Boat Demand is HIGH !!

BigD

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Just left a dealer that carries a tritoon brand that interest my wife and I greatly. They said the manufacturer just told them yesterday not to promise anybody anything right now as they have more toons to build than they can get shipped in 2021. Not saying who that is, but that is amazing. The demand right now is off the charts. Days of big discounts are over for now, too. This is no Mom & Pop dealer or manufacturer either. One of the biggest manufacturers by volume in the Country, and the dealer has been here 53 years. If you see one on-site that suffices for you, I guess we better jump. We saw, but didn't jump....yet !!! Lol
 
Just left a dealer that carries a tritoon brand that interest my wife and I greatly. They said the manufacturer just told them yesterday not to promise anybody anything right now as they have more toons to build than they can get shipped in 2021. Not saying who that is, but that is amazing. The demand right now is off the charts. Days of big discounts are over for now, too. This is no Mom & Pop dealer or manufacturer either. One of the biggest manufacturers by volume in the Country, and the dealer has been here 53 years. If you see one on-site that suffices for you, I guess we better jump. We saw, but didn't jump....yet !!! Lol
We went through this last year trying to get a boat. Definitely a sellers market.

We finalized our order the first week of November and our build is scheduled to start on 2/12. I assume it will only get crazier unless you scoop one up off the sales floor.
 
We went through this last year trying to get a boat. Definitely a sellers market.

We finalized our order the first week of November and our build is scheduled to start on 2/12. I assume it will only get crazier unless you scoop one up off the sales floor.
Hi Josh! Where in MI? Vikingstaff and myself boat up on Houghton Lake.
 
Boatshow ? Really ? Not here.
Cleveland's boat show this year is virtual and at the dealerships. I think you have to reserve a time slot. We went to our Bennington dealer this weekend to crawl around the new boats they have in stock. We wanted to avoid the crowd that will be there this weekend. They have a lot. Talking with our sales person they expect to see a delay in inventory. He did say Bennington is working around the clock.

Side note - I like the new features on the 2021. Built in cup holders and USB ports. We bought extra charging cords in anyone needed to charge their phone, truthfully it didn't come up often but still a good feature.
 
We are in S.E. Michigan, but have a family place up in Higgins Lake. (Not on the water..lol)

So I am very familiar with the area.
Beautiful lake and real estate prices reflect it! I was interested in a place on Treasure Island but my better half said she didn't want to be "stranded".
 
Cleveland's boat show this year is virtual and at the dealerships. I think you have to reserve a time slot. We went to our Bennington dealer this weekend to crawl around the new boats they have in stock. We wanted to avoid the crowd that will be there this weekend. They have a lot. Talking with our sales person they expect to see a delay in inventory. He did say Bennington is working around the clock.

Side note - I like the new features on the 2021. Built in cup holders and USB ports. We bought extra charging cords in anyone needed to charge their phone, truthfully it didn't come up often but still a good feature.
I went full crazy on this and tracked down phone charges for the USB ports that match the boat trim; grey and blue. Because if im going to do it, might as well add some style to it..haha
 
Beautiful lake and real estate prices reflect it! I was interested in a place on Treasure Island but my better half said she didn't want to be "stranded".
Too funny Steve: When we were looking, we couldn’t make something on Higgins lake make sense financially and ended up on Houghton Lake (which we are very pleased with!). However, at that time, there was an empty buildable lot for sale on Treasure Island I was eyeing, and another cottage for sale on it. My wife was rather dismissive for not too dissimilar reasons. Honestly, I am sure she was right. However, the idea of just being on an island, and somewhat restraining my world to it has a certain appeal to me.
 
Wait for things to settle down and get another one. Our boat show is this coming weekend...
Even when it settles down, you’ll still pay dearly. Build your boat now to get an idea of cost. Bet you change your mind Andy ... ;)
 
Even when it settles down, you’ll still pay dearly. Build your boat now to get an idea of cost. Bet you change your mind Andy ... ;)
I will be curious to see what the percentage difference we will see from the MSRP and dealer price, because nobody should be paying the build MSRP price...how much that gap shrinks, will be the interesting part. I double checked and my L model dealer price is 77% of the build MSRP.

A wild guess is that "savings" will shrink as demand goes up....it has to, or my economics class in college was a waste of time
 
The two dealers I saw last week had an advertised price and wouldn't come off it a penny. Why would they ? They can't get as many boats as they can sell right now.
 
Yup...I cannot imagine buying a boat right now. They are crazy expensive during normal times. I cannot imagine doing it when dealers can be much more restrained on negotiating off MSRP. I could have never afforded our boat as we spec’d it if I had to buy it today.
 
I will be curious to see what the percentage difference we will see from the MSRP and dealer price, because nobody should be paying the build MSRP price...how much that gap shrinks, will be the interesting part. I double checked and my L model dealer price is 77% of the build MSRP.

A wild guess is that "savings" will shrink as demand goes up....it has to, or my economics class in college was a waste of time

Meh .... you’d have to make sure MSRP never changed, but also realize cost of goods has increased dramatically. MSRP may not change, but dealer cost increases, so discount has to change to compensate. End user will almost always suffer before dealer and manufacturer, but I’ve seen many manufactures take it on the chin, to ensure dealers . No dealers .... no manufacturers.
 
Yup...I cannot imagine buying a boat right now. They are crazy expensive during normal times. I cannot imagine doing it when dealers can be much more restrained on negotiating off MSRP. I could have never afforded our boat as we spec’d it if I had to buy it today.
Ha ... never thought our boat would be an ‘investment”, but right now, I’d bet we get more than I paid in 2017.
 
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