fountain does have rules about dealer areas! the dealers have to follow them but, the factory can land a boat anywhere they wish! If you live within a couple hundred miles of a dealer buy from that dealer, If your in no mans land then shop! shop! shop! The closest dealer always can give the best service. Last year we built a 38 with 575's, chillers, imco's, hering's,genset and extra battery that ran 102 on the performance report. I could tell you the X dimension but Your not in my area!

If someone wanted to buy a set of 600's from Merc, how much are they asking for a pair -without the drives?

True to an extent, but the person looking for the 38 is from Babylon, NY. There is a dealer with multiple Long Island locations to serve him. The "grey area" thing is a stretch.

I was looking into 600's also but . I went to a poker run and saw a bahawith tripple 600's and it did not run like it should. I would bet that the same boat with 525 efi's would out run it. At this point I think the 600's are over rated. I am going to watch them a little longer before I jump. A good engine builder could build more for less. I could be wrong.

I'm seriously thinking about selling my 525's and getting a set of 625 Ilmors. I've heard great things about them in regards to performance, fuel economy, and reliability. They say you can run them 400 hours before even touching the top end.

I'm on Lake Cumberland and Lake Cumberland Marine has sold a few boats with Ilmors and they just love them. They said a 39 Outerlimits with twin 600's ran 101 mph. An identical GTX with 625 Ilmors ran 108.

My only concern is in the rigging. I don't know if the motor mounts would match up or if it would have to be a total redue on the rigging.

The purpose of this thread was not to publicly shop for a new Fountain as I think we all know. I just wanted that to be clear. If I am going to buy a brand new 38, then I will look to the local dealer and mostly because that serves me the best. If he losses his mind and treats me bad, then I would shop elsewhere.

Heres why -
While I understand that Fountain wants to protect the network, not all dealers are the same! That means the dealer that works best for me, may or may not be the guy closest to me. So, if I did have a problem with the local guy but Fountain wanted me to deal through him anyway, I would buy a used or different brand boat. So the dealer who screams foul but offers bad service or doesn't discount - they are screwing Fountain. THere is a line that should be walked and in my opinion, Fountain should let the market dictate it - otherwise you support the weakest dealer and starve the better ones.

Whats more -
When I call and ask questions of some of the dealers, a few guys out there can't even answer the basic. Seems to me, this is a niche market with a relatively small but knowledgable buyer base who are willing to spend crazy sums of $ in order to go fast. THere are many choices out there and ALL come with compromise. I like dealers who are willing to help me more than slash the price. The smarter dealer can charge a bit more but his advice can still save me coin down the road. But, since this will be my 4th new boat in 8 years (this is how the jag-off buyer like me becomes smart) a good deal wouldn't hurt. I could give two poops for the dealer who wants to get over only because "this is my area". Frankly that guy should be selling Bayliners.

Last thought - the guy that sold me my 04 29 Fever that was my area dealer is now not because of a new guy. He still sells Fountains but is no longer the closest. What happens if I want to go back to where I bought my first boat? Fountain is going to have a problem with that and screw with an established dealer client relationship? Forcing the old dealer to "pay" a cut to the new one means I pay more - or the old dealer loses money. That genius idea is good business ...how??

Anyway, this is a great thread but I still want to know why Hustler charges 24k to upgrade to 600's but Fountain wants 40k. Something smells with that.

Steve

Steve,

I Can Promise You That No One Can Service You As Good As Mariner's Cove. If You Don't Believe Me Then Give It A Try!!!

Fear not Vinnie fear not..... Besides, you have already serviced me on a few things. You are never a problem.

No Limits-

My comments were directed at the dealers, not you. It is not your problem to control, it's ours.

All I have to say about this BS with Fountain territories is: Bill Harris was at the Fountain dealership 2 miles from my office but I drove 600 miles round trip multiple times to Pier57 before I bought my used Fever. The Fountain rep was encouraging me to buy local, but this dealer was involved in so many scams it was pathetic. Why would Fountain want to support this kind of behavior? If and when I buy a new Fountain, I know where I will buy it. They have worked for my business and should be able to benefit from it without sharing with a local dealer.

Hopefully someone from Fountain will see this and can explain how this is going to help them with boat sales. How many long standing dealers are now frustrated?