Re: Tohatsu/Merc
Some good points Elvin.
I agree with some of them.
I used the Tohatsu dealer finder on their website, and it only spit back 3.
I tried the zip code method, and the area code method (414, 262, 608, and 715). So the dealers you mentioned may be here, but the website didn't give them to me.
My comment was directed at your "open the local phone book" statement.
Driving 100 miles ( likely 400 miles -two trips, one trip to drop off, and one trip to pick up) for routine service, is out of the question. That would be 2 days shot, out of the 5 days I get off per month. And 2 of those are Sundays, when the dealers aren't even open.
If the motor needs routine maintenance twice a year, that 800 miles, 20+ hours of my limited time, and $100 of gas, just to maintain my motor.
Would you do that with your car, lawn tractor, or computer?
So, in the grand scheme of things, is there an issue with service and parts for Tohatsu. The answer is an absolute YES. I never thought there was, until you insisted that there wasn't.
And if the dealer/manufacturer won't make the parts lists available, and make it easy for me to buy the part, I guess I won't be buying another motor.
"Tampa I think there are eight Mercury dealers. Maybe seven since we dropped them. There is only one Tohatsu dealer because that's all the population base can support."
Now there is some great thinking. Its not population base, its market volume!
What ever happened to taking marketshare away from the competition?
Tampa could easily support 4 Tohatsu dealers if you would put 2 Mercury, 2 Yamaha, and one Evinrude dealer out of business.
Where is the best place to open a business? Across the street from your competitors.
Nissan and Tohatsu have not done that in WI and elsewhere.
They are nearly invisible on the water and in the marketplace in WI.
I'm not picking on Mercury, but that is one engine brand that actually has 50% of all dealers hating the company and the product.
So why then are they not Tohatsu dealers?
Why are they still Mercury dealers?
I love my little 4 hp 2 stroke kicker, but thats as far as the Tohatsu love affair will go.
We have over 639,000 boats in this state. Pretty good for a state with a population of only 5 million. Approximately 470,000 of these boats are powered by outboards. If just 3.2% of them need to be powered or repowered annually, thats 15,000 motor sales at stake.
Or, take the total US boat registrations of 13 million, we have 5% of that here. So 5% of the 300,000+ outboards sold annually is 15,000 motor sales in WI.
I would think that Tohatsu would be making a stronger effort to get a share of that pie in WI. A dozen dealers just isn't gonna cut it. The dealers can't be 150-200 miles apart. 24 dealers maybe, 30 even better, but not a dozen.
With the new motors getting more sophisticated(4 stroke and DI), an accessible and experienced dealer/service network is a must, or most people won't buy.
