Thunder Marine - St. Petersburg, Florida

Gary G.

Amazing staff! Amazing service! Would recommend 100% to anyone looking to purchase a boat! Craig was our salesperson and he was amazing and kept us informed throughout the process!

Shane L.

Exceptional Experience with Thunder Marine – Jeanneau Leader 7.5 WA

We recently purchased a Jeanneau Leader 7.5 WA from Thunder Marine at the St. Petersburg Boat Show, and we couldn't be happier with the entire experience! From start to finish, the team at Thunder Marine made the process easy, enjoyable, and completely stress-free.

The sea trial was a fantastic opportunity to get a real feel for the boat, and the team provided thorough, informative, and pressure-free guidance throughout. They took the time to answer all of our questions, ensuring we understood every detail of our new boat.

The paperwork process was an absolute breeze—smooth, efficient, and with no hiccups whatsoever. Delivery day was just as seamless, with everything ready to go, making the transition to ownership effortless.

Now that we’re out on the water with our Jeanneau Leader 7.5 WA, we are absolutely in love with it! If you're looking for a dealership that truly prioritizes its customers, provides honest and knowledgeable service, and makes boat buying a pleasure, look no further than Thunder Marine. Highly recommend!

Terri W.

I recently had my boat repaired and serviced by Thunder Marine. What a great experience! Not only was it perfect, it was done on time and priced very reasonable. Their customer service and staff are great. I highly Recommend this company for all your boating needs …

John M.

Absolutely the worst experience I have ever had purchasing anything in my entire life. The vessel I purchased had been sitting at Thunder Marine International for over 9 months and never moved. You would think they would be happy someone purchased it to get it off their lot. Management called my lender a “low end mutt” because I did not use their in house financing on over a $225,000 purchase. They gouged a freshly painted hull on delivery and left the waste tank FULL of feces (which had been sitting in the tank for over 8 months). See attached pic of the bilge full of raw sewage - which they did not clean up. The boat was never cleaned from the time I looked at it up until delivery. In the contract they were supposed to have the motors serviced by a licensed Yamaha mechanic. The guy they hired worked out of the back of a rusted pickup truck and is no longer in business as of the date and time of this review. The center lower unit locked up a month after purchase after it was "re-sealed" by their mechanic. I took the lower unit to a reputable Yamaha dealer and what do you know, the lower unit locked up due to a seal failure. They also inspected the other motors and found all of the pickup zincs were installed BACKWARDS!! Thunder Marine international was also supposed to install or repair trim sensors per the contract - which they did not. I had to install them myself on my dock since their mechanic said they'd have to pull the boat out of the water in order to do this. The sensors should have been tested in the first place while the vessel was dry docked. The sales person I was working with quit after he got paid on my deal (based on the other names in the reviews I read it sounds like turnover of sales people here is very high). If they did not have the one boat I was looking for I would have walked away on day one. Lots and lots of promises but they try and skimp on the delivery to maximize their own profit. Once you sign a contract and they have your deposit, they flip from nice to nasty. Management is pushy and rude and they only care about making a profit, not about the customer. They will try and say they did all of these cosmetic repairs on their own dime and at their facilities - which they did not. I paid for them out of pocket which you can see by the attached invoice. I was not going to accept the boat the way it was since the gel coat was completely faded from a lack of care. The boat was painted in their parking lot by a sub contractor who had to bring a generator since he couldn't even use Thunder Marine's electric to run his air compressor. Even after getting a standard commission of 10% of over a $225,000 deal they still added markup and made more money off of their sub contractor. If you look at my other reviews, they are ALL positive. I thought long and hard about posting this review, it's well deserved by this place. I don't see how they can stay in business treating people like they do.

Brad B.

Stopped by to look at the Sportsman brand boats, salesman was super helpful and knowledgeable. He showed me the options in my budget and wasn’t pushy about purchasing or upselling. Great experience.

J C. (.

Our brand new $300,000+ boat turned into the worst buying experience of my life. I regret this daily as I look out back at my empty boat lift. Be careful who you purchase from. There are no boat lemon laws in Florida. After 6 trips back to Thunder Marine in the first 10 weeks of ownership, Mercury Marine sent a factory technician to our house to inspect our new boat. Mercury wrote a 24 page report on “critical safety issues” directly related to Thunder Marine’s workmanship. Mercury deemed our boat “unsafe to operate” They further stated that none of it was covered under factory warranty because it was Thunder’s fault because of the way they assembled the boat. Mercury found missing parts, steering not properly installed, wrong engine mounting hardware, loose engine bolts, engines hitting each other, etc. Thunder even installed the wrong batteries to save themselves a few hundred bucks. Then they left my boat in the water for 11 days and gave it back to me covered in barnacles and filthy. We ordered the boat over 13 months ago and took delivery over 9 months ago. It is still being worked on at different dealership. We have gotten to take one problem filled trip since we owned it. Brand new boat but no boating. Thunder and Jeanneau have done NOTHING to make it right. They could have given us a loaner, or bought the boat back or given us a new boat. But instead they lie and deny. Boat is now going thru a $25,000 plus rework to repair thunder’s and Jeanneau’s mistakes. The other dealer has found even more errors and are working with Mercury to get things “hopefully” straightened out. I have noticed that multiple 5 star reviews are written by their own employees.

Hein

1) Scheduled for 9am, showed up at 12pm.
No call. After I called them, they said they were working in an “emergency “.
2) During the service (60hp Mercury oil change) they set some used parts over the boat mat (pictures attached). No protection. No complain. No sorry.
3) The mechanic couldn’t unscrew the oil box screw. No appropriate tool.
I do not recommend them.

Matt O.

Very good buying experience. Joe was great to work with and everyone at Thunder Marine was very helpful. Highly recommend stopping there if you’re looking for a boat.