C Dory cancelling dealers

Recessions start in southern California and make their way slowly across the nation. Contrary to the news higher end home prices are dropping over here and based on feedback from peers in my industry things are slowing down on the west coast. My real estate agent would agree the days of 6 day closes are behind us higher end homes are taking 6-12 mo to sell. I have seen prices drop by 50-100k on houses costing 600+k (or non gov backed loans). I read recently auto loan credit is drying up for people with blemishes on their records due to increased repos thus hurting new car sales. Anyways per my local c-dory dealer he too feels boat sales have slowed in our market in the last 12 mo.

I think this process will be slower but I do believe we are heading into headwind with increased borrowing costs and more stringent lenders. And I don't think it's a bad thing. For savers like myself low interest rates are a disaster.

As to aluminum boats I agree in the PNW they have taken a bite out of the pie. NorthRiver and others have been producing some very nice boats with ever more creature comforts and with better technologies have eroded some of the fiberglass benefits. They are also very sales/volume driven businesses.

My 2 cents,
Harald
 
I agree, aluminum is becoming more popular in the PNW. That has to do primarily with the decreased maintenance required, (at least from talking to those who are going that way --> mostly fisher people), but as mentioned, there are some nice, very well built "tin can boats" in the cruising world as well, especially if you get half way up Vancouver Island. Eagle, Coastal, Armstrong and even Hewes are some of the names I remember seeing. In 3 years up there now I don't think I have seen any other type in the water taxi fleets. They are built tough, deep V's and big horses, with lots of lights, and they will run any time, any weather and any day (or night.)

Actually, when I started looking for a "power" boat, it was a 15 or 16 foot aluminum that I had my sights on. Sure glad someone was looking out for me, as my C-Dory opened up a whole new world of boating and friends. Sure glad for that. :hug :hug2

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
I always thought the reason used C-Dory's sold well is that the new ones really weren't much different from the older boats. Many people don't want to buy a boat in a kit form. The factory could embrace some of the insulating of the interiors done by some of the C-Brats. I always thought a nicely done factory package that included two house batteries along with a decent solar panel setup along with a factory installed electronics so someone could buy a boat already outfitted for their own type of cruising. I don't know if the new 22's come with the bow storage hatches like the 23' Ventures. Surely the factory could make standard many of the C-Brat modifications on new boats. Bigger openings for the V berth Led lighting through out the boat. A reading light in the v berth. Maybe a wifi extended antenna package for in crease wifi range. The idea of the factory expanding available options would also seem to be a good idea. Like roof top air conditioning so people in warmer climates would be more likely to overnight on the boat. It certainly worked for Ranger Tugs and Cutwater. I mean they would not have to buy or stock all of the options until a boat was sold. Taking a nicely outfitted C-Dory to one of the bigger east coast boat shows would have to create some sales. The factory may build a great boats but they could sell a lot more with some marketing efforts. This month's Boat US has a section on Great New Small boats. I never see a C-Dory shown much in magazine articles that would highlight the brand. I guess the lack of sales effort by the factory will keep prices up on used C-Dory's.
D.D.
 
Mobile East says they're backing off to start to ease into retirement, but I think it's because they're really not selling as many as they used to. In the old days they couldn't stock enough to meet the demand. Now, not so much. That's not to say that these boats have fallen out of favor, it's just that you get more for your money with a well maintained used one.
 
Hi guys,

So please don't jump down my throat on this. I just wanted to report back after speaking with Ron Wright at the factory.

1. They are going to discuss as a company what to do with their online presence. I think you have seen more from them recently and my guess is more is to come. There was strong talk of a redesigned website and posting new builds to the FB page.

2. They value the community but their primary focus right now is to build good boats and to re-establish their dealer network (including the NE which is still a work in progress). As you may know they suffered quite a loss with the fire including many of the C-Dory molds which they had to rebuild. The venture molds were spared and the tomcat mold was damaged then repaired. They have 60 molds over their various brands!

3. They have the notes from this thread as I shared the highlights with them, they will look into what they can do. Again they are ramping up with current build quantity of 70 a year and hoping with the new facility & more dealers to get that to 105-140 a year.

4. As to quantity NMI built by quantity more C-Dorys than anything else followed by Ospreys and then Seasport. However on per unit profit Seasport leads the way.

5. For clarity they field quite a few calls a week and emails re boats built in the 90s and prior. They do their best to respond promptly but can't always respond immediately. They are working in this but we also need to understand these were different boats that they did not build. They are doing their best.

6. They have many factory visits by C-dory owners and they intend to continue this.

7. It is my understanding that they cannot survive on one brand alone, they need all their brands to be successful. Again they are getting over rebuilding and now looking at expanding, moving forward...

8. My understanding is that we will see some positive forward movement on the brand and possibly some "upgraded" models in the future but all this takes time. I don't have specifics to share but what I heard sounded very positive.

9. There are some things that have changed since NMI, they build in Ron's words the boats with seaport quality materials. IE much higher quality resin and gel coat as well as upgraded SS hardware and electrical etc. Many previously screwed items are now laminated/ fiber glassed for strength and to avoid some issues previously seen.

Anyways the update with what I can share. I can say Ron was more than friendly, open book and clearly cares about every boat his shop puts out.

My two cents,
H
 
Harald, thank you for sharing your report from the factory, just as you said you would. That's really interesting information, most of which I was unaware. I'd say your two cents worth is easily worth 50 times that sum.
Thanks again!
 
Thanks for the report Harold, and much appreciate the detail. It sounds good from them. Growing and expanding are good, just hate to see them kick some really good people to the curb just because they think someone else will floor a few more boats. Specifically, Marc at Wefings has been a serious and loyal supporter of both CBRATs and the C-Dory brand, and deserves some reciprical loyality.

JMO

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
I had nothing but great service from NMI on my new build. Several changes in mid-production that was handled immediately.

Gene and Carrie from Mobile East are retiring and I'd assume thats the reason they will no longer be selling C-Doris. It's up to the company to decide who they allow to sell their products. And if NMI wants to switch dealers in a certain area then they must think the new dealer will sell more boats or give better service which will sell more boats. We want them to sell more boats.

I an EXTREMELY glad NMI is making new C-Dories as I love my new C-Dory and could not be happier with the build quality (and I owned an '07). I looked and looked and I did not want to buy a used one.

They is something really special about getting a brand new boat outfitted EXACTLY the way you want it. For you used boat buyers be nice to NMI as you'll want one of their later model ones in a few years.
 
ken35216":58jlx845 said:
I had nothing but great service from NMI on my new build. Several changes in mid-production that was handled immediately.

I an EXTREMELY glad NMI is making new C-Dories as I love my new C-Dory and could not be happier with the build quality (and I owned an '07). I looked and looked and I did not want to buy a used one.

There is something really special about getting a brand new boat outfitted EXACTLY the way you want it. For you used boat buyers be nice to NMI as you'll want one of their later model ones in a few years.
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Ken,

Please quit tempting me to buy a new kitty :lol:
 
ken35216":1h6z8zuj said:
Cfoster":1h6z8zuj said:
Okay that explains Three Rivers but why have they dumped Wefings and Mobile East Marine? Anybody have a theory on that?
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My guess, they (NMI) wanted him to floor, have on hand, more boats than he could comfortably handle, (same situation that happened with Les at EQ Marine), and he opted out too.

JMHO

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
Cfoster":31n89ziu said:
Does anyone what is going on with C-Dory terminating dealers and adding a new one. Wefings and Mobile East Marine are no longer listed as dealers and a new one, Three Rivers Marine, has been appointed in Crystal River, FL. Seems like they terminated two very popular long term dealers to try their luck with an unknown.
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Yes, this is trure for 2 reasons. The company that now owns c Dory has made the boats very expensive and they are requiring dealers to maintain a high volume of stock. Wefings wasn’t willing to do that, Three Rivers was.
 
Lack of offering floor plans to dealers is an indication of a business that is having cash flow problems (most of the time).

Of all the boats we have owned, only 3 were brand new. Used boats certainly represent an opportunity to own a great boat at a value price. Use it and the recover most, some times more of your purchase price.

I'm thankful that there are boater who purchase new boats so they become available on the used market.

Marc is a stand up guy who worked hard to support C-Dory and this community.

This forum is an invaluable resource for C-Dory owners.
 
All new boats are "very expensive"--I suspect that the C Dory is the bargain of the cruising world in new boat. I don't know if C Dory can old the line on current production costs for boats to be delivered next year.

In the last year polyester resin products have gone up over 50 cents a pound. This is a significant increase and there is no evidence it will come down--and may continue to climb. Resin goes up. Probably fiberglass cloth will increase, and labor will increase as inflation takes hold.

Result--today's prices look cheap in comparison to what we will see next year.

Also I suspect that the cost of prime US manufactured fiberglass cloth will go up also. Chinese cloth is often a bit inferior.

There have been shortages of materials also.

Outboard motors, especially in the larger sizes 90 hp and above are in short supply currently. Scarce supply often leads to increased prices.
 
thataway":170you42 said:
All new boats are "very expensive"--I suspect that the C Dory is the bargain of the cruising world in new boat. I don't know if C Dory can old the line on current production costs for boats to be delivered next year.

In the last year polyester resin products have gone up over 50 cents a pound. This is a significant increase and there is no evidence it will come down--and may continue to climb. Resin goes up. Probably fiberglass cloth will increase, and labor will increase as inflation takes hold.

Result--today's prices look cheap in comparison to what we will see next year.

Also I suspect that the cost of prime US manufactured fiberglass cloth will go up also. Chinese cloth is often a bit inferior.

There have been shortages of materials also.

Outboard motors, especially in the larger sizes 90 hp and above are in short supply currently. Scarce supply often leads to increased prices.
Click to expand...

A new C Dory 22 Cruiser is $85,000. I don’t care what the reason is, that’s insane. When you look at the late model used boat market for what you can get for $85k, if you buy a new 22 cruiser then you deserve what you get. I’ve owned a 22 Cruiser for 13 years. I wouldn’t buy a new one today.
 
It's all relative. For the same amount of money you could buy 3 Gold Wing Touring motorcycles, or one of the cheaper BMW cars or 1 fully loaded Chevy pickup. :D

The house my parents bought for $15K in 1955 just popped up on Zillo for $485K. 3 bedroom, one bath, 1,025 square feet.


The boats have to bring enough to keep the business going, when costs of material and labor rise, so does the selling price.

I'm pretty sure the people who bought Emma Mae thought at the time it was a lot of money for the boat in 2005. Who wouldn't want to be able to buy a 2021 for that same price?
 
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