Erwin Marine Nashville to close service center

R

Rxflyer

New Member
Jul 25, 2009
190
White House, TN
Boat Info
Past boat: 2005 Sundancer 300 w/5.0L MPI Bravo II
Current boat: Carver 450 Voyager w/Cummins 450s
Engines
Cummins 450
Found out today that Erwin Marine will be closing their service center at the end of the month. Sad, because it's supposedly because of a lease extension issue. They have done my maintenance for the last 4 yrs, and I have found them to be reliable and trustworthy. Good techs, and the manager has been there a long time. They closed their sales dept a couple of years ago. Too bad that they have made the corporate decision to leave the Nashville market. They did a lot of work at my marina.
 
Wow! Too bad... They just helped me with the purchase of my 340... Did a compression check on the Horizons for me.... Nice people and thorough also...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
They've sold a lot of boats in our neck of the woods. Isn't their sales website still going? I thought I saw Nashville listings recently.
 
Great opportunity for the techs to start their own business. They already have a customer base. Nothing better then working for yourself.
 
With all the country music money in the Nashville areas + the proximity to 4 or 5 of some of the best inland boating lakes in country + the fact that the rivers in the area are navigable all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. You will never make me believe that the Nashville area cannot support a Sea Ray dealership.

Maybe it is time Sea Ray corporate began thinking outside its status quo/usual method of handling dealer franchises.
 
Isn't that part of a multiple dealership group (including Chattanooga and Knoxville[sorta])? What about those stores?
 
If I had a Sea Ray at my home in Tennessee, 50 miles from Nashville, I wouldn't care what Mr. Erwin did with his Chattanooga store. I wouldn't drive there for sales or service on a Sea Ray. As much as I value what Sea Ray stands for, I would shop for a different brand boat, one that I could get serviced without a 300 mile round trip drive.

I certainly hope Sea Ray will appoint another dealer in the area since I just can't believe they will abdicate the market that contains the 2 wealthiest counties in the state, the most populous area of the state and one of the best inland boating locations in the country.

Sea Ray is complaining about not selling but X,XXX boats last year........maybe the reason is more about dealers, dealer effort, dealer commitment and marketing than it is about customers and demand.
 
You are spot on Frank. 5 years ago MM closed their store on Lake Allatoona in Georgia and promised all Sea Ray Owners there that they would support us from their Lake Lanier Stores - it never happened - unless you cared to pay a $300 trip charge for a mechanic to come over without the proper tools. I will never buy a boat from MM again for that reason.
 
I bought my boat from the Erwin store in Chattanooga. I have also had some, albeit minor, dealings with my local Erwin store in Guntersville. With my very limited experience combined with all I have seen, heard and read, it seems to me that the dealership(s) are one of the weak links in the chain. This is sad because in this day and age of the boating industry, it's the dealership that needs to be the strongest link. The dealership is the first and sometimes only point of contact that the consumer has. Break this link and you run the risk of becoming disconnected from the end consumer, the guy writing the checks. Not the best position to be in if ya ask me.
 
All,
First, thank you for your loyalty to Sea Ray. We definitely understand how critical it is to have local Sea Ray representation. We agree with several of you that Nashville is a great boating town. The trick for us -- and for most of our competitors -- is that historically the greater Nashville market skews much more toward pontoon, bass boat and tow boat sales than most comparable markets. It's a tougher town for the recreational brands like Sea Ray. That said, Sea Ray has a great partner in Nashville in Aqua Sport Marine. They've been our partner there for a while now, and they're just in the finishing stages of a major investment in their showroom. Here's their contact info: 6971 Eastgate Blvd, Lebanon, TN 37090. Their phone number is 615.444.2628 and their website is http://www.aquasportnashville.com. They have a respected service department and they're pretty active in the boating community in Nashville. Check them out. (Erwin Marine Sales will continue to represent Sea Ray in several East Tennessee markets and Huntsville, AL.) -- Matt at Sea Ray
 
fwebster said:
If I had a Sea Ray at my home in Tennessee, 50 miles from Nashville, I wouldn't care what Mr. Erwin did with his Chattanooga store. I wouldn't drive there for sales or service on a Sea Ray. As much as I value what Sea Ray stands for, I would shop for a different brand boat, one that I could get serviced without a 300 mile round trip drive.

I certainly hope Sea Ray will appoint another dealer in the area since I just can't believe they will abdicate the market that contains the 2 wealthiest counties in the state, the most populous area of the state and one of the best inland boating locations in the country.

Sea Ray is complaining about not selling but X,XXX boats last year........maybe the reason is more about dealers, dealer effort, dealer commitment and marketing than it is about customers and demand.
Click to expand...

My local middle east "SR" distributor here used to be quite good at keeping boats in stock and good at selling them. But at the moment - only 2 bow riders in stock - plus a few locally made boats. That happened after they changed price policy on SR boats. Here we do not see a lot of pontoon boats yet since fuel is cheap.

But at the moment I see a lot more new Chapparal's than new Sea Rays around. On my pier now there are 3 Larsons, 2 Chapparels, 1 Four Winns 2 local made boats, a Yamaha 25' - a Rib on floating pontoon - and a single Sea Ray. In the harbour total - the only "size" where Sea Ray rules - are the Cabin Cruisers - there are 6 of us in 24' to 33'. There are currently about 90 boats in the harbour of 130 spaces.

And not only that - the family that owns the SR distribution here - are my neighbours (We live in the harbour) - and I have tried to help them think more "Western" but it is hard sell. Right now their chief mechanic is on vacation - so as they said - if I want my trim sender fixed - it is on my own "risk" as they will not take responsibility for hauling it without the chief mechanic onsite. And he is gone for a month.... Ahh well - no more "beaching" :) but there is potentially so much business in this region - and dealers just refuse to pick it up.
 
I don't want to labor the point, but the dealer you appointed is in Lebanon Tn, not really in Nashville. It is kind of like saying you have a Knoxville dealer but he is in Oak Ridge.

The real issue for me is that Aqua Sport Marine is known as a ski boat dealer and they haven't stocked or sold anything much over a 23SLX and they are on the shallowest lake in the area that is more conducive to fishing and water toy activities. Who does the sport cruiser, sport yacht or yacht customer go to in the area for sales or service? That dealer is no where to be found. If you want your average price point to be the cost of a 20 ft ski boat, then great, but if you drive by the marinas on Old Hickory Lake, Center Hill Lake, Tim's Ford Lake, Percy Priest Lake and just look at what is parked in the slips, you will see that this is far more than a pontoon/bass boat/ski boat market.
 
SeaRayCorporate said:
All,
First, thank you for your loyalty to Sea Ray. We definitely understand how critical it is to have local Sea Ray representation. We agree with several of you that Nashville is a great boating town. The trick for us -- and for most of our competitors -- is that historically the greater Nashville market skews much more toward pontoon, bass boat and tow boat sales than most comparable markets. It's a tougher town for the recreational brands like Sea Ray. That said, Sea Ray has a great partner in Nashville in Aqua Sport Marine. They've been our partner there for a while now, and they're just in the finishing stages of a major investment in their showroom. Here's their contact info: 6971 Eastgate Blvd, Lebanon, TN 37090. Their phone number is 615.444.2628 and their website is http://www.aquasportnashville.com. They have a respected service department and they're pretty active in the boating community in Nashville. Check them out. (Erwin Marine Sales will continue to represent Sea Ray in several East Tennessee markets and Huntsville, AL.) -- Matt at Sea Ray
Click to expand...

Just so everyone knows-

Matt Guilford has been the VP of Marketing for the Brunswick Boat Group for the past 9 months, to include Sea Ray, Meridian and Bayliner.

Prior to that he spent almost 7 years as the Director of Marketing for Brunswick Boat Group.

So, he is a marketing guy. Not that there is anything wrong with marketing guys. Just remember...they are marketing guys.


And I don't have a dog in this hunt because my dealer is now an ex-Sea Ray dealer because someone at Sea Ray tried to tell him how many boats he was going to buy and floorplan. He said no, and after 50 years as a Sea Ray dealer, Sea Ray gave the franchise to his competitor.

But, suffice to say: This is no longer Connie Ray's Sea Ray.
 
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Thanks for the intro, Mr. ComputerMan :grin:. I probably should have posted over in the Who's Who section first; I'll do that soon. Your assessment is true though, I am a marketing guy. But that's just what I do for a living. I'm also a boater and have been for 13 years. I've personally run boats from 13'-56' in every corner of the country, including trips to Bimini and the San Juans. And I'm passionate about the Sea Ray brand. I've been working for Brunswick for almost 10 years and they finally let me work on their flagship brand. In spite of my marketing background, I think we might have more in common than you think; we love the Sea Ray brand, we want to see Sea Ray succeed, and we want the Sea Ray brand to do right by the customer. I've spent the last 6 years as a very active participant over at MeridianYachtOwners.com as a boater and as a company rep and I'm really happy to join the ClubSeaRay.com crowd. I'm a big fan of forums and CSR is an exceptional community. I've got the TapATalk mobile app on my home screen on my iPhone and I check it several times a day. I'm excited to join the fray. Matt at Sea Ray
 
mistercomputerman said:
And I don't have a dog in this hunt because my dealer is now an ex-Sea Ray dealer because someone at Sea Ray tried to tell him how many boats he was going to buy and floorplan. He said no, and after 50 years as a Sea Ray dealer, Sea Ray gave the franchise to his competitor.

But, suffice to say: This is no longer Connie Ray's Sea Ray.
Click to expand...

That is a ditto for the central Indiana area.

MM
 
Matt,

it s great to have an ear on here that can (if you choose to do so) echo and trumpet the vce of at least some of the owners of the brand most of us still love. I look forward to hearing more from that side and I hope you do the same from us. I think we all want to see Sea Ray succeed, even though we only know a part of the bigger picture. Welcome!

Matt
 
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