A sad day at a boat show, and why mastercraft is dying

[TxsRiverRat]

I'm so infuriated

[aquaman]

Maybe they should take away the MCraft dealers cell phone and ground him for a week ?

Meanie

[east tx skier]

Originally Posted by bikenskijerm

They person you talked to was a moron. I was at the plant in November and they had at least 6 prostars (including a 190) currently in production. This boat isn't going anywhere. Take a deep breath, relax, and buy a prostar.

To be fair, there have been recent years when the Pro Star 190 was produced in single digits. For those of us who prefer closed bows, the market can be dry at times.

Of course, this being a new boat, probably easy enough to special order one. They haven't populated many showroom floors in years. Of course, a few years back, Mike at MC Charolotte ordered a black 190 for his showroom. He sold it in a week.

I was at my local dealer today. They had a sport 200 on the floor. I didn't give it a second glance. The engine was in the wrong place, it had a big ugly steel roll cage on it and the bow storage area was covered with vinyl seats. Useless for me. They are a great dealer and treat me really well even though they know I have given up on finding a boat I like in their showroom. My suggestion to the OP is to find a good dealer and never bother again with a dealer that is not interested in his business.

I had a somewhat nearby MC dealer in Dallas/Ft. Worth completely ignore me on a potential $1,000 plus parts order several years ago despite repeated phone calls. So I decided to take my business elsewhere permanently because life is too short for awful customer service. It's pretty painless. I recommend it.

Good luck in your boat search.

[shepherd]

Originally Posted by aelewis

I called norcal as did he and my girlfriend in which we were told by three different people that the prostar 190 was not on the lot, but in fact it was already at the show. Needless to say when we got to the show no one answered the cell phones we were given to meet us at the gate, and there were no prostars at all.

If a dealer told me there would be a 190 there, and I drove 2 hours to see it, and it wasn't there.... I'd be pissed too and would most likely be buying the SN.

[MASTIQUE]

Here's my take....NorCal does not order stock 190s. They want to sell what they stock and especially what has been in their inventory a while. The people you spoke to on the phone probably wanted to get you to the show to sell you on one of their X stock boats. Sounds like they had little interest in selling you an ordered boat since that would take time away from selling their stock boats at the show...I'd have your Dad call the owner or NorCal and explain he wants to order a 190 and get your quote. I would not even bother with what they "said" at the bait show, that could have been a hired gun any way. If you get nothing from the owner, call MC direct and ask then to help facilitate another dealer to handle the order. Remember ordering a boat wont get you left over stock boat show discounts usually..

[aquaman]

You know, that's life.

If the dad buys a boat every 5- 10yrs.....which is a pretty big spread.

Then waiting a week or 2 to verify production is really not a big inconvenience ?

Is it really grounds to Switch to Nautiques ???


I think not.

[aelewis]

Originally Posted by Sodar

Who cares why they told you. Maybe they did not want to sell you a boat? This could also go into the reason why they did not answer your calls at the show. The whole "my dad wants to buy" story probably made them think you were a fraud. If your dad wants to buy, then why doesn't he do the leg work?

P.S. Your profile says you own an X-9 and that you registered here a month ago. Is the '08 TT a new acquisition?

Or perhaps they just wanted to get more people at the show and get a purchase of a different boat. The person we were supposed to meet that day was not there on saturday. My father did do the leg work, but since I skied collegiately I had more experience around those boats so I just helped him and checked in as well since he was confused about his lingo.
I had an x9 sold it to upgrade, the new boat is a nice medium between people capacity and slalom performance. Thanks for your input, great to see dedicated mastercraft people.

[aelewis]

Originally Posted by bcd

A dealer can make or break a boat purchase. Hopefully if you buy a new MC, it doesn't have any issues, but if it does, do you want that dealership working on it? If the dealer's a big problem before you buy the boat, they probably won't be any better afterwards. If the Nautique dealer is a better dealer, it would definitely weigh in on my consideration.

If you have a 2 hour drive to your dealer, you want to make sure that should you ever have to haul your boat there, it gets fixed quickly, correctly, and in one visit. Also, don't assume that since it's a new boat, there won't be any problems with it (regardless of which brand).

Definetely true, and the reason we had to drive so far was our current dealer is now only service and does not sell. He is calling the rep to find out for us. thanks

[aelewis]

Originally Posted by east tx skier

To be fair, there have been recent years when the Pro Star 190 was produced in single digits. For those of us who prefer closed bows, the market can be dry at times.

Of course, this being a new boat, probably easy enough to special order one. They haven't populated many showroom floors in years. Of course, a few years back, Mike at MC Charolotte ordered a black 190 for his showroom. He sold it in a week.

I was at my local dealer today. They had a sport 200 on the floor. I didn't give it a second glance. The engine was in the wrong place, it had a big ugly steel roll cage on it and the bow storage area was covered with vinyl seats. Useless for me. They are a great dealer and treat me really well even though they know I have given up on finding a boat I like in their showroom. My suggestion to the OP is to find a good dealer and never bother again with a dealer that is not interested in his business.

I had a somewhat nearby MC dealer in Dallas/Ft. Worth completely ignore me on a potential $1,000 plus parts order several years ago despite repeated phone calls. So I decided to take my business elsewhere permanently because life is too short for awful customer service. It's pretty painless. I recommend it.

Good luck in your boat search.

Thank you. I have seen your posts around and what you say always seems logical, thanks and our search continues.

[93Prostar190]

Although this thread feels like a possible slippery slope, I will put in a good word for several of the good dealers on this Forum that would more than likely be interested in working with a buyer that wants a Direct Drive based 190/197 that may not be in stock.

I am sure they would also be willing to overcome the geography, and arrange delivery ...

Our friends at Tri-Lakes, Jim @ BAWS, Cincy MC, and the other many good dealers may want to reach out ...search the forum and you may find one to your liking.

I feel bad for you that the "local" experience did not bring up any results, but if you are really looking for a good PS 190, I think there are at least a dozen dealers nationwide that can help you if not dozens more. In today's world of electronic medium, you may not even need to ever visit the dealer at all.

Just to qualify (most know this already) I am not a dealer just a happy MC owner with great dealer support in the area and across the country.
\
Good luck with the search ...

Ok ... phew now back to less serious mode ..... tell your Dad to get power slot on a 6.0 Ilmor!

No tower ... just power. Peace.