Supra/Moomba dealer has almost 40, the Tige dealer only has a few, The MB dealer probably has 5-10, The calabria dealer went out of business, the Supreme Dealer went out of business, the Centurion dealership went out of business and I am not sure what the Nautique dealer has left but they are pretty small so I would guess not many. The Seattle boat market is *****ed.

wow thats pretty bad. We have 24 boats in stock at our dealership. Thats spread out between 5 boat lines. A couple 07's but most are 08's. We knew that a big slow down was coming a couple years ago so we didn't stock up a lot. We're also real fortunate that we are free and clear from our buildings and lots. That helps a lot. The dealers that will make it will be the ones that don't have a big load or lease to pay. 2 dealers here in town just built new building last year after we had a huge amount of sales in 06. They both spent about 2 million on it all. I don't know how they're going to make it threw the next year and a half. They probably wont make it.

As a dealer, we cant afford to not go to the local boat show. we spend around 5k on floor space at our show. we are doin good if we make 2k at the show. but the leads that come off of the show are worth around 30. we will have people comin in all year long sayin "I saw this at the boat show, do you still have it"

Yeah, we are in a little bit of trouble but i dont think the industry is gonna come to a halt like yall guys are talkin about. even today i sold a 12k aluminum bass boat.

nick the industry is different all over the country. in cali its horrible. over here the cost of doing a boat show for a dealer is about 15 to 20 grand. with how bad it is over here its stupid to do a show.

I live in Seattle, where many of those closures have happened. From what I've heard... the good reputable dealerships seem to be doing fine... not great, but fine.

(Message edited by phenom_1819 on October 23, 2008)

the mom and pap typ of dealers seem to be doing fine. its the dealers that have multipul locations that are closing up. our dealership is doing fine. i'm not saying that sales are good because they aren't but we're not having to lay people off. we've been in business since 1939 so we have a huge customer base that comes back each year. i'd say that probably at least 30% of dealers wont make it.

I have a feeling the Nautique, Mastercraft, and Malibu dealers here might be the only ones to weather the storm. I have heard the supra/moomba dealer is hurting bad. Tige just switched from one dealer to another that sell Crownline and at the same time they moved into a building on the water with a dock to keep boats. Unless they have a big time financial backer I would say they are screwed. I just have a feeling the MB dealer isn't going to make it. No real reason just a feeling.

I agree with your last post Ryan. We have seen 3 large dealerships with multiple locations close. The Nautique dealer is very small and family owned. They have a very small location with very low overhead and have been in business for many years. Bakes, the Malibu dealer has been in business for 20 years or so and they only sell Malibu. The Mastercraft dealer is pretty new but in a smaller building with only a hand full of employees. They also have a wealthy backer I believe.

Brett, I know you're closer to the industry than I am. And with the exception of MB, I think you're probably right on... I couldn't see Mark pulling out of SWS. He sat on a few Toyota Epics for years just because he liked having them around -- when he did sell them, it was for top dollar. That leads me to believe that he runs a pretty efficient operation and probably doesn't carry much debt. Debt is what kills in times like these....

(Message edited by phenom_1819 on October 23, 2008)

I bought a 09 but just because that is all they would take a trade on. i really did want a leftover 08 but no dealers (except one who lowballed so low it was an insult) wanted to take a trade.

I am purchasing a new 08 - Right now the dealers are selling them at close to cost to keep from paying interest all winter. I don't think any dealer is ordering many (stock) 60k to 80k boats this year, and I don't expect them to give away the ones they get. I figure it would cost at least 6k to 8k more to get an 09 - and thats only if the dealers are desperate to sell a stock unit. I do hope the dealers are in a position to survive as I expect this down turn to run probably 1.5 to 2 yrs.

I would guess that there are some great deals in the northern half of the country right now , from private sellers on nearly new boats. I had my eye on one, but decided just to buckle down and enjoy what we've got.

I did say to my wife, that my money would have been better invested in a 1yr old boat than the stock market this summer. Problem is I would have to sell the old one!!!!

We are a small dealership in Utah and are doing okay, but not due to boat sales. We did great in Toys wakeboards, ropes, jackets, etc. We have about 10 Pontoons and around 4 fiberglass, that includes 1 Epic. The fiberglass market is almost dead, but Pontoons have done well. We are slammed in service, winterizing and shrink wraps are doing great. Ryan is right, the big boys are in trouble I think, the Malibu dealer just opened a second location due to Malibu pushing for it. He has a ton of boats left.

My local MC dealer is right next to the freeway, I see his inventory every few days. Yesterday I more boats than ever jammed into his space. Seems every square inch of space is occupied by a boat. In previous Octobers I would guess there were no more than 8-10 boats on his lot, I would guess 50 today.

Dealers get charged tax for every boat they have in stock as of 12/31. If you are looking for a screaming deal on a boat I would wait until the last week of December, that's when it will be most compelling for a dealer to move the boat.

As a side note, if my boat was in the local shops service bay, I would be nervous. I have heard horror stories of service boats getting tangled into bankrupt dealership inventories.

(Message edited by mikeski on October 25, 2008)

Mikeski- we don't get charged a fee at 12/31. every month that the boat is there the interest on the flooring bill goes up for that boat. so after a while you want to pay that boat off because if it sits there long enough you wont end up making much money when it does sell. my parents have money set aside just for that. when the boat has been at our dealership for too long we pay it off. the flooring bill is whats going to be killing the dealers that have a huge amount of inventory.

I know that Rocky over at Valley Marine is not going to be able to go to the show this year due to the increase in canned worm prices over the last 2 seasons. I hate 2 see it but someone has to cut back.

Bret, let the games begin...Rocky?

Mr. Master Srg. It was even funnier when I forwarded it to him. Just a poke at the good old days. Now we play for the same team. LOL and yes we will be at the show with the Srg. to help us out.

WOW, lookie lookie who comes out of the wood work to post up.. Well Master Srg, the price of worms was getting out of control, so i think it was best that the Big Guns are on the same team. I just don't think i will teach Wakeride26, the secret art of worm selling !! There are just some secrets I can't let out. =)

You guys are killing me! Just give me the dates and I'll be there...my schedule should be a lot better this year!

Rocky, how many cans of worms did you sell this year?