Buying a new Catalina

Captn_Kidd · #1 (**permalink**) 08-25-2003

I''m considering buying a new Catalina 310. Since I''ve never purchased a new boat, I have some naive questions.

1) Are the prices listed negotiable with the dealer, as they would be on a car or on a used boat? If so, what discount from list would be typical?

2) What other charges would be expected...freight/delivery, commissioning, etc. Roughly how much should I expect?

3) Is my local dealer the only option? Does Catalina sell direct? If so, what would the transportation costs be (ballpark) on shipping a boat overland a thousand miles?

Jeff_H · #2 (**permalink**) 08-25-2003

Prices are generally negotiable, although the best deals are often packages of optional equipment offered in association with boat shows. The discounts will vary with the dealer, popularity of the model vs production capabilities, and the whether you can find one on floor plan somewhere. I don''t think that Catalina sells direct because even at boat shows you are connected up with a dealer from your area, but I don''t know that to be the case for certain. Of course the final price will be very dependent on the options that you have the factory add and the things that you add yourself. Typically, the costs to commission and equip a boat that is in sail away condition run somewhere between 10% to 20% (normally closer to the 20% end of the scale) of the cost of the boat. Shipping is over and above that number. Catalina does so much shipping that their prices are very inexpensive compared to what you or I would spend to ship a boat privately. Again your local dealer should be able to give you all of those numbers. You might also check the warrantee service records for your local dealer by asking for the names and phone numbers of the past 10 or so boats that the dealer sold. Talking to owners of Catalinas I ran into a consistent group of people who told me nightmare stories about Catalina warranty support, and then recently there was as discussion on this BB with a bunch of owners with good warranty support stories, so I can only surmise that there are big differences in warranty support from one dealer to another.

Just out of curiousity, why are you electing to buy a new boat in a model that is as common as the a Catalina?

Respectfully,
Jeff

Captn_Kidd · #3 (**permalink**) 08-25-2003

>> Just out of curiousity, why are you electing to buy a new boat in a model that is as common as the a Catalina?

I really like the 310, and there aren''t that many on the used market, certainly not in the Dallas area. Also, it will let me choose which options I want. That said, if I found a 3-year-old 310 with reasonable equipment and condition, I''m not wedded to the idea of buying new.