Where to buy Used or inexpensive trailer for 2017 G23?

[mlsurfco]

Looking for a trailer for my 2017 G23. Never bought one from the dealer but their service has gone to shut so looking at different options. Won’t be trailering it more than 20 miles so doesn’t need to be something fancy. Just want it to fit and allow me to take to a different dealer to winterize, store, etc.

tia!

[bturner]

I've never understood the logic of not buying a trailer with a ski boat at the time of purchase although I've seen this marketing ploy from dealers pushed several times in the past. The logic goes that you will never need it if you rack the boat or a loaner will be provided if you need one from the selling dealer. Buying into this the purchaser gets the impression that they are somehow ahead of the game and the boat is more affordable.

This perception is lost however when the dealer goes under, changes hands or the owner decides to sell what is to most people a trailer boat (I will say a G23 challenges that perception) and there is no trailer. The issues you run into when you go to buy a trailer some 4 or 5 years later are....

• Any leverage you may have had getting the trailer discounted have mostly disappeared after the purchase of the boat is complete. A dealer is much more likely to deal on the trailer to get the boat moved off the lot.
• After purchase the dealer knows he is in the best position to sell that trailer to you (at full price) and there will be few options to get a trailer for a specific boat from another dealer.
• Most trailer manufactures sell through dealers only so getting a deal from a direct purchase is pretty much unheard of. I have seen the occasional mom and pop trailer shop and aluminum trailer places that will sell direct but these options can have their own challenges/issues.
• Unless you are extremely lucky and live by where the trailer is manufactured you will need to pay the full shipping on that single trailer. Most dealers will either pick up several trailers at a time themselves of have them shipped together which saves them/you money.
• Trailers like most anything else these days keep going up in price. That G23 trailer for your boat is probably at least a grand more than it was back in 2017 if not more.
• With the way things are today you'll be lucky to get a manufacture you even build you one yet this season.

So, enough of the rant and back to your question..... The way I see it since boat trailers are built for specific boats your best bet will be to start calling dealers to see if anyone has a leftover or returned trailer. The wild card here is that if it's a returned trailer there's probably a reason it was returned, like it didn't fit right or kept breaking. Another direction would be to look for an aluminum trailer. These tend to be cheaper but also tend to be much longer and don't have things like folding tongues. The last option would be to scour the internet looking for that magic deal on the exact trailer you need that someone is looking to sell and hope its cheap. It does happen but never for me. Resist the urge to buy something not made for the boat. Doing so rarely works out well in the end.

I know from personal experience that not having a trailer can reek havoc on resale. I've looked at several boats in the past that didn't have trailers (the one I currently have didn't) but with the exception of my current boat, which I purchased through a dealer, I have never been able to make the deal work due to the price of buying that new trailer. On this boat the dealer actually sold me the trailer at their cost and since the boat was in need of some serious love I was able to negotiate what I thought was a very good pre Covid deal on the boat. In this case it was the dealer that paid the cost for the boat not having a trailer from original purchase.

Best of luck with your search.

[NautiqueJeff]

Check it out. You may be in luck...

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1097...54646607981387

[BreezyE21]

Man I'm in the same boat. I bought my 2012 SANTE 230 and the salesman (as I'm signing the last page of the sales agreement) tells me "Oh sorry that boat doesn't come with the matching trailer it's sitting on.". I made do for ten years but I'd really like to find a trailer I can buy so when I need to service it and eventually sell it, things are much easier. Please tell me if any of you come across any good resources! Thanks