[OFB Cafe] Checkin' out the Café

[Fred Smith]

On Wed, Jul 9, 2008 at 7:26 PM, Chris Olson <chris.olson at live.com> wrote:
>
>
> From: Timothy Butler
> Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2008 4:46 PM
> To: An Open Discussion Forum on Just About Everything,Especially for Techies.
> Subject: Re: [OFB Cafe] Checkin' out the Café
>
> Yikes! Good thing indeed. Now tell me -- this is something I've been wondering about -- why do boats and the accompanying motors cost so much?
>
> Because people who can afford them will pay it.
>
> I was looking at a boat a while back and remember thinking, "I could get a really fine car fully loaded for that price," and it wasn't even a particularly huge boat.
>
> Well, they're expensive to build too, and actually more complicated than a car.  My outboard motor was $19,000 alone but a big outboard powerhead is
> more comparable to a NASCAR engine than a street car engine.

Although inflation accounts for some of it, there has been a lot of
increases in the price of new boats and motors lately.   My boat has
an Evinrude 88spl, which is a two stroke 90 hp engine that requires
you to pre-mix your oil and gas.  I still have the original 1989
purchase receipt; $3300 installed.   Simple inflation would put that
cost at $5400 these days, but the MSRP on a new Evinrude 90 hp two
stroke engine (not counting installation) is $9174. The price of many
boats has gone up beyond inflation as well. The Boston Whaler Montauk
17 I have cost about $2999 in 1977, with a 70 hp engine and a trailer.
 Today the exact same boat is $25,000 without the motor and trailer.
In 2000, that rig went for $14,000.  I think this is just the industry
as a whole figuring out that they can still sell boats at twice the
price they were a few years ago.

As Chris mentioned, marine motors are a different breed than car
motors.  The 90 hp engine on my boat is 17 years old;  it still starts
the first time, every time, even after spending a winter in the back
yard, and will still lift the 1700 lb boat straight out of the water
and hit 60 mph in under 5 seconds. The hull of my boat is 30 years old
and is as solid as the day it was new. Even given my current general
lack of maintenance, it'll last another 30 years easy.

So, you have a couple different factors working;

1) People willing to pay the higher prices just because they've got
enough money for it
2) People understanding that even if you buy a boat used, you can sell
it in 10 years for 80% of what you paid for it.
3) People understanding that the boat will probably last 50 years if
they really want it to.

That said, most people buy used boats. I recently sold my sailboat,
and so I've gotten permission to go buy another one.  My target
market?  35+ ft. boats built between 1970 and 1980. My price range is
between $15K and $25K.  I've already seen dozens of boats in that
price range, which I don't consider expensive for something with 2
bedrooms, a bathroom, and the ability to go around the world without
spending a dime on gas.

-Fred