I remember way back in 2006 when I first set up my boat sales business… It was my first foray into business and I was wide-eyed with optimism and enthusiasm. It’s also fair to say I was a little naive!
I had my first load of brand new US sports boats on their way across the Atlantic, complete with Volvo Penta motors, and I decided I really should be a Volvo Penta dealer. So I arranged a meeting with the Volvo Penta Rep in my local cafe, because I didn’t have any premises yet…
Looking back on it, I don’t know what’s scarier… the fact that I was flying literally by the seat of my pants (with £100k ploughed into a load of boats I had never laid eyes on, with no premises, staff or experience), or the fact that the Volvo man set me up with a dealer account then and there…
… Those were the glory days of the Celtic Tiger Economy!
Anyway, I remember that meeting like it was yesterday and his response to one particular question I asked him that day has stuck in my mind ever since.
We were talking about warranty procedures and I asked him ‘what percentage of new Volvo Penta motors would typically have problems during the warranty period?’
He looked at me a bit funny and said… ‘All of them’.
I thought he must have picked up my question wrong;
surely every single motor that leaves the factory can’t have something wrong with it!
But no, he assured me that every engine that gets registered for warranty (i.e. hasn’t disappeared off the grid to some far flung place or sat gathering dust in a shed) has at least one warranty claim registered against it.
In my naivety, I was flabbergasted.
In fact I didn’t really believe him.
I thought it was maybe just bluster, or perhaps it just felt that way to him because he was dealing with warranty problems all day long.
So I shrugged it off and went on my merry way from our meeting as a newly anointed Volvo dealer in blissful ignorance of what lay ahead of me.
Fast forward 8 years…
I now know for certain that that man spoke the unvarnished truth that day in 2006.
Since that day I myself have sold hundreds of boats and I can tell you, hand on heart, that every single one of them has had problems within 3 months of being sold.
New boats, used boats, big boats, small boats… it doesn’t matter, they all give trouble and require constant upkeep.
Anyone who tells you any different is either dishonest, or as naive as I was back in 2006.
Now, I should qualify this somewhat… Not all problems are show-stoppers or even particularly expensive to fix; it could be something like a broken switch, a dodgy gauge, a blocked fuel filter etc, etc.
And mercifully, in recent years, since I became supremely fussy about what boats I sell, it’s these type of niggly faults that crop up in the boats I sell, but they are problems none the less. And, back in the day I’ve seen my fair share of problems of the big hairy variety (i.e. blown engines, drive failures etc.)
So if you’re buying a boat, you need to be aware of this and have a strategy for dealing with it.
I try to sell as many of my boats as possible with warranty (all my own used stock boats come with a full 3 month warranty), but with brokerage boats that’s unfortunately not possible.
The only cast-iron, fool-proof way to make sure that you are not exposed or out of pocket over problems with your boat is to buy Brand New and have the manufacturer take all the risk.
The only problem with that is you will pay handsomely for the privilege.
However…
This boat right here represents an opportunity for you to get all the benefit, peace of mind and certainty of a Full 5 Year Warranty, without having to pay anything like the price of a new boat.
This Brand New Galeon Galia 530 is an excellent family day boat with a spacious cuddy and a very capable sea-going hull. She is being sold complete with a powerful and fuel efficient Mercury 90HP Optimax motor, with a full 5 Year Manufacturer’s warranty that will be honoured by any Mercury dealer throughout Europe.
Retail price on this boat is over £24,000. Watch the full length video tour of the boat to find out how and why I’m selling it for only £16,995, ready to go to the water.
This genuinely is a one-time-only deal, and an opportunity for you to get all the benefits of owning a brand spanking new boat for the price of a used one.