NADA Pricing

[Tony Holland]

How many of you look at NADA Pricing of a boat and motor before you buy a used boat from dealer. I am finding that the dealers or 2-5k over the nada average retail value. I have been sharing this info with the dealer but they seem to get pretty defensive when i do present this data.

[bassNspear]

There is alot of differences that you have to look at. They might have bought the boat on a trade in for a high price then what they wanted to get it for.

Also, when they get a used boat in, they have to run the motor, and spend some money on the motor, and boat, to clean it up. With that, they also have to put a warrentee on the boat. So this might be a reason to why the boat is going to be a bit high.

Hope this will help you out!!

[fishin58]

It's the same as the the car business...supply and demand.. do you think a 2wd drive is worth more here or texas, or a jacked up 4x4 here or arizona, a lund here or in florida same story,it can be frustrating but any of the books are a ballpark figure where as actual market value is far more important. I have a 89 Lund Tyee in nice shape and according to NADA its worth like 800 bucks...now does that make any sense..in my opinion most of the books are garbage

[marine_man]

The NADA pricing for boats is far from accurate from past experience... I wouldn't rely on it for anything when it comes to the boat / motor / trailer sections.

marine_man

[PerchJerker]

I give nada a quick glance but that is all, I pay much more attention to how similar rigs are priced at various dealers. It's not unusual for there to be a difference between book value (nada) and market value (what you can buy them for).

[JohnMickish]

I think the best place to do the research on vehicle prices are hsolist. A book or dealer can have any price they want but the real value is what people are willing to pay, and you can see that on hsolist. (don't laugh until you research it for awhile).

[marine_man]

That's good place to look that I never thought of...

Good idea!

marine_man

[eyepatrol]

Definitely look at what the market is for the area you live. That's exactly how I did my boat shopping. Compared similar year, make, model, motor hp, etc to see what the prices were at. Some have high prices on their rigs, others good prices.

As Bass said, dealers have other costs put into a rig when they get it on a trade, plus they have to put food on the table too, just like any other person does.

When I bought my boat last fall, I was set on buying from a private seller. Why? Sales tax. However, if I would have dealt with boat dealers, I would have printed off some boats for sale by private owners (of similar type rigs) and used that as a negotiating tool.

Heck, the guy I bought the boat from first started out with a number, I found nearly the exact same boat for quite a bit less, told him about it and he immediately knocked $3500 off his asking price. Was still $1500 more than the other boat I was looking at, but for whatever reason, that guy disappeared off the face of the earth when the bank asked him to sign and return papers.

As mentioned by others, look at HSOList, boattrader, FishingMinnesota, newspapers, and other boat dealers that have used boats for sale. Some dealers even allow private sellers to advertise their rigs for sale on their site (CP Marine is one example). Don't be afraid to look in other states too....you never know where you'll find a great deal!

[Valv]

Quote:

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As mentioned by others, look at

HSOList

, boattrader, FishingMinnesota, newspapers, and other boat dealers that have used boats for sale. Some dealers even allow private sellers to advertise their rigs for sale on their site (CP Marine is one example). Don't be afraid to look in other states too....you never know where you'll find a great deal!

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This is exactly right.

Also NADA doesn't even consider the fact we are freshwater market, I can guarantee saltwater boats to be in much worse conditions and value than ours.

There is actually not a common market value database for boats and motors, and the fact we are talking of 3 separate items (boat+motor+trailer) it doesn't help.

[eyepatrol]

I've found NADA to be more confusing and frustrating to use more than anything.

To me, it's just easier (and more fun!) to search around on the internet and compare costs of boats of similar type. I even created a spreadsheet when I was shopping around (kinda over did it) to compare boats.

One more thing - keep an eye out for auctions being advertised. Sometimes you can find a nice rig at an auction.