Do Boat Loans Require A Down Payment?

Boat financing is different than automobile financing.  Most boat loans require a down payment even for customers with excellent credit.  While every lending situation is different, most banks like to see 10% of the purchase price as a down payment.

Many boat lenders will offer a lower the interest rate, frequently .25%, for down payments in the 20%+ range.  

Banks consider boat loans as nonessential compared to home and auto loans.  Because of this, banks tend to have more strict loan policies for boat loans.  Because boats are “non essential” banks like to see loan to value ratios of less than 100% where it is actually common to see auto loans where the loan value is greater than the value of the car.

As we said before, every situation and lender has different policies.  We do have the ability to request no or a low down payment but it is less common in boat financing compared to automotive financing.

If you have financing questions, please give us a call and we are happy to discuss the wide variety of boat financing options we have available.
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