Good Deal

Bob,
I don't know if that 25 that was for sale for 60k was an 08 or an 07. I called the dealer (Old Lyme Marina in Ct.) and it was gone. It was advertised with the motor. My take is the economy will not be improving for a while and this winter will probably flush some more unwanted inventory that will be sold cheap.The used 25's in general don't seem to be moving all that well at least for the prices they are asking. There is money out there to buy if a great deal pops up as indicated by this site. Rumor has it that 19' to 23' fishing boats are really dead in the water sales wise. I am probably going to stay with a 22' Cruiser or a 23' Venture / Cape Cruiser with the cost of fuel and for the ease of trailering. I think what is happening now is that the old regime at C-Dory created too many dealers forced inventory on them and now the economy is causing further pressure to dump that dead inventory especially if there is opportunity some where else. Moving sixty thousand in dead inventory is better than nothing especially if you paid tax on it for a couple years. The economic outlook isn't all that bright in my view. A lot of marginal businesses are going under and not just in the boat business. I see empty store fronts and available space in industrial parks like never before. Those old dealer agreements are probably trash now anyway along with the territories they included. I know that in our business, territories and recommended pricing levels go out the window and are most cases are never enforced especially when times get tough. Ever since Al Gore invented the internet; things just haven't been the same. :roll: D.D.
 
Warren , Warranty work for a boat dealer [as opposed to retail service work] , is usually a loser in the long run . Most factories and motor companies pay a reduced rate and less than the time that is takes to diagnose and repair a problem,and then make you wait to get reimbursed . If I waited till I got paid to pay the technicians that did the work , I might be a one man boat dealership! We do sell some boats 'long distance" in to areas there are no dealers . And we have built a service network as best we can to get any issues resolved . A better solution to the E Bay boats situation would be a phone call to the other dealers in the network to see if someone has a local buyer or needs inventory on their lot . After contacting the e bay seller . I offered to help them find a buyer .
Marc
 
Dave,
You have it right. Another source confirmed that that was the boat and motor. This really undercuts the used prices of the boats, when you can buy a new one for less than many are selling a used one (sure the used ones come with a trailer: $6500, electronics; $3,000:, stove, windlass etc--probably another $10K....but many would rather have the new boat. There is much to be said for the more economical 22--both on the water and on the road.

I also agree about the economy--it is bad, and going to get worse. There are going to have to be some perment changes in the way we boat, RV etc. My feeling is that the C Dory is positioned to do better in this economy than many other boats---but boating in general may well suffer.

Pensacola is a relitatively poor town. There are a large number of retirees--only a few are relitatively wealthy--on fixed income. These are hurt by decreased value of investments and homes. (There are 9 waterfront homes for sale on our street currently--and no one even looking). There is a very large group of blue collar workers--some with good jobs, but even these are now taking the bus, rather than driving their cars--so you know that they are right at the margin, and even though they own a boat--they cannot afford the money for gas. I may have mentioned that I picked up fuel on last Thursday. The fuel dock had not sold any fuel in a week, including over Labor Day weekend. (of course the hurricane was a factor, but didn't really affect us that mch)--normally there would be a line at the gas dock every day---this year zero fuel sold!
 
Bob,
I had called the same dealer about a 25' Seaway Coastal Cruiser an interesting boat but too big and out of my price range. The dealer also sells C-Dory and I asked about the 25' Cruiser on fire sale. I was looking to buy it I just couldn't believe it. My wife and I went down to Apalachicola over Labor Day weekend. We looked at a new and used C-Dory 22' and took actual test drive on the used unit with Charlie Holtum from Wefings. Marc was out of town. After a few days in Apalachicola great food nice people no parking meters. Checked out St. George Island, Cape San Blas and St. Joe. From there we moved on to Destin spent a day in Destin Gustav was on the way. Destin was crowded with well heeled refugees from Louisiana Mississippi and Alabama. The Hilton even waived their no dog policy which we thought was nice. I asked if they were having a dog show :shock: THe next day which was Monday we drove over to Pensacola and by then the surf was definitely up and had periods of some pretty hard rain for a Pennsy guy. I thought of trying to get together with you but heard of a power outages near the Perdido bay area. I figured you would have you hands full no need to entertain some uninvited needy yankee visitors. We ate at the Dharma Blue Restaurant as recommended by Charlie and enjoyed it. The following day we drove back to Tallahassee and flew to Tampa and home the next day. If I had known earlier about the fall Brat get together I would have done things differently. Thanks for your always thoughtful advice.
D.D.
 
Sorry that we missed you. Dharma Blue is owned by a friend of ours. Great place.

Power outages are not a problem, since we have a 16 KW natural gas generator for just those occasions. We also always have room for C Brats at "camp thataway".

Make it next time!
 
Normally - if there is a normal for someone involved for such a short time - I would try to get on and address some of these questions quicker. However I was suffering through a 1 point Huskies loss on Saturday and didn't pick this up until today.

There are a number of interesting questions involved here. First and most importantly, Fluid Marine appreciates to no end the work that Marc and the folks at Wefings do for both us at the factory and those folks that own C-Dorys whether they purchased them at Wefings or not. We are truly focused on building boats here and then working with the 20 or so North American dealers to support their customers. We believe there is a tremendous amount of value in buying your C-Dory through our dealer network - either new or used. Dealers like Wefings will continue to assist owners through the product lifecycle as well as be the source for updated equipment and accessories.

We do NOT believe selling new boats on E-Bay or similar methods is the best way to work within our dealer network and certainly would never encourage it. This is not a trend or "change in the selling paradigm" but more of a temporary situation brought on by C-Dory's past treatment of dealers as much as today's difficult broader economic issues.

And as much as I would like to discourage E-Bay listings of our boats, Fluid Marine will definitely honor the C-Dory warranty terms. That is just the way we conduct our business.

Lastly, John and his folks at Ranger Tugs will appreciate that C-Dory is built by Fluid Marine, LLC and not by his unrelated company Fluid Motion. I apologize for the continued confusion.

Let's hope the Huskies perform better next week against Oklahoma but I believe we will have this factory and our dealer network hitting on all cylendars before my team gets back to winning against top 10 opponents.

Best regards,
Rich Finlay
 
Fluid somethingoranother . I am sorry for my personal confusion with the corporate names . I guess I get all worked up and miss the details . Ill just go back to C Dory and Ranger Tugs.....
Thanks Rich .
Marc
 
I just purchased a new 2008 19' Angler w/ a new 2007 Honda 90, Venture Trailer and some options from Sail Annapolis for $28,500. They explained the situation regarding the warranty to my satisfaction and I'm willing to take a chance that Fluid Marine will come to my rescue if I have a structural problem with the hull. The Honda motor has the 5 year warranty and lots of service locations so no worry there. I wanted that model...they are scarce in the NE.
 
Hi Rich,

Just to clear up some confusion among us- Will Fluid Marine honor the 5 year C-Dory hull warranty from boats sold before you took over only for the first owner or for successive owners too? (If I've missed this answer somewhere I apologize.)

Steve

PS BTW, Rich, congratulations on the new internet openess from C-Dory. I tried and tried to get the "other Rich" to grasp the importance of the discussion forums on the internet and he never did "get it".
 
Steve,

I will give you a qualified yes. We will honor to the terms of the current warranty policy as I can't (or maybe won't) take responsibility for any additional warranty promises that may exist out there (there may have been any number of promises made by former owners).

The primary restrictions are that it had to have been originally purchased from an authorized dealer (or the factory), the warranty registered and if the boat was sold, the original owner transferred (in writing to C-Dory) the warranty to the second owner. And of course the warranty only covers the components manufactured by C-Dory and does not cover items installed by other parties or damaged caused by post-delivery modifications to the boat, or abuse or commercial use, etc.

We will work with our authorized dealers to look after the C-Dory owners - new and exisiting.

Rich F.
 
Rich,
I appreciate your openness and frankness concerning warranties even from the previous company owners.
It gives me confidence back in the C-dory owners, Fluid Marine;LLC, to go ahead and purchase another C-Dory either new or used in the future.
I am trying to wear out my 1983 model but I think it is impossible.
Jack in Alaska
 
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