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Downsizing Your Boat

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Be a Cash Buyer

Try Before You Buy

When Towing

Budget

The Initial Purchase Price

Resale Value

Warranties

Introduction to Downsizing Your Boat

There are a couple of situations that I commonly see when people are down grading their boat;

They are either downsizing from a launch because they can’t justify the costs for the amount the boat gets used…

· Mooring fees

· Marina fees

· Fuel Costs

· Insurance costs

· Maintenance costs

Or they are going from a large trailer boat down to something smaller because the boat is:

· Too hard to handle

· Doesn’t get used much

· Is tying up too much money

· or the more common - have worked out you don’t need to travel for miles to catch fish and have fun so the big boat is over kill

So you have decided to downgrade for whatever reason, looked around found the type of boat you want and it’s time for a deal. This brings me to the only specific down grading information I can think of.

Be a Cash Buyer

No dealer wants to give a boat and cash to a customer for a second hand boat, it’s not good for cash flow and they will only do it if there is A LOT in it for them somewhere, either in the price they are stinging for the boat or the amount they are offering for the trade.

This probably isn’t that relevant to down sizing from a launch as not many places will trade them for trailer boats. There is of course times when it might work out, like if the trade is a high demand boat.

You will get a much better deal if you sell the boat yourself and then buy with cash.

I know it’s easier to trade; you don’t have to deal with all the tyre kickers, advertising it etc

As an example:

let’s say your boat’s current market value is $100,000

The boat you want to trade on is $40,000 RRP

Fair trade for a dealer would be around 20% less than market value to account for the money it will tie up (and don’t forget that a dealer has a bit more come back on them for after sales problems than a private sale does).

So $80,000 trade offer.

Then the new boat, the dealer will usually find a way to bump the price up a bit somewhere say another $2000 for a deal that will tie up extra cash. Or a 10% discount for a cash buyer on a stock boat depending on season is realistic.

Add that up what do we have:

Cash buyer

$100,000 cash in hand for boat sale, pays $36,000 has $64,000 left over.

Trade

$80,000 value of trade, pays $42,000 has $38,000 left over.

Can you be bothered selling it now? And let’s face it Trade Me is pretty easy to use.

Try Before You Buy

I do find that people down sizing are good at having a look at all the brands before they purchase. A lot of people who upgrade seem to have blinkers on for any brand but the one they have.

But always go for a ride in the boat before you purchase to be sure you are happy, don’t forget if you are going smaller they will feel a lot different than what you are used to but, how will you know if it is normal for that size boat or a lemon without trying a few first?.

Where possible always test the boats in similar conditions with similar loads too.

Here are some things that are relevant to everyone buying a boat:

When Towing

People frequently ask all up tow weight but often forget there will also be a rating on your tow bar for downwards weight on the tongue, while tow weight can’t be helped, downwards weight can be by correct positioning of the axle(s).

Too much weight and your vehicle may have trouble steering and braking, too little weight and the trailer will push the back of your vehicle around (fishtailing).

As well as this remember:

· Trail weight over 1500kg must have hydraulic brakes.

· Trail weight over 2500kg must have electric over ride brakes.

· Combined weight (vehicle and trailer) over 4500kg must have class 2 licence.

Budget

People I talk to often get caught up in what APPEARS to be the best value for money but often don’t look much further than that.

The Initial Purchase Price

There is no magic wand that can be waved over a boat to make it magically appear, if it is cheaper than the competition it is at the expense of something else, if the boat has similar features then it might be the trailer that is inferior or something behind the scenes that no one asks about, electrical wiring loom, steering components, navigation lights, bilge pump even the aluminium itself can be imported to save money and while it’s grade can still qualify as “Marine Grade” it’s quality can be a big step down (I have seen some inferior marine alloy go rusty!!).

There are of course ways to cut cost without cutting quality, simpler designs can cut labour down, a dealer trying to move a boat that he’s had for a while may cut their margin or you may get a better deal direct from the factory if this is an option and of course you do pay for the brand on the side of the boat, some more than others.

Resale Value

If you are upgrading then maybe resale isn’t as important but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth considering, I’ve lost count of the number of people that I speak to that had brought their last ever boat but were back looking again, usually because they got it wrong the last time.

In that circumstance you would hope they had given the resale a thought.

A look through the magazines or online to see how much and how many of the models, or even just the brands you are looking at are selling second hand for can help make your decision, if there are a heap of them for sale second hand why? or, if you can find hardly any or they move quickly chances are you will get closer to your asking price.

Warranties

I frequently get asked “how long is the warranty” answer “3 years” they tick the box and that’s it.

Be sure you know what is covered under warranty and for how long. ASK a 1-2-3-5+ year warranty WILL NOT COVER EVERYTHING. (This goes for hull, trailer and motor and the warranty may be conditional)

It may seem strange to put this under the price heading but there has to be some allowance made for this across the products sold and maybe sometimes cheaper can mean less warranty.

You will always have some cover under the consumers guaranties act and while you might think you are clever screwing the price down on the retailer at the time of purchase he will remember it and can still make it difficult to claim while still staying inside the terms of trade.

Well that’s all the unbiased advice I can give to someone upgrading their boat.

Now for some slightly more biased advice.

Here at Marco Boats

Here at Marco Boats we do our best to give you the boat you want we have a range of 20 models from 4.4m to 7.6m (LOA 4.4 to 8.3) so can find something to fit your requirements.

We mostly build only to order so don’t have stock to try to force on you.

We don’t even have dedicated sales men to bug you, everyone you talk to welds or grinds or fits out (except Laurette at reception), this means we all know exactly what goes into our boats and a fair bit about them as well.

We do of course have some dealers around as well and their circumstances may be a little different to ours but, the ones we do have we still have, because they give our customers the attention and after sales service we require and you expect.

As well as that you have our commitment to making sure our customers are as happy as possible.

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Marco Boats is a commercial business dedicated to the design, manufacture, sale and repair of customised aluminium fishing boats. The contents of the site are made available to help customers make the best choice when buying their next boat. To ensure you make the best selection please use the enquiry form to discuss your needs with a Marco Boats representative.