Two boats one too many?

[trebbel]

Anybody out there frustrated by having their new boat picked out only to be lynch pinned by the old boat? The deal on the new boat is good, almost too good to pass up but not so good to write two checks a month. I won't own two but just felt like venting...

Thoughts on lowering my price and taking the hit to get the deal on the new one?

 

[Hampton]

Is one a dinghy?

What year is the old boat? What condition? What's the market like for your old boat? I owned two boats for about 6 months last year - a 340 and a '97 250. I sold the 250 when the right family came along. You never know when it may happen, but come July, you'll have serious second thoughts.

I don't see the big boat market recovering anytime soon. If you can't stand to have two boats for another year, I'd sell the old one first, then be the free-est, free-wheeling buyer in the market. The world will be your oyster.

If you think the deal of the century is available now, just wait another 9 months.

 

[Sundancer]

Wait, your supposed to sell before you buy the new one? No one told me about that?! I'm lucky because I don't have any payments, but the compromise is that I'm too cheap to spend more on a newer boat!

 

[Lake Erie Boater]

Are there any dealers in the area that will take boats in trade? After coming to terms with a realistic selling price on my previous boat I went ahead and traded it. Considering the time it takes to sell one your own, or the commission if using a broker, it just made sense to take that route. If your boat is in good condition (mine was), the dealer should give you that realistic price ie what I "wanted" for it. While I may have made a few more $$ on my own, it came down to a how much is your time worth issue, and after all that I may have not gotten any more dollars anyway. Realize the boat was not some superyacht so the difference between the trade value and the what I could possibly sell it for wasn't that great in the 1st place. Larger, more costly boats will have bigger differences of coarse. My .02

 

[Overextended]

Work out your best straight deal (i.e., no trade), get the numbers. Find out what they will give you on your boat on a trade to make the deal happen. Figure out the difference between what they are going to give you (be ready for this number to be low, you got the straight deal number which means they are going to give you the real number on your boat...they want to make 15-20% on the deal to run the business - normally this number will be fluffed or burried in the price of the new boat on a trade deal)...then make the decision.

If they are not too far off of what you wanted and you can swallow the real numbers then do the deal. If not, by all means do not buy until you sell...especially in this market. Don't burry yourself in two boats.

I also agree that if you come to the table with no trade "The world will be your oyster."

 

[comsnark]

Well. .. I have two boats. Not selling either. Maintenance is . . .well. . . .a challenge.

But I don't have payments.

If you worry about two payments. . then sell first.

 

[Tallahassee240Sundeck]

My best car buying experience was asking for a value on the trade (knowing that typical car dealers will inflate the trade to make you feel better), then stating my brother-in-law said he would buy the car if the trade came in below a price just above their trade value. If you know their offer is a decent trade value, then you start dealing on the new with no trade - Ths way you get them down to their best price on the new car... make a fictitious call and say that the brother-in-law is backing out and that you will do the deal for their best new price and their offer on the trade.

They were not all that happy with me, but got the deal of a lifetime on the car... not sure if this would work on a boat though...

 

[keokie]

It seems like owning two boats would be a bad idea.

 

[comsnark]

Owning two boats is great. When one breaks. . .you get on the other one!
And different boats are suited for different things. . . .

But "mainenance" is a real issue. Either you are spending a pile of cash. . .or a pile of time.. . or both.

 

[rondds]

i was a two-boat-owner for about 2 months in the summer of 2004. i was shopping the used inventory from local marinas and stumbled on my SR. i bought it almost immediately from a marina up the road from mine (all they sold new were glacier bay catamarans). but throughout the shopping process, even though my boat was 2002 lightly used trailerable 26' crownline creampuff, no one was talking trade. so i bought my SR and had two boats at my marina.

i was extremely fortunate, though. for some reason, although i offered to pay, my marina didnt charge me anything for summer storage for the SR as i tried to sell the CL myself. after a month in boat shopper, salty dog and boats.com and not ONE nibble, i succumbed and gave my marina brokerage on the CL. they sold it for me in about a month but i took an absolute BEATING. which is why i will NEVER EVER EVER EVER buy a new boat again!

so from experience, unless your boat is sellable from your driveway, you will pay someone 10% of the sale price to get rid of it for you. if a trade is a possibility, i'd just bite the bullet and do it now. when the market is down, you will get a good deal on your new purchase, but you will also be forced to give a good deal to your buyer. that's what happens in times like these.

 

[comsnark]

Well. . .you ALWAYS take a beating on a new boat.

And honestly. . when I was looking, I only looked online and didn't look in ANY of the magazines. Hmmm. I never looked at any "sold by owner" boats. But I may be unique: I found my "model" by just browsing the boats sitting in the front row of the yard around the corner. That particular boat was too beat up to consider making an offer upon -> and I did subsequent searches *for that specific model*.

 

[magster65]

In my little world of sillyness... it's a great idea!