Boat prices

[TheGuy56]

How come dealers don't post the prices of bare hulls or the price's for the packages on their web pages. Isint the price the same all the time or is it always changing, it always says contact dealer and then you call to get a quote and you get someone who seems like they had terrible day and is upset that you botherd them with your stupid questions. Should I just pay what ever price they ask or is it wrong to try and get the best deal I can. Just wondering if any of you out there have any simmiliar experiences or info, I know that a lot of the sales people are members of the form, so that said I am not a trying to call anyone out or slam dealers but just want to be in the know of such things.

 

[BrownBear]

Best is to check prices in Oregon and Washington too, along with shipping costs. Lotta folks are adding up significant savings in doing so. Sure helps to make the locals more polite and interested in your business.

I know a couple of cases where the locals price matched Down South prices including shipping, once they learned the buyer knew what he was talking about and was ready to walk out the door.

 

[potbuilder]

Take your money elsewhere, there's plenty of dealers outside who want your business. Its no big deal to ship a boat up here.

 

[BrownBear]

Its no big deal to ship a boat up here.

No kidding. Bud of mine shopped hard for a Hewescraft package up here, then checked with Tom and Jerry's in Portland, OR. Even after paying shipping, he saved well over 10%.

 

[TheGuy56]

I have checked nada prices and for what I want it's saying the value is about 5 to 6 G's less than a lot of the quotes I have been getting and the nada guide says that they base it off of the MSRP's for everything

 

[AK6Pack]

I second Tom and Jerry's in Mt. Vernon Washington. I tried to give my money to the Alaska folks but they straight up told me that they wouldn't even humor the outside prices. So I went with the Washington dealer and couldn't be happier!

 

[BrownBear]

I second Tom and Jerry's in Mt. Vernon Washington.

Oops! Got my OR and WA crossed up. I've heard great things about and outfit in Portland as well as Tom and Jerry's, so crossed them up. A good sign that there are several good places to choose from.

 

[Ronster]

Another recommendation for Tom and Jerrys. They will even put the boat on the ferry for you, all you have to do is pick it up at the dock.

 

[Kingfisher10]

Not sure what hull you are looking at but I had a great experience with the Bay company in Craig, AK, they put the boat on the barge and I picked it up in Haines

 

[1S1K]

I'm gonna be a nay sayer in this thread regarding shipping boats up from OR or WA. I have looked at Tom and Jerry's and other dealers in OR and WA and the best I was able to find was maybe $5K difference in price, no where near 10%. By the time you pay $2,500K for shipping you're at a saving of $2,500. You still have to drive to Haines to pick the boat up and drive it back, or continue to pay to have it ferried or trucked to your specific location. Lets stick with the - you pick it up in Haines - scenario. If you paid yourself your wage in hours, wear and tear on your tow vehicle and fuel, you real quickly eat up $2,500. Let's assume you only spend half that in time and fuel then your true savings is only $1250. I'd keep my money in AK for that amount.

Here's the good news - If I'm wrong and you truly can save $10K on a $100K boat then by all means go to the Lower 48, but I have NEVER seen this Lower 48 BS pencil out on vehicles or boats, trailers - nothing. IMO people who tell you they save $10K on stuff from the lower 48 either have a sweet heart of a deal (that you can't get), they had some other reason to go to the Lower 48 so the expense of the travel was already occurring, OR - and this is more likely - they did not really factor in all the "costs".

I am not dealer loyal to anyone in AK or Lower 48 and I too shop for the best price I can find, so I'm not saying buy AK, I'm just saying make sure you really pencil out the true cost of getting a boat from the lower 48.

If someone has done the boat shipping thing, then post up your true costs vs. buying local. I doubt there's 10% savings in any scenario.

 

[Kingfisher10]

My shipping costs from Craig to Haines were $1,580.00, I tried to get it put on a barge to Valdez but the barge companies wanted to bring it back to Seattle and reship it to here, that was going to cost between 8 and 10K depending on which barge I used, so it went on a ferry first to a different location and then it was put on a barge and brought to Haines, it didn't make a lot of sense as to why they wouldn't barge it from Craig to here since Valdez was the last stop on their barge schedule but the Bay Company worked it out and got it done. It took me 130 gallons of fuel to round trip, I left Valdez on a Monday morning at 5 and was back here with the boat on Wed afternoon. I haven't priced any boats lately to see what they cost here as compared to the lower 48 but I do know that shipping a boat to here is more than 5K, at least what the barge companies quoted me was more than 5K

 

[hoose35]

For me, it's not been worth the hassle to save a couple grand by going to the lower 48 to finance something for 15 years. If I was paying cash out of pocket, yes I would look around harder.

 

[Bullelkklr]

To me a financed loan equals cash out of pocket and then some.

But, for two grand, the instant satisfaction of picking up a boat at Deweys or wherever would be worth it to me.

 

[1S1K]

Hoose and Kingfisher are stating exaclty what I found out. Any list price savings are quickly eaten up trying to get the boat up here from wherever down there. The bottom line is there is more to it than seeing a Hewescraft for $90K at Dewey's and seeing the same Hewescaft at Tom N Jerry's for $81K and from my experience there was never a 10% price difference. Actually, all the math I did showed that the local AK dealers were $7K above lower 48 prices, which IMO reflected the shipping cost and hassle that I'd have to deal with vs. just picking it up here in AK.

 

[TheGuy56]

That's about what I have been finding out I think my best bet is to try and get everything I want and then just set it up my self. I could go used, but for a boat that I plan on having for seven to ten years and taking long trips with my wife and son I would rather not be dealing with someone else's old boat and for the price people want for their beat up used boats I naught as well go new. That's how I am feeling about that, or u could just get a better job and not worry about the price if things.

 

[Frostbitten]

I picked up my 2014 Hewescraft Alaskan 26 (the same day hoose picked up his Duckworth) from Dewey's. I also did the same research as most everyone else, contacting different dealers in the PNW. Factoring in all the shipping costs, going that route would have been a wash at best, but I didn't have to wait. Maybe I just got lucky in that Dewey's had the exact boat/package I was looking for. Perhaps if I couldn't have found what I was looking for, I would have gone the route of having one shipped up here.

 

[Catch It]

Well, in Southeast, going the PNW route is a no brainer. Unfortunate your shipping up there has to negate the savings. My best experience in getting my raider in Oregon was that the guy actually acted like he wanted my business......a rare event in recent years up here. Put it on the ferry for about 2k and she was in my yard three days later. He even towed it to Seattle for me for nothin, where I hired a guy for a few hundred bucks to put it on the ferry a few days later.

However, The Bay Company is a pretty decent outfit from my experiences with them.

And I'm sorry, but a 15 year note at 4.5% like I have in my boat is a sweet deal. At that interest rate, i'm ahead to borrow, and I'm already paid a few years ahead, but it's nice that someone isn't coming looking to beat me up for what the ten year loan would be each month if I ever have things get tight.

 

[redleader]

I saved 10k picking up my 22' Thunderjet on my may up in Washington, was no big deal as I was bringing my truck and camper up anyway.

 

[Bullelkklr]

who carries your note? that is a good rate.

Well, in Southeast, going the PNW route is a no brainer. Unfortunate your shipping up there has to negate the savings. My best experience in getting my raider in Oregon was that the guy actually acted like he wanted my business......a rare event in recent years up here. Put it on the ferry for about 2k and she was in my yard three days later. He even towed it to Seattle for me for nothin, where I hired a guy for a few hundred bucks to put it on the ferry a few days later.

However, The Bay Company is a pretty decent outfit from my experiences with them.

And I'm sorry, but a 15 year note at 4.5% like I have in my boat is a sweet deal. At that interest rate, i'm ahead to borrow, and I'm already paid a few years ahead, but it's nice that someone isn't coming looking to beat me up for what the ten year loan would be each month if I ever have things get tight.

 

[Catch It]

Advantis Credit Union out of Portland.......they have some wonky requirements for PNW residency, but since my wife is from there, and inlaws are still there, they let me in (my wife actually, I just cosigned....tee heee)......or they just said that until they saw my credit didn't suck......either way, good folks thus far.