Bob - Yes i'm not brand loyal on my Cars. My dad was a Ford product guy for 90% of his life, and mom still is. We've had good ford products but he DEALER service in Houston and Atlanta (multiple dealers in both cities) has been SOO bad, i've given up for now. I'll address your quesiton on Tracker with Snow's down below.
Snow - OK first my comments to the Champion and Ranger are part tongue-in-cheek as this is a Tracker/Nitro owners site. Also both are WAY out of my price range given the parameters (new of course) i'm trying to stick to.
Second, yes if the right boat at the right price came along, regardless of brand i'd LOOK at it.
Now to your real question " Did Tracker do something to "earn" your loyalty or just happy with your past Tracker products?"
First, yes I am happy with my past Tracker product, the PC 175 is the only "real" boat i've owned, prior ones were jon boats. The boat has performed as or better then advertized (ride, quality, fishability).
Second the things that i've seen with my dealer/Tracker that I consider having Earned my loyalty are:
1. Fixed Price - Having bought a BOAT load of new/used cars over the years, i got VERY confused during the boat buying process. Yes at the boat shows 1/year I could SEE on almost ALL brands actual prices on the models on the floor. BUT other then that (and any non-floor model) all models/dealers (Except Tracker that I looked at) made me feel like I was in a used car lot. "What do you want your payments to be Son? Well that depends on which options, and what kind of a deal we can strike..." I have bought ALL of my used cars in the last 5 years from either Carmax or Saturn for this EXACT reason. Hey I looked at the Reata last week (or tried to) on-line to get a guide on if the Ranger Fish/Ski was reasonably priced, and there is NO information!! And that goes for everyone else except (that i've found) Tracker and Stingray. Since their are not 3-4 dealers of each brand/type on the same street like car dealers, I don't want to or have the time to sit through the same used car deal driving all over town. It's a prefference. I don't fish Tourney, and for my needs if the dealers aren't going to make it easy for me to find out their prices, i'm not looking that hard.
2. Pre-Sale service - The sales guy on the boat show floor was a little confused on which special edition packages came with which boats. So, when a week after I ordred the boat the sales manager called to tell me they made a mistake in my order ( the Special Edition package was NOT available with the PC 175), he was very good to deal with and we easly agreed a "custom" package of extra that saved me the same $$ that the special edition would have and fit my needs. Also, when they had a delay in delivery due to less painted trailers being shipped to Atlanta, Service called and offered to split the up-grade cost to a galvenized with me to get me the boat quicker (I should have taken that deal, but didn't).
3. Post Sale service - I've posted many time (and in the dealer report cards) that i've recieved better service at the Altanta Tracker store for having bought one of the Tracker line's lower end/priced models then i've recieved at just about ANY car dealer (that's Honda, Saturn, Ford, Mercury, Mazda ,Chevy...). Everything from fixing OEM part issues AFTER warranty for free, to doing all work on or ahead of scheduled appointments/pick up.
I've recieved NOTHING from Corp or Tracker Marine over the 4 years, just a good product and great service!
My first rig was a Tracker and the trade they gave me was another factor. NOONE could even come close to what they gave me! Tracker loyality will also get ya' discounts
