Boat buying tactics....advice please!

As with any significant capital purchase the best times to buy are either on model 'upgrade' or towards the company year end. If a business is profitable and the product range stable the best time for them to offload stock is towards their year end. Download their company accounts from comapnies house (worth doing anyway for solvency reasons) and check out their year end, also look at currency fluctuations for alternate EU countries for purchase. Commentaries on relative currency fluctuations can easily be downloaded from many of the investment house websites.

Finally play the usual tricks- alternate brands, inventory from older boats, details of boats on the seat of your car as you drive away etc. Good luck.
 
I purchased a new yacht last year. Do not feel too sorry for the dealers, they have margins and they know what they are. Push hard for what you want - be cheeky. The worst that will happen is they say NO, or there is a click and the phone goes dead. Be as hard as you like, I found they like straight talking.
 
Forgot to mention, don't forget to walk away - they will ring you back after a couple of days!!
 
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After much deliberation and due to the fact that we now intend to keep our boat in the UK rather than take it abroad, we are now downsizing to a smaller new boat. Gives us the added advantage of lower maintenance efforts.

It is a very small manufacturer, so I don't think discounts are going to be in order, but what I'm finding is that the commissioning and delivery charges seem unreasonably large. Does anyone know what dealers do in commissioning and why it is so costly? Putting the rig up, filling up, testing the engine, screw in anything that hasn't been yet - what more do they do?

I'm trying to tackle the delivery charges by getting the boat delivered to Cherbourg, cause crossing the channel seems the most expensive bit!!

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That sounds awfully like Northshore. Boat price isnt bad for the quality, but the commissioning / launch cost is simply laughable.
 
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Thanks, very useful information.

Interested in how you manage to keep some money back as most dealers are insistent on full payment before delivery.

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Retentions of 5-15% are common on commercial contracts. I would seriously suspect the motives of any yard not accepting stage payments. Pay for materials up front and labour as it progresses. So pay for the boat up front but pay commisioning costs ONLY when you are fully satisfied that all is in order. Then if they screw up, you can dispute the charges from a position of strength (you have boat & money). Any company that has poor standards of service/ commisioning wil not wish to accept such risk.
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Thanks very much for letting us have your experiences.
I have looked at second hand, however, dont have much time to spare travelling to see them.
I made enquiries last year with peters opal who seemed keen to strike a deal at the time, July i think, now they dont seem to be so keen. Maybe timing in the year is the key.
Thanks all, I'll keep you posted,
Andy
 
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Got to agree with Twister Ken on this one.

I would also get quotes from Baveria dealers on the continent - I am aware of 2 that bought the boat through the Bav dealer in Ouistreham, one with the deal of reduced VAT if French flagged - they sailed with an EEC flag!!

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Be very aware that unlike cars the dealers offer the warranty support etc. so if you buy a Bavaria in France etc you will get no support or warranty from Bavaria themselves or the dealer in whatever country you intened to keep it in. Any problems will mean returning the boat to the dealer you brought it from!
 
When delivering our new Bav 30 from Ipswich to Vlissingen four weeks ago, the Raymarine Autohelm packed up 4 hours out of Ipswich. We are now waiting for our Dutch marina service department (who happen to be Raymarine agents) to sort it out under the warranty.

Before moving the boat to Holland we discussed warranty issues with Peters Opal and they said there would be no problem, as should anything require doing they would instruct the Dutch dealer to carry out the work on their behalf. Hopefully we won't get to find out how the system works (or doesn't)
 
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OK, we've decided to go for a Bav 30 and we're planning a trip up to Kip for their open day thing over bank hols.

How does the panel think we should handle it?

What sort of "discount" should we expect, if any at all?

Does anyone have any recent experience of this situation and did you get a great deal, or are you expected to pay the price in the pricelist?

Any advice would be greatfully received,

Andy

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My main recommendation would be that you save that money and buy a yacht instead.
 
No inference at all was meant, besides not many surveyors would have seen a Malbec. I would advise that for any yacht. The chap was asking for advice on a new yacht purchase and I would always recomend talking to a surveyor. Boat tests are all well and good but don't tell you how the yacht will fare after a few years of hard use. In my experience surveyors will give their own view which can be different for different yachts within a brand.
 
You can negociate a discount on Bavarias inspite of the fact that they are good value., If one dealer doesn't give you a good enough deal go to another office or dealer.
 
I have been on the Peters Opal mailing list for 3 years, they typicaly have 10+ stock boats on offer at between a 3% and 10% discount most of the year.

Just let slip that you are attracted to the figures quoted by the French Bavaria dealer in Caen based on a 50% VAT discount lease, then watch Opal work hard to secure a sale.

I would caution again buying cross boarder because stories of faulty new yachts from all manufacturers are too common to make the risk worthwhile. That said in 2 years of light use nothing on my 2005 Bavaria has not required any warranty work, a hairline mould release crack surfaced after a year and I should in theory go back to the French dealer to get this filled and polished but 80 miles is a long way for a 1/2 day job.

However neither is buying new from Opal and attractive proposition. In the southern base there is an geographical disconnect between their sales and commissioning units. Their commissioning base at Sparks is a shambles. You see newly delivered masts laying all over the place supported on just two trestles, with a alarming bend in the middle. One lapse in parking concentration from a weekend motorist could knock your mast and create a hidden defect.

By contrast the commissioning facility of the much smaller Caen French dealer puts Opal to shame. He owns the foreshore at his combined sales office and workshop. Having rubbed down my hull during a haulout I can see that the two layers of epoxy paint that I paid for were correctly applied in contrasting colours and this job would have been done in a heated workshop.
 
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