In regards to “ambassador” boats these are probably dealer demo boats and yes they can be a good deal.  By “new” I think they mean you would be the first owner and get the full warranty despite the hours.  And honestly, having a boat the dealer has already worked the initial kinks out of could be nice.  

Thanks Csleaver, I really appreciate your help.  I will take a look this evening!

Welcome! In my experience the incentives play into the percentage off with Malibu. The incentives are the best way I’ve seen people get the larger percentages actually. I can’t speak to other brands but I imagine it is the same. 

18 hours ago, MikeR397 said:

This industry msrp pricing is just plain stupid. 30% off msrp deals as standard, why? Just reduce sticker by 20% and give another 0-5% off like a luxury car dealer does in general, 8% if it’s old stock. 

Because everyone nowadays has to feel like they are absolutely taking advantage of someone. The idea of a win-win situation is all but dead. It just sounds so much better when someone can tell their buddy it was worth $200, but I got them down to $140K. This process is heavily driven by consumer and industry behaviors over the years.

If I seem misinformed I apologize in advance as I'm looking at purchasing my first wake boat! I've been patient and have seen a lot of manufacturer incentives on remaining 2023 models ($20,000 off on new Malibu's and $30,000 off on new Centurions). I've been reading through posts on this forum about what a "good" deal is as far as how much off the listed MSRP percentage wise being somewhere around 20-25%, but my question is how to incentives play into this? If for example I am interested in a 23LSV and you get $20,000 off, would that incentive play in to what that percentage off is, or do you view the price minus the incentive as the new starting point to then negotiate from? Also, is the incentive a rebate the dealer gets sent by the manufacturer or is it coming out of their pocket?

Let's say a new boat is $175,000 and you get a $20,000 incentive, bringing the price down to $155,000, would it be rude to then ask for 20-25% off from that new price?

I appreciate any feedback, I've read a lot on this forum about how important a good relationship is with your dealer so I don't want to come off as insulting with an offer that's unrealistic. 

As a side not, I've seen a few boats listed as "new" with about 100 hours on them described as ambassador boats? Is their an opportunity on those boats to get a good deal?

Thanks!