Sled sales way down this year????
- Thread starter Chewy22
- Start date
I think a lot of it is due to sled pricing continuing to price more and more people out of the new sled market and this is catching up with the manufacturers fast. They've come to a point where fewer and fewer people are willing to pay what they want for a new sled. Poor reliability with high prices are starting to hurt. I know I will never buy a new current year sled again. To me the price is just not worth what you get.
I've went carryover the last 2 sleds. Couldn't pay me to snowcheck again.
Everytime there is a bad snow year, the larger dealers get nervous & start slashing prices.
This destroys the used market.
Trying to sell your low miled sled is impossible when these clowns are selling new at used price.
This destroys the used market.
Trying to sell your low miled sled is impossible when these clowns are selling new at used price.
The way I see it, if you want to sell a used sled and not buy another sled, then the low market prices hurt.
If you are selling to buy a new sled it probably doesnt make much diff because though your used sled is worth less, so is the price on a new one. New prices are probably going down a lot more than used, but this is just a guess.
If you are selling to buy a new sled it probably doesnt make much diff because though your used sled is worth less, so is the price on a new one. New prices are probably going down a lot more than used, but this is just a guess.
Here is how it hurts the industry;
Smaller dealers who manage their inventory more responsibly attempt to at least break even and carry over whatever doesn't sell.
The larger dealers get extremely aggressive because they were stupid enough to order hundreds instead of dozens of snowmobiles.
Their below cost fire sales draw customers from great distances.
Distances so far away that they could never take care of the customer in the manner a responsible dealer would.
Well now they have drawn customers away from the local dealers that take care of any and all minor issues that arise, dealers that support their local clubs & state organization, dealers that support the area youth activities, dealers that employ your friends, dealers that you see in Church on Sundays.
There are measures that would help if the manufacturers would implement them.
Incentives/penalties resulting from where the sleds you sell are registered.
More importantly, stop shoving inventory down dealers throats.
Stop over-producing.
Excess inventory is terrible for the sport in the big picture.
The sad reality is their big picture the next quarterly report, not the health of our sport.
This comes at the expense of their dealers.
Smaller dealers who manage their inventory more responsibly attempt to at least break even and carry over whatever doesn't sell.
The larger dealers get extremely aggressive because they were stupid enough to order hundreds instead of dozens of snowmobiles.
Their below cost fire sales draw customers from great distances.
Distances so far away that they could never take care of the customer in the manner a responsible dealer would.
Well now they have drawn customers away from the local dealers that take care of any and all minor issues that arise, dealers that support their local clubs & state organization, dealers that support the area youth activities, dealers that employ your friends, dealers that you see in Church on Sundays.
There are measures that would help if the manufacturers would implement them.
Incentives/penalties resulting from where the sleds you sell are registered.
More importantly, stop shoving inventory down dealers throats.
Stop over-producing.
Excess inventory is terrible for the sport in the big picture.
The sad reality is their big picture the next quarterly report, not the health of our sport.
This comes at the expense of their dealers.
S
wonder how many families go out and buy 3 or 4 new sleds like the old days.i dont of any.LOL
This is a huge part of the problem within our industry. I couldn't have said it better.
polaris 1% for 84 months, looks like im getting a new sled.
I
Not a fan of capitalism and free market economy?
Is this what gramma used to do when you were a wee little fella....last year?
In all seriousness, I love the direction the sport is going. We are getting basically a mod sled right out of the box...but you have to expect that to come at a price. WHat I see happening is take a manufacturer like polaris and have them offer for snowcheck a custom built Axys sled that you can order with performance parts, a "race only" version say that could be ordered with premium shocks, turbos, etc. (no warranty of course). But then have a base line sled that could be affordable to the rest of the snowmobiling community. Let's face it. There aren't many out there that can justify spending 13k or more on a sled every year.
D
2005 I bought a brand-new RMK 800 and only paid 6999 and now sleds are double that where does it end
Are we going to be paying $30,000 for a sled in the next 10 years it's out-of-control just like the brand-new F350
is double what it was 10 12 years ago
I bought two used dragons this fall and got em both for under $7K
A couple of fix kits is all I'm looking at and I'll be riding them for a long time
If u can afford a new sled. God bless you. Go ahead and stimulate the economy
I just don't got the cheese!!!!!!
DD
Are we going to be paying $30,000 for a sled in the next 10 years it's out-of-control just like the brand-new F350
is double what it was 10 12 years ago
I bought two used dragons this fall and got em both for under $7K
A couple of fix kits is all I'm looking at and I'll be riding them for a long time
If u can afford a new sled. God bless you. Go ahead and stimulate the economy
I just don't got the cheese!!!!!!
DD
I sure am.
If you followed my tweets you'd know full well my feelings towards capitalism.
You are mistaking the intent of my suggestions of responsible business practices.
There are 2 ways to approach opportunities to sell items outside of your reasonable service area.
Many salespeople consider it a bonus sale, a customer that will never require further interaction, a quick buck. So they whore the product out and move on.
I approach it quite the opposite. (I sell for a marine dealer)
We have learned the hard way that the boat you sell far away is the one that needs attention down the road.
An actual example: We sold a new pontoon to a fellow over 150 miles away, and yes it needed some warranty work. So we drive to pick it up & drive to return it, all at no cost to the customer. That's over 600 miles. But it's better than letting a customer down.
So now, someone that far away will actually be quoted a higher price than a local customer.
But the key difference here is the dealer whoring out snowmobiles has no intention of spending any excess time, energy or dollars to ensure that you are having a good buying experience.
Does this make sense? I hope I didn't ramble too much.
I guess my question is why is the dealer on the hook for a factory rebate? If Ski Doo offers an incentive (like they did last week) how is that the dealers fault? That is a manufacturer supporting (or stimulating) their dealer network, not the other way around. If dealers are sitting on inventory they won't buy next year, so the manufacturer has good cause to go this route.
If a dealer can unload a new sled on inventory at used prices (supported by rebates) then they will do that as the inventory carrying cost on new sleds is higher than used.
Example (assuming a 2% carrying cost) - Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Lets say wholesale on a new sled is 10.500 and is sold a year later for 12,500. 10,500x.02x12=2,520 in carrying costs annually. That means if a holdover sits all year the dealer loses any profitability that he had.
A used sled worth $9500 but traded in at $6000 and sold for $8000 means that the dealer still realizes a $560 profit margin (margin less carrying costs of $1440) even if they keep the sled all year.
I guess my point is that this points to the manufacturers trying to make room for next year, not dealer ineptitude.
The problem I have is the manufacturers rewarding late season buyers. Guys that snow heck are usually annual, or close, buyers. They are more often than not brand loyal. How do you think a snow check guy would react when he got a surprise $500 check in mid-February from a manufacturer that he has been loyal to for the last 10 years? That's right, snow check next year for sure!
Not now. I know what I want and wait until January first....you miss 3 or 4 good rides, and then you step in and capitalize on the dealers and manufacturers overstock problems. In years past real snow check only sleds were a success. Look at the Doo 174 T3 last year. Dealers made good money on every one of them and you could not find one if you wanted. Conversely the Polaris Pro 800, that most guys around here snow checked for around $12,000 and then have to battle resale on the same sled that their buddy got for $8799 late in the season. What do you think they are worth trade? Lots of Pro riders know the answer to that......
Not now. I know what I want and wait until January first....you miss 3 or 4 good rides, and then you step in and capitalize on the dealers and manufacturers overstock problems. In years past real snow check only sleds were a success. Look at the Doo 174 T3 last year. Dealers made good money on every one of them and you could not find one if you wanted. Conversely the Polaris Pro 800, that most guys around here snow checked for around $12,000 and then have to battle resale on the same sled that their buddy got for $8799 late in the season. What do you think they are worth trade? Lots of Pro riders know the answer to that......
S
yes and everybody in the trailer park could afford a new sled.
S
My opinion is that when new sleds reached above 10000 for a selling price is the point where most decided that is too much. I do not see this getting any better. If an OEM was sled only today they would have been out of business 5 years ago. My plan now is to buy a 4 year old sled for around 6 to 5000 if I would ever want to change.
All I have ever bought was hold overs until this last sled which I bought privately with 4 tenths of a mile on it. And even it was a model year old when I got it. Discounts start showing up on new sleds just a couple months after the snow check guys picked there's up? And the last couple years most had not even ridden them yet because of lack of snow! Other than getting the special colors, I don't understand snow checking a sled in today's market. Other than in 15 I was really close as Poo had some nice build your own sled options that year!
I agree with you regarding the 10K price-point. I'm just not willing to pay $13k for a toy that I can only use a few months out of the year, not to mention that you can buy a sub-compact car for not too much more than that.
The last new sled we bought was my wife's 03' 600 RMK and it was considerably less than that. She still loves the sled, it does everything she wants/needs it to do,its been stone reliable, so there is no reason to replace it. I'm still riding my old mod sled and I don't plan on replacing it. Like you, maybe 3 years from now I'll look for a good, used 3 year old sled.
The last new sled we bought was my wife's 03' 600 RMK and it was considerably less than that. She still loves the sled, it does everything she wants/needs it to do,its been stone reliable, so there is no reason to replace it. I'm still riding my old mod sled and I don't plan on replacing it. Like you, maybe 3 years from now I'll look for a good, used 3 year old sled.
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