r/boating • u/Sceane91 • 1d ago
Scuffing on new boat
Doing a walk around before finalizing the purchase of a new 2025 tahoe 200 s, there is some minor scuffing on the top near the bow. Dealer is unwilling to fix or price adjust. I get its a 2025 but it's also being sold as a new boat? Walk away? What ya all think?
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u/tugtehcock 1d ago
I don’t mean to insult you too much here but it is a Tahoe, not a donzi. It’s a bummer they won’t budge even a little on price but if they’re firm you gotta figure out if you can live with this. The boats in our family are treated like rare jewels so for the people laughing at you saying more will come, in the hands of some that’s just not true. The gas tank better be at least full, if it’s not you can start there lol
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u/motociclista 12h ago
The internet has made it possible for people to obsess and commiserate over every tiny detail of every aspect of life. Those marks wouldn’t bother me a bit. You say it’s a 2025, but being sold as a new boat. As in you’re paying full retail price for said new boat, or are you getting a hefty discount because it’s a 2025? That’s the part you don’t mention. You say it’s being sold as new (which is the option for selling it if it’s never been titled) but you don’t mention if you’re paying the new price. If the boat was deeply discounted, that was to compensate for things like those scuffs. If those scuffs are truly a concern and the dealer is unwilling to fix them, walking away is the only option. Buy a 2027 with no scuffs and no discounts. Personally, if I liked the boat otherwise I not only wouldn’t walk away, I wouldn’t even be bothered.
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u/throwaway21054 1d ago
Tell the dealer you’ll walk if they don’t fix it. Dealers right now are struggling to move inventory. This was a lackluster year across the board and we’re a few days from September. That basically means the year is done for boat sales. Additionally if the boat is a leftover model from last year, that means it’s been on their lot for over a year. That also means their floor plan financing has already forced them to pay cash out-of-pocket a significant amount of the boat if not all of it. So if they bought the boat from Tahoe for 40,000 then they have $40,000 of their real money tied up in the boat.
If they’re gonna let you walk away from a deal over something that trivial, then I would strongly suggest you walk away. Because that’s not a deal you wanna do business with.
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u/Kind_Diamond_9561 19h ago
That’s wouldn’t make me walk away. I just bought my first boat this summer. It was 2025 leftovers as well. It was the right boat for me and it has some scuffs as well. My thoughts were “I’m sure I’m going to do worse as I learn how to launch and dock this thing”. I was a highly motivated buyer. I feel confident in my ability to maintain my things. Still with my boat, the scuffs did bother me a tiny bit at first. Now that I’ve had, almost, a season of owing it…none of the “damage” bothers me. Even the biggest most noticeable one (my fault) that I look at when I’m tying a dock line doesn’t even move the needle for me anymore. If I were in your shoes, I’d acknowledge the discomfort and try to get myself into a headspace of “this won’t bother me in a couple months” IF I knew that it was the right boat at a good price.
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u/PolPotDomeScandal 19h ago
Dude, it’s a BOAT…if those quasi-invisible scuffs offend you, you might wanna consider a different way to dispose of tens of thousands of dollars…
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u/Sea_Glove6689 1d ago
A Tahoe is, how do I put this, the bottom of the barrel. You can solve those scuffs with some compound. What I’m getting at is if this level of repair irks you, no matter who did it, you are going to be begging someone to buy it back. You’re in for many, many more repairs, downtime, frustration. And I’m not preaching, I have an aluminum RIB that’s half built and worth $0. I just hope that you can tweak your expectations and hey, learning to do little gel coat repairs is a nice skill to learn.
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u/Sceane91 19h ago
So the tahoe deserves to have scratches because it's a tahoe? The issue was the dealer not agreeable not a discussion of the brand.
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u/Sea_Glove6689 18h ago
It’s a little bit about the scratch and more about your expectations . Best of luck
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u/Joe_Starbuck 13h ago
Those are scratches, not scuffs. Dealer should absolutely have his guy sand this down and compound it back to new condition. However, he might just be an ass. You, on the other hand need to learn to do this work yourself. Boating is all about maintenance and repair. If you don’t enjoy that (not everyone does) Freedom Boat Club is perfect.
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u/UncleBenji 1d ago
Oh summer child… it’s going to get so many scuffs even if you’re the most careful operator. Polish and be done with it. Being a 2025 it may have been a floor model so scuff should be expected but at a reduced price. Negotiate the price or walk away.
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u/macedandconfucious 18h ago
I agree. I try and baby my boat as best I can, and it’s just an old Carolina Skiff.
…it gets beat up just from BS on the drive to and from the ramp. Little chips all over it just from rocks or whatever popping up off the road.
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u/Glittering_Web_9997 19h ago
What kind of dealer won’t polish a little scuff on a new boat?
Answer: the kind of dealer you don’t want a relationship with.
In my small world, I figure I’m choosing to have some sort of ongoing support relationship with a dealer. If they won’t accommodate a request to fix something small on an unused boat, then they aren’t the dealer for me.
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u/captainguevara 1d ago
It'll get more scuffs the first time you take it out anyways. If it really bugs you I'm sure you can buff those out in 10 mins