Boats Easy Money for Advantage Boats
Easy Money for Advantage Boats
Great customer experience leads to additional sales for Advantage Boats.
By Eric Colby
In this economy, boat salespeople have had to work extra hard to get a customer to sign the dotted line, so when Bob Sepulveda, the sales manager at Advantage Boats, got a phone call from a potential buyer, he figured it was just another inquiry.
"You sold my son a boat and he raves about you and Advantage Boats," said the caller. "I've never owned a boat and I'm flying down there, and I'll be at the airport at 10 Saturday morning."
The owner of some retail properties in Lake Tahoe, the gentleman and his wife flew to the small Lake Havasu City, Arizona, airport in their CitationJet. A self-professed airplane nut, Sepulveda was impressed because the aircraft is one of the fastest CitationJets built to date.
During a tour of the Advantage facility, the couple explained that they wanted to get their new boat as soon as possible. Sepulveda told them that there was a 29 X-Flight in the mold, and that would be the next boat available. It was built for factory inventory and the only order given to the gelcoater was "to make it pretty."
"The wife asked, 'You want me to write a check for a boat without ever seeing the colors?" Sepulveda recalled with a laugh. "She wrote the check."
Their boat turned out to be one of the most attractive 29 X-Flights built, with a white gelcoat highlighted with red and black stripes. The boat will be powered by a Teague Custom Marine 825 hp engine with a Bravo One XR Platinum drive.
As on any X-Flight (it also comes in 27- and 34-foot models), the boat comes with an air entrapment bow, which is best described as a pickle-fork design that extends aft to a conventional V-bottom. The wide bow creates great seating space up front, and to port there's a usable cabin with an actual berth. The cockpit features a single helm seat to starboard with a double-wide lounge to port. Aft is a large bench seat with a sun lounge on top of the engine compartment. The dash features Livorsi Marine instruments and separate sport-style shift and throttle controls.
With the TCM 825 providing plenty of California-emissions-legal power, the 29 X-Flight should top 80 mph. In reviews we've read, the boat also has strong acceleration for towing water sports or for just drag-racing.
The best thing about this 29 X-Flight is that Advantage pulled it from the mold in late July and had the motor and drive from Teague Custom Marine by the first week in August. That means the buyer should have the boat before the end of the month. It would be nice if all deals went this smoothly.
, Boats, Performance Boats