Part exchanging boats

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Boeingdr

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I have just been reading the tread about haggling over boat prices. Very interesting to hear the views expressed on this subject.
It occurs to me that most boat buyers are presented with 2 difficulties, firstly selling their old boat for a a fair price secondly purchasing the new boat for a fair price.
After the first boat we are all either going bigger or sometimes smaller due to changed circumstances untill the day we put to one side this expensive but compelling hobby!
When trading up it would make good sence to part exchange the boat, less time spent in the whole process of selling and buying.
The bigger boat seller would then have some capital and some equity in the new smaller boat..or who knows he/she may even want to downsize.
I have broached part ex possibilities with brokers in the past but it only seems to happen with new boat deals...
Has anybody ever done such a deal..any views?
 
WE part ex'd a boat a few years back... got what I considered a good deal. I am sure the dealer also considered it a good deal as well....

We had some substantial problems with the first boat.. and were keen to get shot... part-exing made that a painless process.. the "value" that the dealer put on our part ex was more than we had paid for the boat.. so on paper we did well....

Of course replacing a used boat with a New New boat did not stop the problems... mearly exchanged them for another set..... it took until after we sold the boat to get the dealer to sort all the snags..... including writing to the MD....

Worked well for us though... and really it just depends on if you are happy with the figures in the end. Bear in mind thought that you take a big hit on initial depreciation with a new boat....

I have seen some brokers/dealers advertising part ex on part-exed boats (Ie the dealer owns the boat... ) I think that if you are looking for something like this... and there may be some advantage to it... then look for a dealer for a major brand, (Versusu just a broker) who will have taken in some boats against new sales.
 
Im not talking about selling buying / selling a home.
So dont really see that as a reasonable comparison, although it is not unheard of for people to exchange homes with a cash v equity deal. I believe there is a website which caters for that market.
 
Boeingdr said:
I have just been reading the tread about haggling over boat prices. Very interesting to hear the views expressed on this subject.
It occurs to me that most boat buyers are presented with 2 difficulties, firstly selling their old boat for a a fair price secondly purchasing the new boat for a fair price.
After the first boat we are all either going bigger or sometimes smaller due to changed circumstances untill the day we put to one side this expensive but compelling hobby!
When trading up it would make good sence to part exchange the boat, less time spent in the whole process of selling and buying.
The bigger boat seller would then have some capital and some equity in the new smaller boat..or who knows he/she may even want to downsize.
I have broached part ex possibilities with brokers in the past but it only seems to happen with new boat deals...
Has anybody ever done such a deal..any views?
Click to expand...

Yes, we part exchanged our boat with someone who was downsizing. - One painless transaction. - My only advice (after an expensive experience buying my first boat) is to get any work done and inspected at the original owners cost before you complete the deal. - This time around there were no surprises, but with my first boat, the value knocked off to replace the cutlass bearings did not come close to the cost of replacing both shafts :-)
 
We px'd aganst an ex demo so essentially new I guess, happy to get shot of the old one, and very happy with the new one, I do believe we didn't get the wine and roses if we hadn't px'd but I rather save the cash and settle for a handshake.

I think the luck of finding a px/trade buyer for two used boats is pretty rare (possible, but rare) but PX'ing against new, ex demo worked well for us

I'm pretty sure most PX's either stay with the dealer or like cars are essentially pre-sold anyway to the likes of EBY so for them it's as good as cash if there judgement on condition is right.
 
"I'm pretty sure most PX's either stay with the dealer or like cars are essentially pre-sold anyway to the likes of EBY so for them it's as good as cash if their judgement on condition is right. "

Not in my experience when I was a dealer.
If you try to run a policy of making the "big, new boat" sale easier by accepting p/xs, the natural tendency is to receive in p/x older and less valuable boats. When you offer these for sale you are asked to take in p/x for them even older and less valuable boats. Probably very few of these will be the make for which you are dealer, so your yard winds up with a motley assortment of old clunkers, most of which smell worse than *****. As there is no boating equivalent of used car auctions, this is a smell that hangs around until in desperation you virtually pay someone to take them away. (We did actually give one away to a local school as a restoration project...)

And of course if your judgement on the original p/x value was a bit rosy, not only is your working capital tied up and storage costs mounting, but there is a loss on eventual realisation.

Certainly NOT as good as cash.
 
Back in the mid 80's I P/ex'd my boat through Nationwide Boat sales (now trading as an Internet only Broker IIRC), and although I did not get the 'going rate' for the little Westerly, I had a fair deal, and it was pretty painless.

However since the 80's the substantially bigger size and average value of a modern yacht, the capital cost involved for a Broker to hold any amount of unsold stock is probably why nobody, including Nationwide, wants to do it! And the chances of matching what you have and want with somoeone going the opposite way in a private deal is probably pretty slender - though by no means impossible!
 
I discarded thoughts of part exchange when I came across the obvious snag. You are limiting your choice of the next boat by giving undue emphasis to those deals that accept part exchange deals.

I came to the conclusion that there a lot of boats for sale out there so look at the boats you want to buy, then discuss Part exchange with the seller but only as a secondary convenience and definitely not as a deal-breaker.

The temptation to end up with a second or third choice boat just because of a part exchange deal would be a massive mistake. Life is too short.
 
This question came up when we started looking for our present boat beofre we had sold our last boat. One broker was quite prepared to put the idea to one of his sellers on the basis that he needed cash to complete the purchase of his new boat and as we would be putting up about 70% of the deal in cash it might work for the seller. It didn't but the broker was quite prepared to make the offer.
 
Nothing wrong with making the offer, allbeit I suspect rare for it to be a goer for both parties on boat match.

In these times may well be a lot more attractive if you are trading up to someone who is very keen for any cash........."don't ask - don't get" :)
 
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