Too fast? What's that mean?

J-K Bob. I'd cross Nitro & Astro off your list. Ranger is a great boat but
you pay a big chunk just for the name. Stratos & Champion are excellent
boats too. I'm totally in love with my Gambler, I doubt I'll ever get out
of one.

Warren

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
news:1099930314.t2ieFKrizOgwxLFyfKhrCA@teranews...
"Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers" wrote in
message ...

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
In my hunt for a new boat I have heard a couple people mention that
there
are some huge mega dealers in the mid west that really sell boats at
the
best rates just becasue they sell so many boats.

Since my only local dealer only sells Ranger, and I have moved Ranger
down
my list a bit I am now having to explore pricing and availability out
of
town. Since my buy local first may not be practical I see no reason
not
to
go where I need to in order to get the features I want at the best
price.

So who are these Mega Dealers?

I would be VERY cautious dealing with a "Mega Dealer", especially if you
are
going to travel quite a distance to buy the boat.

I made the mistake of buying my last boat from a distant dealer. While
I
did get a good price, his idea of service and mine were quite a ways
apart.
Part of the reason that I got a good price is my guide service partner
Gil
and I both bought boats at the same time. We were promised that anytime
we
needed service, because we are guides and need to have the boats ready
at
all times, we would get preferrential treatment.

I've had numerous minor warranty problems that have gone either
unresolved
or I've had to fix, and pay for out of my own pocket.

On Gil's first guide job of the year, he accidentally hit a rock with
his
lower unit, doing some pretty good damage to the prop, the lower unit
and
the skeg. To make a long story short, the dealer had his boat in excess
of
SIX WEEKS! The loaner boat that was promised to either of us in the
event
of such a disaster never arrived. The dealer stopped taking phone calls
from either of us and wouldn't answer e-mails either. How would this
dealer
have affected your tournament schedule?

So, my suggestion to you would be to look closer to home and don't worry
so
much about saving a grand or two. There's more to buying a boat than
price
alone.

Steve, I mostly agree with the sentiment, but of the three local shops
the
only one that gives me any kind of preferential treatment is not a dealer
at
all. In the one where I have actually bought two boats in the past I can
get technical advice freely if I want to do work myself, but when I had a
motor problem that I discovered the day before a classic they told me I'd
HAVE TO do it myself or not fish. Also, your comments on a thousand or
two
are perfectly valid, but I am already finding a much larger price
difference
can be had on some boats, and even more when you compare different brands
with Ranger being the most expensive across the board.

The decision not to buy locally is not taken lightly. I will go out of my
way to buy locally if they have what I want at a price even close
competitive, and the local Ranger dealer has given me pricing that is
better
than most prices I have found in the region. I would have to go several
states away to get a better price on a Ranger. I just don't like having
only one choice. Currently I am looking at Stratos and Champion, but I
still haven't totally ruled out Ranger, Nitro, and Astro. I am pretty
much
sold on NOT buying one of the built for speed boats like Blazer and
Allison.
Anything over 70 MPH is too fast most of the time anyway.