09 Buying a Bass Boat

Kevin

Senior Fisheman
Joined
Jan 10, 2009
Location
Craig, Colorado
Best Catch
12lbs
Boat
Charger
#1
I found this article, I was not able to find a way to contact the owner of this article and to get their permission to post it, I am going to post it anyway and if the owner of it has any problems with it being posted and would like it removed, please feel free to contact me.


09 Buying a Bass Boat (Fishing bass)

- Bass Rogue

Some boat dealerships operate like car dealerships. The people who work
in these places don't drive the products they sell. Avoid these places,
they only want to sell you something. Look for a dealership where
everyone who works there is a bass boat driver and fishes for the bass.
These people want to sell you something too, but they are also interested
in you joining their crowd. Dealerships like these put on tournaments and
are well-known by the local bass fishing crowd. Look for a dealer who
sells bass boats first and other boats to feed the family. Avoid a dealer
who also sells bass boats, they aren't all that interested in selling
them.

Spend some time at the local bass lakes and talk to the bass boat drivers.
They will point you to the good dealers and give you some good advice.
Ask them how many boats they've own and what their experiences have been.

Most bass boat drivers enjoy talking about their boats. Try to get to
them after they have come in for the day. You can often find the real
boat lovers wiping down their boats in the parking lots.


As far as dealing goes, that's pretty much up to you. Most people in this
country are willing to pay what they are told to pay. If you are going to
spend $10,000 to $30,000 for a boat, have something to say. That's a lot
of money and a lot of hours at work. When I buy something big like a boat
or a car, I do it in one day - I don't have a lot of time. I tell the
dealer that I'm buying today, and if they are nice and polite, they'll
make the sale. I also tell them I'm the world's nicest guy, but I have
little patience with game playing. It also doesn't bother me to tell off
a dealer. Don't act like a kid in a candy store, be all business and be a
hard-sell. Make the dealer do the work. Generally speaking, I'm quite
reserved and make the dealer do all the work.


Look for package deals, where the dealer orders a bunch of boats
configured the same way and then offers them at a savings. When you add
upgrades and accessories, only pay cost. Get the dealer to throw in
something to close the deal. A custom cover is a good throw-in ($300 -
$400).


Late spring through early fall is the selling season for boat dealers. A
lot of people spend the whole summer talking themselves into buying a boat
and just before summer dies off for the year, they buy a boat. Wait until
the holidays set in, and the bass go deep and sit there until next spring.
When the bass aren't biting, the bass boat dealers will be willing to work
a little harder to make a sale to pay some bills.


You might also be interested in getting a boat that is a year old. Some
bass boat drivers start off with a 17 or 18 footer with a 125 to 150 hp
motor and then within a year move up to a 19 to 22 footer with a 200 - 225
hp motor. The smaller boats are often taken in on consignment where the
dealer has to sell them before they can sell the bigger boat. I had my
dealer sell my old boat before I would close on my new one. He sold it in
two weeks, and I got a little less than what I wanted. You can get 30% to
40% off on the original price buying a year-old boat. Generally speaking,
it only takes a weekend to make a year-old boat look like a brand new one.

If you go this way, be sure to check on the remaining warranty times,
especially on the motor.