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New Bennington-dealer discounts

I ordered my LX at a 26% discount, ordered in June. I was and am happy. Maybe could have got a couple percent more off somewhere else but by dealer is amazing and I feel like the discount was fair. Win-win.
 
Those aluminum increases are VERY recent as in this year. Bennington has been raising their prices around 8% per year for many years now and besides that small an increase should have little to no effect on the retail price anyway.
 
Nautical said:
Those aluminum increases are VERY recent as in this year. Bennington has been raising their prices around 8% per year for many years now and besides that small an increase should have little to no effect on the retail price anyway.
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I thought aluminum tariffs were still in effect?
Also, do (Did) you get a raise every year? I’m sure their employees do, and all that goes into cost, along with increased health insurance costs, business insurance liability costs, transportation costs, electric, gas, water, sewer, so I’d say 8% per year is reasonable considering all the “hidden” costs involved.
 
Nautical said:
but prices have risen dramatically over the past few years (with no significant increase in costs) so I'm sure margins grew a little too.
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The businesses I have been privy to financial numbers have never had "floating" margins for the retailer as you suggest. I'm comfortable assuming that your statement is likely incorrect.
 
this probably wont last but...

my 2018 went up roughly 20% per year if you were to spec out that same boat today. A bit steep no? From what I’ve seen a lot of the increases came along with the new ownership.
 
You think repeating an 8% increase every year is even possible? At that rate it only takes 9 years to double the price. I've bought and sold two R classes so far. It wasn't long ago a 2017 R with a decent set of options had an MSRP between $90K and $98K and could be bought in the mid to high 60s, or low 70s at worst. That same exact configuration is now well north of $125K. I heard they were raising the prices 8% a year but it seems like even more than that has occurred. Sorry but to me a slab of aluminum, plywood and vinyl with a 3rd party engine slapped on the back isn't worth that. Again, Bennington is not the only one doing this, I'm not singling them out. It's just all part of the everything bubble we're in.
 
And the price increases are keeping buyers from upgrading every couple years like we used to. That has shown drastically compared to 2012-2016 based on what I’ve seen here. If I didn’t have to come up with an extra 20-25k to replace my same boat I’d have another. Until then, I’ll wait.
 
With all this said the market value of used has been following, in our area many (even before Covid) can trade at less money then one would think every 3 years. It's not just new MSRP that is going up it's also the used value.
 
The price increases are the reason I am spending my money on all new vinyl this winter on the RCW25. Yes, it is 12 years old but I went on boat builder and almost the same boat is twice the MSRP that our boat listed for in 2008.
 
It's not just the pontoon or boat industry. Should half ton gas pickups be $60K?

the point in my previous reply was that while MSRP has gone up, I assume dealer costs have as well. I seriously doubt that margin percentages increased.
 
I just ordered a QX25 with a 400 Mercury Verado in Minnesota, the build price showed 167K. I paid 28% less. I was happy as most dealers were only giving 10-15% off do to the Carona.
 
Sounds like you’ve ordered one heck of a boat Benny24. I hope you bless us all with pictures when you eventually get it. I’d say that’s really livin‘ the dream.
 
Carlson80 said:
I ordered my LX at a 26% discount, ordered in June. I was and am happy. Maybe could have got a couple percent more off somewhere else but by dealer is amazing and I feel like the discount was fair. Win-win.
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That is about where I was at off MSRP with the L model I just ordered. Had 4 “local” dealers all bid for the order, probably a $4k spread amongst them, some required finance for that deal and some were cash or finance. Because I wanted to go the cash route, I was lucky that the lowest price was a cash offer dealer.
I will say there was no room for freebies or “throw in” type items with the price. I knew I had to choose a lane and I went with the lower sales price

overall I’m happy with the deal, under the all in price I wanted to be at and added extras I didn’t plan on adding.
 
I was lucky too I think in the current climate. My deal was cash too. They treated me very well. My 200 SHO was on back order, they put a new 175 SHO on for me to use. They just installed the 200 and it’s ready to be picked up, they also agreed to put two additional speakers in the rear benches for me all at no charge. 27% off is a great deal!!! I’m excited to see pictures when you get your new beautiful Bennington. Congratulations!!!
 
You both mention cash deals. I think that is something sometimes left out of various discussion on % of MSRP. Certainly can carry weight. I negotiated a great deal in 2017, but I often leave out it was a cash deal when talking to people. I probably shouldn’t as it was certainly a variable in the negotiations, and one I intentionally tried to leverage. Good reminder above.
 
Vikingstaff said:
You both mention cash deals. I think that is something sometimes left out of various discussion on % of MSRP. Certainly can carry weight. I negotiated a great deal in 2017, but I often leave out it was a cash deal when talking to people. I probably shouldn’t as it was certainly a variable in the negotiations, and one I intentionally tried to leverage. Good reminder above.
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Ironically I found the bargaining power of cash for a boat, or a car, is almost a crutch vs a help. Seems most dealers make their money from a kick back from the finance company vs the sticker price. It’s why one dealer offered me their lowest price with the contingency I finance (and pay it off soon after) so they can make their money on the financing deal. The other dealers were like “cash or finance, price is the same”.
So I was stuck in limbo land; no discount for cash and no significant discount for financing and dealing with a credit inquiry and interest for a few months.

Curious if anyone here actually did get a better price with cash. Would like to hear some had better success with the “Cash is King” mantra we all knew
 
I got a better deal for cash . Everything I have done I offer cash ,most will give a better deal .
 
As long as the check doesn’t NSF, not sure why a dealer would care if it’s from an individual or a bank. Maybe the dealer fears a deal falling through if financing is unable to be obtained, so cash eliminates that worry. Could also be a function of the times - red hot boat market = less discounts for form of payment.
 
As I wrote in an earlier thread, I received around a 4-5% 'discount' off MSRP with my $36,000 SLG order last month. While poking around, I've discovered that Bennington seems to have higher prices on identical options on higher-end models. For instance, a Garmin Striker 4 Fish Graph has an MSRP of $311 on an S-series boat. But a Striker 4 has a $360 MSRP on an L-series boat. I paid $299 for the Striker 4, a 'discount' of 3.86%. On an L-build, that 'discount' would be 17%. So, those of you who are touting double-digit savings off MSRP, I am not so sure the savings are as great as you may think. But, does it matter? Not really to me. I like my dealer. He's right on my lake. And I will have a slip there next year.
 
Dealers in our area are often willing to give you a better price if you go through them for financing, not another bank because they do not make any money when you use outside financing, they treat those deals the same as paying cash. In my deal they knew I was paying cash and I was happy with my discount of a bit over 26% off MSRP on my LX.
 
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