Money where their mouth is

[talltigeguy]

Since a Mastercraft X45 is $111,000.00 these days, and a RZ4 is $85,000...........who really needs the thousand bucks?

In all fairness, the actual purchase price is not likely to be that high. I think MC inflates their MSRP price by a greater percentage than Tige does. That way, they will sell a few boats at a much higher price to their intended target audience: Folks making more than 250K per year. But when they run out of fat cats to sell to, the prices drop considerably. With today's economy, it is hard to know how many of the boats are being sold to folks who don't ask questions about price, and how many will be aggressively negotiated.

[jeanw]

Wanted to let you know we've imbedded a fantastic video at the link -- Check it out!

http://tige.com/challenge/

[Nobody]

In all fairness, the actual purchase price is not likely to be that high. I think MC inflates their MSRP price by a greater percentage than Tige does. That way, they will sell a few boats at a much higher price to their intended target audience: Folks making more than 250K per year. But when they run out of fat cats to sell to, the prices drop considerably. With today's economy, it is hard to know how many of the boats are being sold to folks who don't ask questions about price, and how many will be aggressively negotiated.

All I know is Bay Area Watersports (Tampabay Mastercraft dealer) was dead firm on his prices which was 10% more (X45 vs RZ4) than what Dom @ Fortes Inboard quoted me. Of course apples were compared to apples. It could had just been the dealer dead set on his profit margin which I later learned he'd rather sink his boats than off load them for cost with unsold prior model years. For all I know....he might still have 07's and 08's in his inventory.

[tigecanuck]

years ago when I was sure I wanted a tige in ga. and nothing else would do. I had to call them back, after I left, to tell them that I'd come back and take another test drive as long as they had a different sales person. and as it turned out I didn't even want the second test drive because I thought they might mess that one up too. I knew the boat and I was sure I wanted a tige. The sales person just wanted to take out his grandchild and he had no idea how to shift the weight to clean up the wake. He didn't know how to get the speed off RPM and onto mph and on and on. it was windy and cold and I went from 99% sure to
80% surly not! so they still need a sales man or they will not make the sale.
But if they make one sale it pays for a lot of no sales!

Chadster. The boats that Tige is now providing dealers to sell are better overall than they have been in their twenty year history. What Tige needs now is more good dealers, and as one of those dealers I need more good people to represent Tige in the way it should be on both the sales and service side. Like plenty of other industries, people are a huge part of the success formula. The word is out in the industry how much Tige has stepped up their game and that will attract more good dealers to the network. I hope your next dealer experience is so much better, that the last one just fades away in your memory.....

[jeanw]

Very well said, tigecanuck! We appreciate your support! I heard your Kelowna show was amazing -- perfect weather for an on-the-water display of high-quality craftsmanship! Cheers to you and everyone on your Hyperactive Watersports team! Here's to a great 2011 boating season!

Jean Wagner
Corporate Relations Manager
Tigé Boats - Abilene, TX

[Fiveflat]

I wish I could afford a new boat right now. All my friends and family are hung up on Mastercraft and Malibu and I got chastised when I came home with my '99 Tige' 21V... until they rode in it.
They all said "Wow, really nice for a 12 year old boat!"

I can only imagine their reaction to a new one!

[91Terminator]

In all fairness, the actual purchase price is not likely to be that high. I think MC inflates their MSRP price by a greater percentage than Tige does. That way, they will sell a few boats at a much higher price to their intended target audience: Folks making more than 250K per year. But when they run out of fat cats to sell to, the prices drop considerably. With today's economy, it is hard to know how many of the boats are being sold to folks who don't ask questions about price, and how many will be aggressively negotiated.

Umm 111K isn't the MSRP thats the price... Our last show had a 2011 X2 for 93K MSRP so if X2 MSRP is 93K an X45 MSRP should be like 130K.

[tigecanuck]

Umm 111K isn't the MSRP thats the price... Our last show had a 2011 X2 for 93K MSRP so if X2 MSRP is 93K an X45 MSRP should be like 130K.

The only reason an mc is priced at those levels is so they can buy more advertising to convince buyers that their boats are "worth" more. Their motto should be "held to a higher margin"!

[MoneyPity]

Although Tige has been very helpful in doing anything they could to figure out a way for me to test drive the new RZR and R20 including flying me down to Abilene and now the $1000 dollar competitor bonus it still is very difficult for me to pull the trigger on a new RZR or R20.

The issue for me is no dealer within 5+ hours away is a road block when I looked at the factory quotes to me amd the fact that they turned out to be higher than a dealer price on a R20 that was $6K less than the factory for a comparably equiped boat. $1000 does not go real far when looking at Tige vs. a localy priced Sunsport. I am not looking for a monster wake. I prefer a good slalom wake wake and although I liked the wake on my 20V It turns out that I like the slalom wake on a Supra Sunsport more. The $1000 wpuld be real attractive if I did not have to travel for a day there and 1 back to get the Tige test ride.

Tige boats have come a long way since 2007 but unfortunately I am shying away due to no dealers in my area. Sure arrangements could be made to get service from a non Tige dealer but when I look at the delta in price between an RZR and the Supra I am leaning towards Supra since I have three dealers within 1.5 hours or less and 3 more within 3 hours. Getting a test ride in a Tige would cost my time for 2 days. This is not a motivator to ride in the RZR. If Tige had local dealer(s) it would be a lot easier to go Tige but without one in a major market it is a roadblock to me. The party who bought my 07 20V likes the boat as much as I did but he has had problems with setvice. He can get things worked on but he feels that it seems to take longer to get repaired. I have decided to hold off another season hoping someone picks up a Tige dealership either closer to home or where I boat. When you spread the $1k over five or ten years I would rather have the piece of mind with a Supra or other dealer close by it really is not a major factor. The bow of the RZR is a plus but again piece of mind comes to play. An X2 or Maristar to me are priced way over what I would spend for a boat that at best sees about 36-40 days of use in a good seasson where there are no time conflicts with other activities. In 10-15 years I would be able to spend more time on water but not living next to a lake does reduce the time I get on clean water. With todays towing costs hauling the boat for up to 8 hours roundtrip adds up quick;y at 12mpg. I can leave boat at my dads place but I still burn a lot of fuel commuting which reduces water time. I enjoyed boating since I was a teen but with the price of new and used boats costing mpre tahn my second home I am taking off at least this season unless I find a deal you cannot refuse.

[chpthril]

Although Tige has been very helpful in doing anything they could to figure out a way for me to test drive the new RZR and R20 including flying me down to Abilene and now the $1000 dollar competitor bonus it still is very difficult for me to pull the trigger on a new RZR or R20.

The issue for me is no dealer within 5+ hours away is a road block when I looked at the factory quotes to me amd the fact that they turned out to be higher than a dealer price on a R20 that was $6K less than the factory for a comparably equiped boat. $1000 does not go real far when looking at Tige vs. a localy priced Sunsport. I am not looking for a monster wake. I prefer a good slalom wake wake and although I liked the wake on my 20V It turns out that I like the slalom wake on a Supra Sunsport more. The $1000 wpuld be real attractive if I did not have to travel for a day there and 1 back to get the Tige test ride.

Tige boats have come a long way since 2007 but unfortunately I am shying away due to no dealers in my area. Sure arrangements could be made to get service from a non Tige dealer but when I look at the delta in price between an RZR and the Supra I am leaning towards Supra since I have three dealers within 1.5 hours or less and 3 more within 3 hours. Getting a test ride in a Tige would cost my time for 2 days. This is not a motivator to ride in the RZR. If Tige had local dealer(s) it would be a lot easier to go Tige but without one in a major market it is a roadblock to me. The party who bought my 07 20V likes the boat as much as I did but he has had problems with setvice. He can get things worked on but he feels that it seems to take longer to get repaired. I have decided to hold off another season hoping someone picks up a Tige dealership either closer to home or where I boat. When you spread the $1k over five or ten years I would rather have the piece of mind with a Supra or other dealer close by it really is not a major factor. The bow of the RZR is a plus but again piece of mind comes to play. An X2 or Maristar to me are priced way over what I would spend for a boat that at best sees about 36-40 days of use in a good seasson where there are no time conflicts with other activities. In 10-15 years I would be able to spend more time on water but not living next to a lake does reduce the time I get on clean water. With todays towing costs hauling the boat for up to 8 hours roundtrip adds up quick;y at 12mpg. I can leave boat at my dads place but I still burn a lot of fuel commuting which reduces water time. I enjoyed boating since I was a teen but with the price of new and used boats costing mpre tahn my second home I am taking off at least this season unless I find a deal you cannot refuse.

Do you not think it would be unfair for the guys building the boats to undercut their own dealers trying to sell them?

I was livid when one of my vendors quoted a local customer a price that was 10% over dealer cost and then the customer told me this and expected me to price match

[MoneyPity]

Do you not think it would be unfair for the guys building the boats to undercut their own dealers trying to sell them?

I was livid when one of my vendors quoted a local customer a price that was 10% over dealer cost and then the customer told me this and expected me to price match

I would answer your question with a resounding yes, conditionally of course. If I had a dealer then I would not expect the factory to undercut the dealer. Of course I do not consider as an example State of Mind in St Louis or Family Marine in Minnesota as "my" dealers when they are a considerable distance away. If they were my dealers I would expect the factory to help support them as dealers so that they could work out a competitive price similar to the Tige Dealer about 900 miles away who is selling the R20 at a low margin in order to build the business. My perspective in this is that since I have no local Tige representation then I would expect aggressive pricing from the factory especially when that is what they said they would do.

In the case of a local dealer he has multiple goals when he sells a buyer their first boat from him. Obviously he wants to make money on the sale but he does not want to loose future business with this customer because his initial price was not aggressive enough. If he earns the initial business now he has a "customer" that hopefully feels he got a great deal and that the "customer" will come back to him for add ons, maintenance etc for the life of that boat. When The "customer" get 2ft itus hopefully the customers will come back to him because the dealer earned a customer. Did the factory? Hopefully if the dealer is good and earns the trust of "His"customer he could have a customer for life. It is all perspective and part of the game.

Right now it is a mute point with local gas prices at at $4.49 and climbing. Heck it is is too expensive to haul it out to the lake so we can float off our favorite sandbars and catch some sun.

It is all a matter of perspective.