Financing older boats
 

I'm trying to get financed for a 2003 tracker boat, I've already tried with my personnel bank (wellsfargo) and they said they couldn't finance it because of age, I was wondering what options I have? Where can I get an older boat financed at? Thanks in advance.

[QUOTE=Bigmacnut;3438322]I'm trying to get financed for a 2003 tracker boat, I've already tried with my personnel bank (wellsfargo) and they said they couldn't finance it because of age, I was wondering what options I have? Where can I get an older boat financed at? Thanks in advance.[/QUOTE]


There are a few options out there but they get slim after 10 model years. Some of that depends on where you are because some lenders are regional. Let me know if we can help.
Thank you,
Ken

I filled out a loan app on your site, submitted it and then it had me verify my info and then click continue, then it returned me to a blank loan app page, will you guys contact me for my ss or did I mess up somewhere along the line?

You could get a "personal" or unsecured loan if you've got good credit history, etc.

What's a 12 year old Tracker going for now days? Model?

try your local credit union or a peer to peer loan

[QUOTE=Bigmacnut;3439306]I filled out a loan app on your site, submitted it and then it had me verify my info and then click continue, then it returned me to a blank loan app page, will you guys contact me for my ss or did I mess up somewhere along the line?[/QUOTE]


We did get apps last night and over the weekend. You could give us a call at the office to double check 517-543-6921.
Thank you,
Ken

Credit Unions are a little easier to get loans on things such as this. Doesn't mean you will get a loan on a 2003, but might.

[QUOTE=Bigmacnut;3438322]I'm trying to get financed for a 2003 tracker boat, I've already tried with my personnel bank (wellsfargo) and they said they couldn't finance it because of age, I was wondering what options I have? Where can I get an older boat financed at? Thanks in advance.[/QUOTE]


After ten years it does drop off a bit. We do have options with a couple lenders that offer more. It helps if the boat books good and you have better than average credit. The concern lenders have is that some people might walk away from a real old boat if the engine blows up rather than cover a real large repair bill. I know it sounds weird. Notice I did not say I agreed.
Let us know if we can help.
Thank you,
Ken
(517) 543-6921 - Office

I dealt with a similar issue last spring. After relocating from MN (where I had a dozen lakes within 10-15 minutes) to SD 2 years ago (where there is great fishing but a 2 hour drive is almost a given) and 2 little kids and all of their activities, we kept our eyes open for the "perfect" used boat, rather than going the new boat route.

I ended up stumbling upon a 2003 Crestliner Superhawk owned by an elderly couple. You could have put it on the showroom floor and I would have thought it was possibly a holdover it was that clean.

Needless to say, both my wife and I have extremely great credit, and qualifying for a loan wasn't the issue..but the age was.

We bank with a few different banks and each one weren't interested in giving us a loan due to the age....but if I found a few years newer regardless of shape (they would have financed one ran through a mill as long as it booked) they'd have jumped. You will find the rec vehicle interest rates of the Wells Fargo's and USBanks to make you sick. (I want to think with great credit one was at 10% and the other at 11%...and the other issue is they will go off book value) Plenty of local credit unions here and I gave a few a call with the idea of transferring some of our accounts. I received the same answer from all of them.....they all used NADA and all offered 80% value....interest rates were around the 5-7% I believe. A 2003 Crestliner with a Yamaha F115 and a galvanized roller trailer booked out on NADA around 5500-6000 leaving me with a borrowing base about 4500-4800.....

I ended up finding a regional bank that will issue a loan on more than just collateral...character of the customer as they put it.....after doing a background check for both my wife and I and looking at the boat details.....their only questions were "how much do you need"......and would you like to borrow extra for any electronics and upgrades. This same bank does quite a few loans on older "harleys", salvage title vehicles, and classic cars....(maybe check out who finances these locally where you are at)...Harleys, classics...etc all run into the same issue where book value vs "real world" value are in two completely different fields.

Ended up with a rate of 4% and I decided to stick the loan out for only 4 years.

My only advice (2 cents) is to check out plenty of options of financing.....which makes buying used almost the toughest part of the process. Sometimes dealers have options to finance on used boats. Maybe talk to a few dealers and find out who they finance used boats through. A new boat or a used boat from a dealer may not be ideal, however, the dealer has a lot of options/tricks available to them for financing them.

Good Luck!



Steve