Car buying vs. Boat buying

[JimmyHoffa]

Two best days of a boat owners life: the day he buys it, and the day he sells it!

I was recently informed there is a third day.  The day the check clears.

[follow maggie]

I see a lot of guys writing that buying a used boat saves a ton of cash. I’ve been looking around and, at least for aluminum which is what I want, the truth is exactly 180 opposite. Boats n even just decent shape are advertised at just shy of a new one. I’d buy the new one to get the warranty and not have to fix whatever some ignorant hack did to it to make it “better”.

I was at the Sportsman’s show Friday and looked at the Smokercraft Sportsman, and it’s nice. Even the guy from Hewes Craft was commenting it’s a nice boat & well made. I thought it was an Alumaweld until he told me it’s a Smokercraft. Verles pricing was around $30k with 80-115 hp jet, I think.

[ASHQUACK]

I see a lot of guys writing that buying a used boat saves a ton of cash. I’ve been looking around and, at least for aluminum which is what I want, the truth is exactly 180 opposite. Boats n even just decent shape are advertised at just shy of a new one. I’d buy the new one to get the warranty and not have to fix whatever some ignorant hack did to it to make it “better”.

I was at the Sportsman’s show Friday and looked at the Smokercraft Sportsman, and it’s nice. Even the guy from Hewes Craft was commenting it’s a nice boat & well made. I thought it was an Alumaweld until he told me it’s a Smokercraft. Verles pricing was around $30k with 80-115 hp jet, I think.

Alumaweld has a hand in making those.

[hunthard]

I bought an Alumaweld from Verle's in 2006, had it up in Neah Bay, Sekiu, Puget sound and the Cowlitz and lots of lakes here in Washington, it's been great, no hull issues at all.

[Skyvalhunter]

open seat?

[Stein]

For about $30k you can get into an RH 180 Sea Hawk with curtains and bench seats if you are looking for something with more comfort both running and fishing unless you really want an open boat.

[Bofire]

Lots of guys I have known bought boats, I have never heard any of them say they wish they had bought a smaller motor, many say "I should have bought a %%%%% when I got it".
Have fun shopping and your new boat!
Carl

[eastsidemallard74]

Thanks again for all the good feedback. My dream would be to own a Alumaweld, the problem is the 50K sticker.  I am going to mainly use in the winter over on the east side for waterfowl hunting, so a lot of sand,shallow water running, and occasionally river running when the lakes get to frozen to maneuver. I looked at a Rh 20' which I'm leaning towards because the metal is very close to same guage as the Alumaweld, just 20k less, and thats set up the way I want, big motor,depth/gps system, lights, power supplies,extra battery.

[Wetwoodshunter]

If buying aluminum hull pay attention to thickness of hull..   .80 is a tracker , smoker craft ETC. you will want at least a .100 hull thickness 3/16 is even better.I have seen several tracker, smoker craft and also alumaweld and sea ark hulls crack after one season of use.Do some research on hull thickness and save yourself some grief.If you really want to save some money go back east have a custom built and go pick it up .Check out a company called Long Beach customs in mississippi .Or oquawka boats.These hulls are custom made and cost no more then a cookie cutter hull.And the are tanks.

For average use, the Alumawelds are fine.  I beat the crap out of mine in all kinds of weather on the Sound for about 8 years and had absolutely no hull/aluminum issues.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I swear I saw pictures of your boat sunk at the dock. What was the issue when it sunk? Where did the water get in from?

[lokidog]

Never did figure it out.  I think someone messed with it.  There was another boat that mysteriously "sank" in the marina not too long after. Nothing wrong with the hull though, pulled it out and no water going in or out.

[Pnwrider]

I recently went through this with a totally different style of boat. In fact my boat starts getting built next week! Used prices were close enough to new prices for the most part. The real deals all sold within hours of being posted. And with used, you can’t control options. Some are easy to add later, but some are impossible. Plus buying new you get a relationship started with the dealer. So when it’s the middle of summer, you get service right away should you need it. Meanwhile the guy that bought the used boat is waiting a few weeks for service. Especially if the boat was bought out of territory. Warranty claims can also be tougher in that situation too.

Edit: as far as pricing and negotiating goes, it varies widely by manufacturer and dealer network. Some boats have a lot of margin (room for negotiation) and some don’t. It can even vary customer to customer (based on dealer relationship). Unfortunately it’s less transparent than the car market and finding dealer invoice can be tough. I’ve looked at seedealercost.com and find it to be way off in some cases and fairly close in others.

[PolarBear]

Never did figure it out.  I think someone messed with it.  There was another boat that mysteriously "sank" in the marina not too long after. Nothing wrong with the hull though, pulled it out and no water going in or out.

Could it have been tied off too tight?  My old work Boak sank and flipped at the dock because one of my crew tied it too tight, not allowing the bow to rise with large waves, took one or more over the bow and swamped it.

[CAMPMEAT]

My fellow experts, mostly boat sellers, I sold cars for awhile, and it's a cut throat world. In relation to buying a boat, is it the same idea, "Room to wiggle/ negotiate". Also buying a boat at a show vs at the dealership. I know with cars they just have companies that come in and pressure sale. I'm looking for a boat, and going to the Spokane shows this weekend, just like some input. I'm looking for a modified ,around 20', want something about 100hp to 125 pump. I'm not much of a fisherman, but my kids are getting to that age to where they may want to. I like the smokercraft super pro i think its called. Anyways any help, suggestions, ideas, secrets to getting good deals on boats much appreciated.

My longtime friend works for HEWES in Colville. He knows this business pretty good. He said the absolute best place to buy a boat from is, ClarksAllSports in Colville. Gary, the owner doesn't pay shipping, because he picks the boats up himself.

[724wd]

a boat is just a hole in the water you throw money into 

and I wouldn't have it any other way!  LOVE boating!!!