And Then There's the Motor

The other day my wife fessed up that actually sailing in the Passagemaker was a hurdle she might have to overcome. Rowing - fine. Sailing - maybe not so fine. So she wondered if I had considered a small outboard. Considered? No. (I thought I was pushing the boat 'budget' pretty hard already.) But now that you mention it, I'll do a little digging. Whoosh! Check ebay, check local newspaper, visit motor dealers in the area, 2-cycle vs. 4-cycle, air-cooled (Honda) vs. water cooled (everybody else except Briggs and Stratton), compare specifications, recheck those 'Watched items on ebay'.

You'd think I was researching a 35' cabin cruiser with twin I/O's. But I didn't find that all elusive great motor AND great price. Then, the thing I have to work on - don't be afraid to ask questions. I'm in Gander Mountain and I notice they have some small Mercury outboards (no mention of this on their website). But they didn't have anything under 4 hp on the display floor except for electric trolling motors. So, expecting a deadend (and fighting against my natural tendency not to ask questions) I ask, "Do you have any outboards smaller than 4 hp?" I fully expected them to say no, and if they did have the motor in stock I expected the price to be the on north side of MSRP. Now by this time I had done my background work and scoped out the small outboard market pretty well so imagine my surprise when they said they had a 2.5 hp in stock. "And what's the price?" Ah,..it's $699. Whoa! Mercury, Nissan, and Tohatsu are all the same engine and the prices ranged from $800 to $850.

"So, is that a 2008 or a 2007?" That's a 2007. What the heck do I care what year it is, it's a brand new engine for cryin' out loud and it's at least $100 less than anything else I saw. But as a savvy customer (wink, wink) I had to resist the temptation to appear SOLD!, ABSOLUTELY SOLD! and the question about the model year was just a veiled attempt to appear as though I was doing a thorough investigation. I finished with a question as to whether the 'other' Gander Mountain in our area had any in stock and the salesperson said they had two.

There was a little discussion at home and we decided the two of us would spend more time in the boat together if another means of propulsion was available. So we decided to buy the motor for my wife.

We walked into the other Gander Mountain and I asked if they had any 2.5 hp Mecury outboards in stock. They said NO. Isn't that typical? You zero in on a good deal and it vaporizes. But I persisted a bit indicating the other store had said this store had two - would you please check? Sure enough they had two in stock.

But, while we were waiting we saw an application for a GanderMountain MasterCard. 10% off your first purchase. Hmm? My wife and I have developed an automatic NO response in the dozens of other situations where the checkout clerk asks if we want to save 10% on your purchase today by opening a (fill-in-the-blank) charge card. But, now we're talkin' $70. Does that apply to an outboard motor? YUP! Besides that you get a $25 gift card.\

I absolutely love it when a good deal gets better!