NE Boat Show

[Fishtales]

Went to the show last weekend. GW had a nice display, mostly DCs and CCs. Yamaha has a 3rd color - GW cream in addition to the grey and white. Didn't see the color until the show. Looked nice.

 

[igblack87]

I went too. They always have a nice display and have factory reps. Most of the other “well known” manufacturers don’t from what I have seen.

This show was terrible. Barely 2/3’s of the floor and about a month earlier than it has been the past couple of years.

Baert Marine sold to Port Harbor out of Maine. Nice people.

 

[Fishtales]

Yea, my dealer said last years sales were not good at all. This race to the top (expensive boats loaded up with all the goodies) has priced out the average person unfortunately. The boat manufacturers are chasing the older millionaire group. Maybe investigate offering two tier boats. One like they have now along with the some smaller entry level models without all the bells and whistles that are minimalistic to allow more buyers into the brand.

 

[family affair]

There once was a time when the targeted demographic for any company was the average middle class. Smart design and great engineering provided products to the masses at price points so low that it would seam impossible by today's standards. Thanks to a larger population of the upper middle class, lower upper class, and influential marketing, most companies have abandoned the idea of providing new products to the average person. Rather than thinking about what incredible product can we provide in volume at a low price, marketing asks the people with lots of disposable income "what are you willing to pay for X?" Perfect. We have exactly what you are looking for and we will laugh all the way to the bank after you coughed up the doe.
A 2 tiered approach would be great, but why bother when you can get rich for less effort by only catering to the "high-end?"
I'm rambling.
Where's my Yeti mug?

 

[SkunkBoat]

When there was the ability to borrow money for "free" or nearly free it made people willing to pay up.
The margins on high end and "loaded" boats (and SUVs and trucks) are huge. It didn't make sense to waste production space & capital on "cheap" models at no profit. (Thats why Ford doesn't sell cars anymore, except Mustangs)
But Home Equity interest rates jumped from 0.9% to 7%+. They were artificially too low for way too long.
A lot of used boats are going to come on the market from people who can't make payments. The glory days are over for a while.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I personally have never seen the point of buying something brand new, other than it being a vanity purchase and the fact that you can say "I bought x brand new off the lot." That's never made any sense to me in that buying a brand new car, truck, boat or whatever is always going to be full bore retail price and then likely more on top of that. Things like dealer fees and so forth on top of tax, licensing and so forth automatically turn me off, as well as the fact that in the next year or two the price is going to tank. Which is exactly why I buy used, like when I bought my boat, and figure I'll let the other guy spend $100k on something. Then I'll come along and buy it for $26.5k with a $300 a month boat payment that is easily doable.

 

[Fishtales]

I agree with folks for sure. American auto manufacturers are going to be in a world of hurt if the rules change for non-commerical truck sales. They have painted themselves into a corner ditching cars if the game changes. Buying a late model boat is likely the best move, taking some of the pain out of the initial steep depreciation curve. Still a $400K boat for $300 still is a lot of jing for most people.

 

[sturgstev]

Was was a part owner of a 20' boat - Cobia in the late 1960's that cost $ 1,500 - then in 1986 bought a "NEW" - Glastron v-216 for about $18,000 - after using that boat until 2014 realized it made no sense for an upgrade to a Grady White to buy new - was able to purchase a 2004 228 and have no regrets and after about ten years of ownership.

Now that the 228 is twenty years old it runs great and realize the a new one would have cost about four to five times in price.

No regrets.

ps - have not purchased a automobile new since 1982 and would never buy new again - my current cars and truck are all used vehicles ranging between forty and twenty years old.

Living in California boats and vehicles will last a very long time if maintained properly (no salt on the roads) but never the less keep seeing new cars on the road constantly that cost so much.

I know why but some have different priorities.

steve

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I found this website on Google awhile back and while unfortunately it doesn't go back to the year of my boat, which is a 2004, it does go back to 2011 to give the original manufacturers cost for my boat. For essentially the same boat as mine but built in 2011, it would've been just over $100k to purchase, and I'm guessing that would've been similar to what it would've cost in 2004, or pretty close. I couldn't imagine spending $100k on the same boat that I purchased a couple years ago for $26.5k. That's the biggest reason why I never buy brand new, and that's because of the depreciation value of around $75k in just a little bit over 15 years.

https://seedealercost.com/marine/browse/product/grady-white-boats-228-seafarer-2011-7251

 

[NHAngler]

Unfortunately, during the pandemic, short supply drove up prices of new and used into scary levels. new boats exceeded double their price in a 2-3 year span. Used boat are also holding some ground but overall prices have softened a bit. However, new boats seem to be riding out that last wave of money. The true signs of change will be when the repo markets increase inventories.

 

[billyttpd]

There once was a time when the targeted demographic for any company was the average middle class. Smart design and great engineering provided products to the masses at price points so low that it would seam impossible by today's standards. Thanks to a larger population of the upper middle class, lower upper class, and influential marketing, most companies have abandoned the idea of providing new products to the average person. Rather than thinking about what incredible product can we provide in volume at a low price, marketing asks the people with lots of disposable income "what are you willing to pay for X?" Perfect. We have exactly what you are looking for and we will laugh all the way to the bank after you coughed up the doe.
A 2 tiered approach would be great, but why bother when you can get rich for less effort by only catering to the "high-end?"
I'm rambling.
Where's my Yeti mug?

Yeti??? I know its winter but where have you been, Stanley is all the rage now LOL

 

[family affair]

Yeti??? I know its winter but where have you been, Stanley is all the rage now LOL

I'm still making payments on my Yetis.

 

[NHAngler]

I missed the show. I have only been to a few but really wanted to go this year as I may be in the market and still not 100% sure what I want.

Regarding boat prices, I was ready to upgrade around 2019/2020 and was going to add a small boat to my fleet. I was not willing to wait in those long lines or pay crazy money so that upgrade still has still not happened yet. However, I did pick up a like-new 16' aluminum boat in October and am now considering selling my GW to upgrade my CC to something larger within the next year or two. Love the 230 and 257 but thinking they are out of my tow range for my comfort. That brings me down to the 222 or 209 but would want as late a model as possible. The 216 and 236 models just don't appeal to me with those integrated swim platforms. Also exploring other brands but after having a Grady, I am not sure I would be happy with most of the mid-tier boats for only a small reduction in price. Even the aluminum boats doubled in price over a 2-3 year period.

Boat prices are still pretty inflated. I think it may be changing a bit. My only hope is to find a reasonably priced used boat in the next year or two.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I've been to the Seattle boat show several times over the years, though the last one I went to was back in probably 2019 or so. I "enjoy" going for the most part to see the boats and what new products manufacturers have come out with, people watch, etc. That being said... the last time I was there, the prices were all full bore retail and there really weren't any great deals or incentives for buying anything at the show. In fact, I'd say at least 50% of the time it was even cheaper to buy the items online from other vendors, especially if they didn't charge sales tax and/or shipping. A lot of the items at the boat show were as stated above full bore retail, then you had to pay tax on the items and oftentimes they weren't there or in stock, so you had to pay for the shipping as well. For higher dollar purchases, that made zero sense to me at all, though for less expensive things like tackle, gear or some of the other items, it wasn't as noticeable of a hit to the wallet. The one this year is coming up this weekend here in Seattle, if a few buddies want to go then I might join then. If not, it doesn't really make any sense to spend the money on gas, parking, admittance fee and everything else when I can't really think of anything that I desperately need. In terms of boat pricing, I remember 5-6 years ago before 2020 when I had a 21' Arima and one of those brand new started around $50-$55k. Now, they're up near the $100k, or even more.

 

[SkunkBoat]

$9 beers

 

[Mustang65fbk]

$9 beers

40 Year Old Virgin movie quote?

 

[Fishtales]

free squirrel water skiing though...

 

[igblack87]

I met with and talked to a vendor - Carym (Marine fuel delivery, green trucks) that used to work at Skunkworks (yes the super top secrete SR-71 Skunkworks). He had a cool business model, delivers to marinas on the north shore and is looking to get into a "fuel boat" that can be leased out.

Carmyn

www.carmyn.com

 

[Fishtales]

Interesting model. Anything that drives more competition for the marine fuel industry is good with me.

 

[Legend]

I don't think I will ever rationalize a 2 million dollar Grady White - IfI was in a position to impress it would not be with a bow rider