Charge for in water demo???

[ffmedic74]

What do dealerships typically charge for an in water demo during the fall/winter months? A local dealer wanted 10% down (essentially a guaranteed sale) just to take the boat out on the water!!! I have never had a dealer want to charge me like this when I am cosidering laying out $50k plus. I told the dealer that I would figure out something else. His reply was OK! Hmmm I thought dealers WANTED to sell boats right now!?!?! If I were a boat dealer, I would be doing in water demo's anytime!

[sodbuster88]

RE: Charge for in water demo???

Was this a CC dealer? I've never heard of this...or experienced it.

[GoBig]

RE: Charge for in water demo???

I've heard of this happening quite a bit and I think dealers are in a bit of a quandary. Sure, they want to sell boats. But the reality is there are far fewer buyers who can qualify for financing on a $50-90K luxury item. There is also a cost associated with doing a demo and time invested. 3 years ago, they would demo for a jobless 18 y/o high school drop-out knowing they could sell them a new 230 team no problem. Now, you need to prove you can afford it before they'll take the sale seriously.

For comparison, my Realtor who is hurting financially, has stopped showing houses to anyone without a pre-qual letter from a lender. Sure, she's hurting to make a sale, but was also wasting a lot of time and money showing houses to people only to find that they could not secure financing.

But I agree with you, it sucks.

[kevfran99]

RE: Charge for in water demo???

they shouldn't charge you for it, but I certainly understand wanting to pre-qualify you first. Lots of time and money spent.

[WakeSlayer]

RE: Charge for in water demo???

Ridiculous. I would laugh in his face.

[Nautiquehunter]

RE: Charge for in water demo???

My wife is a Realtor and has always insisted on a prequalify letter before showing homes. It only takes 10 mins on the phone to get prequalified or know they cant buy now. There is no cost for this and it saves wasted time. As for the dealer I wound call the area rep and have him set up a demo at a different dealer.

[kevfran99]

RE: Charge for in water demo???

go to the dealer in sumerset KY. I bought my boat over the phone from them and they were fantastic! No issues what so ever. Well other than having to complain to get a full tank of gas at purchase on a 60K+ boat.

[gschmieler]

RE: Charge for in water demo???

As a former boat salesman, in water demos are fun and breaks up a normal day. They shouldn't charge at all. There are a lot of good/great deals out there so you can be selective in your choice of dealer. I purchased last january and visited 3 different dealers. It was time consuming but well worth the work.

[ffmedic74]

RE: Charge for in water demo???

I think the dealer in Somerset KY is no longer an Nautique dealer. I saw 3 of their nautiques in the midpart of the US and the boats were REPOS! The salesman didn't even ask me to prequalify or asked me if I had money in the bank. I even called back after I hung up the first time cause I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The saleman was nice enough to validate what he said a second time.

[TravisFling]

RE: Charge for in water demo???

That's very nice of him to take the time to validate his original point. (I'm joking there) but maybe they're having some type of liability issue taking the boats out, or maybe the salesmen got caught joyriding, or something. I would ask him if a prequal letter from a bank would suffice, instead, or at least ask them why they're doing that, so you can solve the issue.

[Nautiquehunter]

RE: Charge for in water demo???

Its certainly a lot tougher to sell boats without letting customers test drive them.
Pissing off the buyer doesn't sound like a long lasting business model. I bought my 08 210
from Dock Side Marine in IL. They bent over backwards to make my boat buying experience
a good one. Our relationship has been great ever since. Make sure you are comfortable with
your dealer you will be dealing with them long after the sale.

[gschmieler]

RE: Charge for in water demo???

I had personal bad luck with the dealer in somerset KY. I drove all the way from South Carolina to look at a new boat. The boat was lacking many of the extras listed on the internet. The biggest gaffe was listing the boat with a zero off gps. The salesman didn't even know this wasn't installed on the boat. I taught him about the boat that day. In others words, a wasted day due to the fact the boat was not what was shown on the internet sales page. Just a side note. the internet was not updated with the correct information even after the salesman was brought up to speed and that the salesman told his internet sales counterpart about the misinformation.

[kevfran99]

Re: RE: Charge for in water demo???

I had personal bad luck with the dealer in somerset KY. I drove all the way from South Carolina to look at a new boat. The boat was lacking many of the extras listed on the internet. The biggest gaffe was listing the boat with a zero off gps. The salesman didn't even know this wasn't installed on the boat. I taught him about the boat that day. In others words, a wasted day due to the fact the boat was not what was shown on the internet sales page. Just a side note. the internet was not updated with the correct information even after the salesman was brought up to speed and that the salesman told his internet sales counterpart about the misinformation.

That's why if your driving from far away always get them to fax you a copy of their invioce. It will show everything on the boat before you get there. My experience was pretty good. I will buy from my local from now on though. Forget driving 6 hours each way!~