Slowing of wakeboat market?

[nyryan2001]

I’m reaching out to see if anyone else is seeing what I’m seeing. Possibly A slight cooling of the red Hot wakeboat market we’ve seen since 2011 timeframe. I think the current $165+ prices, and the beginning of saturating the market with tons of boats is slowing sales.

some brands are getting hammered worse than others: Axis, Malibu, Tige.

some models can't barely be given away. Everything Axis, Malibu MXZs. They sit for sale for ever right next to another 15-20 of the same model and same price.

certain brands Nautique and Centurion are still in very high demand. Certain models are still in very high demand: G23s, Ri237/257s, 25LsVs etc. they just seem to sit for sale longer.

go to Onlyinboards.com and look how many 2015-2018 used wakeboats are for sale. Your eyes will bleed Axis, MXZs, Tige and Mastercraft.

look at how many new 2018s of all brands remain unsold.

Im I’m the market to purchase my next boat, and I’m ready... but I’m not looking to take a $50k+ Bath in depreciation because i bought the wrong boat at the wrong time
in the wrong price bracket.

anyone have similar thoughts or observations?

[markj]

I totally agree. I’m always looking (mostly for fun), but if I were serious, I’d have a hard time buying anything new right now unless I had plenty of cash for a rainy day. There’s no telling what’s gonna happen with our economy until after January. That said, we are right now in the best time of the best month of the year to buy a wake boat.

[Wayward]

I breeze through boattrader frequently, and have for years. It has always seemed very common to see 50%+ of the inventory be leftovers this time of year. Late summer/fall is definitely slower for dealers. A lot of those 18s will move, once cabin fever sets in, and boat shows start up.

I have been curious about inventory levels since MC and Bu went public, and have checked them frequently over the last few years.
Malibu inventory, excluding axis boats) seems a little high right now, at almost 900 new boats for sale (they are usually around 700ish)
MasterCraft is at an average, or slightly lower level than normal inventory (700ish)
Nautique is sitting at its normal inventory level in the mid 500s

overall, there is no major discrepancy, or sign of a slowing market, when looking at average dealer inventory levels. Malibu might be stuffing inventory a little bit also.....

I put my used 18 XStar up for sale a couple weeks ago. I figured it would be Jan/feb before I started to get calls on it. It didn’t last a week....

To me, the market seems to be holding on just fine.

[wakerider107]

Local markets differ, as do brands, but the market nationwide is growing. Spending is up, finance rates are reasonable, and big banks like wells fargo are projecting strong sales on bigger ticket items like these boats, cruisers/sport boats, and luxury cars.

Not to bash Malibu/Axis or start a debate, but I get the sense people are starting to realize their quality control issues. I follow 3 high volume territories closely and Malibus market share % in all 3 has been slipping, but volume is still there. They have had to give boats away, which is a bummer for the dealerships, but corporate just wants to pump out boats. Unfortunately, MC isn't too far different regarding shoving boats down dealers throats.

Nautique is nearly maxed out on production and Supra has been maxed for a few years to the point some dealers had trouble stocking boats.

I know my comment regarding Malibu contradicts a growing market a bit, but the numbers show it is strong even if many of us here think a bubble is looming.

[Phil8uga]

I don’t think the market is slowing. I just think there is a large surplus of boats over 70K. With all the price increases there seems to be no or very slow depreciation.


Sent from my iPhone using PLT Nautique

[Luebowski]

I have been searching the used 23 foot market and there are currently 18 LSV's vs 4 230's in the West region ($40-$90K). It has me looking at Malibu more lately just out of the sheer volume they have for sale which provides more choices. I would rather get into a 230 when it is time to upgrade but the main question is whether I will be able to find one used + in a color I like. Does Malibu produce that many more boats per year over Nautique?

[kylant]

There is definitely a surplus of used and new left over Nautiques on the market. I had been searching for months for the exact (or nearly) boat I wanted. There were 0 from coast to coast. So I ordered one. I have no regrets. I don't plan on selling anytime soon. My first Nautique I owned for 18 years, LOL

[nyryan2001]

I appreciate the responses, just getting other perspectives.

maybe just certain niche segments are saturated.

The used Axis/MxZ/Tige market looks like a slaughter house for sellers.

[swc5150]

Not to bash Malibu/Axis or start a debate, but I get the sense people are starting to realize their quality control issues.

I think you may be on to something. Totally anecdotal, but my neighbor has an Axis, and he's been kicking himself for not just buying a Bu, MC or CC from the get go. Areas of the boat where they cut corners to reduce the cost became readily apparent after 2 years of use.

[seachicken27]

I will chime in as I have owned eight nautiques since 2011, and 6 other fishing boats in the same amount of time. I watch the market pretty carefully. I would have to agree with Ryan, but here is my main observation. The people that can afford these boats typically buy new or very close to new. If you can afford a 70-100k used boat, you probably can afford to get a 140 new one. So all of these boats that are 2-6 years old now are flooding the market because they are out of reach for a lot of people, yet the ones that can afford them want new and have traded in their old ones. The boats that are in good shape between 20-40k are getting very hard to find because people realize those are not depreciating anymore (think OG 210's). The same thing is happening in the offshore fishing boat world. These top tier manufacturers such as Yellowfin and Freeman have really long build times (1-3 years), but some of the used boats are starting to sit on the market a lot longer. It seems like there is a widening gap of who can afford them. You either go big and get new or you try and find a 10 year old used that someone has taken good care of. Either way you probably still suck at wakeboarding and wont catch anymore fish haha

[scottb7]

i have a couple friends with axis and had them a while...nothing changed after 2 years. you do get what you pay for. but the axis is fine. best biggest least finicky wake you can get for the money.

the market is plenty hot in my opinion. lake is over crowded cause too many people can afford boats these days. and of course despite what is sometimes posited, any big high end boat, including nautique is losing $8-10k per year first 3-5 years. this being true even if you get 20% off retail.

above post is pretty accurate once you get to $20k to $40k depreciation per year is way slower.

[Evening Shade]

Either way you probably still suck at wakeboarding and wont catch anymore fish haha

Lol! I resemble that remark. That’s why I bought a crossover boat...so I could be good at nothing! Wait, I’m good at working a lot to pay for an expensive boat.

[Tallredrider]

I think that total number of leftover inventory is probably not as telling as percentage of unsold units. I think it seems clear that new boat sales are on the rise, so it stands to reason that there might be more leftover new boats. I have also noted that dealers are pretty slow to clear out ads for boats that are actually already sold, so number of ads may not be accurate either. I guess they like to call so they can offer another boat in stock or to order new.

I have often wondered if what seachicken27 said is true. Once you can afford 90K on a boat, you can more easily become victim of budget creep and get a new one.

I live in a little bit of an out of the way smaller town in the west, but I had my boat as the lowest priced 2016 G23 on Onlyinboards for the entire month of November. I got very little action. It could be the time, or the location, but it still means something. Lowest price meaning listed at 110k. The only real interested seller says he decided to go new. That is my experience.

[seachicken27]

Not to mention that every year they come out with stuff we just CANT live without. First it was NSS. Pretty cool option. Now it’s LED cup holders, stern thrusters, and power folding towers haha.

[GMLIII]

Not to mention that every year they come out with stuff we just CANT live without. First it was NSS. Pretty cool option. Now it’s LED cup holders, stern thrusters, and power folding towers haha.

And strapless board racks. I was a victim. LOL