2025 Boat Shows…

The show I attended was loaded with expensive boats, few if any mid to low range boats. The boat dealers I know and spoke to have been experiencing a slowdown in sales the past two years and the people looking seriously at buying a boat were few and far between, in a nutshell attendance was down. One long time marine salesman told me it is hard to make a living in an industry he has loved so much. A glimmer of hope is sales and show attendance are a bit better this year but not by much.

I went in January to the Mpls Boat Show. I usually go every year.

I didn’t really notice more or less expensive fishing boats from previous years. But what I did notice was just less fishing boats on the floor, overall. There has definitely been an increased popularity in higher end recreational boats, like wake boats.

Pontoons have also gained floor space in popularity. The days of putzing around on a pontoon with a 60 hp motor are seemingly over. They’re all bigger and more powerful now.

Hard for some to spend on a boat what their parents paid for a house. Dealers will figure it out or go out of business. You need to have 3 levels of pricing to be successful. Entry level, mid level and then high end.

The boat market is nuts. I mean even a boat over ten years old listed here is almost at the MSRP they paid for it back then. I can understand why people opt for trackers and nitros. Those nitro z7s look pretty reasonable after you take a walk through a boat show.

Dutchboy wrote:

You need to have 3 levels of pricing to be successful. Entry level, mid level and then high end.

The outdoor industry as a whole seems to have forgotten this. Tough to recruit new people when they think it costs 10’s of thousands to get in the door. Even now it does not cost/require that, but that would be the perception of someone looking at prices of things online.

Look at it as an investment. Every boat I have owned and sold I got what I paid for it or more. Last boat I made $4k and owned it for 6 years

^That won’t be the norm forever, but I do agree that anyone who has purchased a new/newer boat in the last 10 years is probably in pretty good shape on it for what it’s worth. The problem (just like the housing market), is that even if you make a little money selling a used boat – the jump to today’s prices for something new or slightly used are absurd.

I think the powersports industries are finding out the hard way that there is a ceiling for what people will pay for “new” seasonal toys. My ceiling is getting lower by the year, solely due to having less and less free time to use said toys.

We timed our boat purchase well since we bought in 2019. I was at The Boat Center in Ramsey today picking the ranger up after some service and the price of new boats is staggering.

I would be the price increase somewhere between 30-40% in 5 years. Yikes.

I saw at the local one here a Nitro ZV21 was on sale for 120K. Sticker said $975/month. Read the fine print and it was $975/month for 240 months at 8.9% interest. Who would be this mentally incompetent to do this? Probably the same person complaining about the price of eggs

Jake D wrote:

I saw at the local one here a Nitro ZV21 was on sale for 120K. Sticker said $975/month. Read the fine print and it was $975/month for 240 months at 8.9% interest. Who would be this mentally incompetent to do this? Probably the same person complaining about the price of eggs

Believe it or not some guys can swing a purchase like that. Still others hold the loan for a year and then roll it into their home loan.

I’m not one to judge what others do with their money. If anybody wanted my advice they would come ask for it.

Jake D wrote:

I saw at the local one here a Nitro ZV21 was on sale for 120K. Sticker said $975/month. Read the fine print and it was $975/month for 240 months at 8.9% interest. Who would be this mentally incompetent to do this? Probably the same person complaining about the price of eggs

Lot of guys like the buy now pay later lifestyle.

I bought my boat just before the market exploded and have a lot of equity in it but after seeing what it would cost to upgrade I think I will keep mine and enjoy it for now and see what happens to the boat industry. Only regret was not seriously looking into a glass boat at the time.

I think if you bought the right boat in the last 15 years you will do pretty well when you sell it, as long as it is still in good shape and has been well maintained. Not all boats hold their value as well as others.

buckybadger wrote:

^That won’t be the norm forever, but I do agree that anyone who has purchased a new/newer boat in the last 10 years is probably in pretty good shape on it for what it’s worth. The problem (just like the housing market), is that even if you make a little money selling a used boat – the jump to today’s prices for something new or slightly used are absurd.

I think the powersports industries are finding out the hard way that there is a ceiling for what people will pay for “new” seasonal toys. My ceiling is getting lower by the year, solely due to having less and less free time to use said toys.

I think we are a year or so away from a really big pullback. For now, there are still plenty of guys with cash, plenty of boomers looking for their retirement boat, etc. But after those guys get theirs, I think it starts to look more grim. People are maxed out on their credit and everything is so much more expensive these days. Everything.

queenswake wrote:

I think we are a year or so away from a really big pullback. For now, there are still plenty of guys with cash, plenty of boomers looking for their retirement boat, etc. But after those guys get theirs, I think it starts to look more grim. People are maxed out on their credit and everything is so much more expensive these days. Everything.

I hope your right and I can pounce on a glass boat and be done with boat purchases for the rest of my life.

John Rasmussen wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>queenswake wrote:</div>
I think we are a year or so away from a really big pullback. For now, there are still plenty of guys with cash, plenty of boomers looking for their retirement boat, etc. But after those guys get theirs, I think it starts to look more grim. People are maxed out on their credit and everything is so much more expensive these days. Everything.

I hope your right and I can pounce on a glass boat and be done with boat purchases for the rest of my life.

You and me both.

Prices are never coming back down. I hope for you guys the used market softens.

Matt Moen wrote:

Prices are never coming back down. I hope for you guys the used market softens.

Matt is right. Thing is there will
Just be less built so the used market might actually still suck.

Matt Moen wrote:

Prices are never coming back down. I hope for you guys the used market softens.

Yeah I don’t see manufacturers pricing dropping ever. We actually probably don’t want to see that happen since it would probably mean we’re in a pretty crappy economy. Would be nice to see the purchasing power of our dollar come back a little though. I watch FB marketplace pretty regularly for boats and hope to be in the market for a jump from tin to glass sooner than later. I have seen some pretty decent deals here and there but they sure do not last long.

queenswake wrote:

I think we are a year or so away from a really big pullback. For now, there are still plenty of guys with cash, plenty of boomers looking for their retirement boat, etc. But after those guys get theirs, I think it starts to look more grim. People are maxed out on their credit and everything is so much more expensive these days. Everything.

If I had a nickel for every time I heard that I’d be in a Ranger 622

^This.

The market for powersports is in a rough spot with a lot of headwinds working against them both politically and economically for the immediate future. That doesn’t mean prices will necessarily be cut though. I don’t see that.

I expect manufacturers will just trim their staff and inventory, while doubling down on the most profitable products instead of trying to appeal to the masses. It takes a lot of 17′ aluminum boat sales to make the same profit as a couple 22′ glass boats with 450s hanging off the back. People who can afford and justify a $110k boat to chase 2-3# fish will still do the same if price points are $130k. The days of going to a dealer and crawling around 15 different $25k aluminum boats and haggling on their prices from a huge inventory are probably going the way of the dinosaurs though.

When have we ever seen the prices on recreational items (new) or vehicles drop? They wont drop, once they go up they keep increasing or possibly flatten off a bit, but they will not come back down.
I bought my boat in 2010 and I know I could sell it for more than I paid for it because of the electronics I have on it now. I financed it for 60 months, but paid it off in 2 years. I saw those advertisements even back then for 10 or 20 year loans and I was like that wouldnt make sense unless you did what Dutchy said and refinanced it later rolling it into money from your house or something.
As has been said I think a lot of people are in the same spot. I really have no plans of getting a new boat. I dont mind looking at them, but even if I get more than what I paid, the price to replace it would be double and that just doesnt make sense to me.

Prices don’t go down. With tariffs they will be blamed for a price increase but if the tariff comes off the prices will never fall. It’s to easy to slap them on and leave them on.

I’m glad that I’m very happy fishing from a older boat. I’ve never been a keeping up with the Jones kind of guy, but I am always looking for a good deal in the used market. Might take 3 or 4 more boat flips to make it happen but I’ll end up with a glass tiller one of these years and I’ll keep the windshield tin around as well for the kid.

Dutchboy wrote:

Prices don’t go down. With tariffs they will be blamed for a price increase but if the tariff comes off the prices will never fall. It’s to easy to slap them on and leave them on.

This is exactly what happened last time aluminum prices spiked. Aluminum had a 10% increase. Lund. Alumacraft, and every other boat builder added 10 to 15 percent to the price of their boats. Like the price of the boat was based on it being 100% aluminum. Apparently carpet, hardware, pumps, plastic, trailer, etc. ALL went up.

Manufacturer slaps on a few strings of pretty colored led light strips here and there, people see that at the boat shows and think, “oh the neighbors at the lake will think that is pretty cool” = SOLD.

Like other said I don’t see prices coming back down but I have seen more sale or rebates this spring on new and non-current models than in the last few years. I ordered my boat in February of 21 got it in October and in that time msrp went up 9k and last year when I looked it was about 14k more total than when I ordered mine. Now I saw my model as a non-current(24 model year)listed for about what the msrp was when I ordered with sale and rebates. So there are some deals out there just need to watch if your in the new market.

Last year a boat my friend (Lund Adventure series) was seriously considering dropped $15k from April to September because they still hadn’t sold it. 2024 version, brand new.

Not saying that this would be the norm in most cases, but if a dealer has a model just sitting there for months on end, there is the possibility of a significant price drop and/or negotiation.

What may be beneficial to the buyer is that they often try to unload inventory towards the end of a season to make room for the following year’s models coming in.

Just from checking dealer websites and FB marketplace seems like several 24 model years leftover and even some 23’s. Been awhile since that happened.

With two terrible snow years in a row, the snowmobile market has tanked. That would be one time anyway.

CaptainMusky wrote:

When have we ever seen the prices on recreational items (new) or vehicles drop? They wont drop, once they go up they keep increasing or possibly flatten off a bit, but they will not come back down.
I bought my boat in 2010 and I know I could sell it for more than I paid for it because of the electronics I have on it now. I financed it for 60 months, but paid it off in 2 years. I saw those advertisements even back then for 10 or 20 year loans and I was like that wouldnt make sense unless you did what Dutchy said and refinanced it later rolling it into money from your house or something.
As has been said I think a lot of people are in the same spot. I really have no plans of getting a new boat. I dont mind looking at them, but even if I get more than what I paid, the price to replace it would be double and that just doesnt make sense to me.