Luxe boats

[schweeng]

Anyone else hearing that Luxe is closing their operation? I don’t see them really post on instagram like the use too… don’t see many on the weekends….
Neat boat for sure!! Love the side doors/ramp things.

 

[Done-it-again]

Do you hear they were closing up? I had the impression they had a few backlogged builds. They also had that 20-21 that looked badass. Not sure if they sold any though.

 

[DWC]

Haven’t heard anything. Would be a bummer if they were pulling the plug. Such a cool design.

This one keeps popping up in my IG feed. Slick ride.

 

[NicPaus]

I can ask Mikey. Saw his truck when I pulled in this morning.

 

[throttle]

Anyone else hearing that Luxe is closing their operation? I don’t see them really post on instagram like the use too… don’t see many on the weekends….
Neat boat for sure!! Love the side doors/ramp things.

I hope not. That would be a bummer to see happen. Hard time and place for a new manufacturer to stand tall today.

 

[Gelcoater]

Not sure what’s going on over there?

I saw a gray and black one over at Integrity Marine Group last week to get rigging and interior finished.
There were some things impressive about it, some less so.

Can’t remember Kurt’s screen name to tag him.

 

[hallett21]

This is the toon company right?

 

[BHC Vic]

Not sure what’s going on over there?

I saw a gray and black one over at Integrity Marine Group last week to get rigging and interior finished.
There were some things impressive about it, some less so.

Can’t remember Kurt’s screen name to tag him.

@curtiej10

 

[Gelcoater]

@curtiej10

Thanks!!

 

[fishing fool]

Talked to someone in the channel on Thursday and was told YES closed. He is trying to get some of his money back.

 

[Done-it-again]

Talked to someone in the channel on Thursday and was told YES closed. He is trying to get some of his money back.

That’s a lot invested to shut down, wasn’t like they didn’t build any boats.

Must be more to it.

 

[petie6464]

In the boat business...

90% of what you hear are lies and the other 10% ain't true.

With that once you hear about the back logs you know you're in the 90% lies category;

Just like the.... "Speed has 20,000 SXS's pre- sold.."

To bad though if they are closed up, That's a tough business and wouldn't wish on anyone..

 

[HCP3]

Was this another one of those game changer ouftits?

 

[Tank]

What’s the saying? How to end up with a million dollars. Start a boat company with 2 million.

The Industry is brutal. Very few make decent money and they’re mostly the ones that have been around since the 60’s.

Hopefully they’re doing ok though. Very cool boats.

 

[Blackmagic94]

lol fuck that guy. Tried to run me over in the channel and had the gaul to say it was my fault lol. I hope the bank takes his pride as well.

 

[OLDRAAT]

Customer's canceling orders due to economic insecurities?

 

[attitude]

Customer's canceling orders due to economic insecurities?

That’s my guess, I’ve seen multiple blank hulls with “your choice of power” getting posted by big name builders.

 

[attitude]

If Luxe really is closing that’s a bummer, it was cool to see something different come out of the west coast.

 

[DWC]

That’s my guess, I’ve seen multiple blank hulls with “your choice of power” getting posted by big name builders.

Which builders?

 

[DarkHorseRacing]

Customer's canceling orders due to economic insecurities?

How is that possible when you aim your boats at high end clientele with disposable income?

Not like he’s building to the Walmart crowd.

 

[attitude]

Which builders?

Nordic and Eliminator

 

[RiverDave]

The first boats built cost a lot more than anticipated and by the time they figured out the true manufacturing cost it was too late and they were chasing it.

I hadn’t heard that they had closed, but it has been known for a while now that they were looking for an investor to “right the ship” as it were.

I feel terrible for Curt, he really came out with a great product and and really gave it his all, mentally, physically, monetarily etc.. sometimes things just don’t work out like planned.



I also feel Horrible for all the people that have deposits or larger moneys into builds at various stages.. .

Sucks for everyone all the way around.

On a side note even if it didn’t go this way early on, they were about to lose some portion of market share.. Trifecta is getting ready to release toons with the side doors as well which would not have helped matters into the future as now there is more than one choice in that market.

 

[JFMFG]

I hope this isn’t true. Those guys made a great product. Best wishes to the luxe crew.

 

[Floaterboat]

These guys took hundreds of thousands of dollars from their customers, and delivered either nothing, or delivered boats that still need hundreds of thousands more to complete and you feel sorry for Luxe and wish them well?

What planet are some of you living on?

 

[Bpracing1127]

Guy is robbing Peter to pay Paul. He owes me friends 2 500’s v12.

It’s pretty bad

 

[OC Daytona]

How much were their boats? I keep reading/hearing that these high end toon manufacturers are selling every twin Merc 450 or 500 outboard boat they can make for $400k+

 

[petie6464]

Nordic and Eliminator

Yep, their five year backlog was a bunch of lies.. As always.

 

[Gelcoater]

I feel terrible for Curt, he really came out with a great product and and really gave it his all, mentally, physically, monetarily etc.. sometimes things just don’t work out like planned.

Truth, Dave!

Anyone that knows the guy knows.


And he would be the first to agree with me, WE! did not start on a good note.
There were some Fuck offs given, and received.

I Mostly just gave them.
Great idea. Wrong time.


But I was rooting for them.

These guys took hundreds of thousands of dollars from their customers, and delivered either nothing, or delivered boats that still need hundreds of thousands more to complete and you feel sorry for Luxe and wish them well?

What planet are some of you living on?

The real world.
Where we try, and some times we win. Some times we don’t.

I couldn’t imagine being in the position some of those folks are.
At the same time They! Took a gamble on a new name.

Much like many will not buy a first gen anything, be it Ford, GM, etc

These folks did. It was a gamble.
And not from a name like GM or Ford. From a new start up.
I couldn’t blame the new start up, from a fiscally responsible angle. They gambled everything to win. They didn’t.
No one twisted any arms for these customers to be where they are now.

 

[RiverDave]

So they are going through a reorganization right now.. meaning it doesn’t sound like the doors are closed just yet.

I hope they pull through and I hope everyone that has money in gets product.

 

[RiverDave]

These guys took hundreds of thousands of dollars from their customers, and delivered either nothing, or delivered boats that still need hundreds of thousands more to complete and you feel sorry for Luxe and wish them well?

What planet are some of you living on?

Said I feel bad for both.. not just the end customer.

RD

 

[Tank]

These guys took hundreds of thousands of dollars from their customers, and delivered either nothing, or delivered boats that still need hundreds of thousands more to complete and you feel sorry for Luxe and wish them well?

What planet are some of you living on?

Where was this reported? Never saw anyone post that they or someone they know got burned.

 

[4Waters]

Where was this reported? Never saw anyone post that they or someone they know got burned.

Post 12 should explain it

 

[Justsomeguy]

Damn. I was there in June. They looked busy. Curts a nice guy. Did a lot of work for a buddy of mine. Hope he pulls through. Tough position for all parties.

 

[Tank]

Post 12 should explain it

Not really. I guess it’s one of those things where people know things or think they know things but won’t post facts or won’t come forward. Not to say that that needs to happen on an open forum but you got floaterboat making accusations like it’s public knowledge.

Hope no one’s getting burned.

With that said, you take a huge gamble when you hand over a large sum of cash to a start up. This isn’t a new story or even shocking in business. Especially boat business.

 

[CSmith]

One thing I loved about these was the fiberglass and ease to clean. Looking at some of the other high end toons like Bennington and Trifecta etc they all have the railing with panels and whatever else makes it a major PIA to wipe down and to me it looks "cheap" if you will. Just my .02. Carry on.

 

[bk2drvr]

Its a bad time to be in this business? Seriously? Its a floating money parade out there. High end toon after toon going by today as I sat at Devils Elbow. I would think this is the perfect time to making high end pontoons. I constantly have conversations with people on the river that walk to me (i have a newish toon) that start the conversation saying "ya my wife and I are talking about selling our boat and getting toon". If this isn't the time to bring a Luxe toon to market then there will never be a time IMO.

 

[RiverDave]

Where was this reported? Never saw anyone post that they or someone they know got burned.

I know several people that have money into this.. I’m not gonna post their biz though. I hope everyone gets made whole..

Curt texted me tonight and said he can’t say much but they are going through a re organization. I am hoping that means they got their investor and can start back up.

RD

 

[boatnam2]

I had a feeling this story would go down like the other great builder, innovator that delivered an awesome product but couldn't make a go of it. I guess you never know until you try. Hopefully they can make it happen with reorg.

 

[Floaterboat]

Where was this reported? Never saw anyone post that they or someone they know got burned.

Sometimes it’s not best to call out a person or company when it’s your boat or you know the people involved. You’d rather the company spend the effort finishing what they said they would finish.

Luxe owes people entire boats, and owes people parts of boats. It has been a total steal from Peter to pay Paul deal for awhile. The motor situation referenced above is just one example. They lost investors, could not pay their crew, tried to reorganize and then shut the doors. I know customers that bent over backwards to try to help get their boats done, as far as offering to pay the rigging crews themselves to finish their boats.

Now the doors are closed. If they were still restructuring they wouldn’t be giving incomplete boats to customers with no plan to finish them. Some guys got nothing, and this is after six figure deposits.

I like Curt but this is no different than being ripped off by Rusty at Ultra or OCM Tim. Customers were promised something and did not get it. This could have been resolved amicably a long time ago. This didn’t happen in a week, it’s been almost a year in the making.

 

[JFMFG]

Sometimes it’s not best to call out a person or company when it’s your boat or you know the people involved. You’d rather the company spend the effort finishing what they said they would finish.

Luxe owes people entire boats, and owes people parts of boats. It has been a total steal from Peter to pay Paul deal for awhile. The motor situation referenced above is just one example. They lost investors, could not pay their crew, tried to reorganize and then shut the doors. I know customers that bent over backwards to try to help get their boats done, as far as offering to pay the rigging crews themselves to finish their boats.

Now the doors are closed. If they were still restructuring they wouldn’t be giving incomplete boats to customers with no plan to finish them. Some guys got nothing, and this is after six figure deposits.

I like Curt but this is no different than being ripped off by Rusty at Ultra or OCM Tim. Customers were promised something and did not get it. This could have been resolved amicably a long time ago. This didn’t happen in a week, it’s been almost a year in the making.

If all this is true I agree it’s no different. Maybe the landlord will chime in soon. Jk. Hopefully people will be made whole. Let’s keep the comments to ourselves until we know more.

 

[Singleton]

Sometimes it’s not best to call out a person or company when it’s your boat or you know the people involved. You’d rather the company spend the effort finishing what they said they would finish.

Luxe owes people entire boats, and owes people parts of boats. It has been a total steal from Peter to pay Paul deal for awhile. The motor situation referenced above is just one example. They lost investors, could not pay their crew, tried to reorganize and then shut the doors. I know customers that bent over backwards to try to help get their boats done, as far as offering to pay the rigging crews themselves to finish their boats.

Now the doors are closed. If they were still restructuring they wouldn’t be giving incomplete boats to customers with no plan to finish them. Some guys got nothing, and this is after six figure deposits.

I like Curt but this is no different than being ripped off by Rusty at Ultra or OCM Tim. Customers were promised something and did not get it. This could have been resolved amicably a long time ago. This didn’t happen in a week, it’s been almost a year in the making.

If someone gave a 6 figure deposit, you have to question that person for doing that. CA has laws on deposit limits and then you have milestone payments. For boats, it was 10% or 10k, with first milestone due at completion of hull.

It sucks folks lost money. The concept was great, but with anything custom the costs are unknown for a period of time.

But 100% agree with you, no investor is going to jump into this situation. The place has burned a ton of cash, and any investment is not going to have an ROI.

 

[JFMFG]

If someone gave a 6 figure deposit, you have to question that person for doing that. CA has laws on deposit limits and then you have milestone payments. For boats, it was 10% or 10k, with first milestone due at completion of hull.

It sucks folks lost money. The concept was great, but with anything custom the costs are unknown for a period of time.

But 100% agree with you, no investor is going to jump into this situation. The place has burned a ton of cash, and any investment is not going to have an ROI.

With anything custom cost is un known forever it’s a gamble. You better hope it’s expected perfectly first time otherwise changes have to be made etc. I kinda agree on the investor situation unless he doesn’t know the full extent of what’s going on. Best of luck to all involved.

 

[J&k beer can]

That sucks if that's the case..
But name is all over Havasu businesses..
"Luxe"..
Not sure if it's affiliated to the same company or persons

 

[JFMFG]

That sucks if that's the case..
But name is all over Havasu businesses..
"Luxe"..
Not sure if it's affiliated to the same company or persons

I doubt they’re affiliated. I think it’s more the definition of the name to draw people in.

 

[Joe mama]

Maybe DCB should take these boats over and turn them into perfection.

 

[Flynryan]

I have a deposit that I want back from Curt and havent been able to get. If anyone wants to talk about their experience please PM me

 

[was thatguy]

I’m confused.
Its now the customers fault when they get fucked?
Seriously?

 

[OC Daytona]

Its a bad time to be in this business? Seriously? Its a floating money parade out there. High end toon after toon going by today as I sat at Devils Elbow. I would think this is the perfect time to making high end pontoons. I constantly have conversations with people on the river that walk to me (i have a newish toon) that start the conversation saying "ya my wife and I are talking about selling our boat and getting toon". If this isn't the time to bring a Luxe toon to market then there will never be a time IMO.

Unfortunately I think that time was 2-3 years ago when the GOV was sending out shit tons of PPP money and before interest rates hit the moon.
Many a boat was bought with PPP money and that is a part of what drove prices on 10 year old boats to crazy prices during peak Covid.

Sure, most of the DCB's may be bought with cash, but how many is that ? 15-17 boats a year? Higher interest and future uncertainty has cooled off the new boat
market for most people I talk with.

I do like the Luxe toons a lot and hope they can get it together to stay afloat. To me they are among the best looking and most functional toons on the market.
What kind of prices were they going for?

 

[hallett21]

I’m confused.
Its now the customers fault when they get fucked?
Seriously?

I’m not reading it that way…

Customers have the option to buy already completed high end toons from dealer lots (twin engine 500s etc). There they can touch, feel and tow away the boat they’re looking at.

If it’s not perfect they can order a new one. That same company can either offer financing or payment terms (usually a small deposit and a final payment upon delivery).

If you wanted West Coat custom (Eliminator, Nordic/Hallett, Howard, DCB etc) they would either work with your financing option or set up a payment structure (percentage of completion milestones). I believe if you are financing the manufacturer cannot even be paid until they produce a completed boat.

Then we get to LUXE who assumably has no financing option because they haven’t produced enough boats. And if they did have a financing option I’m not sure LUXE had the cash to finance the build themselves.

So the customer leaves a deposit (apparently in the 6 figures). I know Mercury wants to be paid in full for motors prior to shipping. And I think a dealer only makes 5-10% on them. I gotta imagine these boats needed at least another 50k in raw materials ordered just to start. So either LUXE needs 2-3 boats in the Que or 50% upfront.

So I’d say as a customer you’ve knowingly taken on a lot of financial risk to get one of these boats. Especially when the rest of the established boating market takes payment in a more structured way.

I don’t think you can fault LUXE for incorporating to keep personal and financial liability off of the owners of the company.

 

[BHC Vic]

I’m confused.
Its now the customers fault when they get fucked?
Seriously?

I’d say if you give someone 100k and they don’t give you anything yes that is their fault. I’ve had a new boat built. I promise i didn’t leave an even 50% deposit and never would.