Tweet
As many of you may have heard, I'm actively shopping for a new Nautique to replace my trusty 90. I search for nautiques on boattrader, PN, flipsell, Ski-it-again, iboats, etc, every day, as I have for years just as a time waster. I have also gotten several responses to my posts about WTB 97-99 SN. The point is, I have a good idea of what the boats are worth, from both a private and dealer perspective. I also consider CC to be a hobby of mine- I’ve always wanted one, and got the 90 simply because it was the most CC I could afford at the time (age 23). Now, 3 years later, we can afford quite a bit more boat. I know enough about the boats to tell you what year an SN is based on every subtle change year to year. I could tell a 97 from a 98,99, or a 90 from a 91, 92, 93 in about five seconds. I can do the same with Malibus and MC’s, but with less accuracy. I could rattle facts and figures off about these boats for hours and give even the most seasoned boat salesman a run for the money in ski boat knowledge. The point is, I love this stuff. I’m not some moron off the street looking to buy a boat to sit at Grandpas house and pull the kids on tubes.
I found a nice candidate boat with low hours at a Midwest dealership which will remain un-named. I’d gone back and fourth with the salesman on the phone about the boat, and he gave me the “lowest price” on the boat. Based on my knowledge, the price was still about a grand high, at least. I thought maybe in person (looking at the calendar also), with cash, we could meet in the middle at least. So we drove 5 hours to this dealership. The salesman wasn’t even there. Instead, I got who appeared to be the owner, noting by the shiny new BMW convertible sitting outside with the pompous vanity plate. He acted like a total pompous, stuck up, elitist (insert strong expletive here) right off the bat. He made it obvious we were really inconveniencing him to look at the boat as he grudgingly got up and showed us to the garage. He offered no chit chat or “welcome, thanks for coming” or any information on the boat. Simply led us to the warehouse, walked away. When I said I wanted to drive it because we were serious, he almost wouldn’t let us because he said it was “winterized”. We hadn’t even talked price and he was already very short with me and snooty as possible. Obviously it wasn’t winterized, but that’s beside the point. He dropped it in the water and sent a highschool tech-in-training out with us and again went to his office. The boat ran great and had no major problems. I’d give it a 9/10. However it had no options and had slight, minor imperfections which made me feel as if it wasn’t worth 100% of what he was asking and made me more comfortable offering less. I still had to put PP in the thing and pay tax. I sit down in the guys office, and again, the attitude. He looked up from whatever he was doing like I was absolute garbage and was a waste of his time. I say “hey, I’d like to make an offer on the boat”. He goes, “we don’t play games. We sell 400 boats a year. The price is the price and that’s it”. I’m like, “even paying cash, right here, on the spot, you will not even entertain an offer”. “No”. Not even a “sorry, thanks for coming, here’s my card”. Nothing. Short and bitter. So, I said fine. Walked away. In the car, absolutely shocked by this guy’s attitude and what an awful experience the whole thing was (keep in mind, we did not mention one number). Considering the drive, and that the boat had what we wanted, I decided to walk back in there and at least throw out a number. The number was 900.00 less than his “lowest”. He goes “no, the boat will sell in the spring for way more than I’m even asking now. There are 4 people in line to buy it, and we have more in the boat than that”. Then turns his back and walks away. Now, am I disappointed we didn’t get the boat? Maybe a tad. But this is a buyers market and there will always be more boats. For a grand more than he was asking, I could pick up an 00-03 with decent hours and PP. What disappointed me more is that I have never been treated so rudely in any retail situation I have ever been in. I’ve never felt more unwelcome and unneeded by any retail establishment. This guy, was, by far, the biggest A-hole I’ve ever met in any store. It’s not like I’m buying the 20 year old trade in on a rusty trailer- I’m about to put down enough cash to fill a decent size duffel bag with 20’s. My Malibu dealership has sales guys that will talk to me for an hour about boats knowing full well I cannot afford a new one. They are pleasant and welcoming. This has soured my whole CC experience considerably. In a few years ( don’t plan on making less money over the years) we will be looking at brand new boats, and guess what sales experience will stick out in my mind? I know I’m not in this guy’s “territory” but the whole brand looks bad when you are treated as garbage by a dealer like this. Thoughts?
I found a nice candidate boat with low hours at a Midwest dealership which will remain un-named. I’d gone back and fourth with the salesman on the phone about the boat, and he gave me the “lowest price” on the boat. Based on my knowledge, the price was still about a grand high, at least. I thought maybe in person (looking at the calendar also), with cash, we could meet in the middle at least. So we drove 5 hours to this dealership. The salesman wasn’t even there. Instead, I got who appeared to be the owner, noting by the shiny new BMW convertible sitting outside with the pompous vanity plate. He acted like a total pompous, stuck up, elitist (insert strong expletive here) right off the bat. He made it obvious we were really inconveniencing him to look at the boat as he grudgingly got up and showed us to the garage. He offered no chit chat or “welcome, thanks for coming” or any information on the boat. Simply led us to the warehouse, walked away. When I said I wanted to drive it because we were serious, he almost wouldn’t let us because he said it was “winterized”. We hadn’t even talked price and he was already very short with me and snooty as possible. Obviously it wasn’t winterized, but that’s beside the point. He dropped it in the water and sent a highschool tech-in-training out with us and again went to his office. The boat ran great and had no major problems. I’d give it a 9/10. However it had no options and had slight, minor imperfections which made me feel as if it wasn’t worth 100% of what he was asking and made me more comfortable offering less. I still had to put PP in the thing and pay tax. I sit down in the guys office, and again, the attitude. He looked up from whatever he was doing like I was absolute garbage and was a waste of his time. I say “hey, I’d like to make an offer on the boat”. He goes, “we don’t play games. We sell 400 boats a year. The price is the price and that’s it”. I’m like, “even paying cash, right here, on the spot, you will not even entertain an offer”. “No”. Not even a “sorry, thanks for coming, here’s my card”. Nothing. Short and bitter. So, I said fine. Walked away. In the car, absolutely shocked by this guy’s attitude and what an awful experience the whole thing was (keep in mind, we did not mention one number). Considering the drive, and that the boat had what we wanted, I decided to walk back in there and at least throw out a number. The number was 900.00 less than his “lowest”. He goes “no, the boat will sell in the spring for way more than I’m even asking now. There are 4 people in line to buy it, and we have more in the boat than that”. Then turns his back and walks away. Now, am I disappointed we didn’t get the boat? Maybe a tad. But this is a buyers market and there will always be more boats. For a grand more than he was asking, I could pick up an 00-03 with decent hours and PP. What disappointed me more is that I have never been treated so rudely in any retail situation I have ever been in. I’ve never felt more unwelcome and unneeded by any retail establishment. This guy, was, by far, the biggest A-hole I’ve ever met in any store. It’s not like I’m buying the 20 year old trade in on a rusty trailer- I’m about to put down enough cash to fill a decent size duffel bag with 20’s. My Malibu dealership has sales guys that will talk to me for an hour about boats knowing full well I cannot afford a new one. They are pleasant and welcoming. This has soured my whole CC experience considerably. In a few years ( don’t plan on making less money over the years) we will be looking at brand new boats, and guess what sales experience will stick out in my mind? I know I’m not in this guy’s “territory” but the whole brand looks bad when you are treated as garbage by a dealer like this. Thoughts?
Comment