Too good to be true - European boat prices?

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thecommander

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After viewing a Sealine S23 we've decided we want something we can use all year round and not just 3 months in the summer. We really like the look of the Merry Fisher 755, the Antares 7.80 and the Parker 750 Cabin Cruiser. All seem like great boats and would be a step up from our 18ft cuddy cruiser. Any advice on how to choose between those 3 boats, feel free to answer!! *Maybe* add in the Quichsliver Activ 705 Cruiser aswell!

Anyway my question is, are prices from mainland European boat dealers/brokers too good to be true? For example I've seen on a French dealers site - http://www.marine-center.fr/bateau-beneteau-antares-7-80-hb-neuf-ANTAR198BAR.html. Basically €30k (£20k approx) for an Antares 7.80 without an engine. In the UK this boat would be at least £42k with an engine. Providing you can find an new outboard at around £15k and that's a saving of nearly £7k. Transportation costs from France to the Solent I imagine would only be a couple of grand?

This is too good to be true? Or is the language barrier and hassle make it unrealistic?
 
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Have been perusing the euro prices for Princess 35/388 or Fairline 36 Sedan for quite some time now.
Not only are the prices extremely competitive compared to UK asking prices, probably due to financial difficulties being endured by owners but the falling euro has further increased the gap between UK and EU prices.
As an example, the asking price of a particular boat in Italy (already at about 75% of UK price) has dropped in by £1200 sterling in the past few months.
This was before the latest euro falls..
Even when you factor in cost of getting it back (5K in central Europe 5-6 K in Portugal) you can now make a considerable saving on UK boat asking prices.
EU vessels also tend to have better specs (Genny/A/C/more modern Nav Gear) possibly due to the owners needing more disposable to keep the boat down there in the first place.
It has been mentioned before about the impact of hot sun on gel coat but this would be simple task compared to restoring entire enteriors of UK boats damaged by years of water and damp damage.
My recent scouring of UK marinas has proved very disappointing regarding very poor interior state of virtually every boat we have looked at .
No doubt there will some trusted UK based companies,prepared for a fee,to take of financial and transport difficulties should one not wish to do this yourself.
An excellent time to look abroad. ?
 
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I doubt whether the UK dealers have had time yet to adjust their published prices to reflect the recent weakening of the Euro but as Whitelighter says, talk to them and point out the disparity in prices. Don't forget though that the UK dealer price might include transport to the UK which is an extra cost you if you buy in France and lastly are you sure you're not comparing ex VAT prices with inc VAT prices?
To answer your last question, I've bought a number of used boats in Europe and the language barrier has never been a problem
 
Think you will find that is an ex VAT price for the French dealer. There is very little difference in official list prices for new boats across Europe as they are controlled by the manufacturer precisely to limit competion between dealers in different countries. They are usually set at a fixed exchange rate, although of course in Europe they all use one currency. so any differences in final prices are down to individual negotiation, or as now when you are buying in £ the benefit of the fall in value of the euro compared with when list prices were set. so, think when you get a firm quote from the French dealer compared to the UK dealer, the difference will be due to extra shipping costs but the benefit of the good exchange rate.

This does not apply to used boats as there are certainly bargains to be had on specific boats in Europe, if you are prepared to do the travel and deal with the hassle of getting the boat to where you want it. The test is to compare the total price of the boat in the place you want it to be, but of course taking into account the relative condition and equipment of each.
 
Tranona said:
They are usually set at a fixed exchange rate, although of course in Europe they all use one currency.
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That would be highly unusual as the manufacturer would have to take the risk of exchange rate movements. In a cottage industry like boatbuilding, it would be far more usual for individual national dealers to manage the exchange rate risk and in the case of the UK dealer, he may well have used a very conservative exchange rate to calculate his published Sterling list prices which will probably account for the apparent disparity between his prices and the French dealer. The UK dealer might have another problem too; he might well have bought stock boats in the last few months when the € was much stronger against the £ and therefore be unable to discount the Sterling price to compete with the French dealer. Having said this, I'm sure that the UK dealer will do everything he can to get the OP's business and apart from the price, the UK dealer does offer the advantage of being in the UK and being able to deal with warranty problems much more easily
 
The exchange rate bit only applies (as far as we are concerned) between the £ and Euro which as you know has been fairly constant until recently. The big builders like Beneteau, Bavaria and Jeanneau are not cottage industry and do fix the published list prices and use a pre determined exchange rate for the £ equivalent. The dealer may well buy forward against his expected sales, in which case changes in exchange rate make take some time to work through into prices.

As I suggested any final differenc is likely to be through bargaining - part exchange, adding extras, giving away a bit of margin etc. However, the big builders really discourage their dealers from doing this as it weakens the value of a territory dealership. Rather different from the free for all of 15 years or so ago where you could make significant savings buying from a European dealer on some brands. The euro has made this "orderly" pricing much easier.
 
The big builders like Beneteau, Bavaria and Jeanneau are not cottage industry and do fix the published list prices and use a pre determined exchange rate for the £ equivalent. The dealer may well buy forward against his expected sales, in which case changes in exchange rate make take some time to work through into prices.
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Well if BBJ do publish fixed Sterling list prices, why is the dealer having to buy Euros to buy boats? It doesn't make sense. If the Euro were to strengthen against Sterling, then those fixed list prices could cause the dealer to lose money on every sale because he's having to buy boats at a weaker exchange rate than the fixed prices have been calculated at. So either the manufacturer is selling in Sterling, which I doubt, or the dealer is calculating his published list prices rather than the manufacturer

As I suggested any final differenc is likely to be through bargaining - part exchange, adding extras, giving away a bit of margin etc. However, the big builders really discourage their dealers from doing this as it weakens the value of a territory dealership. Rather different from the free for all of 15 years or so ago where you could make significant savings buying from a European dealer on some brands. The euro has made this "orderly" pricing much easier.
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They may discourage their dealers from discounting list prices but in the case of the UK dealer, a strengthening £/€ exchange rate and a fixed Sterling pricelist leaves him at a price disadvantage against the other Eurozone dealers so he's going to lose business and be very unhappy because any buyer with an ounce of commonsense is going to check out the price of his new boat from other dealers in the Eurozone, just as the OP has done. And as we know, there is nothing to stop a UK buyer from making a purchase in any other EU country. Yes I know in big volume industries like motor cars, manufacturers maintain orderly Sterling pricing which does not move up and down with exchange rate movements, in order to protect their market share and maintain used values, but boat building volumes are not anywhere in the same league. In any case, in the car industry as you may remember, many UK buyers, me included, bought cars in Europe when large disparities between Sterling list prices and Euro prices occured in the late '90s
 
thecommander said:
We really like the look of the Merry Fisher 755, the Antares 7.80 and the Parker 750 Cabin Cruiser. All seem like great boats and would be a step up from our 18ft cuddy cruiser. Any advice on how to choose between those 3 boats, feel free to answer!!
For example I've seen on a French dealers site - http://www.marine-center.fr/bateau-beneteau-antares-7-80-hb-neuf-ANTAR198BAR.html. Basically €30k (£20k approx) for an Antares 7.80 without an engine. In the UK this boat would be at least £42k with an engine. Providing you can find an new outboard at around £15k and that's a saving of nearly £7k. Transportation costs from France to the Solent I imagine would only be a couple of grand?
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The advert says *a partir de, which means *price from... So this 30.120€ will be for a new boat without any options and plus transportation from the yard to the dealer. The bare, naked boat imo.
The MF755 and Antares 7.80 are both great boats. Good layout and well used space. Great cockpit, especially with hood. My personal choice would be the MF - it feels a bit more "open" inside. But that's personal choice.
If you want to tow the boat on a trailer, the MF 695 could be an option, as it is only 2,54m wide.
I've read in a french magazine, that the parker takes quite a lot of water when it is stopped from planning speed.

Chris
 
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