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Economy is better are boat sales up?

Old 12-18-2011, 12:14 AM
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Originally Posted by brivander
Hey Matt -- just curious if you are from Detroit? I actually work in the auto industry, by my measure I've had as successful career as you can have in recent times. Over my career there have been many years of no raises, no bonuses, no overtime (and salaried employees are not required to receive it, but many had become accustomed to it, people who were there in the 90's, before my time).

Lets take an engineer with a Master degree (or two ) making 80-120k a year, and have them go every other year without raises, insurance goes up, inflation rises, houses are worth dog crap etc. etc. etc. -- this is pretty typical for all professional people over the last ten years, right? I mean after all, we are all struggling with the same thing. We are essentially the new middle class, we are certainly not poor, but we will never see the rewards of the generation prior to us. Between my wife and I, both educated people, we can't dream of the life we would have had in the heyday, we do no better than say my father did on one income vs. dual income. This is not a ***** because we certainly have it better than most in these times and feel very blessed, after all, we chose this path a long time ago.

If every other year (or more) for ten years you missed a 3-5% you are looking at major money over a period of ten years. In those ten years I've seen 35% of my co-workers lose their jobs, with MANY of them finding employment for 30-40k less than they left at, no benefits, etc.

Do we (the wife and I) make more money than we did 10 years ago?, yes -- are we any further ahead, not even close, I'm actually behind even after her promotions my promotions etc. This is the problem TONS of people are having where I am from...in "Detroit" If I had another $20-40k a year of missed raises and such between our careers I wouldn't own my boating jalopy but it's what I could afford paying CASH, between saving for retirement, saving for my kids college, paying for a house, taking my family on at least one family vacation and transportation there isn't a whole lot left. Don't get me started on the cost of gas, the credit crunch and more.

This isn't just an auto industry problem and there are TONS of success stories, but as a whole we've been on a downhill slide for my entire career. We are starting, JUST starting to see a light ahead of us, and that keeps people holding on to the money they do have, and I don't see that changing for a LONG time, because it's become our norm, our lifestyle -- preparing for the worst.
Not from Detroit and would not presume, for a moment, to contradict you point of view or experience. The numbers I referred to are sales figures supplied by the auto industry. As publicly held companies, they are bound to a higher standard of accurately reporting profit/loss than a privately held boat company.

The increase in sales/profitability may well be due, in some measure, to cost-cutting measures that make it hard for people such as you. I don't know, but I have no reason to doubt what you've said. I was just, in reference to Detroit, talking about reported unit sales and profitability numbers. That's all.

The truth is that the traditional measures, from the Dow Jones to the NASDAQ, of this nation's economic health, while relevant in the big picture, tell little to no story about how the "average" American is faring in today's economy. Your perspective is enlightening.

Last edited by Matt Trulio; 12-18-2011 at 12:24 AM.
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Old 12-18-2011, 12:27 AM
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And I wasn't asking that to be a smartass, just curious.

To be clear this is the BEST I've ever seen the industry if you were able to get through the tough times, profits are good, sales are good and the products are fantastic.

My point in my previous post was even people who have done well don't have as much as they would (relatively) 20 years ago. And those who went thought this unscathed have almost been trained to live more modest.

Last edited by brivander; 12-18-2011 at 12:35 AM.
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Old 12-18-2011, 08:07 AM
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Well I am one of the guys that managed to buy a brand new boat in this economy. Not a go-fast ---- needed to make some compromises with the wife and two little girls. So I recently ordered a 2012 Formula 350SS.

And her name will be..........STIMULUS.
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Old 12-18-2011, 09:13 AM
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In loto today. Friend closed deal on a formula!
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Old 12-18-2011, 09:15 AM
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Originally Posted by xconn92
Well I am one of the guys that managed to buy a brand new boat in this economy. Not a go-fast ---- needed to make some compromises with the wife and two little girls. So I recently ordered a 2012 Formula 350SS.

And her name will be..........STIMULUS.
congrats and good luck
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Old 12-18-2011, 10:37 AM
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Originally Posted by xconn92
Well I am one of the guys that managed to buy a brand new boat in this economy. Not a go-fast ---- needed to make some compromises with the wife and two little girls. So I recently ordered a 2012 Formula 350SS.

And her name will be..........STIMULUS.
I left GoFast in 2008 for a 350SS. My wife loves the boat, so do I. Just need to go out with my GoFast friends a few times a year for a fix and the desires to go back to it fade.
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Old 12-18-2011, 10:57 AM
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My boat sold in less than 2 months. Not bad for living in Michigan and selling boat out of Illinois. Thanks to Shorgrens.

New boat on order and it is not a High Performance Boat. Went to a 32CC with Twin 300 Verado's.

Big change but I thought it was time to move on.
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