Where to buy a boat

Buying a new or used boat can be a ton of fun for the family, and it can also turn out to be a nightmare. Doing a little research up front goes a long way. In this article, we’ll explore where to look for your new or used boat.

Decide if you’re looking to buy a new or used boat

At this point, you may not know if you want a new or used boat, and that’s ok. Both new and used boats can be purchased at many boat dealer locations. If you’re going to buy a used boat and exercise some patience, you can find an outstanding deal on a boat from a private party, much cheaper than going through a dealer. If you’re going to buy new, there are deals out there if you know how to look for them and have a little patience.

Where to buy a new boat

If you’re set on buying a new boat, you’ll need to go through a dealer, and their inventory will vary based on their partnerships with boat manufactures. You’ll have to do some homework to determine which boat makes and models you like, and it may be worth visiting a few dealers to kick the tires and see them in person.

Finding Boat Dealers

Finding a boat dealer isn’t hard, but finding the good ones can be a challenge. Google will be your best friend here. Search Google for boat dealers near me, and Google will pull up the local business listings.

For example, searching for boat dealers Atlanta, pulls a lot of boat dealers, and you can easily see which ones have lots of great reviews. In this example, MarineMax of Cumming is leading the back with hundreds of favorable reviews.

Watch out for the dealers that have only a handful of reviews. Read through the reviews and you’ll see that happy customers often praise their sales person, and unhappy customers do the opposite. Use this information to request the good ones by name. Having an arrogant and pushy sales person will ruin the experience for you and your family – avoid them at all cost.

Getting a deal on a new boat

If you’re in the market for a new boat, that’s exciting. You’ll have a new boat with the latest technology, warranty, etc. In some cases, you can get some great deals on the new boats, especially during the off season, or when the dealer is trying to get rid of all the previous year models on their lot.

Where to buy a used boat

Buying a used boat requires a little more patience, but can save you tens of thousands of dollars. Searching through boat dealers that sell used boats is a start, but you’ll generally pay more, and often times the dealer is not providing you anymore assurance that you’re buying a great boat than if you bought private party. We’ll explain why in another blog post.

Your primary options are to go through a dealer or third-party websites for a used boat, and their are tons of used boats out there.

For starters, the following sites are great for finding used boats:

• Facebook Marketplace
• Only Inboards
• Boat Trader

Only Inboards offers a great feature where you can see what used boats have sold for, or what the seller was asking. This is useful to plan around your budget, you can see what boats are selling for in your price range.

Dealer vs Private Party Used Boat Price

Lets face the reality here, dealers need to buy low and sell high to make good money. Tack on taxes, dealer fees, profit margins and you’re looking at paying significantly more through a dealer for the same boat offered by a private seller.

Some people are willing to pay more to purchase a used boat through a dealer if the dealer provides some sort of warranty or assurance that the boat is in good working order. This typically doesn’t happen though.

Dealers may say they’ve run the boat through their inspection, i.e. compression testing, but you can have the seller of the private party boat do the same before you buy the boat.

If you’re not provided any warranty through a used boat broker/dealer, and you end up paying more, why would you do it? It may come down to finances.

Paying for your boat

After you get over the sticker shock of some of the new & used wake boats on the market, and you’re ready to move forward, you’ll have to figure out how to pay for the boat. You can either pay cash or finance the boat.

Financing your boat

A boat is a recreation vehicle, and people who undergo financial hardships are less likely to pay their boat payment than put food on the table or pay for their primary transportation. This drives interest rates higher than you might expect if you’re comparing your home or auto interest rate to the rate on the boat loan.

If you’re patient, you can get your own loan through a local credit union, but the term of the loan may not be as long as what your dealer can provide. This may be why some people choose to spend more on a used boat at a dealership, to string the payment out with a longer term.

Going to a dealer is quick and easy, as they have lenders lined up to provide you with a loan with longer terms. Just remember, quick and easy isn’t cheap. In the example below from Bankrate, you’ll end up paying $76,819.63 for a $50,000 boat, not counting depreciation on the boat.

To reduce the interest paid on the loan you need to get a better price on the boat, put more money down, find a lower interest rate, and/or reduce the term to pay it off quicker.

Paying cash for a boat

Paying cash in a private party deal gives you some bargaining power. Its not uncommon for someone selling a boat to think they have it sold, only to find out the buyer doesn’t like the high interest rate (or can’t get financing), and backs out of the deal.

Cash is king, walk into the deal with a cash offer and you can snag yourself an awesome deal on a used boat.