taking advantage of the consumer....

[Nautiquehunter]

tdc_worm
It sounds like you are well connected congrats on your boat dealings.
Is the place you bought from very far from you?
If so where do you go for service?

[tdc_worm]

both dealerships in question are more than several states away from me. as for service---i perform my own services, it takes less time to do it on my own than to tow 25 miles to my dealership. oh yeah, i dont have to leave it there for a week, and it costs a helluva lot less to boot.

i am no more connect than you are. all of my connections were made over the internet---i simply contacted dealers whom had advertised their boats on the internet. i gave everyone an opportunity to compete for my business. those whom valued my business won it.

CCs model of assigning people to dealerships and masking the true value of the goods worked before the internet, but is now outdated. now if i want to know what a boat is truly worth, all i have to do is get on any one of several internet sites to determine what it is worth. when i see a delta of $20k between local quotes and other various parts of the country, that makes my decision making process much easier.

[Nautiquehunter]

My hats off to you.
Do you do your own warranty work and eat the parts cost or can you get the parts exchanged under warranty?

[gride300]

it sounds like socialism to me. you should be able to buy something where you want to buy it that being said, about a year or two ago my dad was out of town and was about to buy an aston martin and when he told them he didn't live there they said no. also, when i bought my nautique(used) i called secc and they referred me to this place in winter haven who sell suzukis cars and nautiques. no sir not in this lifetime. got from secc.

[Miljack]

TDC,
I agree with your position regarding the "franchisee" of the Correct Craft/Nautique brand in each geographic area. Unfortunately, the towsports market just isn't big enough usually to support two or three dealers in each territory. There are some territories where it would make sense, and I don't agree with CC stating that an out of region dealer can't sell to ANY(no matter their geographic location) customer. This practice will make an unexceptional dealer indifferent to building their business. I have seen this from CC dealers, even though CC tries to make sure their dealer network is solid. CC's position is they want the consumer SITTING or riding in one of their boats so that the dealer can close the deal. CC is afraid if they let the dealer network sell to whoever they want, the dealers would probably choose to inventory as few models as possible.

It's a catch 22, and a difficult position for both CC and the dealers given the current market. The good dealers will survive, and the mediocre ones will suffer.

my $0.02

[Shooter]

I also dislike Correct Craft's business model. I have trust issues and Nautique's business practice made it hard for me to trust my local dealer. I felt they were trying to hide something and screw me. It took a lot of work researching prices and it was a very awkward process. I now know my local dealer is a good business and was willing to give me a good price.

I agree that the internet has killed this way of doing business. Correct Craft should set a standard price for all dealerships or allow the posting of prices with a free market. Most people will buy from their local dealer anyway. Dealers that are way over priced or supply poor customer service will go under, allowing a good dealer to take their place.

[Nautiquehunter]

Astroglide You hit it on the head! I spent 1 1/2 years looking for a new boat and after traveling hundreds of miles and many test drives I ended up at my local dealer but now I know they are straight dealing. I wish this process
could be simplified.