I am considering to buy a new Crestliner boat, using Crestliner online "Build & Price" tool it came out as $13,866. Without any prior experience in boat purchase what should I expect when negotiating a price with a dealer?  I don't want to low ball it but what would be a reasonable/realistic expectation?  Should I expect 5%, 10%, 15% or more off the MSRP price to consider as a decent deal?

If you are buying a new model year boat, then I would not expect to pay any less than the Crestliner online tool price. Especially if you plan on purchasing a boat with your specific selections.

 

If you start looking at "new" last year model boats, that's where you can expect some savings.

Sounds like it's different from buying a car where you walk into the dealership and spending hours going back and forth with the salesman to strike a deal then.  

If you buy from dealer inventory, you may be able to negotiate a small discount.  But if you order one, you're less likely to get a discount.

A boat off the showroom will come in less than if you ordered one. I purchased a new showroom boat in 2013 and was around 17% below the online boat builder. High volume dealers can buy boats from the manufacturers for less than low volume dealers. I worked 3 dealers in a 100 mile radius to get the best pricing. Negotiating isn't always about money. Can they cut a deal on winterizing or on service? I negotiated a brokerage sale on my old boat for a flat fee rather than a percentage. 

The motor is usually well over half the total cost of a boat, motor, trailer combo so see if you can buy a one to two year old new motor still in the crate., Not used.