How will gas prices affect the boat market??

[Miljack]

Just cause it's the shoulder season, what do you all think will happen to the boat market due to the (never ending) gas price increases? Not looking for "if you can't afford..." What I'm curious to hear from our group is what's the opinion on if this will chase boaters out of the sport?

[MN Ryan]

Gosh, I don't think it will, at least not serious boaters (which I'd consider all of us, here). Maybe some of those folks that made impulse, COVID boat purchases will get out. Personally, it sucks, but I have the boat, and my family loves it, so we're going to use it. Boating is a terrible financial investment. It's just life, and I'm gonna roll with it.

Talk to me again after I put 26 gallons in the truck and another 35 gallons in the boat--I may change my tune a little.

[nohlan_4]

I don't think it'll chase people out of the sport that are buying the types of boats this forum is geared towards. I think it might make people second guess priorities. But I'd say the runabout market might be harder hit then the wake boat market. Generally the income level of people buying 200k boats can sustain high gas prices I would think.


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[HollywoodBall]

COVID boaters will bounce in droves.


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[GMLIII]

Just cause it's the shoulder season, what do you all think will happen to the boat market due to the (never ending) gas price increases? Not looking for "if you can't afford..." What I'm curious to hear from our group is what's the opinion on if this will chase boaters out of the sport?

I think you are spot on. Between high gas prices and the negativity associated with wakesurfing which is increasing tremendously, I believe the used wakeboat market will increase over the next couple of years as folks want out. If the wakesurf restrictions have not hit your lake or body of water recently, they are coming your way.

[morfoot]

I think you may be surprised. Like Ryan stated... I think we'll see less surfers out there this summer. a 50 gal usage at $4.50 a gall is a $225 afternoon and that's probably a light usage day. I dunno I'm not a surfer. Have y'all looked at the used boat market lately? You can't find a Ski Nautique but there are pages and pages of Surf Barges. If you're in the market for a used G. There are plenty out there. With everything back to normal and folks are back to work and with little league BB in full swing, concerts and etc. I think all the Covidcations are null and void. The price of living day to day has increased so what some people set aside for gas money for the boat and a day on the lake is now paying for the extra costs at the grocery store. Should be interesting to see what happens.

[bturner]

Morfoot makes some very good points. I don't think anyone is running for the door yet but there is no shortage of G's on OnlyInboards. I went to the boat show last week and was talking to the dealer, he said sales have slowed and he still had a couple slots open for builds. That said he said sales were still stronger than pre pandemic levels. Of course that was right as the gas prices were starting to run up.

The statements above do make sense. As more people start living with Covid I think we'll see kids going back to their sport camps which will take a lot of people out of the boating market. That and the one (season) and done boaters that may have stuck around for another season due to covid may have had enough this year with the added costs associated with the rising cost of living which will be multiplied by the gas prices.

That little 200V of mine keeps looking better and better....

[mooneywa]

As alluded to earlier in this thread, I think you'll see almost a bell curve of where it affects people the most. The owners of the cheapest and most expensive boats will care the least whereas those who were stretching to pay for the $50k to $120k price point of their boat (new or used) will be the most likely to reduce their time underway for fuel.

My buddy sold his 2012ish Tige for $55k (a price that meant he used that boat entirely free for two years) and the buyer's first question when picking up the boat after already plunking down the money a couple months before was "errrr, how's it on fuel?" I'd imagine someone with an '87 Ski Nautique or a 2022 Paragon doesn't care about a fill-up.

[bturner]

Agreed. Mine's paid for so I have insurance and gas which makes gas not a big factor for me, especially with the size type of boat I have. I feel for people who put 10 - 20% down for lord knows how many years and are going to be facing these unexpected expenses. Then add to that a market that is probably going to be shrinking if not this year most likely next.

I bought my previous boat in 2008 at the height of the market crash. I bought the boat a year old with ~20 hours on it cash for what the PO owed on it and apparently he put 25% down. He was happy to get out of it and I was happy to have it for what I considered a steal at the time. I sold it 2 years ago for $2K more than I paid for it.

[SilentSeven]

Fuel is not a big factor when skiing so I'd don't anticipate any real impact. Maybe I'll be a bit more careful shopping and say few special french %&$%# words when I whip out the credit card at the pump.

I feel for the surf barge folks however. There is nothing about that sport that strikes me as fuel friendly.

I do agree that the 'bought it on an impluse' surf crew may be more inclined to punch out depressing that market some amount.

[hal2814]

I’ve been following Correct Craft since the mid 90s. There’s always people waiting for a catastrophic drop. It never happens. Doesn’t matter if it’s high gas prices, increasing boat prices, inflation, economic recession, etc… Nautiques will continue to sell for more and more money and people will continue to use them despite all reasons. I can’t really speak for the lower end of watersports. I don’t have the mindset for it. At worst case, used Nautiques will go back to their pre-COVID depreciation trajectory and new boats might go back to being available in the same year you order one. And the number of Nautiques on the water will be the same as last year. You just might not be fighting as many Bayliners and Sea-Doos for water space.

[bturner]

I would agree with the above to a degree but there are always deals out there during these ups and downs. I've purchased my first "nearly new" boat this way and several flip boats over the years like this. One thing that is different or at least puts a bit of a twist on this latest version of the cycle is the type of person that is buying these surf ships. 80a/90s it was mostly diehard skiers. Boats were much cheaper even adjusting for inflation. During the 2007/2008 crash we were dealing with wakeboard boats that were a bit pricier but still not nuts and again a lot of people that had them were the diehard wakeboarders many of which would have been the skiers back in the 80s/90s. Now we're dealing with glamor pontoon crowd, mommy, daddy, Buffy and Jody type crew in boats that cost as much as a middle class house. I don't see these as a diehard group of core riders. Well healed to say the least but with travel and travel whatever sports opening back up IDK if this group will stick, sell or just ignore their boats.

[mooneywa]

I work in an industry that is driven by both leisure and business travel and both are up significantly, but leisure travel is WAY up and that typically hasn't been the bread and butter of our company.

Just the same, our neighbors' lakehouse that they rent out is booked all but two weekends this summer too.

[Nautiquehunter]

We were at Holiday marina yesterday gas is going for 6.39 per gal.

[Gwozhog]

I would agree with the above to a degree but there are always deals out there during these ups and downs. I've purchased my first "nearly new" boat this way and several flip boats over the years like this. One thing that is different or at least puts a bit of a twist on this latest version of the cycle is the type of person that is buying these surf ships. 80a/90s it was mostly diehard skiers. Boats were much cheaper even adjusting for inflation. During the 2007/2008 crash we were dealing with wakeboard boats that were a bit pricier but still not nuts and again a lot of people that had them were the diehard wakeboarders many of which would have been the skiers back in the 80s/90s. Now we're dealing with glamor pontoon crowd, mommy, daddy, Buffy and Jody type crew in boats that cost as much as a middle class house. I don't see these as a diehard group of core riders. Well healed to say the least but with travel and travel whatever sports opening back up IDK if this group will stick, sell or just ignore their boats.

I have always felt if your not a diehard skier or wakeboarder who owns a boat and only surf you will not be a boat owner for long. High fuel costs will speed up the process