I am currently in the market for a new sailboat, looking primarily at Beneteau's and Catalina's in the 38-42 foot range. In addition to the boat show "specials", I am trying to figure out if the dealers will negotiate the price. Most big ticket items are subject to some negotiation as to price. Will dealers commonly negotiate? What type of discount have people gotten: 1%, 5%, 10%? Any help would be appreciated.
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Joe Barrett
Yes!
Dealers certainly negotiate, some more than others. When I bought my new C320 I talked to two dealers for Catalinas. The first quoted me full price. the 2nd dealer had a leftover 2000 model that hadn't sold so in September 2001 I bought it for 15K less than what the other dealer wanted. You may want to look for a Dealer with an unsold model they are dying to get rid of.
Dealers certainly negotiate, some more than others. When I bought my new C320 I talked to two dealers for Catalinas. The first quoted me full price. the 2nd dealer had a leftover 2000 model that hadn't sold so in September 2001 I bought it for 15K less than what the other dealer wanted. You may want to look for a Dealer with an unsold model they are dying to get rid of.
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Les Murray
usually, not on price but on extras
Dealers don't have too much room to negotiate on price, with the wholesale price generally set by the factory. However, you can ge them to compensate on the add-ons, like radar, autopilot, sail instruments, etc. You might be able to save a couple of grand comparing between dealers, but probably not much more. Les Murray
Dealers don't have too much room to negotiate on price, with the wholesale price generally set by the factory. However, you can ge them to compensate on the add-ons, like radar, autopilot, sail instruments, etc. You might be able to save a couple of grand comparing between dealers, but probably not much more. Les Murray
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Jim
Competitive prices and labor
Tell them you are looking at the others and they can go to the manufacturer for some relief in the wholesale price. Another strategy is looking for services. Purchase the fans, CD/DVD Player, radar, etc., and have them install it for no additional cost. A lot of the time you can purchase the items YOU want for a very competitive price on the Internet and get the installation thrown in. Good Luck.
Tell them you are looking at the others and they can go to the manufacturer for some relief in the wholesale price. Another strategy is looking for services. Purchase the fans, CD/DVD Player, radar, etc., and have them install it for no additional cost. A lot of the time you can purchase the items YOU want for a very competitive price on the Internet and get the installation thrown in. Good Luck.
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Robert Taylor
i have a dealer invoice
kathy and i purchased a 2003 catalina 380 (hull 379) last january. the way i chose to purchase the boat was to take immediate possesion of the boat upon arrival. this means that when they took the boat off the truck, i had to write a check for the balance due. this saved the dealer about $1500 to $2000 which he passed on to me. this could be tricky, but i had bought 3 boats from them before and we had trust (he bought my last boat). here is the kicker, because i took immediate possesion of the boat before commisioning, i was able to board the boat immediately (i owned it from that point on). i was looking through the stuff and found the factory invoice. there are some expenses that weren't on the invoice, like the trucking expense and a few other things. i don't have it with me, but the mark up is in the range of 25% to 35%. i will look at the invoice tonight and repost the figures tomorrow. rtaylor
kathy and i purchased a 2003 catalina 380 (hull 379) last january. the way i chose to purchase the boat was to take immediate possesion of the boat upon arrival. this means that when they took the boat off the truck, i had to write a check for the balance due. this saved the dealer about $1500 to $2000 which he passed on to me. this could be tricky, but i had bought 3 boats from them before and we had trust (he bought my last boat). here is the kicker, because i took immediate possesion of the boat before commisioning, i was able to board the boat immediately (i owned it from that point on). i was looking through the stuff and found the factory invoice. there are some expenses that weren't on the invoice, like the trucking expense and a few other things. i don't have it with me, but the mark up is in the range of 25% to 35%. i will look at the invoice tonight and repost the figures tomorrow. rtaylor
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Patti
Just a question Robert
Robert, that sounds great. I just have one question. Is there something in the contract that if you find something defective in a certain time period that it would be replaced? For example, the stove did not light properly, or you seem to be missing a halyard?
Robert, that sounds great. I just have one question. Is there something in the contract that if you find something defective in a certain time period that it would be replaced? For example, the stove did not light properly, or you seem to be missing a halyard?
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Robert Taylor
robert's answer
regardless of when one takes possesion of the boat, it is still under warranty. catalina shipped the wrong halyards on my boat. the dealer did not want to replace them. they would slip even in light wind. i measured them at 5/16". the rope range on the spin lock was molded into the housing as 3/8 - 9/16. even when confronted them with this, the dealer said i needed to mark the halyards and photograph how much they slipped in a certain time. their point was that we had to hound catalina enough to make them replace them. my point was i wanted them replaced immediately. then the dealer could thrash it out with catalina. they refused. i decided to pay for it myself to get it done. luckily i was looking through the manual and found the specification for the halyards to be 1/2" low stretch (red, blue, green) when i showed this to the dealer he finally got catalina to send the correct halyards. my point to this is that it is almost always a hassle to deal with catalina and dealers to get things fixed. sometimes, it works out and sometimes you just get screwed. that is all part of buying a boat and should be expected to a degree. this is my 5th boat to purchase (3rd new one) i would like to think all dealers are fair. i know catalina isn't. i have had issues with them on my cat 36 that ended up costing $7000 out of my pocket to fix a poorly designed broken upper rudder bearing support (i am a mechanical engineer). i still think catalinas are great boats. check them out carefully upon arrival. now for the big fat chewy thing!! we paid $152,000 catalina charged the dealer $111938 dealer paid $4,968 freight dealer paid $2,448 for bottom job dealer total "hard" cost $119,354 $32,646 profit $32,646 on a cost to them of $111,938 represents a 27% profit. let me add this. the boat was ordered with nothing on it: no air no canvas no anchor ..... nothing it came with boat show specials of: $1,481 ultra-leather interior $1,409 ST60 wind speed direction indicator $979 cockpit ram mike $2772 flat screen tv / dvd player (installed) the charge for commisioning was $3,881 (i consider this to be soft money with the exeption of the charge for crane / boat lift to step mast and launch. (probably actually cost the dealer another $500 or so to the yard) the bottom line works out to 25% markup. rtaylor
regardless of when one takes possesion of the boat, it is still under warranty. catalina shipped the wrong halyards on my boat. the dealer did not want to replace them. they would slip even in light wind. i measured them at 5/16". the rope range on the spin lock was molded into the housing as 3/8 - 9/16. even when confronted them with this, the dealer said i needed to mark the halyards and photograph how much they slipped in a certain time. their point was that we had to hound catalina enough to make them replace them. my point was i wanted them replaced immediately. then the dealer could thrash it out with catalina. they refused. i decided to pay for it myself to get it done. luckily i was looking through the manual and found the specification for the halyards to be 1/2" low stretch (red, blue, green) when i showed this to the dealer he finally got catalina to send the correct halyards. my point to this is that it is almost always a hassle to deal with catalina and dealers to get things fixed. sometimes, it works out and sometimes you just get screwed. that is all part of buying a boat and should be expected to a degree. this is my 5th boat to purchase (3rd new one) i would like to think all dealers are fair. i know catalina isn't. i have had issues with them on my cat 36 that ended up costing $7000 out of my pocket to fix a poorly designed broken upper rudder bearing support (i am a mechanical engineer). i still think catalinas are great boats. check them out carefully upon arrival. now for the big fat chewy thing!! we paid $152,000 catalina charged the dealer $111938 dealer paid $4,968 freight dealer paid $2,448 for bottom job dealer total "hard" cost $119,354 $32,646 profit $32,646 on a cost to them of $111,938 represents a 27% profit. let me add this. the boat was ordered with nothing on it: no air no canvas no anchor ..... nothing it came with boat show specials of: $1,481 ultra-leather interior $1,409 ST60 wind speed direction indicator $979 cockpit ram mike $2772 flat screen tv / dvd player (installed) the charge for commisioning was $3,881 (i consider this to be soft money with the exeption of the charge for crane / boat lift to step mast and launch. (probably actually cost the dealer another $500 or so to the yard) the bottom line works out to 25% markup. rtaylor
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Steve
Thanks for the info
Thanks for the input. Seems to me there is a decent amount of room for the dealer to move if a deal is on the line. Gross profit of 25% is high, but given likely operating expenses and allowing for reasonable profit its probably not outrageous.
Thanks for the input. Seems to me there is a decent amount of room for the dealer to move if a deal is on the line. Gross profit of 25% is high, but given likely operating expenses and allowing for reasonable profit its probably not outrageous.
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