GW Dealer pricing mystery

[Z4J]

I am looking at a 2007 GRADY WHITE Marlin. The GW dealer selling the used trade-in boat tells me the original MSRP was $260,000. I looked at another 2007 Marlin with similar equipment and that GW dealer told me the MSRP was $219,000. I looked in the NADA book and they quote the original MSRP at $147,580.

Not that it matters very much but is there any actual MSRP or is it whatever each GW dealer says it is?? Certainly colors all the other statements the GW dealers make when they can’t even agree on the MSRP price of their new boats.

 

[ElyseM]

doesn't really matter. the important thing is what you are willing to pay for it. i would check out boat-trader for 2005 to 2007 marlins and get a feel for what the asking prices are. also check this site. remember that they are asking prices, you will need to convert to reality.

i'll take a guess that the dealer misspoke. that sounds high. ron

 

[gradyfish22]

From being in the marine industry, typically the builder has 2 price's, an msrp and a boat show price. The msrp is what the dealer sets forth as a suggested price, but the dealership can sell it for more or less, but their profit will be effected. Builders like their dealers to seel boats at their msrp but we all know that doesn't occur, there is supply and demand. Freight differs upon location, as well as the volume the dealer takes in. I believe top dealers get a different price then smaller dealerships since they move more product. The boat show price is what is to be allowed at boat shows, but often dealerships might be given the ability to go that low to make sales either with permission or when they really need to move boats, some builders do not like that and if it happens too much might not deal with them, other builders don't care as long as each dealership orders and pays for their set amount of boats they are required to take in a year. From what I've seen, most Grady dealers in an area are competitive with pricing, and all will go below msrp....nobody pays msrp for a boat, especialy right now with the economy. There is a decent mark up on boats and lots of room to negotiate. On left over's, you will get a better deal, dealerships typically take 6 month or 1 yr loans to buy the boat and hope to sell it before that time so they don;t pay huge interest, that is why you often see a particular boat offered for less then others, car dealers do this too...ever seen a car offered for thousands less and only 1 available at that price...that's why, they need to sell asap or they will start to lose money and either pay for it in full, pay lots of interest, or have to get more for it so they try to move it before the loan is up.

The difference in the msrp between the 2 boats might be the list of options, electronics, Outrigger's gen and other options make a huge difference, as well as popularity of a model More popular models will not come down as much, being that the sailfish is discontinued and many would rather have it over a chesapeake, they might not go as low since they have you stuck if you want one.

 

[Z4J]

thanks

thanks gradyfish, I didn't know there was that much latitude, I guess I was thinking the new car models with published list prices.

 

[megabytes]

There is no way a 2007 EVER had an MSRP of 260K unless the dealer added 25K of dealer prep. My 2004 is loaded and had an MSRP of under 200K.

 

[gradyfish22]

I'm not sure how much latitude Grady allows, each builder allows their own amount of leverage over sale prices, and each brand has their own regional reps, I know some Reps offer different deals at different times, and some are willing to allow lower prices then others to keep a strong hold in the market place, even if it means making a few dollars less. I know the NE rep had an issue with one dealer who was ready to buy another out in my area, they had a check for over $1,000,000 ready to stock boats and the NE rep at the time would not allow it since they sold another boat brand. They even offered to buy another yard and sell the 2 brands at different yards and the rep refused. The dealer this yard was going to buy out is one of the worst Grady dealer's I know, they really are crooks, and this was a horrible decison. It also kept a great dealership, the only good Yamaha service center in the area from selling their boats, they missed out on a lot of sales here and a top notch dealership. I know that rep is gone, maybe when things change that dealership will get their chance at selling Grady's.

 

[capt chris]

There is a published list from Grady White of MSRP prices on the boat and all the accessories that are factory installed. I found that out last year when I was pricing my Tournament 225. Ask your dealer to show it to you. Grady does set model year prices in the summer and then usually raises them again after the first of the year so expect some difference depending on when the boat was sold to the dealer. Grady White sells their boats to all their dealers at the same dealer cost for the same model. There are no volume discounts based on the number of boats the dealer orders or sells. Every dealer pays the same price for the same boat. The freight charge for shipping to the dealer does vary based on the actual distance from Greenville so you will see variations in that regard from dealer to dealer. I'm sure if you called Grady White customer service they could give you the MSRP of any boat you were interested in. I have always found them very helpful. Hope this helps.

 

[megabytes]

>>> Grady White sells their boats to all their dealers at the same dealer cost for the same model. There are no volume discounts based on the number of boats the dealer orders or sells. Every dealer pays the same price for the same boat.

That is only partially correct. GW does offer a discount for early season orders which decreases during the year. I don't have the specific numbers but the discount is a % off the dealer costs rather than MSRP.
I have been told this is to encourage early orders and supply cashflow to ramp up the model year production. I have heard this number may be as high as 7% off the dealer invoice. I don't know if that is the max. It only applies to the boat and does not include accessories or engines IIRC.

 

[HDGWJOE]

Capt Chris is correct... I have also seen the published MSRP's... base boat msrp and itemized msrp's for each add-on or upgrade. Way back in the late 80's they use to put them out on the racks with the brochures.

As far as a 2007 hitting an MSRP of $260K (and by the way that doesn't include dealer prep) that is a far fetch unless they had some custom upgrades like Mega implied. I know my 2005 wasn't even close to that... I think tops was around $230-235K fully loaded... and I mean everything and that would have also included over $5K of dealer prep.
At the 2008 NY boat show I do think the Marlin msrp(loaded and w/genset) was pushing the $260K range with dealer prep included with the boat selling in the mid $230k's. At the 2009 boat show they couldn't give them away.

Bottom line is that boat is 2yrs old as soon as you sign the papers. The first 3 years of a Grady life are the worse years for depreciation... then it slowly starts to flatten out. So adjust your offer accordingly. Good luck.

 

[capt chris]

>>> Grady White sells their boats to all their dealers at the same dealer cost for the same model. There are no volume discounts based on the number of boats the dealer orders or sells. Every dealer pays the same price for the same boat.

That is only partially correct. GW does offer a discount for early season orders which decreases during the year. I don't have the specific numbers but the discount is a % off the dealer costs rather than MSRP.
I have been told this is to encourage early orders and supply cashflow to ramp up the model year production. I have heard this number may be as high as 7% off the dealer invoice. I don't know if that is the max. It only applies to the boat and does not include accessories or engines IIRC.

Megabytes is right when he says there are early season incentives. My point is that every dealer is treated the same on price on a given model if they order the boats at the same point in time. Big dealers do not get any better price than a small dealer at any given point in the model year. My boat was ordered by my dealer in July of '07 as an '08 model. It was approximately $1700 less than the same '08 model ordered later in the model year.

 

[gradyfish22]

Yup early season incentives sounds right. ever notice that dealerships buy boats just after the new year, it isn;t just to stock up for the season, but to stock boats for less. There is very little stocking of boats as the season progresses, just typically left over's that have not sold from stock or special orders.

 

[HDGWJOE]

>>> Grady White sells their boats to all their dealers at the same dealer cost for the same model. There are no volume discounts based on the number of boats the dealer orders or sells. Every dealer pays the same price for the same boat.

That is only partially correct. GW does offer a discount for early season orders which decreases during the year. I don't have the specific numbers but the discount is a % off the dealer costs rather than MSRP.
I have been told this is to encourage early orders and supply cashflow to ramp up the model year production. I have heard this number may be as high as 7% off the dealer invoice. I don't know if that is the max. It only applies to the boat and does not include accessories or engines IIRC.

Megabytes is right when he says there are early season incentives. My point is that every dealer is treated the same on price on a given model if they order the boats at the same point in time. Big dealers do not get any better price than a small dealer at any given point in the model year. My boat was ordered by my dealer in July of '07 as an '08 model. It was approximately $1700 less than the same '08 model ordered later in the model year.

All of what you said is true from what I can tell. One other difference: dealer prep & delivery cost can vary and it can be significant... especially in certain geographical areas. I'm talking thousands... not tens of thousands.

 

[seasick]

Note that NADA doesn't include motors for outboard powered vessels. You have to price tham separately.

 

[megabytes]

IIRC my dealer prep was around $3500. The biggest variation in charge should be the shipping. Other variations are essentially ADP. They have been doing this for years in the auto industry. As others have said the ONLY price that matters is out the door. All the other aspects are dealer games.

FTR: The frieght on Megabytes was less then $1K since Greenville is fairly close. I would expect this to be much higher on a west coast boat.
One thing to watch is the safety package. I have seen this as high as $1K.
I had mine waived since I already had the gear. In most cases you are far better off to buy the gear from BW or WM. This is an area where dealers can made big margins much like accessories and extended warranties from electronic retailers.