MarineMax Lake Lanier

So my brother and I bought a used boat from a private seller. The previous owner had no integrity and lied about the motor. Knowing it needed to be replaced but he failed to mention that. So my brother and I are calling around looking for quotes on getting this boat in the water. Now please keep in mind that this is a 30 year old boat. The quote we got back still has my chin on my desk. I was quoted $19k to replace the engine for my 1995 Sea Ray, with a 4.3L Mercrusier V6. The engine alone was $13k with an additional $6k in labor and other parts. Not sure if you all have done any kind of research but for $19k, you can get a really nice used boat made in the 21st century. For $13k the price they are asking for just the motor. Will also buy you a nice used boat. I’m trying to bring back to life a 30 year old boat. If I wanted to spend $19k, I would get something way newer and way nicer. Hands down the most expensive quote by leaps and bounds. To put into perspective I’ve been quoted $2450 for a rebuilt motor, with warranty, a complete set of gaskets and an oil pan. Labor should be anywhere from $2 - $3k. I would just love to know where a figure like $19k came from. This is $10k higher than my highest quote. Thanks but no thanks.

Buy your boat from ANYONE except these people. From sales to delivery to service, everyone along the way made the experience worse. Quick recap, this is the second time we’ve owned a Crest Tritoon. First time bought a 2015 Crest from a person on Facebook in SC and had a great experience. It’s simple, we drove the boat, liked it, paid them that day, signed the agreement and they had it delivered to us at Lake Lanier. Sold it ourselves and decided to buy our second boat new. We decided on a Crest again and were limited to MarineMax for buying on the lake, which seemed like the easiest option. We went to see a few they had before a boat show and were told boat show pricing would be good. We told our salesperson, Alex, we would come to the boat show and sign the paperwork to buy there. We got there and they had just sold the boat we wanted. It sucked and we were frustrated he didn’t call to tell us, but it was what it was. We then asked if they had any others like it and they had one in Michigan they could ship down for the same offer. We agreed, ready to pay cash, they told us to make the deal happen it had to be financed for 6 months and then we could pay it off. We settled on doing that with a commitment MarineMax would give a $3k service credit we could use for maintenance. We made this purchase in March and were told shipping it down would take 7-10 days. By the end of April, we were making payments and still didn’t have a boat after repeated following up on the status. They received the boat, but needed to add the ceramic coating we paid them for and hadn’t found time to do it. We had paid a speaker company to upgrade the speakers, so MarineMax allowed them to upgrade the speakers and then MarineMax did the ceramic coating. We show up to pick up the boat and it’s been damaged in the shipment from Michigan. The helms were damaged and the windshield wouldn’t close and latch. They said they would have to send it to corporate to fix it and that would take 4-6 weeks. If we didn’t have the speakers installed, we wouldn’t have accepted this boat. We settled on accepting it as is for the summer use and letting them do that work in the fall/winter. Pictures and video were taken to show the condition we accepted it in and communication was sent to corporate. All summer we’re driving a “new” boat that’s damaged. We hold up our commitment to wait the 6 months before paying it off, paying $1,800 in interest along the way. That fall, they send it to corporate, get it back and other things aren’t fixed. MarineMax said they would make it right and “take care of us”. After it was all done, we got our boat back and used it the next summer. Something items still are not right, but we moved on. We sold the boat privately and told the new owner there’s a $3k credit for maintenance and service with MarineMax and we would get involved as needed to facilitate. Today, we find out MarineMax used up the entire $3k credit when they were “taking care of us”. Shocked, we ask, what work was authorized and give us invoices to show how you used that. They respond the credit is gone and deal with it. Honestly, the WORST company. No one does what they say they will. No accountability. We are understanding people who’ve dealt with car dealerships on similar value cars and had things happen and they do fix it (Hennessy Porsche does this well). If this review saves one boat owner from this nightmare of a boat buying and ownership, it’s worthy of my time writing the review.

MarineMax always provides the expertise you need when it comes to making decisions to better enjoy your time on the water. They carry the best brands and provide service at so many different locations across the country.

A few years ago at the boat show we put a deposit on a boat that was supposed to be the exact floor plan and model that was showcased but brand new still in the wrapper at the dealership. We finalized the numbers with Alex and the sales manager and met up at the dealership the following week. To our surprise we were shown the boat to be purchased… not the same floor plan and the boat was a demo sitting in the water, uncovered, already showing signs of initial wear… it wasn’t the boat for us, even with additional discounts. We built out the exact boat there that we wanted, in a few days we were to have a price, a week went by… no response, two weeks… nothing not even a phone call. We requested our deposit back, finally after a few weeks we received it back. Be careful at the boat show and just know this isn’t the first time I’ve posted this same review. I’m sure MarineMax pays good money to have the bad ones removed. But just beware. They’re very convincing…. Call Angie at Bay Marine they won’t be at the boat show, but they treat you right and take care of you in service too!

MarineMax is the only place to buy a boat. Everyone there is knowledgeable and pleasant. They make your buying experience awesome. John Powell and Adam Emanuel specifically are the best in the business. John found me the perfect Sea Ray in the color and with all of the options that I wanted and Money Man Adam made the numbers work. Thanks again To John and Adam, my MarineMax Dream Team.