Rank Boat dealers in SWLA.....

[cmdrost]

From the other thread. How would you rank the dealers in SWLA??

For Me:

(Dealer - Products - opinion)

1 - Lake Area - Suzuki, Blue Wave, Champion - imho, best customer service, but I personally don't really like any of their boats

2 - Yamaha Shop - Yamaha, Blazer Bay - never really dealt with them, but have heard mostly good

3 - Jerry's Marine - Merc & Yamaha, Nautic Star, Frontier, Blackjack, Shearwater - great products, but lacking on the customer service

4 - Tracker Marine - Mercury, Mako - clueless

[goldenrod]

whatever your list is you need to have H&M in crowley in last place!!!!

[Finfeatherfur]

Originally Posted by goldenrod

whatever your list is you need to have H&M in crowley in last place!!!!

How does he stay in business?

[fishmaster911]

Jerry's Marine should be last on the list ! That's just my opinion!

[whunter29]

I will tell you all this don't buy anything from Lafayette Power Sports. I made the mistake of buying there and nothing but bad experiences. I have talked to lots of other people and they all say the same thing so be warned not to do business with them.

[Raymond]

I have dealt with David Black at Black's Outdoor's in Lafayette for several years. After you get past the grouchyness he is an OK dude and knows his stuff. Probably the most knowledgeble dealer in the state when it comes to tunnel hull boats. Service dept does their best to have you up and running as fast as they can. Never hurts to slip them a ten spot when they get you back on the water with limited down time either.

Have kicked tires at Jerry's on several occasions with results but I was in my dress clothes so they might have prejudged on that. Would like to show up in rags at any dealership, boat or car and see how they act. Word of mouth can be your best or worst advertisement.

[Gerald]

Gene's marine [Hwy 14 just south of Lake Charles] should be up toward the top of the list. They only do repair work.....do not sell boats.

I have had them do some work and gotten parts for me and was satisfied.

I went there last week. My starter motor was making a loud noise and the mechanic told me how to fix it. Got it running smooth again now.

[cmdrost]

Yeah, I figured I'd keep it simple and just stick with dealers in SWLA.

[huntin fool]

yamaha shop has treated us well. We have 3 boats from them. Great service

[adamsfence]

lake area marine has always done me right. can't comment on the others cause i don't know

[LaAngler]

i heard trails yamaha was good, also boat stuf for any work on yammys

trails is looking for yamaha mechanics to work oilfield stuff, good pay too.

[LaAngler]

Originally Posted by Gerald

Gene's marine [Hwy 14 just south of Lake Charles] should be up toward the top of the list. They only do repair work.....do not sell boats.

I have had them do some work and gotten parts for me and was satisfied.

I went there last week. My starter motor was making a loud noise and the mechanic told me how to fix it. Got it running smooth again now.

his son didn't run the business nearly like gene did, i thought they were closed down

anyone remember fontenots marine on ryan? they were pretty good back in the day

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by LaAngler

his son didn't run the business nearly like gene did, i thought they were closed down

anyone remember fontenots marine on ryan? they were pretty good back in the day

I think I went there a couple of times before Gene died. His wife is running the office and looks like there are 3 or 4 men working on the boats.

I don't think the place was ever closed down.

[jsmoke222000]

I can only really rate the 2 that I have had dealings with.

When I started shopping for my new boat last year I first went to Jerry's Marine. My wife & I walked around in the lot looking @ boats for about 30 minutes before Jerry actually came outside. When he did finally come out, he acted like such an arrogant douche nozzle that I really just felt like he simply didn't care whether I bought a boat or not. I was looking @ a Nautic Star, 22' I think, with a Suzuki 150 4 stroke. Without even asking me how much I was looking to spend or how big of a note I could afford, he told me that this particular boat was probably gonna be out of my price range. I believe the price was around $27,000. The whole experience just left a bad taste in my mouth.

My wife & I left Jerry's and headed to Chillies for lunch. After we finished lunch I talked my wife into going over to see what they had @ Lake area marine. We had been discussing how much we were willing to spend & she was very intent on not spending a penny over $30,000.

We walked in Lake Area Marine & went into the show room to look @ what they had. It took Gerald Link; the owner, about 30 seconds to find us. He introduced himself as the owner & we shook hands. He asked us a few questions that didn't have a darn thing to do with boats. Where are you from, how old is your son, how long have you two been married, etc. We made it through the feel good **** chat & he asked what type of boat we were interested in. He began to explain the various makes & models of what he had in stock & what he could order. Right in the middle of the show room, there was a Blue Wave Pure Bay 2200. This is the top end high dollar model for Blue Wave. I took a glance but passed it up to look @ boats that were obviously less expensive. My wife was behind me & she stopped to look @ the Pure Bay. She started talking to Gerald like they we old pals. She said "Oh wow, I really like this one a lot better than that nautic over @ Jerry's", " Look how much wider it is, it's got so more much room". Then I heard something come out of her mouth that I never expected, " I want this one!". I almost had a stroke!

I guess Jerry was right after all. I couldn't afford his $27,000 nautic star. Atleast not after I spent $38,000 on my new Blue Wave!

[Salty]

Originally Posted by jsmoke222000

I can only really rate the 2 that I have had dealings with.

When I started shopping for my new boat last year I first went to Jerry's Marine. My wife & I walked around in the lot looking @ boats for about 30 minutes before Jerry actually came outside. When he did finally come out, he acted like such an arrogant douche nozzle that I really just felt like he simply didn't care whether I bought a boat or not. I was looking @ a Nautic Star, 22' I think, with a Suzuki 150 4 stroke. Without even asking me how much I was looking to spend or how big of a note I could afford, he told me that this particular boat was probably gonna be out of my price range. I believe the price was around $27,000. The whole experience just left a bad taste in my mouth.

My wife & I left Jerry's and headed to Chillies for lunch. After we finished lunch I talked my wife into going over to see what they had @ Lake area marine. We had been discussing how much we were willing to spend & she was very intent on not spending a penny over $30,000.

We walked in Lake Area Marine & went into the show room to look @ what they had. It took Gerald Link; the owner, about 30 seconds to find us. He introduced himself as the owner & we shook hands. He asked us a few questions that didn't have a darn thing to do with boats. Where are you from, how old is your son, how long have you two been married, etc. We made it through the feel good **** chat & he asked what type of boat we were interested in. He began to explain the various makes & models of what he had in stock & what he could order. Right in the middle of the show room, there was a Blue Wave Pure Bay 2200. This is the top end high dollar model for Blue Wave. I took a glance but passed it up to look @ boats that were obviously less expensive. My wife was behind me & she stopped to look @ the Pure Bay. She started talking to Gerald like they we old pals. She said "Oh wow, I really like this one a lot better than that nautic over @ Jerry's", " Look how much wider it is, it's got so more much room". Then I heard something come out of her mouth that I never expected, " I want this one!". I almost had a stroke!

I guess Jerry was right after all. I couldn't afford his $27,000 nautic star. Atleast not after I spent $38,000 on my new Blue Wave!

Man, you could'a got a Haynie plus two Core MG7's for that price.

[SULPHITE]

purebay is nice though

[jsmoke222000]

I really like my boat. It has a lot more room than any other 22' boat I looked @. Tons of storage too. I paid $38k out the door for it right here in town. The cheapest I could find that same model with the same upgrades was $45k. I had them install a 80 lb thrust minn kota riptide trolling motor, 3 batteries, 2 bank charger with an outlet mounted on the side of the console, depth finder, chart plotter, ropes, straps, etc. That price also included an additional 3 year warranty on the motor. It came with 3 & the extra 3 only cost me $900. To me, that is a very small price to pay for piece of mind. Considering that I have had the boat for 7 months now & I already have over 100 hrs on the motor, I'd say that the extra 3 year warranty might just come in handy 1 day. I hope that I never have to use it, but I've got it if I ever need it.

[longsidelandry]

Originally Posted by LaAngler

i heard trails yamaha was good, also boat stuf for any work on yammys

trails is looking for yamaha mechanics to work oilfield stuff, good pay too.

A good friend of mine used to be a mechanic over there. He ended up opening his own business.

[longsidelandry]

I haven't bought a boat from a dealership but I have been 4wheeler shopping and all I can say is don't even waste your time going to Lafayette Powersports. I went to price the 700 Grizzly and ended up looking hard at the 800 Can-Am. Well I told the girl that I wasn't paying a dime over $10,000 for a 4wheeler but I wanted her to check out the price on the Can-Am. She came back and told me that it would be $10,010 so I repeated to her that I wasn't paying more than $10,000. She went back to her manager and told him so then he came talk to me. He was all pissy saying how it's just $10, why won't you just pay the extra $10 and get the bike. That's when I blew my fuse, I told him if it's "only $10" why don't you knock that off the price so that you can make $10,000?? I called him a few choice words that would clarify just how dumb he was for not dropping the price $10 then said that I would get the Grizzly instead. He kind of had his head down when he said, Ok I'll see about getting the papers ready for you to sign. I said, are you stupid? You don't think I'm gonna buy the bike from you after you wouldn't help me out by lowering a price $10. I told him that now I was going to burn a little over a tank of gas to go buy the Grizzly in Mississippi with all kind of extra stuff on it for like $1500 less than he was asking for the bike totally stock. I have never stepped foot in that place again as that was the 2nd bad experience I've had with them. The first was when my uncle bought a 4wheeler from them, paid it cash but it wasn't ready so I swung by after work to pick it up and they wouldn't let me leave with the bike.

[Ray]

That tractor place that sells boats is absolutely the worst. They don't know boats
and they don't want to deal. They are clueless..

I don't know if Jerry's knows anything about boats, I never could get anyone to talk
to me over there.