greggara

I have a 2009 222 with a volvo 5.7 gidp. I am looking for a 232 with a 496 ho. I got a price from my dealer for approx. 21.53% off. The list on the boat is 91k, 94.5k with his $3500 freight and prep which seems quite excessive.

He is also charging me $5900 for a tandem axle galvanized trailer.

My question is does he have 35% profit on this boat from MSRP?

I told him I was looking at other brands and he explained why I should keep Cobalt which kind of told me times might be a bit hard for them.

On a side note they tried selling me a Fountain 33 fever for 160k. Claimed it was invoice.

Thanks in advance for any help.

ImaPoser

Even in good times I would think the $3500 freight /prep sounds excessive. My local dealer has a (leftover 2008) 496 powered 232 listed for $62.4K and when I bought my boat two years ago, they were nearly $18K higher than the dealer I ended up buying mine from. Sounds high to me. I'd start calling other dealers and see what you can find. A search on boat trader turned up 25 of them.

greggara

Thanks for the reply. I think I will offer 64k with trailer. I called a dealer in another state and the guy informed me Cobalt frowns upon that. He never called back with a number.

I will try calling dealers in bordering states.

ImaPoser

So did crownline when I bought my cruiser. They would not give me a price if I wanted to order something, but would give me a price on anything they had in stock. That's why I ended up buying a leftover 800 miles from home. It had more options than I wanted, and an MSRP that was $12K more than the one I was trying to order and I got it for $18K less than I could order the one I wanted. In the current market, I would look for one leftover or used a year or two. IMHO, There is just too much depreciation over the last couple years to even consider a new boat right now.

greggara

I called a place for a boat they had in stock and even advised him to just give me a percentage of what he was giving off. No dice. Try my luck with another dealer.

Thanks for the advice.

bimmerboy318

I bought a 2007 Cobalt in July of 2008. I paid 39% off MSRP and then had to add 6% sales tax.

PromoProducts-BP

I don't know where you're located, but try Dri-Port Marine in O'Fallon, MO. My dad bought a new 252 with a 496 there a couple years ago from Greg, the owner's son. He got a GREAT deal, and that was 2 years ago. They're really nice guys and my dad's getting ready to build a new one through them.

GL@PBC

Sounds like Cobalt dealers try to protect one another a little. The more they try to compete with one another the more they de-value their product. Not only does it bring down the value of the new boat, but also affects the used market. Just look at Formula for a great example! Everyone wants to buy $.50 on the dollar and get a great deal, but put yourself in the dealers shoes for a moment. If someone was selling your brand of "widget" and dropped his price by 10-20% to a guy in your "selling territory" HOW WOULD YOU FEEL?