Should I buy a new boat while gas prices are low

[Boatbuyer7]

Thinking of buying a small cruiser or cuddy I/O right now as gas is cheap (hopefully cheaper next year). What do you guys think?

[skipmac]

If you are looking for a good deal on a power boat the best time to buy is when fuel prices are high and owners are trying to dump them.

If you are wanting to go boating now to take advantage of the low fuel prices then buy the boat now.

As far as fuel prices next year if you can accurately predict that please let me know as I'll go long or short on the market and get rich. Long term you can bet your IRA that prices will go back up.

[scuba0_1]

Fule is the least expensive item you will buy for a boat. If fule is making your decision I wouldn't buy a boat.

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[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by scuba0_1

Fule is the least expensive item you will buy for a boat. If fule is making your decision I wouldn't buy a boat.

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I'm not arguing that, but in my last fishing boat (a 21' CC, single engine 175 HP) which was small by average, It was nothing to go through 75 gls in a weekend, I'd burn 8 GPH at 20 kts, and 23 or so at full tilt.
That's a little single engine boat, think about twin 300's or something.

But I wouldn't buy a boat because fuel prices are down, they could go through the roof in a few months, who knows?

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I'm not arguing that, but in my last fishing boat (a 21' CC, single engine 175 HP) which was small by average, It was nothing to go through 75 gls in a weekend, I'd burn 8 GPH at 20 kts, and 23 or so at full tilt.
That's a little single engine boat, think about twin 300's or something.

But I wouldn't buy a boat because fuel prices are down, they could go through the roof in a few months, who knows?

Who knows? I do ..Gas will go even lower,less than 2.00 per gal..5% growth in third quarter for US economy..The price for luxurey goods(motor boats) will go up as fuel gets cheaper, buy now as lots of folks will soon be changing the way they look at boats ,aircraft and big ol V8 powered American cars..Maybe..DVC

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by scuba0_1

Fule is the least expensive item you will buy for a boat. If fule is making your decision I wouldn't buy a boat.

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Not necessarily so on a power boat. My son-in-law has a Grady White and can easily burn 100-200 gallons a day. During the summer he's out typically 2-4 days each month. Figure an average of 300-400 gallons/month even at today's low prices that's in the neighborhood of $1000/month. He spends a small fraction of that on maintenance and repairs.

[Tayana42]

Does the cost of plastic boat building material go down when crude oil prices are down? Seem like it goes up when oil is up, but doesn't go the other way.


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[FollowingCs]

You are counting on gas prices staying low, which is a big gamble. Many many factors. Oil is cheap right now because of simple supply and demand. Supply is high because the US/Canada got their act together with new found sources, Russia is hurting and flooding the market, etc. etc. Demand is low because of world wide economic slow down. At some low price, the US/Canada wells will start to shut down because they won't make money, which brings supply back in to balance. Not to mention crazy mother Russia, or Venezuela revolution, or whatever else may happen.

Heck, the new standards for HazMat rail cars may cause a rail car shortage in the US, which would limit the oil from Canada making its way to Houston for processing. (This happens by rail now, since Keystone Pipeline is held up, but the oil still gets to the refineries that can handle the heavy mix.)

~ Following C's ~

[BandB]

Originally Posted by Boatbuyer7

Thinking of buying a small cruiser or cuddy I/O right now as gas is cheap (hopefully cheaper next year). What do you guys think?

That's about as much a non sequitur as I can imagine. First, if you believed gas was impacting purchase prices then it would be the opposite. Prices down when fuel costs up so buy then. But you buy a boat when you are ready to go boating. And if you are depending on cheap gas then you'll be right at best half the time. 2008 people were predicting $6 a gallon in the US as prices bumped close to $4. Now they're under $2 in areas. What goes down must come up. Call it the reverse spinning wheel concept.

Gas cost is certainly a budgeting consideration but there are so many others. Dockage, maintenance, insurance. But more important in timing is where you are in your life and what you want to and can afford to do.

I always laugh at fuel discussions anyway. One person barely uses any. a64pilot mentions the horrors of 75 gallons in a weekend. How about boats that use 200 gallons per hour?

Should I buy a Ferrari now because fuel prices are down? That question is just as logical as yours. At under 10 mpg, the Ferrari will still get better fuel mileage than a boat.

[scuba0_1]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Not necessarily so on a power boat. My son-in-law has a Grady White and can easily burn 100-200 gallons a day. During the summer he's out typically 2-4 days each month. Figure an average of 300-400 gallons/month even at today's low prices that's in the neighborhood of $1000/month. He spends a small fraction of that on maintenance and repairs.

That may be buy that's not avg for some one who is not making money on the boat. In you're case at 12000 a year in gas alone I doubt 50 cents matter esp since that's almost as high as the median income of the US . I certainly haven't seen boat prices go down the last year's due to high prices of gas.

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[skipmac]

Originally Posted by scuba0_1

That may be buy that's not avg for some one who is not making money on the boat. In you're case at 12000 a year in gas alone I doubt 50 cents matter esp since that's almost as high as the median income of the US . I certainly haven't seen boat prices go down the last year's due to high prices of gas.

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He lives in New England so only going out 5-6 months per year. Also, he's recreational, not commercial although he does have his commercial fishing license but that's so he can legally sell any extra fish to pay for his gas.

When gas prices first spiked many years ago prices for power boats plummeted. Saw it happen a couple of times over the years.

When the economy tanked in 2009 you could buy 20-25-30' power boats for half what they sold for in 2008.

[Cheechako]

I wouldn't let gas $ make the decision on when to buy. Not predictable. But if you want a power boat, there may be light at the end of the tunnel... it seems the shale oil from North America is changing the game. The problem is, now that prices are low, it's getting to the point where it soon wont make sense to take the shale oil out of the ground... as it's more costly to produce than normal crude oil. So I would expect the prices to fluctuate over the next few years, but likely stay lower than the last few years because when the prices rise enough, they will take more shale oil out, lowering the price a bit.
Of course no one really knows... but that's my take on it.


The boats you are talking about continue to be a bargain so buy it! Get a single engine one.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by BandB

I always laugh at fuel discussions anyway. One person barely uses any. a64pilot mentions the horrors of 75 gallons in a weekend. How about boats that use 200 gallons per hour?

Wasn't a horror, but 75 gls a weekend, at right now today's fuel prices
Current Fuel Prices - Panama City Marina
is over $1,200 a month, that's significant for say a $20,000 to $30,000 boat.

I gotta think the boats that burn 200 gl an hour are just like the private jets that do, it just doesn't matter, it costs whatever it costs. I've seen the bigger jets like the G650 pay an extra $10,000 or so a tank of fuel instead of having the pilot fly ten minutes away from Miami where fuel was a couple bucks a gl cheaper. But if you can afford the more than 65 million for the airplane, whats an extra 10 K for a fill up?

[a64pilot]

This fuel thing is a large part of what gets my goat when I see the FWC "race" boats go through more than 100gls a day each, every day they go out. Takes a lot of fuel to tear around the bay with twin 300's at 50 mph looking for me in my dinghy maybe not having a life vest.

[BandB]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Wasn't a horror, but 75 gls a weekend, at right now today's fuel prices
Current Fuel Prices - Panama City Marina
is over $1,200 a month, that's significant for say a $20,000 to $30,000 boat.

I gotta think the boats that burn 200 gl an hour are just like the private jets that do, it just doesn't matter, it costs whatever it costs. I've seen the bigger jets like the G650 pay an extra $10,000 or so a tank of fuel instead of having the pilot fly ten minutes away from Miami where fuel was a couple bucks a gl cheaper. But if you can afford the more than 65 million for the airplane, whats an extra 10 K for a fill up?

My point exactly. What one considers high fuel usage and cost varies dramatically by individual. Many, especially sailors, fill up once a year and don't require a full tank then.

Often lake boaters use more fuel than cruisers. Especially those with ski boats. We had a 30' runabout when we lived on the lake and during the summer filled it at least twice a month and often weekly.

I wasn't making fun of what you said referring to it as "horror". Just saying one person might be astonished at fuel costs that are routine for another.

Fuel costs would have to change to prices beyond our imagination to discourage us from boating. However, we do check prices. At home we buy from truck deliveries. When cruising we check and look at discounts. We'll pay a few cents extra a gallon, but when our preferred marina is significantly more than another nearby we do bring it to their attention. Often they'll match of come close. We've only had one that was offended and said, "But look at all the amenities we have". Our response was, "Yes and we're paying for all those in our dockage fees. That's why you charge $4 per foot and they charge $3."