Here's the bad news before I get to how great Harvey and the factory are:
We had originally planned to order a 20V from the factory in 2008 for a early 2009 delivery. We went for a demo in the local dealers 2008, which he told me he would sell for $36K to get it off the lot. It wasn't the color that the wife and kids wanted, so we passed. We went back a week or so later to discuss ordering and price. The dealer would never give me a firm, bottom line price but was asking around $51K for a 2009 20V. I asked why the 2008 was so much less and he gave me all kinds of excuses. I said I didn't think I could do that, but wasn't rude and left it open.
A few days later I found my 2007 RZ2 a few hours away in Oklahoma. It was new and on a covered lift at the dealer, Grand Lake Boat Sales. I drove up there for a test drive, but it was VERY dirty and had some things that needed to be fixed. They fixed them and I got it for what they claim was dealer invoice with trailer at around $53K. I still think I got a good deal. I drove it home and put it in storage for the winter.
Spring of 2009 rolls around and I take the boat out for the first time with the wife and kids. It dies and I get towed back to the ramp with a MASSIVE leak in the boat. The leak was only part of the problem. The motor cutting out was a whole separate issue. This is the way my summer went. I couldn't get anyone from Grand Lake to return my calls and the local dealer Xtreme Marine was ticked off because I didn't buy a boat from them, so it would sit there for two weeks. I had to stay on them to do anything on the boat. They never fixed ANYTHING on the boat. They tried, but all they did was throw parts at it and get my boat filthy. They did, however, point out that it looked as though the boat had been dropped.
I had been in touch with Harvey Smith through the latter part of all of this because I had such a terrible time with BOTH dealers. Harvey told me to bring it down to the factory at the end of the summer and I did. I haven't seen it yet, but he told me they went through it screw by screw and fixed the loooong list of things that had never been fixed or hadn't been fixed properly. Because of the problems with Xtreme Marine, they no longer carry Tige. So the closest Tige dealer is a new dealer about 3 and a half hours away in Northwest Arkansas. I sure as hell would NEVER go back to Grand Lake Boat Sales in Oklahoma.
Hopefully, someone will pick up Tige around central Arkansas soon.
The truth about a dealer making the boating experience great is so true. That didn't happen for me.
Harvey and the factory made my experience a pleasure. It's because of Harvey that I have brand loyalty. Thank you again and again.
Todd Baker
We had originally planned to order a 20V from the factory in 2008 for a early 2009 delivery. We went for a demo in the local dealers 2008, which he told me he would sell for $36K to get it off the lot. It wasn't the color that the wife and kids wanted, so we passed. We went back a week or so later to discuss ordering and price. The dealer would never give me a firm, bottom line price but was asking around $51K for a 2009 20V. I asked why the 2008 was so much less and he gave me all kinds of excuses. I said I didn't think I could do that, but wasn't rude and left it open.
A few days later I found my 2007 RZ2 a few hours away in Oklahoma. It was new and on a covered lift at the dealer, Grand Lake Boat Sales. I drove up there for a test drive, but it was VERY dirty and had some things that needed to be fixed. They fixed them and I got it for what they claim was dealer invoice with trailer at around $53K. I still think I got a good deal. I drove it home and put it in storage for the winter.
Spring of 2009 rolls around and I take the boat out for the first time with the wife and kids. It dies and I get towed back to the ramp with a MASSIVE leak in the boat. The leak was only part of the problem. The motor cutting out was a whole separate issue. This is the way my summer went. I couldn't get anyone from Grand Lake to return my calls and the local dealer Xtreme Marine was ticked off because I didn't buy a boat from them, so it would sit there for two weeks. I had to stay on them to do anything on the boat. They never fixed ANYTHING on the boat. They tried, but all they did was throw parts at it and get my boat filthy. They did, however, point out that it looked as though the boat had been dropped.
I had been in touch with Harvey Smith through the latter part of all of this because I had such a terrible time with BOTH dealers. Harvey told me to bring it down to the factory at the end of the summer and I did. I haven't seen it yet, but he told me they went through it screw by screw and fixed the loooong list of things that had never been fixed or hadn't been fixed properly. Because of the problems with Xtreme Marine, they no longer carry Tige. So the closest Tige dealer is a new dealer about 3 and a half hours away in Northwest Arkansas. I sure as hell would NEVER go back to Grand Lake Boat Sales in Oklahoma.
Hopefully, someone will pick up Tige around central Arkansas soon.
The truth about a dealer making the boating experience great is so true. That didn't happen for me.
Harvey and the factory made my experience a pleasure. It's because of Harvey that I have brand loyalty. Thank you again and again.
Todd Baker
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