Cobaltchat.com

From my dealer on my R8S order, anyone else hear this yet?

"after talking to our rep, we are anticipating a surcharge on the 2022 production. I let you know when I get more information on this."

I have an order out on a 2022 R6 and have not heard anything about a surcharge.

wtf

That sounds like a dealer only surcharge. It wouldn't Make me happy if they are getting greedy.

I am hearing this more and more. For example, ATC trailers (premium aluminum car haulers and toy trailers) are adding a $5K surcharge for orders these days.

Lame. Mark the price up to cover increased costs instead. Surcharges just make customers feel taken advantage of.

- Mark

We have had reports of other members receiving discounts on their new boats. I would look for another.

It is my understanding that this is from the Cobalt rep and is not the markups everyone is seeing from individual dealerships for vehicles and such. My dealer is a smaller family owned/operated dealer in a smaller market and has treated me very fairly and honestly over the years so I have no reason to doubt them at this point.

I would assume this is for orders going forward. If they apply a surcharge to an already negotiated deal that you have a deposit on, then that's a very easy way to lose a customer.

I initially read the title as supercharged. This is a let down.

Another member just placed an order for an R4 or R6 (can't remember) and got about 20% off retail. The dealership could be building some real ill will among their customers when things revert to normal.

VTENGR wrote: Fri Oct 22, 2021 10:40 am I would assume this is for orders going forward. If they apply a surcharge to an already negotiated deal that you have a deposit on, then that's a very easy way to lose a customer.

Happened to a friend of mine today on an order where he negotiated a price, placed a deposit for on a Malibu over two months ago. I think dealers of all kinds may become a thing of the past, especially after this craziness is over by treating customers this way.

Snowman73 wrote: Tue Oct 26, 2021 7:59 pm

VTENGR wrote: Fri Oct 22, 2021 10:40 am I would assume this is for orders going forward. If they apply a surcharge to an already negotiated deal that you have a deposit on, then that's a very easy way to lose a customer.

Happened to a friend of mine today on an order where he negotiated a price, placed a deposit for on a Malibu over two months ago. I think dealers of all kinds may become a thing of the past, especially after this craziness is over by treating customers this way.

Did your friend walk away from the deal? That's a pretty shiesty move by the dealer. Essentially nothing would be keeping them from selling your allocation to the highest bidder.

I don't know what I would do in this situation. I'm already leasing a slip with a lift that will stay empty until the boat gets here. On my lake, slips, especially slips with lifts, are hard to come by so when one opened up I jumped on it.

So conceivably I would have to be willing to walk away from thousands of dollars worth of slip leasing fees to walk away from the deal. It would leave such a bad taste in my mouth I would probably go buy a different brand boat.

Placed an order for an R8 regular not surf. Dealer is 15% off MSRP. There is a dealer prep and freight fee of around 3k. Don’t know if that is normal but I hope it helps. They have been fairly straightforward with me I feel even though I know I am paying more than 2 years ago. But that is how it works in this market I guess.

garttx wrote: Tue Oct 26, 2021 9:25 pm Placed an order for an R8 regular not surf. Dealer is 15% off MSRP. There is a dealer prep and freight fee of around 3k. Don’t know if that is normal but I hope it helps. They have been fairly straightforward with me I feel even though I know I am paying more than 2 years ago. But that is how it works in this market I guess.

I got a similar deal - not quite as good as yours. However what the OP is saying is that he's hearing that dealers are reniging on deals because Cobalt is adding a surcharge to capitalize on the current boat market.

VTENGR wrote: Tue Oct 26, 2021 9:04 pm

Snowman73 wrote: Tue Oct 26, 2021 7:59 pm

VTENGR wrote: Fri Oct 22, 2021 10:40 am I would assume this is for orders going forward. If they apply a surcharge to an already negotiated deal that you have a deposit on, then that's a very easy way to lose a customer.

Happened to a friend of mine today on an order where he negotiated a price, placed a deposit for on a Malibu over two months ago. I think dealers of all kinds may become a thing of the past, especially after this craziness is over by treating customers this way.

Did your friend walk away from the deal? That's a pretty shiesty move by the dealer. Essentially nothing would be keeping them from selling your allocation to the highest bidder.

I don't know what I would do in this situation. I'm already leasing a slip with a lift that will stay empty until the boat gets here. On my lake, slips, especially slips with lifts, are hard to come by so when one opened up I jumped on it.

So conceivably I would have to be willing to walk away from thousands of dollars worth of slip leasing fees to walk away from the deal. It would leave such a bad taste in my mouth I would probably go buy a different brand boat.

He ended up taking half the hit and dealer said they’d take the other half. He also asked for accessories and storage options to make him whole. I tend to agree with his thought which is if he does go somewhere else he was going to pay more than $2500 dollars. Total increase was $5300 or so on a $200k Malibu. Pretty shotty if you ask me, and my friend.

On a similar note, I ordered a car back in July. Allocation never came through. Two weeks ago, a new sales manager had to update my order to a 2022 model year. Two weeks later no order number after I asked three times. I finally called the sales manager. He explains he won’t honor the agreed to pricing with another manager from July. So I immediately cancelled my order. I posted a review of the exchange online. 12 hours later I have a message from the general manager to give him a call. Ten minutes later after explaining details and him corroborating them with the salesman and original sales manager, he calls me and apologizes for the improper behavior and honors the pricing.