2024

[jonlafon1]

Doesn't that mean that we are now buying from the dealers at MSRP? The discussion was previously "I want to buy from my dealer" whereas the last year of pre-orders created frustration for many. This year sounds like the manufacturers are splitting the difference and dealers will be involved again. This is a good thing for the industry. The cycle of dealers ending up with inventory is going to start over due to the high cost of cash, this is year one of that inventory buildup. Yes, the manufacturers are going to keep an eye on this but its a tight line to walk. Dealers want inventory as it brings in customers to buy other things. Look at car dealers, massive lots of inventory. In any case, unless there is something compelling beyond the catalyst in 2024, and there doesn't seem to be, I am happy with looking at a 2023 with EPS and I will simply wait a year for the catalyst to get the bugs out. There will always be people backing out of those lists, there are 23s available and still incoming for sale, some will be at a discount.

I agree with your post, good points. Yes good for dealers.. BUT are all the dealers going to charge just MSRP? 70/30 is not splitting the difference. I call a week before pre order opens and every sled at a huge dealer ship is spoken for and a waiting list of 50? So I might get 1 of the 30% they claim to be able to build and sell for pre orders. That's insane.. Maybe a little BS mixed in from who I talked to(owner) but he is usually a straight shooter and have purchased many sleds from him.. He claims he has never seen anything like this in 20+ years of selling cats.. He also sells Yamaha, but he sells ALOT of cats and they actually had/have a damn good service department.. If people think last pre order was crazy this year will be way crazier IMO...

 

[earthling]

I agree with your post, good points. Yes good for dealers.. BUT are all the dealers going to charge just MSRP? 70/30 is not splitting the difference. I call a week before pre order opens and every sled at a huge dealer ship is spoken for and a waiting list of 50? So I might get 1 of the 30% they claim to be able to build and sell for pre orders. That's insane.. Maybe a little BS mixed in from who I talked to(owner) but he is usually a straight shooter and have purchased many sleds from him.. He claims he has never seen anything like this in 20+ years of selling cats.. He also sells Yamaha, but he sells ALOT of cats and they actually had/have a damn good service department.. If people think last pre order was crazy this year will be way crazier IMO...

The 70/30 is probably just to seed the dealers again. Is it dumb.. maybe. It is certainly a big shift in the program. You are right, this year is going to be a disaster because they keep changing the rules. They should have pushed the last pre-order exclusively through dealers and let the dealers manage their relationships directly but... they also need to put an end to the dealer practice of ordering for everyone in their family just to make sure they have inventory. My sled was registered as pre-order to someone who uhmmm, trust me, should not get on a sled *ever* as she is .. lets say 'beyond the design limits' and quite old. When I found this out I was just looking at the dealer and my brain was stuck between WTF and okay, at least I got a sled at a discount.. As far as dealers charging over MSRP.. thats just straight BS but a dealer has to make the conscious decision between keeping their loyal customer base or alienating them. To be fair, when I first looked into this I used our family position as a local small business owner to talk to the dealers (ski-doo, cat, polaris) about their practice on managing the customer pre-order lists and was told almost uniformly that they are biasing towards loyal customers. One dealer told me he made his own list of recurring buyers and loyal customers and personally called them all to ensure that they knew how to get a sled. One dealer was basically 'first come first serve' and didn't care who it was as long as they had cash, and that dealer still has committed inventory to get rid of. None of those dealers was above MSRP.

 

[jonlafon1]

Im going to wait this BS out.. Maybe see If i can get something that is sitting at the dealers mid season next year.. Guessing sleds will be available.

 

[number1kyster]

Our local Poo/Doo dealer has 30 sleds on the floor. 2/3 are Doo. Our local Yamaha and Cat dealer have not had floor inventory for the past two seasons. If Cat is making a shift to put inventory back in dealers hands, it is a good thing as long as they arent shoving units down the dealers throat.

I personally would like to sell my Sidewinder in the fall and purchase a new sled off a dealers floor. I’ve seen far too many people waiting for their spring order for half the winter over the past two seasons. Maybe there will be some dealer inventory to choose from.

 

[jonlafon1]

I personally would like to sell my Sidewinder in the fall and purchase a new sled off a dealers floor. I’ve seen far too many people waiting for their spring order for half the winter over the past two seasons. Maybe there will be some dealer inventory to choose from.

I agree... My fear is the inventories are so thin with Cat/Yamaha your going to get bent over on pricing.. I understand pricing is different then 5 years ago but some of this is a bit much. Couple more garbage winters and they will put themselves out of business with the tactics I'm seeing..

 

[number1kyster]

I agree... My fear is the inventories are so thin with Cat/Yamaha your going to get bent over on pricing.. I understand pricing is different then 5 years ago but some of this is a bit much. Couple more garbage winters and they will put themselves out of business with the tactics I'm seeing..

I completely agree. I saw a fella on HCS yesterday that said the pricing for a 2024 T-Cat is 32% higher than what he paid for his 2022 T-cat with EPS. That is madness.

 

[74Nitro]

I completely agree. I saw a fella on HCS yesterday that said the pricing for a 2024 T-Cat is 32% higher than what he paid for his 2022 T-cat with EPS. That is madness.

Yes, I thought the inflation story had ended. At least it seems to have let up in most other areas.

 

[STAIN]

Couple more garbage winters and they will put themselves out of business with the tactics I'm seeing..

Not if people keep buying them. The dealers are not selling as many units, but are making all the money on the ones they do.
it seems as though there is always some people out there with way too much disposable income.
I am not sure how/if/when the prices come back to reality, if ever.

 

[jonlafon1]

Not if people keep buying them. The dealers are not selling as many units, but are making all the money on the ones they do.
it seems as though there is always some people out there with way too much disposable income.
I am not sure how/if/when the prices come back to reality, if ever.

For sure on buyers continue to buy.. Climate/weather will play a HUGE factor in this stuff in due time. Stuff keeps increasing way faster then wages and that is going to effect this also. Many are playing off this inflation thing and IMO they are playing with fire. No doubt costs get passed to the customer but at some point we will see a breaking point/adjustment in the markets.. THEN you will see fire sales on things that are very seasonal.. Like snowmobiles that get 2-3 months of use if you lucky..

 

[STAIN]

True. It has to come crashing down at some point.
I always like the springtime snowmobile fire-sales, I have made some good money off them in the past!!!

 

[Bigblue1]

This is a big deal and I don't see the industry publications addressing it. For me, it is not a matter of affordability in my case, I am fortunate, but common sense makes me hold up. My 2017 just clicked 9,000 miles. $14,400 plus some add ons I chose to include when I bought it( another$1,200). It does not have power steering, the newer spindles or the adjust on the fly suspension. But, I love this sled. It has the Kashima high end shocks, lighter brake rotor, led lights, heated seat. It is set up for me and rides great! So do I buy a $22,000 sled that apart from some comfort features and some different geometry (if I were to get an SRX etc.) and then put my accessories on top of that? Well, I chose to refresh some chain case components if needed, a new track and steering bushings for maybe a couple grand and ride on. My suggested average sale price for my area is $8,000 which means a minimum $12,000 gap probably more like $15,000. Just do not want to swallow that pill. Hell I almost can buy a new Catalyst and still keep what I have at that rate. We will see how this all settles out in the future with the average age of a snowmobiler at 53, but for now prices are getting insane.

 

[stgdz]

Going to be interesting seeing how long the poo/Doo crowd engines hold together past 10k miles in the coming years.


I know the cat zuke will stay together but I have a feeling the other two are going to sit on the market for awhile. Be more interesting if the.dealers start offering rebates. Hell I just saw moon motorsports is offering a 2k rebate on RZR pro's, so it is coming.


Just gotta pay more if you don't pay in cash.

 

[KnappAttack]

My local dealer has 5 Polaris Boosts sitting brand new yet on March 1st. Thought they were so hard to get, go figure.
Eventually it will get back to the way things were, it's inevitable as the supply chain catches back up.