Have the price of new boats and motors gotten too high - in the similar fashion that real estate have gotten in the last few years.

As you look around the country - except for a few isolated areas - Many areas of the country are experiencing a real estate price reduction of 10-70%.

Have the prices of boats risen in the same unreasonable fashion as houses and need a similar readjustment>

How many years ago was it that a 150hp motor sold for 5K.
Now that 150hp motor sells for 10K.
Has there been so many changes to the motor that would justify the 100% increase in selling price.

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Boat dealers going bankrupt because they have no buyers -
What does that mean ?
No buyers mean that the objects being sold are not affordable to the potential buyers. The solution to the problem is to make the prices of the object more affordable by dropping the prices of the objects.

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Will boat and motor prices change in a downward direction any time soon?
Or, are the rig prices going to continue at their high price and potentially higher price?

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How much sense does it make to hook a $45K tuck to the front of a $50K boat, motor and trailer to go out and catch a few $5 fish???

How long ago was it when a fellow could go out with his $2K truck, hooked to his $1K boat motor and trailer and pick up gobs of the same fish using gasoline that was selling for 59cents a gallon.

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What does the future hold for fishing, power boat sales, free time, the economy, boat dealers, and the neighbor across the street???

Be safe and enjoy the fall.

REW

Have the price of new boats and motors gotten too high - in the similar fashion that real estate have gotten in the last few years.

As you look around the country - except for a few isolated areas - Many areas of the country are experiencing a real estate price reduction of 10-70%.

Have the prices of boats risen in the same unreasonable fashion as houses and need a similar readjustment>

How many years ago was it that a 150hp motor sold for 5K.
Now that 150hp motor sells for 10K.
Has there been so many changes to the motor that would justify the 100% increase in selling price.

------------
Boat dealers going bankrupt because they have no buyers -
What does that mean ?
No buyers mean that the objects being sold are not affordable to the potential buyers. The solution to the problem is to make the prices of the object more affordable by dropping the prices of the objects.

---------
Will boat and motor prices change in a downward direction any time soon?
Or, are the rig prices going to continue at their high price and potentially higher price?

------
How much sense does it make to hook a $45K tuck to the front of a $50K boat, motor and trailer to go out and catch a few $5 fish???

How long ago was it when a fellow could go out with his $2K truck, hooked to his $1K boat motor and trailer and pick up gobs of the same fish using gasoline that was selling for 59cents a gallon.

-----------------
What does the future hold for fishing, power boat sales, free time, the economy, boat dealers, and the neighbor across the street???

Be safe and enjoy the fall.

REW


RV and travel trailer prices are down about 20 - 25%. The bottom has dropped out of the truck market. I would expect to see boat prices drop especially on those boats with big motors. I would not want to guess how long this will last as the manufactures will drop their production to get supply and demand back in balance.

my opinion is that everything has risen in cost too high too fast and the american public is caught in a situation that is close to depression status. Food prices have also risen sharply. the majority of buisnesses are blaming rising fuel costs raising the cost of shipping and transportation.
Is this the case or is everyone just jumping on the band wagon to make higher profits ?

my opinion is that everything has risen in cost too high too fast and the american public is caught in a situation that is close to depression status. Food prices have also risen sharply. the majority of buisnesses are blaming rising fuel costs raising the cost of shipping and transportation.
Is this the case or is everyone just jumping on the band wagon to make higher profits ?

It is the case. I work for a major company that produces consumer food products. We have increased our prices somewhat in order to account for the increased price of the materials that go into our products. But you can only increase prices so much without turning away the consumer. So basically, there's a squeeze from both ends. As a result, we took an $8,000,000 loss this past fiscal quarter.

As far as boats are concerned, there are many great deals to be had in the used boat market. You'd be crazy to buy new right now.

The manufacturers have already responded with production cuts (ie Ranger been on a 3 day work week for some time). The dealers have/are taking the hit on unloading the '08s and older models from inventory. For '09, the surviving dealers are being extremely conservative in what they order. Only the big volume guys bringing in new stock.

Does this mean that price of new boats will fall? I don't think so. Materials prices have sky rocketed over the last few years. The boating industry is not the biggest consumer of any of these inputs, so they are simply price takers. In addition, lower production volume won't help reduce the cost per unit, it will only raise it as you can only cut fixed costs so much. Bottom line, if you really want a new boat, you will likely have to order it and be prepared to pay the asking price. There won't be tons of inventory sitting on dealer lots going forward.

I do agree that the late model used boat market still has a ways to go to price in the reality of the current economic conditions. Just look at the many high $ boats for sale on this very site with few SOLDS. Sure, in the past you could use a $45-$50k boat for 1 or 2 years and only take $5-$7k hit. Not anymore.

If you already committed to ordering an '09 and need to unload your old boat, it will be a painful experience. For those who do not need to sell their boat, but only interested in trading up if they get their price, my guess is many will just keep what they have. No point unloading a late model boat for a huge loss and still have to pay top dollar to order a new one.

As REW said, we don't need $50k boats to catch $5 fish. That was a luxury not a necessity. The boat manufacturers that think small will be the ones that come out ahead. There used to be a ton of nice walleye boats in the 16-18 foot range, but the last 5-10 years the market moved to 19-21 foot models with 200+ HP motors. High gas prices has already caused a shift to smaller vehicles. Smaller boats will give people more options to tow with and be much cheaper to run once you get to the lake. Remember, you will still catch the same fish and that's what fishing is all about anyway.