Boat companies lose when dealers won't take trades

[Disappointed]

I give up, I was all set to buy a new boat, but can't find a dealer who will take mine on trade. Mind you, my boat is three years old, but looks like new, yet not one dealer I contacted would take mine on trade. This is kind of mind boggling to me, I can't imagine taking my ford truck to the dealer to trade in on a new one, and having him say no thank you. Oh well, the boat manufacturers are the ones who are losing sales.

By the way, the reason I want to trade is that I can order a new boat, which probably won't come in until after the season opener, and keep my old one until I take delivery on the new one, thus I won't be without a boat when the season rolls around.

[FISH 24 7]

What kind of boat are you looking to get rid of in the deal?

If you can find a buyer and bring them to the dealer, you can bypass the tax on the value of your boat. If you post what you're looking to get rid of, you may be in a better position to deal on your new one.

Dealers want your trade in most cases, but if it's something unique, they'll have a hard time getting rid of it and will have to consider the carrying costs of the deal when pricing yours.

Post the make and model and maybe we can all help you out.

Mark Gilbertson
NPAA #556

[Smitty]

One note on bringing a private buyer to the dealer.. That is often tough to do as the buyer for your boat now has to pay sales tax if purchasing from a dealer where they wouldn't if buying it privately from the owner(at least in IA and MN).. I often wonder if that is why dealers aren't as enthusiastic about trade-in's or offer much lower than market value, as they are at a disadvantage from the start.

[JKJ]

I think you just answered your own question......

Why would a dealer want to take your used boat at the end of the prime boat selling season? So he can sit on it all year to sell it next spring?

Most of the dealers within an hours drive of the twin cities have many used boats sitting around from last year.

[GullGuide]

You'd be better off selling it to a private party in the first place. You'll get a better return, because as you well know, the dealer is going to give you far below what the boat is actually valued at. They do not want your used boat in the first place because the profit margin on selling a used boat vs a new one is miniscule. They want to sell as many new boats as possible, and by having good used boats on the lot does not help that. Post what you have for a boat, whats on it for a motor, what kind of trailer you have, what accesories will be included and maybe we could help you out with getting you a fair price and maybe even a buyer.
>"////=<

[Winnie T]

I agree with a lot of the posts, but can also see disappointed side of it. The dealers do seem to want all the upsides of selling you a boat, and none of the down side. You can't tell me they won't make money on a used boat. They give a guy bottom dollar for it, and charge the next guy a blue book price.

I also agree with disappointeds idea about ordering a new boat. If you were to order a new Ranger today, when do you think you would take delivery? I will guarentee you it will be about 12 weeks or more down the road. Now if you sell your boat, what are you going to do for a boat in the mean time. I guide and can't afford not to have a rig come fishing season. If you could trade in, and exchange boats when the new one is delivered, then you have solved the problem.

Just my opinions,

Take care, T