Interested in your thoughts regarding boat acquisition issue

[vanhanbr]

You're getting ready to buy a 100k boat. If your local dealer isn't making you happy, keep looking. New boat margins are 25%, think about how much money they are going to make off you. If you don't like how you're being treated...keep looking. You are buying a new/practically new nautique, what is going to break on it? Warranty will be covered on way or another. But this is busy time of year, dealers might be overwhelmed right now, you might be better off looking at older models without all that territory bs. Or look for a preowned 2016. Don't let dealer bully you around, find someone that wants your business.

[swatguy]

From reading your comments your dealer is full of crap. While different dealers prefer different margins 20% in the norm. Right now they're doing everything in their power not to make you their customer and give you every excuse to not buy a boat from them. Personally I'd be heading to the MC or Supra dealer and after they hook you up with solid deal drive back to them with the boat in tow and give them the the special number 1

[Tallredrider]

I agree with Swatguy...It looks like they have been so successful that they only want easy business. It also appears the other dealers are afraid to cross your dealer, but yet he isn't afraid to cross them. Sounds like a bully to me. Their 15%, take it or leave it attitude has worked for them, so they keep doing it. You trying to save a few bucks for a 16 is just too much work for them. Supra and MC both make a great boat too, and deserve a test drive.

They will never treat you better than when you are shopping for a new boat. If this is the best they have...

[natelew]

I've looked at both Supra and extensively at MC, Nautique is preferred by us but your right there are many good boats out there. Our discussions with the dealer have always been good and what financial discussions we've had to date we had not pushed and neither did they, always seemed matter of fact. On many levels I appreciated that. There is always some posturing as part of the sales process for bigger ticket items. I was just surprised that a couple of these other dealers expressed their concern about an out of region sale. I want to be clear that none said that your local dealer is a problem that we've had to deal with. They instead explained about clawbacks that had happened to them that sounded similar to what markj posted when selling the previous years models and said they were concerned about that happening. One wanted something similar to an affidavit stating that I wouldn't buy from my regional dealer to give them justification. This was something I was not that interested in doing because that wasn't the reason I reached out in the first place, but instead due to the unavailability of the product.

I appreciate everyone that responded and I think the thread has served the purpose in my mind. It sounds like there are some dealers out there who are more territorial than others and possibly look to have their region enforced. I have no reason to necessarily believe that the local one here is territorial.

I appreciate that the responses were neutral as it relates to calling out particular dealers as that was not the intended purpose.

My wife and I decided that we'd like to work with the local dealer on a couple of avenues and will be working with them about those and we'll see where things go from there. Hopefully one of those work out and we can be proud owners of such a great product.

We now return to our regularly scheduled boating off-season

[Wayward]

From reading your comments your dealer is full of crap. While different dealers prefer different margins 20% in the norm. Right now they're doing everything in their power not to make you their customer and give you every excuse to not buy a boat from them. Personally I'd be heading to the MC or Supra dealer and after they hook you up with solid deal drive back to them with the boat in tow and give them the the special number 1

^ This.......

Lots of other great choices out there, and if this kind of BS prevents you from getting the Nautique that you want, I'd start talking with the Supra and MC dealers. If after talking with them, you get a more "warm and fuzzy" feeling about how they will work with you......... go with them. I'd imagine there are reasons you want to stick with the G, but having a dealer that will bend over backwards for you, instead of giving you a runaround to make everything work for themselves, is much more important....

The whole dealer territory thing, is complete BS. We all should be free to buy the boat we want, from whoever we want. I don't think a lot of these dealers realize that it would actually benefit them. They might have a customer buy elsewhere, because they found a boat in stock that they preffered........and on the other hand, they would probably have a customer out of area come in and buy a boat from them for the same reason.

Dropping the territory crap, would only have a downside for dealers that overmargin, or that don't have great customer service...... it would add an element of Darwinism to the Nautique dealer world, and this would definitely benefit the average customer as well.

[Sailfun]

Yes because we had been watching their inventory very closely after the boat show and were prepared to discuss further on a couple and saw the boats personally go out. As I now understand it, it clearly doesn't matter demo, promo, unless it is used (e.g. private ownership) it is covered by the moratorium. This year and last years are clearly covered.

Do you know for a fact that the dealer is not paying the local dealers a commission on the sales? Nautique is very strict on dealers poaching other territories. Dealers do reach agreements amongst themselves to move boats.

[DLafont]

This appears to me to be quite a weird situation. Territorial rights exist to protect the investments that the dealers make in developing their territories and support their owners. BUT, when dealing with non-current model year boats that are sitting on another dealers lot, then I have to take issue with the practice. As a customer, you should be able to get the boat you want, not the one the dealer wants you to buy. These bots, as much as we enjoy them, are not essential to anyone's life. They are toys for big boys. Therefore, you should get the toy you want. If the dealer is this hard to deal with (although you seem to have decent relationship with them) before purchase, I'd be worried how they'd be to deal with when a service issue pops up. In the end, it is your call to make on all fronts. Do not compromise on the boat you purchase, since you'd probably regret it down the road.

[swc5150]

We just bought our new boat from an out of territory dealer, but being a non-current, there was no stepping on toes. I went to our local dealer and told them about our purchase, and they're still happy as can be to service our boat. They're being just as nice as if we bought it from them in fact...which will not go un-noticed if we ever decide to buy another one.

[HVL2010]

There were certainly boat show monies to be applied...CC and my dealer both kicked in money. Someone isn't being honest as there are always deals to be made this time of year. Have to go with your gut. We have 2 dealers 2 hours apart. Both seem good. One is very prominent in the world of Nautiques for custom work. It would be great to deal with them, and they would, but on the condition that I bring the boat to them for all service. Thats tough to do. Best to cultivate a local relationship with a dealer that works to earn your business.

[Quinner]

As I read this the real question is has Nautique/Correct Craft changed their policy (or maybe it was always that way?) in that ALL stock or current and previous model year, being sold as new falls under the "territory" rules??

Also Sailfun made an excellent point if the "territory" issue is in play, out of territory deals are fine if both dealers agree to whatever terms are in place, so his local dealer may not have broken any rules if they in fact exist.

[nyryan2001]

Nate,

Now we'd be doing you a disservice if we didn't talk about the longer term effects here.

running out of territory to buy a Nautique ... or somehow forcing your dealer's hand into a deal WILL result in a "less than ideal" ownership situation with regards to service. You probrably have already marked yourself as a problem customer.

at some point you will need service... whether regular scheduled maintenance or warranty work, or maybe even the rare case of a full break down.. When you show up at your local dealer... you stand an excellent chance of being refused service, big time delayed service or damage to your boat--- I've had all 3.

[JD ski]

Money talks and bull **** walks. Period. Someone will sell you a 2016 for the right price. You may have to travel to obtain it then on the way home swing by your local dealer and show them the sale they missed. They will take you seriously next time.

[HVL2010]

And what happens when you require service with that JD Ski

[JD ski]

You take it right to your local dealer. If he chooses not to take care of your warranty work. You choose to directly contact the manufacturer. Usually issues with dealers get resolve at that point. If not that opens up all kinds of options, hopefully you never get there and the dealer realizes that the customer is always right or he may start loosing more customers. Word about bad customer service travels fast. As you can tell, I have no tolerance for cheezie manipulating boat or car sale people. I have contacted manufactures about dealers not wanting to deal with warranty work. Then the dealer contacted me and wanted to know how they could make things right. Then I became one of their best customers. Sometimes showing the dealer you are a serious customer takes more than showing them the size of your wallet.

[Quinner]

Certainly agree with JD on the service issue, so many scenarios can put you at a dealer you did not purchase from, out of town vacation, lake house vs full time house, move/transfer after sale, etc. I personally purchased a boat from the dealer near my lake house and had service done at the dealer near my full time residence without issue, have also priced out new boat purchases using my parents lake house dealer. I also feel if Corporate policy says the OP cannot buy a non current year new boat from any other dealer when his local has no stock is complete BS.
Natelew, hopefully everything works out and you can find and buy the boat you truly want, Good Luck!!