Buying A Boat For Resale Value

[slonezp]

Please explain this concept to me. Unless someone is purchasing a new boat every one or two years, why should it matter? Even then, the depreciation hit is reason enough to not change boats every year or two. Should we not buy a tool (boat) to perform a task, and base the purchase on how well it performs the task, to our expectations(being a tradesman, this is the why I may buy one tool over another)?  Why would someone sacrifice a feature(s) they may like on one brand of boat because they would get a better return on a different brand? The concept is brought up many times and most recently in the Tracker/Ranger thread. "Buy the Ranger. It has better resale" I would think that should be the last factor in making a boat purchase. I spent 3 years researching boats before I bought my Lund, and resale was never a factor in my decision.

[Jig Man]

You obviously are not like the normal fisherman/boat owner. I used to be in the business. It is just like new rods and reels coming out and guys wanting to upgrade. It is only on a much larger scale.

[tomustang]

Human mentality, look at cars, people buy new ones every three to five years because there's a better radio in it or the rims changed. It's usually a status symbol to have the latest and greatest. Keeping up with the Jones' catchphrase comes to mind.

[MarkH024]

Please explain this concept to me. Unless someone is purchasing a new boat every one or two years, why should it matter? Even then, the depreciation hit is reason enough to not change boats every year or two. Should we not buy a tool (boat) to perform a task, and base the purchase on how well it performs the task, to our expectations(being a tradesman, this is the why I may buy one tool over another)?  Why would someone sacrifice a feature(s) they may like on one brand of boat because they would get a better return on a different brand? The concept is brought up many times and most recently in the Tracker/Ranger thread. "Buy the Ranger. It has better resale" I would think that should be the last factor in making a boat purchase. I spent 3 years researching boats before I bought my Lund, and resale was never a factor in my decision.

While I agree with you 100%, there are a lot of guys out there that want a new boat every couple years. I have a couple people I know from work relations that are like that. Mostly guys with more money than they know what to do with.  Instead of upgrading the boat....they trade the whole thing in for a new package because they don't bother with researching and well......saving money.

[slonezp]

Human mentality, look at cars, people buy new ones every three to five years because there's a better radio in it or the rims changed. It's usually a status symbol to have the latest and greatest. Keeping up with the Jones' catchphrase comes to mind.

I understand that aspect of it, and a good movie by the way. For that to be a determining factor in the purchase is what I don't get.

[Siebert Outdoors]

I could see buying a boat every 3-5 yrs for warranty reasons depending on boat/motor.  I see a lot of this as searching for the perfect boat but it will never happen there will always be on little thing that one does not like. 

[Jig Man]

When you check out how fast some boats lose their value it can become a factor in what is bought in the first place.  There is a popular brand which I won't name that depreciated way faster than others because of the quality.  It started taking a beating when guys went to trade them in and got very little for them so many of them switched brands to keep from losing thousands.  A lot of these guys stayed upside down in their boats anyway so the savings were even more when you considered the interest rates that they were paying.

[BassnChris]

I can see it being a consideration 'if' you are constantly trading in your boat for a new one.

 

I look at the resale value.....but that is at the bottom of my list and really is not a consideration for me as I am not one that can trade up every couple of years.

 

I wish I had the financial abilty to buy a new boat and did consider it for a short time in the last year.............but I can not justify the expense of a new boat.

 

I might buy another boat this year......but it will be a used boat. And the only reason I am going to buy another boat is that my current boat and have realized some things I do not like about it. (I want a single console boat)

 

But in a nut shell..............I guess in my opinion you have to have money to worry about the resale value.

[cadman]

Slone,

   I agree with you, I buy a boat for its current features that I like and maybe for some features I didn't have in my last boat. I do not buy a boat for re-sale value later. Because lets face it when a boat gets older it does lose a lot of value. Also I see a lot of guys that have 2 -3 year old boats that are in worst shape than my 7 year old boat. Resale value is only as good as in how well you take care of your boat. My Ranger is now 7 years old and it looks like it is brand new. However I am very anal about my boat and trailer. There are no scratches (if any happen I get them fixed), the boat and motor are meticulously maintained. The reason I bought my boat was because the Ranger I have has a longer front deck for the fishing rods I use, and they fit flat on the floor. The other two boats didn't have that. That was my biggest thing that I wanted in a boat. It may not be a issue to others but that is what I wanted. So buy a boat with what you want in it not because you will get more money in 10 years and like mentioned there is no perfect boat. Also note, I keep my boats for over 15 years + if possible. I buy something really nice , take care of it and hope to keep it for a long time. In all reality, if we all had to fish out of a canoe, some of us would catch more fish than others. It's not only about the boat, you have to find and catch the fish too. JMO

[flyfisher]

Anything I buy with the intention of keeping it until it's useable life is up.  While making the choice of what to get i make a list of features i want and the price i am willing to pay.  To me resale value is nice but very very low down on the list, if you are already planning on getting rid of teh baot or anythign else where that resale value is a concern i would question if you are making the right choice in the first place.

 

No matter how you slice it a boat, car etc...should never be thought of as an investment as it would be the worst one any of us would ever make.

[tritonguy]

The boats with better resale value are your better quality boats.  There is a reason Ranger holds their resale value and Nitro doesn't, so therefore I guess I buy for resale value.

[flyfisher]

My next question would be is the definition of resale value.....is it what percentage of the original sticker price a used baot goes for or is it dollar amount people are willing to pay for said boat?

 

I have not been able to find anything about actual depreication values differing between the major brands but a ranger will sell for a higher price because well it started out as a higher price and is priced accordingly and it does hold value a little better after the 5 year mark but that seemed negligible to me.

 

Just for giggles i went to NADA boat guides and put in what a 2010 ranger z519 and a nitro z9 would be and based on the starting price and the average retail given the nitro held it's value better....

 

The ranger was average retail of 35k on a 52k boat and the nitro was 31k on a 41k boat....now what yo uactually get for the baot may vary but at the ame time this is the estimated value of a boat that is 4 years old.

[Jig Man]

The only way to figure the actual depreciation values is to take a boat and check its value over a 5 or so year period.  You must use the exact boat with the same features for this to work.

 

Your example of 2010 boats shows what BPS has done in the last 3 years to improve their product.

[slonezp]

The only way to figure the actual depreciation values is to take a boat and check its value over a 5 or so year period.  You must use the exact boat with the same features for this to work.

 

Your example of 2010 boats shows what BPS has done in the last 3 years to improve their product.

The biggest hit is taken within the first 2 years. It has to slow down considerably after that. Last year I sold a 9 year old boat I bought new for 50% of the original price I paid, and I got almost $2k more than NADA valued it. A Ranger and a Tracker will depreciate the same % the second they hit the water for the first time. It seems to me the resale value would be more important for the second and third owners than the 1st owner. I believe a 7+ year old Ranger will depreciate at a slower rate than a boat with a lesser reputation.

[WIGuide]

Slope, unless you're planning on keeping a boat until you die or it dies resale value should be important. You gave the example of you buying tools based on how well one does the job. You can think of this the same way if you have two tools that do the job equally as well but you know one will hold up over time. If you tried to sell the one with the known shorter lifespan a few years from when you bought it, you wouldn't get nearly the price you could get if you were trying to sell the longer lasting one. If you're thinking over a short term, resale value probably doesn't matter quite as much because as you stated, anything new takes the biggest hit. However, long term, you are going to get more out of it in the long run. For example, my dad bought his first Ranger in the mid 90's. It was a 17 footer with a 140 in really good condition. He sold it in 2003 when upgrading to a bigger and newer Ranger. Although he didn't sell it for quite as much as he paid, he still sold it in the $7k range and had people who offered to pay more when they found out someone else was buying it. If you looked around at any other comparable bass boat at that time that was 20 years old, you could pick them up in the $2k-3K range. All in all, that helps to decrease the cost of ownership over time because the boat does not depreciate as fast.

[Dwight Hottle]

Please explain this concept to me. Unless someone is purchasing a new boat every one or two years, why should it matter? Even then, the depreciation hit is reason enough to not change boats every year or two. Should we not buy a tool (boat) to perform a task, and base the purchase on how well it performs the task, to our expectations(being a tradesman, this is the why I may buy one tool over another)?  Why would someone sacrifice a feature(s) they may like on one brand of boat because they would get a better return on a different brand? The concept is brought up many times and most recently in the Tracker/Ranger thread. "Buy the Ranger. It has better resale" I would think that should be the last factor in making a boat purchase. I spent 3 years researching boats before I bought my Lund, and resale was never a factor in my decision.

 

 

The ironic part of that statement is that for a tin boat you did buy the one manufacture with the highest resale value.

[slonezp]

Slope, unless you're planning on keeping a boat until you die or it dies resale value should be important. You gave the example of you buying tools based on how well one does the job. You can think of this the same way if you have two tools that do the job equally as well but you know one will hold up over time. If you tried to sell the one with the known shorter lifespan a few years from when you bought it, you wouldn't get nearly the price you could get if you were trying to sell the longer lasting one. If you're thinking over a short term, resale value probably doesn't matter quite as much because as you stated, anything new takes the biggest hit. However, long term, you are going to get more out of it in the long run. For example, my dad bought his first Ranger in the mid 90's. It was a 17 footer with a 140 in really good condition. He sold it in 2003 when upgrading to a bigger and newer Ranger. Although he didn't sell it for quite as much as he paid, he still sold it in the $7k range and had people who offered to pay more when they found out someone else was buying it. If you looked around at any other comparable bass boat at that time that was 20 years old, you could pick them up in the $2k-3K range. All in all, that helps to decrease the cost of ownership over time because the boat does not depreciate as fast.

I agree. I just don't think it should be a deciding factor. I have a Lund whose reputation is like that of Ranger. I didn't buy it in anticipation of selling it. As far as my tools are concerned, I prefer high quality over cheap china crap. Quality, ease of use and functionality being the deciding factors. I guess I just can't get over the idea that a boat is anything more than a tool.

[slonezp]

The ironic part of that statement is that for a tin boat you did buy the one manufacture with the highest resale value.

and it took me 3 years to decide on what the best tool for the job was

[WIGuide]

I agree. I just don't think it should be a deciding factor. I have a Lund whose reputation is like that of Ranger. I didn't buy it in anticipation of selling it. As far as my tools are concerned, I prefer high quality over cheap china crap. Quality, ease of use and functionality being the deciding factors. I guess I just can't get over the idea that a boat is anything more than a tool.

I hear you on not buying it in anticipation of selling it, but eventually down the road you eventually will sell it. When you do, you'll get more out if it than you would had you bought something different. It's not a huge deciding factor, but it's still something to consider.