Passport Marine Officially Over
 

Passport Marine, the #1 Formula Boat Dealer in the world has filed for bankruptcy and as of this morning is officially out of business. Their remaining boat inventory, which is substantial, will be repossessed by the bank.

what is there web site address

Gee - what a shocker!

5 Numb Nuts who HAD alot of money come into the Marine business to be the WORLD WIDE distributors to the WORLD for FORMULA, BUDDY DAVIS, EGG HARBOR, YADDA YADDA YADDA.............with no experience in the business.

I said they would implode in 1-2 years. Boy was I wrong on that one! More like less than 6 months.

I wonder how all of the former Formula dealers that were dumped for the NEXT LATEST AND GREATEST National Marine feel today? I think they will be enjoying I nice bottle of Cabernet tonight.

Anyone have a deal on a case of kneepads for the Formula folks? :D

Some dealers have turned to incentives. Passport Marine offers to buy out the first four years of interest for credit-worthy buyers, said Jim Dillon, president and CEO of the company with a dual headquarters in Miami and St. Petersburg. This can cut the initial payments for a $100,000 boat in half, he said.

To deal with the slow sales market in South Florida and the rising costs of boat ownership, Passport has begun including the first two years of fuel and insurance into the financing.

I hope the buyers got their money up front!

AMEN

Ouch

correct me if im wrong but that seems insane to finance fuel/insurance. If those are problems i would imagine one should re think their boating. At the end of the 2 years you would be upside down big time.

Didn't they buy Avanti speedboats also?

Yep....heard this was coming.
The Passport dealership at my marina shut their doors about 2 months ago.

I have owned 3 Formulas, two friends have each owned 4. Have never heard of this dealer and will definately not be losing sleep over this. Still supporting my dealers and Magicfloat.

magic float is the best, there is none better

I agree - Magic Float is one of the best and I have known him for years. He WAS NOT one of the dealers that was cancelled due to Passport.

No - Dr. Ira Trocki who owns Egg Harbor did.

Formula cancelled Marina 1 in Deerfield because of Passport.
Marina 1 is one of the best Marinas anywhere. First class facility, first class service department and a first class sales department. Stupid move.

I have never personally met Magicfloat, but I have spoken to him on the phone before and he's a great guy. If I was buying a Formula- I would travel to buy from him......no doubt in my mind!

Who and where is he?

Can you reveal your source?
 

Glassman11,
Are you at liberty to reveal where you got that info? My dealership owner and the CFO of Formula speak at least daily, and we haven't heard that yet. Of course I understand if you can't, I'm just curious.
BIG DAVE P- I feel ya, brother! I love how people think this business is a walk in the park! I still kick myself once in a while for leaving the country club of BMW for this- talk about out of the pan and into the fire- sheesh!

I speak to the passport employees who work there. They were terminated at 10 am today. A customer called me a few minutes ago and said that there were Formula trailers at the dealership as we speak picking up some of the Formula boats. They closed their locations in Tampa/St. Pete a couple of days ago. Dillon, Condon and all the others are gone. They are out of money. They can't even locate all the Passport inventory.

They still had a 2001 35 Playboy my buddy traded to them at the Miami show 06. They paid 90k on the trade for the boat.

I Was Looking At The Playboy... Where Is It Now?

start watching the repo sites.... The bank is taking the boats for payment...

Robert Nelems is Magicfloat and he's out of Jasper Alabama. www.nelemsmarine.com. I would not hesistate in buying a boat from him.

Let me clear up a common misconception about Formula's relationship with Passport.Passport is/was a Formula DEALER,they never were a distributor or franchisor like they were with Sessa,Egg Harbor,Buddy Davis,and others. Their ads would leave one to believe that they had the same deal with Formula,but that was simply not true. They were simply a Formula dealer with several locations.

Hey Dave Huddy !
 

Look at the good part of your being in the boat business,you got to know the most warped old fxxk in the industry(me).:D:D

SY YOUR A LEGEND FROM GASOLINE ALLEY TO THE STRIP IN MIAMI AS LONG AS THERES A DENNYS YOUR OK.
:grinser010:

DAVE WHY DONT YOU REALY TELL US HOW YOU FEAL :cool-smiley-027:

The failure of Passport Marine is about as shocking as the sun coming up each morning. I could go on, but probably shouldn't!

Tom Caruso
Total Marine

How I feel about the boat business or the Passport :hitfan:thing? Unfortunately I'm a horrible typist, and by the time I got done with either topic I'd be late for dinner (it's 1140AM) and my hands would be cramped! As for the business, I think a lot of people at my level feel like I do- it's a love-hate situation. So long as I continue to show up here every day I can only complain so much, you know what I mean? The best parts are the people and the magnificent products I get be associated with. I don't know if I could do this with any other brands.

SY- You are your own worst critic- we love ya!:D

Robert- You are 100% right on all counts!

So Tom,
Are you ready to jump back in?:party-smiley-004:

Do you really think I would do that AGAIN, Dave?

Tom

Hi,Tom,good to see you back on OSO. Still got the F-2 boat? Robert

I still have it, Robert. Hasn't been in the water in several years. I am thinking about putting aft bolsters in and setting it up for poker runs.

Want to take it in on trade for something????!!!!

Any fallout from the Passport mess that might affect you?

Regards,

Tom

The Passport mess just gives me additional open territory to sell in,I guess:p Heard today that the Aventura store may remain open under another name. The implosion of Passport is not good news for anyone involved,but like you,I saw it coming. Business as usual for us. Robert

What does this mean for the Marina /Storage/ & service depts ??

Larry, the marina (Hi-Lift) is doing fine. It is a separate entity that leased space to Passport. Premier Performance Marine (service) is also a separate entity that leases space from the marina as well and it is business as usual. The only entity to suffer was Passport. We are very busy.

The owner of Hi-Lift the marina was also a Principal/partner with Passport marine. Andy Sturner/Jim Dillon were both involved with Passport Marine.

If you are interested in who "owns" Passport Marine, check out the Boating Industry Magazine article written on July 28,2006 titled : "Florida Dealer Goes on Acquisition Spree"

The last paragraph reads as follows:
" This employee/consumer-centric approach helped Dillon and CO-FOUNDER AND PARTNER Andrew Sturner (former CBS sportsline.com and Moviefone founder and executive) transform a struggling Formula Boat Dealership at Hi-Lift in Aventura Fl. into a top performing dealer in just two and a half years, the company said, and have helped lead to record sales growth in the region for all of the Formula Boat Lines.

This article is also on a Hi-Lift Marina website.

Thats interesting. I guess thats why the old HI-LIFT Marina does'nt have any techs there working

I tried making a deal on that playboy and they just wanted what they wanted. I told my buddy about it and passport told him it was sold. Than I saw it on the web a few weeks ago.