Dealer prep fees are an interesting topic. For the most part, the dealer is going to have to prep your boat no matter what happens. Some of those costs are things they cannot avoid, like buying the battery (as they don't come from the factory with a battery-because Yamaha doesn't know when the boat will be delivered to a customer - same for a fire extinguisher). They have to assemble the trailer etc. The bigger the boat, the more prep and check out there is.
I paid a prep fee for my boat (but I got a killer deal on it which all balanced out).
If you think you aren't paying for the prep, you are mistaken - their costs are in there, they just bundled it in to your price. Yes, on occasion a dealer sells at a loss - but until recently not often.
I was ok with them having it as a line item as I was very clear with them on what I expected as part of that fee:
- Full water test of the boat and all its functions (242X).
- 2 Batteries, installed and wired properly
- Fire Extinguisher
- Clean boat
The full water test exercised everything in the boat. After it was delivered the dealer called me to tell me they were working with Yamaha because during #1 above they found:
- Stereo wasn't working properly
- Solar panels weren't working
- Ballast system wasn't filling properly
I was glad they were transparent with all of the above, and they discovered the boat was wired wrong at the factory. It was a brand new 2016 242X first model year. I was much happier to have them find the issues, and they paid very close attention (and QUICKLY) to getting my boat fixed ASAP, as I was able to say to them...."I paid your prep fee to ensure you took care of me".
Now $1700 for a 190 series boat? That is excessive.