Carver Owners Forum

In light of the closing of Carver Yacht's in July of 2021, what are your thoughts on the market value of our Carvers? I'm considering selling mine as it will likely become more and more difficult to get parts and potential buyers may shy away. What do you all think? Don't get me wrong, I love my Carver but the writing is on the wall.

Market value of boats in general is very high now. There are really no parts on your boat that are only sourcable from Carver itself.....even if it were still operating all the stuff attached to your boat comes from providers.....as an example all the lighting, switches, engines ,trans, carpet, pumps, canvas, hoses etc etc....well you get the idea and this applies for all boats that I know of.

I would not be concerned that way at all.....but now is a good time to sell so long as you are not going out buying another boat to replace it. Carvers were always considered better quality boats in my opinion.....

So what will you replace it with? Bayliner has discontinued anything big, no more Meridian, no more Searay, no more Motor Yachts in fact most of them are long gone. I think Silverton and Cruiser Yachts are about the only ones remaining then again for how long?

Most parts are made by others and have nothing to do with the boat manufacturer. Carver or whatever builder does not stock windshields as an example. They offer the part for sale but go through their supplier who will make one for an absurb amount of money and then they sell it to you for even more. Nothing on the boat cannot be found elsewhere. Mechanical, Cummins, Volvo, Merc, Crusader are all available through them or hundreds of resellers as well as all other mechanical parts. Only advantage is the convenience of calling the manufacturer for answers on where to get parts.

A few years ago I wanted some of the lettering on the side of my boat however Carver told me it was discontinued and this was when they were in business. The grass is no greener on the other side of the fence.

My opinion is the value will not change much, if at all. The brand has always been respected, and has a good history. Carver used parts from very standard marine OEM's, so parts will not be an issue accept for very old, obsolete applications. Even then, there is usually an after market that will accommodate. Lower end brands used non-standard sizes and the cheapest parts to keep costs down, Carver did not. I understand your concern, but the salability will be much more impacted by how you take care of the vessel. er

Since I purchased my current boat used in 2017, boat values have gone up considerably due to high demand and low supply. It is clearly a sellers market and to be able to find a previously owned boat in Canada is difficult as they simply have been bought up. If you look at the brokers web sites, as I do all the time, most of their brokered boats are sold. Access to new boats is still available, however, a lot of boat manufacturers have stopped making the bigger boats. I believe, can't say for sure, there is probably more used boats available in the US than in Canada.

A lot of folks from the US are taking advantage of the strong US dollar in Canada and as a result a lot of boats are going south. In addition, the amount of people purchasing recreational items, including boats, due to Covid has impacted supply.

As stated previously by others, most people that own Carvers have no trouble maintaining their boats through part sources other than Carver. What ever you could have gotten via Carver is available elsewhere. The big thing that is missing due to the Carver sale, is the ability to obtain information about your specific boat from their records, etc.

So IMHO, the timing is good for selling a boat now and the impact of Carver having closed its doors would have a minimal impact on people buying Carvers, if at all.

Carver has an excellent reputation for quality and longevity. Thats what will sell your boat. Just ask yourself, would you buy another Carver?

Greg

I agree, timing for selling is good however not so good if you want to buy another as there are really no more well kept gems out there ready to be plucked up at a bargain price. Just like homes, yes you can get top dollar for yours right now but man oh man is it gonna cost you to replace it.

Thanks for the input. I guess it is all relative. I can get a higher price now but replacement will be difficult if not impossible. Sometimes the constant repairs on a 20 year old boat get frustrating. Perhaps I'll just play the lottery and if I win, buy a brand new boat that won't have something break for at least a week! Lol.

Wsullivan71 wrote:Source of the post I win, buy a brand new boat that won't have something break for at least a week!

Lol......we had a couple new boats....there were a number of warranty repairs and fixes on them, as many or more than used ones.
Now the powerball win would work no matter what.... .....

New too Carver Forum , Had interest in a 35 Ft Mariner , asking some questions
Passed , needed engine , gen set , sitting years ,
Seller sold too a clueless newbie
Boatless 8 months , Selling my 30 ft Regal repowering , non stop repairs , I would be at boat multiple days of the week , I am addicated too water , , Regal is a fine boat just that model was a wekender , tight on storage , engine room was a challenge , easier too pull engine then work in place , Pre covid marina broker made it clear he was doing me a favor trying too sell my Cabin cruiser ( slow sellers ) Decided too keep and use another few years , Covid hits anything that floats is selling , Marina broker is now desperate for my listing ,
Reached a point , I did not enjoy that boat anymore , SOLD in this hot market for my price , NOT complaining , but as others said finding a replacement is tuff , absolute junk . Sometimes I question why did I sell ?
Eventually market will open up , Clueless newbie owners will realize that pretty white boat is a lot of work

grandpaw wrote:Source of the post New too Carver Forum , Had interest in a 35 Ft Mariner , asking some questions
Passed , needed engine , gen set , sitting years ,
Seller sold too a clueless newbie
Boatless 8 months , Selling my 30 ft Regal repowering , non stop repairs , I would be at boat multiple days of the week , I am addicated too water , , Regal is a fine boat just that model was a wekender , tight on storage , engine room was a challenge , easier too pull engine then work in place , Pre covid marina broker made it clear he was doing me a favor trying too sell my Cabin cruiser ( slow sellers ) Decided too keep and use another few years , Covid hits anything that floats is selling , Marina broker is now desperate for my listing ,
Reached a point , I did not enjoy that boat anymore , SOLD in this hot market for my price , NOT complaining , but as others said finding a replacement is tuff , absolute junk . Sometimes I question why did I sell ?
Eventually market will open up , Clueless newbie owners will realize that pretty white boat is a lot of work

Welcome aboard. A little confused though... are you saying you passed on a 35 Mariner you were considering because it had engine and genset issues?

I sold earlier in the "pandemic" and agree that the market will open up. Thought it would start at the end of 2021 as I thought the "pandemic" stuff would be winding down but now I'm thinking this year. However, I do think two things will happen. A bunch of folks are going to realize they actually LIKE boating and want to stay in it, so they might be moving up to a bigger or newer boat because they had to grab whatever was available when they had the chance. I do think that there will be many who got a year or two out of their investment and don't want the work or expense anymore. Not sure how that's going to impact prices. I originally thought they would crater when the 'glut' hit but now I'm rethinking that. They might come down out of the stratosphere but might not drop so low there are a lot of 'steals' out there.