Impression of Lakes Region Dealers

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I thought I would share this with everyone out there who either does business with or is about to consider doing business with marinas around the big lake.

I was in the market for a used boat for myself and after hearing so many rave reviews of several dealers around the lake I figured that part of my search would include visits to local dealers on the lake. All I can say is that was a huge mistake. There is no need to mention names, but I will say that my impression of the dealers (yes several) was utter disgust. Now let me preface this by saying that leading up to my decision to make a purchase, I did extensive research to determine what I wanted, what it should cost and what kind of condition I should expect to see based on price. Additionally I was purchasing this new boat of mine cash. Also I was not looking at cheapo makes.

What I found was that dealers do not like an educated buyer. They do not like people who are smart enough to do their homework like run book values on what they are looking at. They do not like people who are interested in the bottom line price, not what will this cost me “per month”. The overall arrogance once cornered being disingenuous in their representation of both used and brokerage boats was unbelievable. Furthermore, the notion that the “boat was run through the shop” is either an outright lie or these places employ mechanics that have no business working on boats. My guess is the first, these boats were never run through the shop because it would cost the dealer to much money and take a cut out of the profit margin. Let it be known that I was spending a good deal of money and willing to pay top dollar for a boat that was worthy of the price.

So how about some examples? Welp I looked at a boat that was 10 years old, advertised as being in MINT condition. After looking it over, I would agree it was in very good condition, but mint would indicate at least to me that it’s like new, and that it hardly was. My favorite on this boat was that the dealer said “oh yes it’s been run through the shop and has had a complete tune up, just verified that myself before you got here”. Really? Then what kind of mechanic misses the fact the water pump on the motor was leaking like a siv, the brake lines on the trailer were ripped off and missing, the power steering belt was so loose it was squeeling? Never mind the fact the oil was not changed neither were the plugs. Without a trained eye, this boat looked great. Now comes the fun part, the price was about 30% over HIGH book value. When I asked about the price I was told that it was well BELOW book value and a killer deal. That played out till I pulled out my printout of the NADA and BUC book values. Then the story changes to “well we don’t pay attention to the book values” here. Really? In the same conversation, I decided to employ a little strategy and mentioned that I’d like to consider trading in my current boat. Would you believe out comes the NADA book? “Gee” I said to the sales guy, “I thought those didn’t exist here since you don’t pay any attention to book values?” Needless to say I wouldn’t buy a hamburger from that guy.

Another dealer, same story, this boat was 6 years old. Advertised as being in very good shape. This one had again very good curb appeal until you started to look at it closely. The windshield mounts were broken, one side of the windshield you could actually pull half way off the hull, the vinyl was torn in spots, even though I was told there were no tears, but the best part, some of the interior wood structure that supported the rear sun pad was rotted out along with the plywood structure that comprised the rear seat storage compartment. The hull had also been damaged and repaired, and it was done well, but the evidence was clear and the sales guy said “well it looks like it may have been painted” when confronted. Finally the trailer was so rusted it did not even look safe to hold the weight of the boat sitting still never mind road worthy.

At yet another dealer, this boat was 3 years old, was told it was in near perfect condition. Well yeah, minus the fact the previous owner apparently smashed the hull into something that left several very deep scratches in the gel, some areas down to the actual fiber glass fibers on both sides almost the entire length of the boat. The skeg looked like jaws took a bite out of it. When I asked the sales guy about it he said that probably happened at the boat ramp according to his “expert” opinion. That lasted about 5 minutes when I found the smashed prop that used to be on the boat under one of the cushions. Clearly it had hit a rock. The interior was trashed, several large rips in the seats, carpets all tore up, glove box door missing, the hinge for the ski locker was ripped out of the decking and just left like that. Nevermind the over all boat was filthy. My favorite part of this dealer story is that this boat I was looking at was a brokered boat and the sales guy actually spent more time trying to get me into the showroom to sell me a new boat versus the brokered boat. This boat was priced about 30% over book.

I could go on and on. The sad thing is that I found around the lake the dealers were extremely nice until they figure out that you’re an educated consumer and not a push over. You get an attitude when they saw me really take the time to go over the boat, trailer, engine etc.. and when things were pointed out, cast off like what do you expect, it’s used. Well yeah, but used doesn’t have to mean abused, plus if your going to sell a boat that’s trashed then price it accordingly. The rest pretty much came off with the impression that if I was not about to drop tens of thousands of dollars, then I was not worth their precious time. The sad thing is that I had lots of money to spend, but I was not about to be screwed and I wanted to get a good honest deal. That is not something that can be had at any of these dealerships, and you know why they get away with it? There are far to many customers that come in and don’t care, throw money around like it's going out of style. It’s really sad at how deceptive these guys are and if anyone thinks these guys are your “friend” think again.

In the end I did find my boat, and I got a good fair deal on it. It’s sad I had to travel across 4 states and several hundred miles to get it, but I’ll do that again before I ever were to give any of these guys my business or hard earned money.

As a good, down to earth, honest guy all I can say is that asking for the same in return was simply to much to ask for. How sad is that?