On Feb 13, 11:06?am, "blentz" wrote:
Getting ready to purchase a brand spankin' new 34' crusier. $250K
+MSRP. What kind of discount should i be looking for off of MSRP in
order to get a "fair" deal. Not looking to break the bank or the
dealer, i need him to make $$ so that he can fix what ever breaks
under warranty!

thanks in advance,

Bob

First, make sure the $250k is really MSRP. Probably is, if you're
considering a new 34-footer, but there's no Monroney label on boats
like you'd see on a car, so the retail price may or may not have
anything to do with what the manufacturer "suggests" the dealer ask
for the boat.

Some boats have about a 25-30% gross margin at MSRP- but there may be
more margin than that at work in the boat you're considering. That
said, don't expect a 25-30% discount or anything even remotely close.
Flooring costs start chewing into that gross on the first day the boat
is in inventory, One can say "I don't want to pay for the dealer's
inventory finance charges!", but most people are glad to be able to
take delivery of the boat they want when they want it or to have an
actual boat to examine while shopping and so that normal business cost
is an expensive part of the overhead intended to be covered by the
gross margin. Volume in the boat business isn't anything at all like
the automobile business, and you won't walk away with a new boat "back
of invoice" in most normal situations. To remain in business and take
care of you after the sale, a dealer needs to make many thousands in
profits, not just a few hundred. If I were buying a new boat, I'd
offer about 75-80% of MSRP and then be prepared to come up in a few
small increments (very, very, slowly and never without a concession
from the seller).

They say a "good deal" is one where the buyer and the seller are
equally unhappy with the price. :-)

Where you can usually save a lot is on the "locally installed
options". Whew!
My favorite example is the "electronics package". It isn't unusual to
see a group of items that one could buy retail at Boaters World or
West Marine for maybe $5000 lumped together into an "electronics
package" that adds $20,000 to the asking price. There's probably a
day's wages for a rigger ($20-30/hour for a real pro), two days at the
most, reflected in that $15,000 markup.
Figure the dealer paid close to catalog retail for the electronics
(and he probably did), but don't be afraid to ask to see a big chunk
of the rest of the package price moved to your side of the ledger. :-)

Be tough, but be fair in negotiations. You don't want to make an enemy
of the guy who will be taking care of any "isms" that need to ironed
out of the new boat. You should expect and allow the dealer to make a
reasonable profit, and, in fact, unless he does you probably aren't
going to get together on a boat deal. No matter what you pay when you
buy and asset that will depreciate faster than ice on a sidewalk in
August it will be "too much", so it's just a matter of degree.

You can always go get more money, but you can never get any more time
than you've got coming to you. Life is short, enjoy your boat, make
your best deal, and then don't worry too much about the amount of
profit the dealer made or what somebody else "claims" to have paid for
the same boat.