New boat buying process

[simonhantler]

Can owners of new yachts tell me what the buying process was for them. Deposit? Payment terms during the build? Yard visits? Communication during build? and if any good or bad surprises were encountered during and after the handover?

[Lost Horizons]

I saw the new model announcement at the US Boat Show in October 2017, and put a $10k deposit that secured a reduced pre-production price and production slot. Was promised to be given an opportunity to inspect and test-sail hull #1 in about 6 months, when I could decide whether to sign a contract or get the deposit refunded. Hull #1 was completed in about a year, I inspected and sailed it at the next year’s boat show in October 2018. Liked what I saw and signed the contract. Was promised delivery around May 2019. Payment schedule included three installments as the construction progressed according to certain milestones. This is a semi-custom boat, I made a number of changes to the design at that time. The most significant was a washer-drier in a custom cabinet. I visited the factory in March 2019, which was very helpful. Made few more minor adjustments to the order and one major addition, a hard dodger, which they just finished the design. The boat was completed at the end of July and arrived to the local dealer at the beginning of August.
There were no surprises on the production side. Couple of minor items that needed adjusting, nothing out of ordinary. A huge negative surprise was the dealer and commissioning work they did. Everything that could be done wrong was done wrong. The sales person, at the earlier stage, promised to expedite the commissioning when it was becoming apparent that the building processed is getting delayed and I will be getting the boat close to the end of the season. However, once the payments were made, he has forgotten it. It took them six weeks to rig the boat and paint the bottom. Most of this time nobody worked on the boat. When they announced that the boat is ready and I can come and get it, I complied a very long list of missing items, such as 350 feet of chain that they forgot to buy and load, or done poorly (water leaks at mast boot and helm pedestal, for example). The boat then was delivered at the end of September with a few items that still needed attention, such as coolant leak from the engine, which took two more months to be fixed by a Yanmar dealer. There were a few items from the commissioning list that they simply did not do. For example, standing rigging tension was not properly set, operation of systems was not checked (the water heater did not produce hot water), and so on. It took me at least seven written reminders to finally get a copy of commissioning check list.
Believe it or not, they still have not finished correcting a couple of items.
I bought new boats before and had very pleasant experience with the dealers, everything was done properly and fast. This one was a dealer from hell. If I knew what to expect from them, I would not have bought the boat, or at least tried to have it delivered elsewhere. Lesson learned: check the dealer referrals from actual customers.
I hope it helps.

[simonhantler]

Originally Posted by Lost Horizons

I saw the new model announcement at the US Boat Show in October 2017, and put a $10k deposit that secured a reduced pre-production price and production slot. Was promised to be given an opportunity to inspect and test-sail hull #1 in about 6 months, when I could decide whether to sign a contract or get the deposit refunded. Hull #1 was completed in about a year, I inspected and sailed it at the next year’s boat show in October 2018. Liked what I saw and signed the contract. Was promised delivery around May 2019. Payment schedule included three installments as the construction progressed according to certain milestones. This is a semi-custom boat, I made a number of changes to the design at that time. The most significant was a washer-drier in a custom cabinet. I visited the factory in March 2019, which was very helpful. Made few more minor adjustments to the order and one major addition, a hard dodger, which they just finished the design. The boat was completed at the end of July and arrived to the local dealer at the beginning of August.
There were no surprises on the production side. Couple of minor items that needed adjusting, nothing out of ordinary. A huge negative surprise was the dealer and commissioning work they did. Everything that could be done wrong was done wrong. The sales person, at the earlier stage, promised to expedite the commissioning when it was becoming apparent that the building processed is getting delayed and I will be getting the boat close to the end of the season. However, once the payments were made, he has forgotten it. It took them six weeks to rig the boat and paint the bottom. Most of this time nobody worked on the boat. When they announced that the boat is ready and I can come and get it, I complied a very long list of missing items, such as 350 feet of chain that they forgot to buy and load, or done poorly (water leaks at mast boot and helm pedestal, for example). The boat then was delivered at the end of September with a few items that still needed attention, such as coolant leak from the engine, which took two more months to be fixed by a Yanmar dealer. There were a few items from the commissioning list that they simply did not do. For example, standing rigging tension was not properly set, operation of systems was not checked (the water heater did not produce hot water), and so on. It took me at least seven written reminders to finally get a copy of commissioning check list.
Believe it or not, they still have not finished correcting a couple of items.
I bought new boats before and had very pleasant experience with the dealers, everything was done properly and fast. This one was a dealer from hell. If I knew what to expect from them, I would not have bought the boat, or at least tried to have it delivered elsewhere. Lesson learned: check the dealer referrals from actual customers.
I hope it helps.

Thankyou, that’s exactly the info I need. Was it hull #1 of a new brand or just new model?The boat took from oct 18 to July 19 to build, that’s very quick for a semi custom. What size was it? Catamaran or mono?

[Lost Horizons]

Originally Posted by simonhantler

Thankyou, that’s exactly the info I need. Was it hull #1 of a new brand or just new model?The boat took from oct 18 to July 19 to build, that’s very quick for a semi custom. What size was it? Catamaran or mono?

Mine was hull #4 of a new model. They started building it at the end of January 2019 after completion of hull #2. I suppose they wanted to work out initial issues before starting regular production schedule. When I visited the factory mid-March, my hull and deck were completed and they were about to start working on the interior. Hull #3 was four weeks ahead of me, and there was noticeable advance, such as the engine was already installed while mine was sitting in a crate.
Documented size is 38’ 3”. Marina measured it at 40’ 9” with the davits and moved me from a 40’ to a 46’ slip (no overhang policy).