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Trade down?


Badger

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I'm curious if anyone has traded down in boats and had it work out in both happiness and financial factors.  I have a perfect 2015 VTX with about 160 hours.  We traded up from a 2004 Sunscape LSV to keep the great V-drive ski wake and move to the convenience of surf gate.  This summer we put about 40 hours on the boat with about 45 minutes of that coming while surfing.  The rest was skiing, wake boarding and pulling tubes.  Based on that, I've been considering trying to take some "equity" back out by moving backwards to a 2010-2013 VTX without surf gate.  For the few times my wife and I surf, we have multiple friends on the lake with better surfboats than us or we could put down the power wedge and throw a bag in the back corner and be as happy as we were with our 2004.  We don't need the money, but I'm also making a payment that could be going towards something else or into savings.  (I've been getting the itch for a convertible sports car lately.)

I'm just wondering if others have done this and had it work out?  My first thoughts are that I won't get the $$$ out of my boat that I see others listed for on Only Inboards, and then I'll pay more than I want for someone else's well cared for VTX. 

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Curious how much cheaper that woukd be?  You hardly see a 2015 and older vtx for sale, and the delta between the surfgate and non surfgate seems to be a couple thousand.  And fyi 2013 has surfgate. 2012 was the last year without. When i bought my 2012 from the camp i had my choice of their 2012 or 2013.

Edited by oldjeep
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Based solely on OnlyInboard listings (obviously don't know selling prices), it could be up to $20k-ish differential.  My mistake on the models for surf gate.  I would consider the 3 year window of a 2010-2012.  The G3 tower is a "must have" if I were doing it.

Edit:  and about $3k of that would get chewed up in taxes.

Edited by Badger
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55 minutes ago, Badger said:

Based solely on OnlyInboard listings (obviously don't know selling prices), it could be up to $20k-ish differential.  My mistake on the models for surf gate.  I would consider the 3 year window of a 2010-2012.  The G3 tower is a "must have" if I were doing it.

Edit:  and about $3k of that would get chewed up in taxes.

For the local market, every one of those 2013 - 2015 vtx on only inboards is way over priced.   What I see locally is that the 2012 tend to sell just under 50K and the 2013 tend to sell around 54K-58K.  2011 tend to sell lower due to lack of snap in carpet (near as I can tell)

Edited by oldjeep
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I think k you can get top dollar for your 15 because it’s a bit of a unicorn imo in terms for the vtx. It has zero off cruise, power wedge two but still on the better ski hull. You may have to wait for a bit but with Tommy’s now being here they can market it across the country. I think if you are willing to be patient and maybe go a bit without a boat, besides your pontoon, you can make it worth it. 

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They only problem with working with Tommy's, or any dealer, is they will want to do it on consignment and take 7-10% of both ends of the deal.  So the only people it works out for is the dealer.

  • Like 3
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Taking a hit on an upgrade is a pretty easy pill to swallow... Taking a hit on a downgrade that's a rough one.. I fully understand but that's one hard pill to swallow.. 

After taxes and hassle the difference is probably less that what your intending.. not to mention potential maintenance and repairs that may be required on a much older used boat.. 

Good luck

 

  • Like 3
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I would also think timing is a factor in the financial part, buying now to get a deal and selling in spring to hit the demand bump.  Downside is you either have 2 boats at the same time or no boat for a summer season.  Maybe you can find an owner that is thinking of trading up but not to new and make both happy.

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unless you find someone local, by the time you pay to have your new old boat shipped, take the tax and registration hit, etc, not likely worth it unless you go way older like back to the '01-04 hull you came from.

  • Like 1
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So the math. You say the difference is about $20k.  For argument, let’s say you sell for $50k, buy at $30k

Cost for commissions to sell:$4k

sales tax on replacement boat: $1.5k

fixes on existing boat to prep to sell: $0.5k

fixes on replacement boat: $0.5k

shipping: $2.5k

at most you’ve eaten up less than half of your equity. The real question is whether you’ll get more “enjoyment” out of the remaining $11.5k than if you didn’t have this hassle and just kept your boat.

 

  • Like 2
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I’d say keep the boat you have and work with a lower budget on the convertible. 

Plenty of Boxster S around for $10k. I’d also consider a S2000 but they are holding their value better than I expected. (I had an 03. One of the few cars I’ve had second thoughts about selling). 

  • Like 1
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  • 1 year later...

I started this topic last year about this time but didn't move forward with doing anything.  I went from about 45 hours last summer to about 20 hours on our boat this past summer.  I still skied, but it was primarily on two other people's boats.  The teenagers are so busy with other stuff, that we barely got out on the water.

I'm back to considering a "trade-down" opportunity again just to lesson the burden of holding the large depreciating asset.  This time, I'm thinking about going back to a direct drive so I can share the ski tug burden with my buddies but still pull the kids if they want once in a while.  I'm thinking about a 2007 or newer RXLi/RTXi with XTP tower in the $30k-$40k range.  Is anyone looking to upgrade and want to trade boats for a 2015 VTX?  I put a free ad on OnlyInboards but will probably wait until Feb/March to actively market the boat.

I don't frequent Ball of Spray forum very much.  For those of you over there, would it be worthwhile for me to post a topic over there about trading?

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Personally if I were considering doing this....I would push an ad that tried to locate someone who wants to upgrade and work out a trade that has them paying the difference to upgrade. You get what you want and go into it knowing the numbers.....buyer gets his upgraded boat with paying the dealer markup on the new boat and without taking another hit on his older boat due to trade in. To me it seems like you would both come out ahead if you can find someone who has a boat you want/vice versa..

I would post ads over the winter since you never know when the right person may see it and be interested....and then go at it especially hard about the time the boat shows start since that tends to get people out looking for deals on boats that are not brand new after getting sticker shock talking to dealers. Good luck, hope it works out for you.

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As noted Ski-it-again, Only-Inboards are key marketing venues and probably add Boat Trader + flyers at your local sale boards for visibility.  I think BOS would not be the target demographics for your current boat.  At present you will be battling the local dealer sales so getting your desired $ may be a bit challenging until the demand period kicks back in.

Many of the 'engine in the middle' gang may not think of this as a trade down...just sayin'. :lol:  I would add the Gen 1 (03-06) LXI to your mix, it has a pretty sweet slalom wake, it would just limit you to PP if ZO is a priority.

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