When is the best time to buy a new boat and does the boat company offer discounts at Boat shows or is the price steady throughout the year. I am thinking of upgrading.
Wayne, I would say find the boat that you like then shop it at several dealers within 800 to 1000 mile radius. I saved $4000 on my boat by being willing to drive to Las Vegas to pick it up. I shopped Utah, Wyoming, and Nevada. Let the dealers duke it out with each other in the price war. Lowest bid gets the sale.
That was about an 800 mile round trip for me.
I'd like to give a different take on that. What Gem suggests is exactly what I did when I bought an RV years ago. The dealer in Denver wouldn't give me the time of day, or really negotiate at all. I bought basically the same trailer in Casper, saving thousands of dollars. Which was great. Until it came time to do warranty work. And the dealer in Colorado made it very difficult.
When I bought my Malibu in 2014, I did some shopping. But because of new boat sticker prices, I was more looking used (dealer demo) out of Vegas. Long story short, the local dealer came up with a very fair selling price to keep me local.
In hindsight, buying local was a great decision. Not because I got a great deal (although I think I did), but because I created a relationship with the dealer that would be doing my warranty work (and, unless you buy a very basic boat, you will need warranty work). Maybe my dealer gives the same great service to everyone, but I don't think so. There have been multiple times in the first 3 years of ownership where something wasn't working right, and the dealer bent over backwards to fix it without having me lose any time on the water.
To me, that is worth spending a little extra $.
If that isn't enough to convince you, you should also know that many manufactures offer "protected territories" to their dealer. What that means is that even if you buy new from a dealer outside your area, your local dealer will still earn a commission on your sale. Which means your dealer could almost certainly at least match the out of area price.
@wayne gustaveson , to answer your question directly, I am of the opinion that buying at the end of season is the best time to buy (if you are buying something in stock). Dealers don't want to sit on inventory for months while most people aren't looking. Also, as with any big purchase, end of month and end of quarter will often get you a better deal. During that time, everyone is looking to "hit their number", and will be more willing to negotiate because of that.
If you are looking to custom order, I would say around the boat show is the best time. Manufactures do give dealers extra incentives around that time to entice them to increase their presence at the boat shows. That won't be true in spring/early summer.
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