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Advice For Buying a Bennington...

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Mosnowman

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So I am considering upgrading at the end of the season. I have my eye on a G Series.. stern lounge..300hp Verado...love the Benningtons!

I currently own a 2012 Harris with a 150 hp Verado that I hope to trade in. I know how to work the car buying experience, but am really not very informed on trading in a boat on a new one, or even if trade ins are common? So any advice would be appreciated..

1. How much off the "quoted price" is reasonable for both parties?

2. Do most dealers allow trade ins?

This will be my last boat and I want to get the most bang for my bucks. Any help/advice/suggestions from you guys would be very much aporeciated!
 
Mosnowman, I would have to believe that for a ROI you will be better off selling your Harris privately.  There have been many discussions on "what's off quoted price" on this forum.  Use the search engine to find these discussions and you can see what many have said.

Welcome to the Bennington Family
 
I dont believe my dealer does trade-ins. They will aell your boat on consignment for you. I understand 20 to 25 % off of list price is typical.
 
Sell the Harris for sale by owner. I used craigslist and had great results.
 
I've recently learned from two big dealers that they only like trade-ins when there is a LOT of cash coming from you.  If you try and trade a late model, expensive boat in for a new boat, even if that one is $20k more, they will either low ball you, tell you to sell it on your own, or just pass.  It's not at all like the car world.

Now if you are DOUBLING or more the value of what you're trading, they should at least talk to you.  Another thing I would suggest is checking Craigslist and Boat Trader for what you are selling to get a feel for prices and availability.  Take lots of pics.  You can put gibberish in the text and few will notice but without pics the best description in the world won't be "seen."
 
We traded our 2000 Landau 20' Fish and Ski for our SCWX and got very near what I paid for it 14 years ago. Other than storage, maintenance, and fuel it cost us about $2,200 to own for 14 great years. Our dealer in Troy Mo had our Landau sold with in a few days of taking possession of it. I don't think they can keep used boats on their lot for very long. Especially if they are clean and well maintained.
 
Unfortunately the auto business is not the boat business.  Car dealers might sell 100 units a month.  Big boat dealers might sell 100 units a year.  Boat dealers cannot sell boats at $100 over cost and remain in business long.

The suggestion for you to sell your used boat would be best.  Many are sold on Craigslist.  I'd list it on BoatTrader.com immediately and price it fairly.  Boats generally are sold March to July--with retail sales slowing dramatically the next 6-7 months.

There are dealers that take trade in's, but they're the dealers flush with cash.  They simply won't give you top dollar for your trade in most cases, even though your trade is prime merchandise.  They didn't get flush with cash giving the best deals.

And what's the best time to buy?  Dealers go to "new boat showing" in the Fall, and schedule their next year's production slots.  Manufacturers often give them a bunch of freebies if they'll order "X" number of boat or if they'll go ahead and schedule production slots in slow times of the year.  Another great time to buy is off the floor at one of the big city boat shows--when everyone's competing against each other.  Unfortunately, you won't often find a ESP hulled G model 300 hp Verado on a dealer's lot. 

Good luck to you in your dealings.
 
I would probably also bump it up to an R series.
 
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