Boat Demand is HIGH !!

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 think I would move away from the Tritoon scene for something capable of going off shore too. Probably a hybrid bay boat.

no virtual living down here!!
 
Ha ... never thought our boat would be an ‘investment”, but right now, I’d bet we get more than I paid in 2017.
Bought our Benny in 2008. Sold it in 2020 for $500 more than we paid for it. Bennington's definitely hold their value!!!
 
Ha ... never thought our boat would be an ‘investment”, but right now, I’d bet we get more than I paid in 2017.
I have thought the exact same thing myself.
 
Last July when my dealer was out of Benningtons ,My dealer told me he could get me what I paid . I almost did it but he wanted the boat in his showroom .
 
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
Same! Mine are red.
 
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
Looking at the new models at our dealer it already has. The prices seemed to be quite a bit higher than what we paid last April. We bought an SXP, which they changed to the L, but the prices seemed $5-$6k more. We bought at the right time. He had plenty to choose from and was still in a position to deal. When we went shopping in April he said no one was coming into his store. That changed in two short weeks. At one point they had 3 Bennington's available.
 
Sounds like you snagged yours at just the right time before the buying surge last summer. Nice!
 
I don't want to be a spoil sport but the world is in a giant bubble right now and there are a lot of pins around and more coming.

I would be careful betting too much on the market staying hot. It might be very localized or it might be "coasting" from the busy selling season that was most of 2020 but I doubt it will be the same this year, at least not for the expensive stuff. The auto market is already feeling it. Cheap cars and some niche vehicles are selling strong but the bulk of new cars (or used cars that cost as much as entry level new cars) are sitting on dealer's lots and factory staging areas going nowhere. There are some very disturbing core financial tsunamis coming our way. Many people think the economy was really rocking but that's only the stock market and only because the government is buying all of the junk and the companies are buying their own stocks to drive up prices, all of this with freshly printed money we don't have. Simple proof of that is removing those two buyers then looking at how quiet and flat the rest is.

If you are thinking of selling, go ahead. If you're thinking of buying, maybe wait a little while to see what happens.
 
Visited several dealers this week. Business is down about 25%. They can't get boats. That's the bottom line. Everywhere I've been is selling around 20% off MSRP.
 
I don't want to be a spoil sport but the world is in a giant bubble right now and there are a lot of pins around and more coming.

I would be careful betting too much on the market staying hot. It might be very localized or it might be "coasting" from the busy selling season that was most of 2020 but I doubt it will be the same this year, at least not for the expensive stuff. The auto market is already feeling it. Cheap cars and some niche vehicles are selling strong but the bulk of new cars (or used cars that cost as much as entry level new cars) are sitting on dealer's lots and factory staging areas going nowhere. There are some very disturbing core financial tsunamis coming our way. Many people think the economy was really rocking but that's only the stock market and only because the government is buying all of the junk and the companies are buying their own stocks to drive up prices, all of this with freshly printed money we don't have. Simple proof of that is removing those two buyers then looking at how quiet and flat the rest is.

If you are thinking of selling, go ahead. If you're thinking of buying, maybe wait a little while to see what happens.
The only investment we see in our boat is family time. We know they depreciate, but hopefully not TOO much over the years. I agree with what you're saying. The booming economy is fake. Unemployment is still too high, but investments are through the roof. I read an article about cars sales this week. The article said only rich people are buying card because only the $50k level is moving the most and entry level $30k are abundant. I personally think it's because banks will finance cars for 84 months, which obviously lowers the payment to make people think they should buy a more expensive car. But that plays into your first point. There are more balloons than needles. Something has to give.

Buying a Bennington is the best decision (so far) that we've made. - Added so the moderators don't flag my post for being off topic! But seriously, it is.
 
If you try to time the market, you might lose that family time that is so precious and fleeting. I've made bad financial decisions before that I have never regretted, but also good, sound ones that I've kicked myself for, if that makes any sense.
 
This is great news as we're going to be selling ours this Spring. Life just too busy and we don't get to enjoy the boat like we thought we would... :(
We're a little worried about time this year. Last year our son's baseball was cancelled in the Spring/Summer. It won't be this year. We had over 140 hrs on our motor last year. I hope to get half as much this year.
 
I don't want to be a spoil sport but the world is in a giant bubble right now and there are a lot of pins around and more coming.

I would be careful betting too much on the market staying hot. It might be very localized or it might be "coasting" from the busy selling season that was most of 2020 but I doubt it will be the same this year, at least not for the expensive stuff. The auto market is already feeling it. Cheap cars and some niche vehicles are selling strong but the bulk of new cars (or used cars that cost as much as entry level new cars) are sitting on dealer's lots and factory staging areas going nowhere. There are some very disturbing core financial tsunamis coming our way. Many people think the economy was really rocking but that's only the stock market and only because the government is buying all of the junk and the companies are buying their own stocks to drive up prices, all of this with freshly printed money we don't have. Simple proof of that is removing those two buyers then looking at how quiet and flat the rest is.

If you are thinking of selling, go ahead. If you're thinking of buying, maybe wait a little while to see what happens.
We have waiting list for high end trucks and SUV right now($60k-100k).Sales have been very strong. Manufacturing can’t keep up with sales demand as of right now.
With that said I agree that the “bubble” will break, just a matter of time given the political climate, will be a interesting year.
 
We bought our 1999 30' Airstream Classic in 2005 for $22k. Over 15 years we've done multiple upgrades (carpeting, upholstery, hydraulic disc brakes, 16" wheels, and all new appliances etc). Probably have invested $10k in upgrades and $5k-$7k in regular maintenance (plus $200/mo covered locked storage).

That's the background. Knowing values have gone up, I got a certified appraisal to make sure my insurance was sufficient. Value came back at $42.3k! So, we actually made money on this 'investment' if we wanted to sell into this hyper environment.

Coming in to retirement we considered getting a new one, but the $165k cost and reputation for disastrous quality control, particularly on the new high-tech stuff, just didn't make sense. Instead we'll probably put $10k into renewals of carpeting and upholstery and upgrade to 50 amp and dual A/C.

In 3 years, I predict that used entry-level RVs will flood the market as people realize they don't use them much, they require a certain mechanical aptitude, and most desirable campsites are overcrowded.

Might be a similar environment with boats? I don't know.
 
We bought our 1999 30' Airstream Classic in 2005 for $22k. Over 15 years we've done multiple upgrades (carpeting, upholstery, hydraulic disc brakes, 16" wheels, and all new appliances etc). Probably have invested $10k in upgrades and $5k-$7k in regular maintenance (plus $200/mo covered locked storage).

That's the background. Knowing values have gone up, I got a certified appraisal to make sure my insurance was sufficient. Value came back at $42.3k! So, we actually made money on this 'investment' if we wanted to sell into this hyper environment.

Coming in to retirement we considered getting a new one, but the $165k cost and reputation for disastrous quality control, particularly on the new high-tech stuff, just didn't make sense. Instead we'll probably put $10k into renewals of carpeting and upholstery and upgrade to 50 amp and dual A/C.

In 3 years, I predict that used entry-level RVs will flood the market as people realize they don't use them much, they require a certain mechanical aptitude, and most desirable campsites are overcrowded.

Might be a similar environment with boats? I don't know.
I agree, boats and campers aren't for everyone
 
x3. I may have a share or two in WGO and their earnings have been through the roof the past two quarters. Reading the earnings call transcripts the executive leadership thinks strong dealer demand will continue through 2021. But I believe there is a direct correlation between available time to boat and RV and kids being out of school and work from home. Once "things get back to normal" these toys will start collecting moss and people will unload their money pits en masse.

The other variable is fuel costs. If the new administration starts clamping down on fracking, OPEC+1 will be free to drive oil above $60/bbl and we could see the return of $3-4 gas. That may also push some people out as well.
 
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