Buying first boat and need advice

I recently purchased a home on a lake in central Florida and built a dock/boathouse and now I'm looking to buy my first boat. I think I have narrowed the search down to a 2016/17 21 SPX.

I would love to hear opinions on this particular model from anyone with experience but my main question is how best to navigate the buying process. As far as I can tell buying a new boat is even more of a pain than buying a new car. Are there any sources on the web where you can research the dealers true cost to help determine a fair offer/selling price?

What are the tricks of the trade boat dealers use that I should look out for and avoid? Any and all advice provided will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

1) Buy a gently used boat (2014/2015) and get a survey - you'll save tons of $
2) All the Sea Ray dealers are nearly monopolistic; be prepared to travel a distance to play one against another. There's only 1 authorized dealer in Seattle; have to go to Portland or Spokane to get to the other (but not a 3rd).
3) Most importantly, buy your 2nd boat first. You'll regret it otherwise.

Good luck.

Since the number of boats sold each year is a very small number when compared to cars, the buying process is different. I recommend going to a boat show or two so you can see many different boats at the same time. Walking through and sitting in a boat makes a difference. As Wazzu indicated, you basically have one choice in each geographic area as new boat dealers typically have exclusive rights to a territory.

With respect to the SPX, it's a great boat. I seriously considered a new one before I settled on a used boat. My best friend just bought a new SPX and I'm on it almost every week since he keeps it in the slip next to mine and we generally spend part of the time on his boat, then part of the time on mine. The SPX line is Sea Ray's "value" line of boats, so it doesn't have as many luxury features and quite as high quality materials as the higher priced Sea Rays. However, it's still a true Sea Ray and a much more solidly constructed boat than many of it's competitors.

If you'll tell us more about how you plan to use it, where you'll keep it, how many people will typically be onboard, etc., there are many members here that will offer their ideas and opinions. Search some of the threads here and you'll learn quite a bit.

seedealercost.com is a website that purports to have dealer invoice prices. I have no idea how accurate or reliable it is.

Even if you have to drive a distance, be comfortable with the dealer. I say pick the dealer first, then the boat. Even if it means you buy a different brand boat. A great relationship with a great dealer is very important!

Good luck and enjoy your search. Boating is a great lifestyle!

I would talk to the local dealer... You need to feel comfortable and trust you boat dealer... You will be back for service and warranty problem more frequently than a car... Thy should be open with you on all their costs..

Thanks for the replies! Here's a little more info and answers to the questions you posed:

As I mentioned before I live on a lake and have a private boathouse where the boat will be kept on a lift (see pic below). I have gone to boat shows here in Orlando and talked to a couple dealers and I've decided that the SPX model would be the best fit for me because it is designed for multiple uses. I will use the boat for cruising, fishing and water sports.

I will carry no more than 6 adults and a kid or two so I figure a 21' boat will work fine for me. "Marinemax" is the local Searay dealer in my area and they seem like nice people but I've only talked to a couple salesman and they are paid to be nice so who knows. I understand that buying used is financially the smart move and I have not ruled out that option but I want to buy from a local dealer who will service/repair the boat. Because I don't plan to use the boat anywhere other than on the lake I live on I will not be purchasing a trailer. I don't want to waste the garage space or pay for storage for something I will never use so dealing with a local dealer who will service the boat on site or pick-up and deliver it when it needs to go into the shop is important to me.

My main concern at this point is educating myself on the sales process and ensuring I pay a fair price and don't get suckered into paying more than I should.


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My opinion FWIW is that you should get about 20%-30% off the MSRP for a reasonable deal. Really comes down to the dealer and how motivated they are to sell and how long it's been in stock. If you custom order you may be on the more expensive end of the pricing.

blaster said:

My opinion FWIW is that you should get about 20%-30% off the MSRP for a reasonable deal. Really comes down to the dealer and how motivated they are to sell and how long it's been in stock. If you custom order you may be on the more expensive end of the pricing.

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Thanks for the info! That gives me a target point to negotiate for.

The SPX line is typically sold using "SmartStart Pricing", which is already 10-15% off of list, so there's less room to negotiate (but there is some room) than some of the higher priced models. I was talking to my dealer last weekend and he said they are selling every SPX they can get, so demand is high, which might effect the discount you can negoatiate. Also, the SPX ships standard from Sea Ray with a trailer, so if you don't get one, you won't save much if anything. Also, when it comes time to sell the boat, any buyer will probably expect a trailer or they'll want to figure the price of one into the deal.

My boat sits on a lift at the lake, too, so the trailer is almost worthless to me, but I'm glad I have it. I pay $275 a year to store it. If I keep my boat 5 years, I'll pay less than if I have to go buy a trailer when I sell it.

If you plan to USUALLY have 6 adults on board plus a kid or two, you're going to be very crowded if you're doing much more than just cruising. If you're doing water sports with that many people on board it's going to get very tight when you add tubes, wakeboards, coolers, snacks, etc. My boat is just a little smaller than the SPX you are looking at and when doing water sports 4 adults is plenty, especially if there is a kid or two also.

Thanks for the info/advice. You make a good point about the trailer and that's something I have considered when deciding whether to get one or not. The dealers I talked to all said they would apply a discount/rebate for the trailer if I don't get one. No clue how much because they were not willing to say exactly until we got into specific negotiations on a particular boat. I'll look into my long term storage options in my area before making a final decision but at this point I really don't think I will get a trailer but your points are well taken.

As far as occupancy of the boat the figures I posted are max numbers. The manufacturer indicates you can carry 11 adults in the SPX 21. I would never carry that many people in a boat that size but I believe it can hold 6 adults very comfortably with the open seating at the bow and the cockpit area. The advantage of my situation of living on the water and having my own private dock and boathouse is that I don't need to carry and store a day on the waters worth of equipment. The lake is literally my backyard so I can return to the house and dock throughout the day dropping off and picking up equipment and supplies.

I appreciate the input on pricing as well and it appears that I will just see what they offer and go from there. It will be an all cash transaction so I hope that fact will grease the skids a bit so to speak but now days cash does not mean much to dealers like it used to. In a lot of cases they prefer arranging financing because they get a kickback from the banks they use for steering business there way.

Again, I appreciate everyones opinions/advice and I'll be sure to post back here when I finally close a deal. Thanks!

Play the cash to your advantage (by not telling your dealer) - take the note, make sure there's no early payoff penalty, and let the dealer get some juice (some of which may be passed along to you). Then, pay it off once the deal is done.

Personally, with what you've described to me, I would go for a 230SLX rather than the 21SPX. If we'd had the money, we'd have done that instead of our 205.

Good luck whichever way you decide to go.

WazzuCMGrad said:

Play the cash to your advantage (by not telling your dealer) - take the note, make sure there's no early payoff penalty, and let the dealer get some juice (some of which may be passed along to you). Then, pay it off once the deal is done.

Personally, with what you've described to me, I would go for a 230SLX rather than the 21SPX. If we'd had the money, we'd have done that instead of our 205.

Good luck whichever way you decide to go.

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+1

Get every rebate, discount, upgrade package or other promotion that's available, then pay it off after you leave the dealership.

And happy boating!!