I've noticed used Sonics selling well below what I would expect. Lower than NADA. I've seen 95,96 31SS's with 454 mags for 49,999 and 61,000. Has anyone else noticed and do you know why ?

I just checked NADA, the price has dropped another 15K since I last looked 6-8 months ago. My 1997 31SS with 454 Mags that stickered for a little over $128,000 new now lists for under $75,000 average retail. Its of course far better than average but this is very depressing. I would love to hear anybodys thoughts on the subject.

NADA removed the "Retail" number from their website. I'm not really sure why. Anybody out there know?

[ 12-20-2001: Message edited by: Omega ]

Think about it. Flood the market with a lot of boats (don't they produce over 100+ a year?) and what do you expect? Fountain, Wellcraft, Sonic...sell a lot, get a little!

I don' know the real numbers, but I seriously doubt that Sonic sells anywhere near as many boats as Fountain and Wellcraft.

Think about it, Fountain has lines of boats for fishing, sport cruisers, and Performance boats. Wellcraft has runabouts, cruisers, fishing, and performance boats. Sonic only makes performance boats. They are a much more like a low volume semi-custom builder than the rest. But that's just my .02 cents.

[ 12-22-2001: Message edited by: bn ]

Fountian, Wellcraft,Baja, sell 5 to 10 times the number of boats Sonic does. I don't think 200 a year is a lot, and I'm not sure they do that many. It is only recently that I have seen used Sonics for sale regularly, usually they were hard to find. There must be more to it than volume.

Fountain more than doubles the sales of Sonic. Baja sells more than 5 times what Fountain does. I don't know how this would impact resale value. Used boats, cars, you name it...the market is crap right now. If I could unload the Fountain, I wouldn't mind getting into a used 31' at some of the prices that are out there now.

I must say that I don't see too many Sonics up here in Chicago. I'm pleased to say that I have been looking at two used (1990) 41'SS boats - not the fastest boats out there but pretty sharp looking! And the prices ARE very reasonable!

Nothing sells for NADA price.
My general rule of thumb is as follows:

A boat depreciates at the following rates:
As soon as you buy it: -10%
After one season: -25%
After two seasons: -33%
Three to five seasons: -50%
After that it all depends on how clean it is and the hours.

I've been boating for 22 years now and I know my calculations are right on the money.

If you've trashed your boat..good luck - there are lots of very clean well cared for boats that will always sell first.

my .02