Trading In Your Boat

Trading in a boat at your dealer is another simple solution. It eliminates all the work on your part and if there’s a thing or two that needs sprucing up, the dealer’s got the staff to take care of it. There are tax advantages to trading in, too. In most states, you only pay sales tax on the new boat price less the value of the trade-in. And since dealerships take trades all the time, figuring out the boat trade in value is usually a short process. Wait a sec—this is when most of us will be thinking “just what is the trade in value of my boat?” The best way to get an initial idea is by reading our guide on Boat Values and Prices, which will help explain the use of NADA guides (again, remember they merely provide a very rough ballpark estimate).

There’s one more thing to remember about boat and motor trade in value: when you sell your boat for cash you may have a problem if its value doesn’t cover an outstanding loan. But when working with boat dealers that take trade ins on a regular basis, they may know how to make an arrangement work even when trading in a boat you still owe on. And once you have the value of your boat nailed down you can use a Boat Loan Calculator with trade in value backed out, to determine what the monthly payments will be.

Once a dealer takes your trade-in you are no longer the owner of your boat and not responsible for it. When selling your boat yourself until you find a buyer for your boat you remain the owners and are responsible for it.

Since you are no longer the owner of the boat and have moved on to enjoying your new boat, you will not have to worry about the hassles of showing your boat to potential buyers, sea trailing it or having a survey completed either.

What is the difference between trading in my boat and working with a broker to sell my boat?

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