Tartan 3400 pricing

Tartanian3 · #1 (**permalink**) 03-05-2006

Future Tartan owner here.
I was hoping anyone could give some feedback on purchasing a 3400 or similar. Specificaly looking for info on price negotiation.
What kind of margin is there in these boats?
Offered a new 3400 for 176K, that is fairly well equiped.

Very excited about the boat but looking to spend about 160 max.
Think I can get there without striping all the options?

JW

Irwin32 · #2 (**permalink**) 03-06-2006

My area has a used, but fairly recent, 35 for 145K. It has been for sale for about a year. Out of my price range, but what a great boat.

Neicy · #3 (**permalink**) 03-06-2006

A couple of years ago I was looking at a new Hunter. It was a year
and half old but had never been titled. They were asking 88,000 for it. After looking at it several times, the broker called and said he thought 60,000 might get it. I think it went for 55,000. It gave me the impression the mark was pretty good. However, the new Tartan 34 is a hot deal right now. Never hurts to make an offer and see.

Tartanian3 · #4 (**permalink**) 03-06-2006

Thanks for the input.
That is the kind of info I was hoping to gather.
I hope their are more members willing to share details of their purchasing experience with any boat.

I beleive the Hunter - Bene's have a much higher mark up than a Tartan or Sabre or the like.
A few years back, when purchasing an RV, it was very helpful to know that most RV dealers can move upwards of 25% on their prices.

So far, this Tartan dealer has moved less than 5% (181K to 176K) on a boat that he does not even have in the yard but has to order.

I refuse to buy anything of that cost for only a <5% discount.

He did offer up a new (2005) Hunter 33 for 113K. Down from 128K. That's 12% and more like it if I wanted a Hunter 33.

waterplant · #5 (**permalink**) 03-07-2006

We are on the east side of the lake and you? Are you locked into Tartan's and are you planning to keep it on the lake? We moved from the lake to ME about 4 years ago best move we ever made. Currently we have a Sabre 28 which we have listed and are looking at either a Sabre 34 or 36.

Sludge

sailingfool · #6 (**permalink**) 03-07-2006

"I refuse to buy anything of that cost for only a <5% discount." is a odd statement.
Items can be priced under a wide variety of assumptions, particularly affected by the eagerness of the seller to get a sale. Consider a boat with a well reasearched market value of $150,000. One seller who's in no hurry, may ask $175,000 while a second seller who wants a quck sale, and hopes for miniomal hassle in the sal, may ask $150,000 firm.
So do you come out ahead if the first seller discount's the asking price 10% or paying full price for the second?
Asking prices are of no importance in making a purchase decison - you the buyer must establish the VALUE of the boat. Asking price and VALUE may or may not have a good correlation...
When the price gets to the VALUE you can make a good deal, a discount has nothing to do with a good deal, probably the bigger the discount, the more likely the buyer had more to give and walking away with extra money in his pocket.
Permium products like Mercedes (hmm..make that Infiniti..) and Tartan usually don't have the pricing flexibility the Chevys and Hunters will have, becuase the sellers know they are have a premium product and can expect buyers to pay a premium, and they expect to deal with buyers who understand VALUE.

Tartanian3 · #7 (**permalink**) 03-07-2006

You reek of pretentiousness.

You have managed to take a simple request for any inside info on TartanDealers cost structure... yes, I was doing market research, and twist it into a lecture on supply and demand.
Furthermore, your 150K / 175K seller example is wrong. If the market for that boat is dictating about 150K, then the firm seller will never get a quick sale and the no -hurry guy will only sell when negotiations get below the 150K market yield unless of coarse someone like you may pay close to the 175K becuase you percieve the higher price as a better boat. (see ridiculas, insulting mercedes analogy)
What a joke.

paulk · #8 (**permalink**) 03-07-2006

Would you be happier if the dealer had told you his initial price was $250,000 ; thus making the discount bigger? As Slgfl points out, the boat is worth what it's worth. Offer $160 k and see what happens.

max-on · #9 (**permalink**) 03-07-2006

Tartanian3, congrats on your future purchase. That's a difficult question to answer, as each builder/dealer/broker prices differently. One thing I have looked at in assessing the price of the options, it what they retail for on the market and what the cost to install would be. Also, watch out for inflated commissioning costs, sometimes you can hire a yard to commission the boat for a fraction of what some dealers want.

If I may ask, what other boats have you looked at, and why did you choose the Tartan. They are nice boats. Although, we are currently looking at a Dehler.

Columnist · #10 (**permalink**) 03-12-2006

There are no more independent dealers (for several reasons) for Tartan boats. All of the Tartan C&C dealerships are in fact factory owned to a great extent. This means that the "dealer" does not have money in the boat. The term "margin" as a retail spread over dealer cost is meaningless.

Although the Tartan 34 is a nice boat, $175,000 is high for what the 34' boat vessel offers. Put a lower price on the table and DO NOT be afraid to walk away and purchase another high quality brand for significantly less. This should be an enjoyable, personalized and and educational process for you. Make it so.

You should be in the vicinity of $155,000 - $165,000 for the the size and quality boat that you are looking for.