Mighty Sylvan
Active Member
I can save $200 if i buy in the states. For the money should I just support a local business? I'm buying a radar.
Pro's and con's of buying electronics from the states.
- Thread starter Mighty Sylvan
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Captain PartyMarty
Crew Member
I have to agree, I buy a lot of my boating stuff in the sates but I don't think I would buy high end electronics. I am thinking of buying a Lowrance Elite 7 Gold, I saw it a Nikka cheeper than I could buy it on amazon
Sharphooks
Well-Known Member
My approach is to buy top-of-the-line, pre-owned. That's why God created eBay and Craigslist.
Every piece of electronics I have on my boat was pre-owned (with the exception of an Airmar 1Kw transducer which I just purchased this week-- I had to buy new because once a thru-hull transducer is installed, not too many people are going to pull them out and sell them used for many years to come)
So when I say top-of-the-line, from my standpoint that phrase in the realm of marine electronics means "Furuno". You get a problem, you don't call the guy you bought the piece of equipment from. You call the Furuno customer service in Camas, WA. and they will walk you through every technical issue you could possibly come up with, whether the equipment was manufactured yesterday or 15 years ago
When I called Lowrance customer service back in the day I owned that brand, I was usually on hold for 45 minutes before I got to speak to a human and when I finally got one, as soon as he heard my equipment was 4 or 5 years old, he was telling me that I was wasting my time with it and I should consider buying new Lowrance equipment so my problem would go away....
I go out of my way to support the local guys. But an electronics shop in my neighborhood wanted $ 4,500 for a Furuno Navnet 3D MFD12. I ended up buying the same unit on The Hull Truth for $ 2,500 (new in box) That's a $ 2,000 savings (and it would have been 9% tax on top of that)
You have to ask yourself the following--- do I act like a charity and get beat up in order to support the local guy, or do I save some money and use those savings to buy my wife a dozen roses (every day of the week for the next month) ?
Every piece of electronics I have on my boat was pre-owned (with the exception of an Airmar 1Kw transducer which I just purchased this week-- I had to buy new because once a thru-hull transducer is installed, not too many people are going to pull them out and sell them used for many years to come)
So when I say top-of-the-line, from my standpoint that phrase in the realm of marine electronics means "Furuno". You get a problem, you don't call the guy you bought the piece of equipment from. You call the Furuno customer service in Camas, WA. and they will walk you through every technical issue you could possibly come up with, whether the equipment was manufactured yesterday or 15 years ago
When I called Lowrance customer service back in the day I owned that brand, I was usually on hold for 45 minutes before I got to speak to a human and when I finally got one, as soon as he heard my equipment was 4 or 5 years old, he was telling me that I was wasting my time with it and I should consider buying new Lowrance equipment so my problem would go away....
I go out of my way to support the local guys. But an electronics shop in my neighborhood wanted $ 4,500 for a Furuno Navnet 3D MFD12. I ended up buying the same unit on The Hull Truth for $ 2,500 (new in box) That's a $ 2,000 savings (and it would have been 9% tax on top of that)
You have to ask yourself the following--- do I act like a charity and get beat up in order to support the local guy, or do I save some money and use those savings to buy my wife a dozen roses (every day of the week for the next month) ?
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Mighty Sylvan
Active Member
Good points Sharp hooks. I should have bought yours when it was for sale but bad timing for me.
Sharphooks that's a totally new thread, used VS new whole other game now then imports or domestic lol.
Sharphooks
Well-Known Member
hey CCB, not necessarily a totally new thread. The OP was looking for feedback on whether to buy marine electronics out of the U.S. (and maybe saving some money) vs. buying locally in Canada to support his local guys. Nothing wrong with supporting local guys but the comment made about buying locally in order to get customer support in exchange for what you paid more for locally is not always a penny wise decision. That was my point.
If he buys Furuno locally in Canada (and pays a very high premium for the pleasure) if anything goes wrong with the equipment his local guy will probably be calling Camas, Washington to get the problem solved, exactly what the OP would have been doing if he decided to side-step his local guy and buy his Furuno unit (new or used) from the US or ebay or Craiglist or wherever
Maybe Garmin and Ray Marine is a different deal---I noticed a strong preference for Garmin and Ray up in your neighborhood---presumably the local guys who sell those brands can service the units and troubleshoot problems locally. If that's the case, then I agree, you'd be money ahead if you bought locally
If he buys Furuno locally in Canada (and pays a very high premium for the pleasure) if anything goes wrong with the equipment his local guy will probably be calling Camas, Washington to get the problem solved, exactly what the OP would have been doing if he decided to side-step his local guy and buy his Furuno unit (new or used) from the US or ebay or Craiglist or wherever
Maybe Garmin and Ray Marine is a different deal---I noticed a strong preference for Garmin and Ray up in your neighborhood---presumably the local guys who sell those brands can service the units and troubleshoot problems locally. If that's the case, then I agree, you'd be money ahead if you bought locally
Sculpin
Well-Known Member
I would suggest buying from a local dealer that supports the product first. If you want to go the cheap route and save a few bucks then that is your choice.
I have spend many thousands of dollars at my local dealer. The Harbor Chandler. I am not bias with the Lowrance product by any means and have looked into other brands etc. What keeps me coming back to my local dealer is the one on one, in your face, customer service. I am not on a phone to Furuno (too Gucci for my wallet), and I am not on a phone to Lowrance. I bring my problems to my dealer and THEY DEAL WITH IT. Easy button just like the Staples ad's for when your kid's go back to school.
I have had a couple of products crap out on me and I was given a new one right out of the box as a replacement. No time wasted at either end. I highly suggest going with your local dealer then over the internet. The saving's are not worth it IMHO.
I have spend many thousands of dollars at my local dealer. The Harbor Chandler. I am not bias with the Lowrance product by any means and have looked into other brands etc. What keeps me coming back to my local dealer is the one on one, in your face, customer service. I am not on a phone to Furuno (too Gucci for my wallet), and I am not on a phone to Lowrance. I bring my problems to my dealer and THEY DEAL WITH IT. Easy button just like the Staples ad's for when your kid's go back to school.
I have had a couple of products crap out on me and I was given a new one right out of the box as a replacement. No time wasted at either end. I highly suggest going with your local dealer then over the internet. The saving's are not worth it IMHO.
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