New Bass boat fever, need sound advise pls

[ArkLaTex69]

Hello to all,
First want to tell everyone about myself.
my wife and I are looking for buy a New Boat within the next couple of months. I Live in what we call the ArkLaTex, which is Shreveport area. There is 4 Boat retailers in Shreveport and Bossier city area. 1 being Bass pro shops. 1 carry’s Ranger, Triton. Other dealer carries Skeeter. Last one don’t carry glass boats. Not here to bash our local dealers or i am not brand loyal yet. I am first and foremost looking for a dealership that is there for in my case me.
visiting our local dealers several times to look and learn on brands and what they offer I find myself lost as a goose.
The dealer that sells Ranger and Triton seems like they don’t care to sell a boat or offer help at all. 4X visit. Skeeter dealer has a very nice salesman that I can never get him to have a detailed conversation with about price or service. 5x visit. Bass pro shop are always helpful but have doubts on Nitro boats, resale, quality etc. I don’t mind buying a boat outside of my area but when it comes to have boat serviced is the problem. There are other brands of boats that I would love to look at but there is no local dealers here, I went to our boat show and the other brands were not present their either. So now what are we looking for:
A New bass boat 18’ or 19’, 4 stroke is a must.ultrex with no power poles.
will be mostly Bass and crappie fishing on Caddo Lake. Price point 30 to 40k.
thanks for any and all help.
Keith

[Dlwfish]

I run Skeeters so H&W Marine gets my vote.. Great people and their services department has gone out of their way to help me. Destroyed my lower unit during a practice day for the Bass Champs championship and they had us back on the water in one day. If you want to drive a bit Nautical Mile Marine is who I use as my go to dealer. I live in DFW and drive there for my service if that tells you anything. Stay away from Bass Pro Shop... Just my two cents & good luck!

[billnorman1]

I don't live there and I don't buy used. If there is any way you can find out customer satisfaction on the dealers service departments that would point the way it seems. I fail to understand why the Skeeter dealer does not fall all over you IF you can afford his product.

[ArkLaTex69]

Very nice salesman@ H&W as a person but will not devote time to me and my questions. It seems crazy that these dealers around here are not more helpful.

[ArkLaTex69]

I have visited H&W 5 times with no more info on a new Skeeter than what I knew before I walked in there knowing just the name. Salesman is a very nice person but he will not devote time to questions being asked and price. He talks about everything else under the sun. There service department seems to be great. The worked on my 96 Stratos and did a great job. Also want to look at all other brands before my purchase within 2 months.

[Dave A]

Next time you go to H&W ask for a price, if the salesman want give you one look for the manager "if" your interested in buying a Skeeter.

[billnorman1]

Next time you go to H&W ask for a price, if the salesman want give you one look for the manager "if" your interested in buying a Skeeter.

Yeah, and ask if you can have the salesman's commission off the price. He didn't earn it.

[jc2bg]

Something doesn’t compute in your [the OP] situation. With no criticism of any parties intended, have you pondered why the dealerships you’ve visited multiple times don’t seem to be taking you seriously? We’re probably all familiar with the phrase “tire kicker,” and unfortunately boat dealers seem to either get or imagine they are getting more than their share of same. Unless you are pricing pre-packaged boats, such as a particular model on the floor, boat dealers are reluctant to give you a price. Their reasoning is that if they price it with what they consider all the popular options, their price will be undercut if you next visit a competing dealer who gives instead a bare-bones price. Similarly, they worry that if they price bare-bones, you might be put off by your expectation that the boat they have priced will have features not included. Bottom line, if you tell them exactly which model you want, with exactly which [or no] options, and in addition tell them you are ready to buy or order immediately, all of a sudden [I predict] they’ll be all too happy to provide pricing. Of course, if you have a trade to be valued, you also need to bring the trade-in along for their viewing. In short, if you are ready to deal, unless you happen to catch them when they are truly swamped, I think you will find that the dealers are just as ready. If you are not really ready and/or that’s the vibe the dealers are getting from you, they are probably going to be unready to talk brass tacks with you.

[riverlizard]

Call rothwell marine. They aren't very far from you and their service is 2nd to none

[ArkLaTex69]

Problem is with any of the Brands It just seems I can not get information on them from the salesmen. Skeeter or ???? Why skeeter? Why Triton? Why Ranger? What Bass cat? Etc. but I know how hard some stranger can shake a hand, salesman wanted me to shake a guys hand came in the front door@ H&W. I did talk to Manger at H&W and he told me that salesman could get me a hard price on what I am looking for, which I did not.

[ArkLaTex69]

Well I guess you would have to live it to understand it, yes I am per say kicking tires! I would like to find out which brands and dealerships offer what. I know what options I want, just do not know what boat I want. How do you do that without as you say kicking the tires? Asking questions, getting a understanding of what each mfg has to offer. But to never talk with someone to waste their time is crazy to me. Sorry this is not a impulse buy for me, not going to walk in and say yeah give me that one! So I do not understand your thinking of not helping at all. Might work for you but not I. Not to sound aggressive here just clearing up my position.

[Jumping Jimmy]

I know how you feel. It is not like buying an automobile where they are all over you with info etc. When I bought new years ago it was like pulling teeth to get a price out of a boat dealer. That is one thing I like about BPS. I think you need to just go look at as many boats as you can and decide on what you like. Look at the boats for sale page here and get an idea on what the various models cost (1 YO boat). When you decide what you want, line up your finances, go to a couple dealers and get the best price you can get and buy.

[paulrodbender]

I spent over a year to buy a new truck. Every dealer around me weren't really interested because I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted. I advise you do most of the research online and perhaps ask questions here. Look at all the manufactures and see what they have to offer in your price range and then go look at the model you like at the dealer nearest you, call first and ask if they have it. Narrow it down to one or two models and exactly what you want and then let the dealer do the work for you, as far as service and price and a let them demo the boat and a on the water test. I would never buy a boat without seeing if it even floats, new or used. Let yourself tell you want you want and not a dealer.

[jc2bg]

I spent over a year to buy a new truck. Every dealer around me weren't really interested because I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted. I advise you do most of the research online and perhaps ask questions here. Look at all the manufactures and see what they have to offer in your price range and then go look at the model you like at the dealer nearest you, call first and ask if they have it. Narrow it down to one or two models and exactly what you want and then let the dealer do the work for you, as far as service and price and a let them demo the boat and a on the water test. I would never buy a boat without seeing if it even floats, new or used. Let yourself tell you want you want and not a dealer.

Great advice ^. Do your homework first, determining from manufacturers’ web sites, conversations with boat owners, and your own conclusions which couple of models with which options make your short list. Then visit dealers, phrasing your semi-final questions as specifically as possible. “What will you do for me” is not a question that’s likely to be very productive; nor is “Why is Ranger better than Skeeter?” Or at least, a these are questions very difficult for any dealer to truthfully and specifically answer. “How much will annual maintenance cost me? Or “How do I arrange service calls?” Those are much more specific and answerable queries. Specific pricing comes last. General pricing is obtainable any time, usually through manufacturers’ web sites.

[Boatseller]

I hear this complaint all the time from customers and I am blaming it on the internet shopper. I have sold to customers on the first visit and on some it takes a year. I remember one customer who was an engineer and he drove 3 hours on 4 different occasions and spent all day with me each time and due to the time I spent with him, he purchased and became a life long customer with 4 more boats purchases. I agree 100% with doing your homework as there is a wealth of info now that there did not use to be but if a dealership does not spend time with you on each visit or if a salesman does not call you back, MOVE ON. There are really good dealerships out there that want your business and I have had the pleasure of working for several. Good Luck on your search.

[jtracc]

Problem is with any of the Brands It just seems I can not get information on them from the salesmen. Skeeter or ???? Why skeeter? Why Triton? Why Ranger? What Bass cat? Etc. but I know how hard some stranger can shake a hand, salesman wanted me to shake a guys hand came in the front door@ H&W. I did talk to Manger at H&W and he told me that salesman could get me a hard price on what I am looking for, which I did not.

Bass boat shopping is not like truck shopping. You just can't pull into a ranger or skeeter dealership and test drive (some you can). It's boat show season so I suggest take a road trip to a large boat show that will have all the major brands on display. You can walk around all the models and manufacturers and speak with the pro staff guys there. You will also see guys there looking who may have some insight on a particular brand with no biase opinion. In combination with some on line research there shouldn't be too much left to convince you in a decision. The only other thing that could be holding you back is the fact you are not ready to purchase, in that case don't waist your time. I see it all the time on here "I'm thinking of buying a boat in 2021 what should I buy" that's not a serious buyer. Show up to your dealer of choice with make and model of choice with confidence, knowledge and ready to buy. You will be surprised what kind of a deal you can get.

Good luck and have have fun with the purchase.

[Warmart]

There are tons of dealerships, IF you are willing to expand your range. Hell, I'd easily drive 500 miles to get solid customer service. I'm still waiting for my next boat (should be ready in a couple weeks) but I'll tell you, I talked to at least 30 dealerships in 4 different states. The dealers around me didn't have any interest, just like you've mentioned. I don't expect to be treated like royalty, but when I call a dealership to inquire about a boat they have listed on their site, and they tell me it's not in stock - and then I say "Ok" and they just want to hang up (happens all too often) - then I just scratched another dealership off my list. They are making it easy for you too, sir! Scratch 'em off and move along until you get treated like someone spending $20 to 50K+ should be treated. You can always use a different service department than where you buy.

[Fx20 2011]

I'm probably different than most people. When I was looking for a new boat this time one year ago I did all my own research. It is so easy. I used company web sites, forums, you tube and other information that can be found on the web site. In fact I beleive I knew more about each boat than the dealer.

Thus I narrowed my choices based on what I wanted. As far as the dealer I really did need the salesman. I climbed all over each boat checking the little things that were important to me. Oh the salesman did take covers off of boats for me and opened up their large storage building. But to be honest he just left me on my own.

Once decided on the boat and told the salesman I want to buy it the conversation and interaction changed. I had a few questions that were promptly answered and we haggled on a final price. There is some room but not a heck of a lot. When I was happy and he was happy I agreed to purchase the boat. It was going to take a few weeks to get it ready as it was in March and the boat was packed in a crowded storage building. I only gave him a $500 deposit at this time.

I got far more information when I picked up my boat. They had it detailed and went over every little item. Once I was happy I gave him my down payment and signed the papers.

While looking for a boat I felt like well a little put off as they didn't shower me with a lot of warmth. Once I said I'm buying this boat things changed. When I picked up the boat they made me feel special that day.

I guess they get a ton of people looking but never buying boats. But I think it is important to research and get all your information on your own.

I talked to three larger Skeeter dealers and this is how it went with them all. In addition I talked to one Bass Pro dealer and much the same interaction.

[LewStulePH.D.]

Open Your search area. Then allow the local dealer EARN Your service money.

[Pipercub]

Totally agree with Fx20 2011!

I did all my research on my own and decided which boat I wanted. There's so much information available, you can find out virtually anything about a particular brand of boat. Once I narrowed it down I started going to dealerships to do some "hands on" looking. I preferred the salesman just let me look on my own. The only thing I needed the salesman for was to fill out the paperwork once I decided to order my boat...lol