Eberlins was a charger dealer, there was one in Hazelwood off Lindberg and 270 and there was one for a short time between troy and Hawk Point Mo. and there was some across the river in Illinois
I think the reason there are so few dealers is because sales have sucked for years. Dealers that were not there: Belleville Sports, Quillers, Trout and Sons, Cowtown, Gator boats, Riverpro. I only noticed some of the small guys because both me and my buddy wanted to look at some jet boats
Clark's Boat & Motor Co. over in Alto, Ill. is or was a Charger dealer... Dan
There was one in Washington Mo for a short while. Maybe one in Sullivan also?
I got nothin
I got nothin
Main reason some of those "outlying" dealers no longer go to the StL Boat Show is the almost $5 a square foot cost plus food and lodging for their staff for 5 days. I'm pretty sure this was the 1st year Marty's came to StL. Of course Marty sold Marty's 2 years ago. I'm sure Kelly had a little to do with them showing up because StL used to have a pretty strong Champion crowd. I just don't think the Charger Champion is going to garner back that bunch mainly because they're getting too old and the younger crowd has gone to other manufactures. I'm really waiting to see how Vexus is going to shake up the industry. Will people fawn all over them because of who is building them? Will present Ranger dealers jump ship? Will present Ranger owners abandon what they thought was the best of the best? I can hardly wait.
The young crowd and older are buying the 210 .Once the 198 comes I bet sales double again just from the 210 sales.People are buying the 210 and the orders show that it’s still a desired hull.They don’t post every boat that is built and there’s only 10 people on the charger board that post. They have sold way over 6-7000 boats in 45 years and owners of chargers just don’t get on here and post.Kelly knows a lot of people that want the champ hull and now he has 2 models to offer them .The problem with charger is no advertising if they ran a few ads in bassmaster or on tv it would definitely get the word out that champ hull is back.But as joe says we can only build so many a year .They build a lot of deck boats and all the consoles and and anything fiberglass for all the toons they sell I know Joe Dorris said they are close with the 198 and 210 orders that keep coming in.Charger is a lot more than just a bassboat company.
I think the 198 will challenge the Caracal and 919 in sales as it may pull a lot of those buyers in that general under 20 foot market over to the 198.
Real world prices are not MSRP prices.Boat dealers are not allowed for the first year to give out what the real world prices they can only “MSRP.Once you sit down to make the deal then the real world price comes out.
2018, just spec’d it last Friday.
you know: 2 hummingbird 7” helix graphs, tandem axle trailer, jackplate, merc 225 Pro xs, 24v Fortrex, 3 bank mk Charger, 3 agm battery’s, slidemaster jackplate, emergency ladder, etc. The only thing else to upgrade would be dual console, bigger graphs, hydraulic jackplate, a fancier
double bolt color scheme and they have an option for more gas tanks.
I can post a picture of the spec sheet, but I doubt a person could read it.
Its going to be hard to make a deal when I have to drive 4 hours to the closest dealer to find out what the real price is. There is no way this boat will cost more than a 210 and the dealerships should quit with these ridiculous prices that they are throwing out there since we can see the 210’s prices being in the mid/upper 50’s-low 60’s.
But I get it, they sell enough that they don’t really need the sales from the smaller boat.
Last edited by grout-scout; 02-14-2018 at 09:50 PM.
That seems like a good price on a Caracal rigged out like that.
To be honest, he told me exactly how much profit he adds to the cost and it’s way cheaper than most dealerships charge. He used to be a charger dealer but dropped it because of lack of sales, I’m wishing like hell he was still a dealer now!
and I’m scared at how a Caracal rides, never been in one and I can’t imagine they have a champ ride.