When do you pay for new boat?

[Volare]

First boat, first post... more on the boat later...<br /><br />I recently purchased a new fishing boat at the boat show. I won't take delivery of the boat for a few months because that is when the lakes around here will thaw. When I signed the purchase agreement at the boat show, I gave a $1k deposit. I have not yet received information from the dealers financing department on their best offer for financing, but I may end up financing on my own and just paying cash to the dealer.<br /><br />My question is- when should I expect to actually pay the dealer for this boat? They have indicated that if financed thru them I could push the start of payments out 90 days (which is about when I would take delivery). If I decide to pay cash they want their money NOW. Now if this boat was sitting on their lot and they were simply storing it until I can take delivery, I would have no problem with that. But I don't think that is what is happening- I think they are going to order it from the factory and hopefully it arrives in time. <br /><br />As they say- he who has the gold makes the rules. If I turn over all the gold 3 months in advance, I lose all control of the end of this transaction. I've ordered new cars in the past and put down a deposit but the actual financing transaction and everything took place at delivery.<br /><br />Your thoughts?

 

[gspig]

Re: When do you pay for new boat?

NEVER GIVE ANYONE FULL PAYMENT UNTIL YOU TAKE DELIVERY!!!!! Best way to know what the dealer expects is to ask him.

 

[jlinder]

Re: When do you pay for new boat?

What if dealership goes under? You are just one of the creditors trying to get his money back.<br /><br />How about this: if there is a problem let him set up a loan. Make sure you can make early payments with no penalty. In other words you can pay off the whole amount at once 1 month in and only pay 1 month of interest.<br /><br />Buy the boat, 90 days in pay if off.<br /><br />BTW - if you can buy a new boat with cash I want to be your friend.

 

[walleyehed]

Re: When do you pay for new boat?

Go in and see if the boat you want is there.<br />I wouldn't drop a dime until I see the boat, ready to go, as you want it set up.<br />If he wants money up front, tell him that's worth a thousand off the purchase price then if you don't get it for 3 months, other-wise he's playing you.

 

[TwoBallScrewBall]

Re: When do you pay for new boat?

Agreed. I was --> <-- that close to buying a new boat. The general agreement at ost dealers is a considerable deposit to generate the order, then pay the rest on delivery.

 

[DBenja4148]

Re: When do you pay for new boat?

Take it from someone who had a bad experience in this regard. We gave a deposit after the boat show which was small and typical. When the boat arrived two months later they indicated we were reqired to come in and pay the balance. Big mistake!!!A word of caution. We then had to wait three weeks for them to commission the boat. When they agreed upon a date and time for us to pick it up, when we arrived they were in the process of washing it and rushing to get it ready. Overall, the boat was not properly commissioned. There were many problems, mostly small that took a month to get fixed. One of the problems was they forgot to add power steering fluid which is their responsibility from Volvo. We brought it all the way to the marina and I coldn't understand why the power steering was so stiff.<br />What I should have done was pay them everything but hold retainage of a few thousand until I had a chance to drive the boat a few weeks. Of course, they kept saying that any problems would be corrected at the 20hr. check but that was a nightmare in itself. Don't ever let any dealer tell you they are great service wise. I've heard many nightmares. They all try to convince you that they have the best service division. That is a crock of sh..!

 

[KM2]

Re: When do you pay for new boat?

I would not give them another dime or sign for financing until the boat was ready for me to tow away from the dealer. You hold the power, keep it. <br /><br />I would be concerned about the dealer that was pushing for the money up front. Sounds kind of desperate and a little fishy.

 

[beniam]

Re: When do you pay for new boat?

Dont pay till you see the boat ready to go.If you take an interim loan, you are still on the hook for the money, since you have made a contract with the bank, the dealer gets the money before delivering the boat, and you have to go deal with the dealer to actually get the boat. The loan to the bank still leaves you responsible whether you get a (satisfactory) boat or not. Batavier

 

[PAkev]

Re: When do you pay for new boat?

I also bought a fishing boat last year that wasn't in the dealers inventory (custom ordered directly from the factory).<br /><br />This was thier sales protocol which I knew at the time of committing to purchase the boat: 25% to order the boat, 50% upon delivery to dealer, and the remaining 25% upon taking delivery. If the terms of payment were not clearly stated in the sales contract I would guess you and the dealer are believers in a gentlemans agreement.<br /><br />As a business owner myself, I often end<br />up footing the bill on material costs until folks find it financially convienent to take ownership. I now take this into consideration when setting my prices and also take it into consideration to give a price break when someone pays in full upon ordering. In the end, things usually work out but it really hurts when you are rightfully expecting the money.<br /><br />Kevin<br /><br />2004 Polar 2010, Yamaha F150, Lowrance x18c, Minn Kota Riptide 74 w/ Autopilot, Keelguard, on a Venture tandem bunk trailer.

 

[DJ]

Re: When do you pay for new boat?

Paying for something, in advance, is risky. Especially in the marine business. Many dealers are undercapitalized.<br /><br />If they insist, take their finance offer and refinance as soon as you take delivery. Just MAKE SURE that there is NO prepayment clause in the the dealers finance deal.

 

[Volare]

Re: When do you pay for new boat?

Jack,<br /><br />I wouldn't be paying cash for the boat if I finance it myself, but it would appear that way to the dealer. It would be a home equity thing and I would give the dealer a check. <br /><br />I'll be chatting with the dealer on Mon and see if we can come to some sort of agreement on this. The purchase agreement does not address this at all. It has a lot of fine print front and back, but nothing on this particular topic.

 

[burp]

Re: When do you pay for new boat?

Volare, <br /><br />Sounds like you should be very cautious dealing with this dealer. <br /><br />My first boat purchase was in 1998 at a boat show. Like you, I gave the dealer a deposit and they ordered the boat. Before the boat was delivered the dealer was wanting me to pay the balance on the boat to which I answered "No, I don't pay for my cars sight unseen, nor will I pre-pay for my boat". The boat arrived at the dealer and I paid for it when I picked it up.<br /><br />There were a couple of things left which were to be taken care of by the dealer, such as trailer tags and permanent boat registration which I paid for when I picked up the boat. Two months later, I still didn't have the boat registration or trailer tags and the dealer has gone out of business. I had paid the taxes for registering the boat but couldn't do so without the MSO (Manufacturers certificate of origin) which is like the title to the boat. In the end it all got worked out but involved a little more money out of my pocket, the Virginia Department of Taxation, the Virginia Dept. of Game & Inland Fisheries and the boat manufacturer.<br /><br />If you have doubts about the dealer, I would consider writing 2 checks when you pay for your boat. Put a "stop payment" on one of the checks and tell the dealer you will have the funds released once all your issues/concerns are resolved.

 

[jlinder]

Re: When do you pay for new boat?

burp,<br />I remember this living in Pennsylvania. Sometimes people would buy a car, and the dealer would hold off on passing the sales tax to the state. Then they went out of business. If you wanted a tag, you had to pay the sales tax again.<br /><br />If you had any concerns you wrote 2 checks - one for the car, and the other for the tax and registration costs. The second check you made payable directly to the state. <br /><br />Dealers always complained and balked - "don't you trust us?" Duh - no.<br /><br />Stand your ground and keep repeating that it costs the dealer nothing to write the 2 checks. The tax/registration money isn't theirs anyway. If it were to bounce the only person hurt would be you.

 

[burp]

Re: When do you pay for new boat?

Jack,<br /><br />In my case, I didn't get hurt too bad. For the taxes and registration fees that I had paid to the dealer, a bill of sale showing them paid was enough to get the Dept. of Taxation to go after the dealer. <br /><br />Crownline stepped up to the plate and helped out also.<br /><br />Where it cost me a little extra money was I had paid for the Volvo 2+4 extended warranty. Since the dealer processed no paper work with Volvo, Volvo accepted copies of my warranty registration paperwork and deeply discounted the price of the extended warranty. <br /><br />In the end, the "sting" wasn't the additional money for the extended warranty but rather the time wasted talking to the dealer, making arrangements with the dealer and driving the hour to the dealer only to be told....so-n-so isn't here, he should be back in a minute, 6 hours later he still wasn't back.<br /><br />One of the highlights of one of the trips to the dealer was watching the finance companies arrive with the sheriff and a dozen or so tow trucks....

 

[beezee28]

Re: When do you pay for new boat?

I did not have the same experience with buying my boat but almost the same situation when buying the car. Rest assured that I took my business to another dealership. Like the saying goes "Let the buyer beware".