Overpriced dealers? What gives!

[thorazine]

Approved: Good Times $11,000.00

The Go Green promotion is not half bad!

I find a bike that I want.

I attempted to dicuss terms.

Two dealers would not back down from MSRP.

Nor would they discount any of the miscellanous charges: freight, setup, tax, tag and title.

One offered a small (ten percent) discount on accessories.


Located: Tampa Bay Florida.


Is this common?

I never paid MSRP for any big ticket purchase in my entire life!!!

[TNinja636]

I got $300 off the MSRP on an '06 Ninja ZX6R. I also got a good deal on my trade-in. That was back in November.

[Tbone800b]

Bike season is coming in. Hard to get them to come off much.

[thorazine]

Grrrrr! Well there are a couple more dealers in my area I am going to hit up within the next week or two.

Worst case I suppose I will have to go private party and use my card for accessories. I did however want something new and out of the crate.

I've been a lurker of this forum for quite some time now and hoped to have a bike (this weekend). I regret selling my old one years ago!

[anamosity]

My local dealer really likes me, gave $500.00 and 30% off accessories.

[zedx11]

what kind of bike do you want that you can't get for 11,000?

put 1 g down on it, take it home. thats what I did and I didn't even have 10g credit.

and why if the dealer is asking MSRP is it overpriced?

[thorazine]

what kind of bike do you want that you can't get for 11,000?

put 1 g down on it, take it home. thats what I did and I didn't even have 10g credit.

and why if the dealer is asking MSRP is it overpriced?

Just because I have over ten thousand in available credit doesn't mean I am going to spend it.

I have never paid close to MSRP on any big ticket item.

Never on any new bike.
Never on any new car.
Never on any new firearm.

Manufacturer's suggested retail price is just a "suggestion". Which appearantly no one dealer ever seemed to follow to closely until recently?

MSRP is generally unrealistically high, however that generally opens the market to and allows for deep discounters, those who are able to sell their products substantially below the MSRP.

Generally I have encountered three different types of pricing,

STICKER - shock (above MSRP)!
MSRP - not a chance!
STREET - yup.

On a new bike I don't mind taking the middle road between MSRP and STREET prices.

Example: A local dealer has a brand new HK USP Compact .45 for $670.00 (excluding tax, transfer and background check).

MSRP is $874.00

http://www.hecklerkoch-usa.com/index...tNumber=704531

Street price(s) - generally run between $550.00 and $650.00 for the same firearm.

He is two hundred less than MSRP -- I would buy at the posted price (and I did).



Have things changed in dealer bike sales over the past four years?

[zedx11]

have you tried Orlando yet?

[ispeed77]

first off, welcome to the forum.
second, i consider any areas that get money off MSRP very lucky. up in this area it is basically unwritten that MSRP is the price, period. the only time you see discounts is on leftovers, and even then sometimes they won't move. on top of that, there is almost always setup, doc, freight, and whatever other fees they try to tack on. our main goal up here is to get the fees either erased or dropped down to very little, then we are happy to pay MSRP. when i ordered my FJR, they tacked on close to $1000 in fees ! i have done some business with this place, so they knocked the fees down to around $130, which is doc or setup. i don't have a problem paying that, because the dealership does have to spend some time on the bike. on the other hand, the same place sold me my Nomad for $1800 under MSRP with no extra fees, they just included them in the sale price. either way, good luck finding a deal and getting a new bike. we'll be waiting for pics.

[thorazine]

That just seems so crazy! Did sales practice and procedure change since 2001?

Why is there so little wiggle room with MSRP when it comes to bikes?

Dealer cost?
Cost to manufacture?
Popularity in sport bikes = dealers setting the price?

I’ll find a bike – it’s just a matter of time.



Thanks for the welcome. You guys (and girls) have a great forum here.

[zedx11]

we have a discount dealer localy. they treat you like sh!t from the second you walk in the door. they ignore you and if you finally get someone to help you it takes all day even if you have cash to buy the bike. then try to get some service out of them. go try to buy parts from them, their parts guys don't know what they are doing. they have to order light bulbs. I know all about this place because I worked there for 6 months, took me that long to find a different job.

[2WheelFun]

Welcome thorazine!

You might want to give Beartooth Kawasaki a call (owners of this forum) as they seem to try and work with you. Ask for Jim or Laurie.

1-800-556-3098

[rbentnail]

Have you looked at '05s instead of '06s? Usually you can get $8-1500 just for a year. My last 2 bikes, '03 and '04 a year later were that way, with little and no freight/setup.

And welcome to the forum! Good luck.

[CTRider]

Around here, the show room tag usually runs a few hundred less than MSRP. Out the door (tax, reg. and other fees) usually they run a few hundred above. Not unreasonable. Also, most offer 10-15% off accessories on top of that.

[zedx11]

when they give you discount on accessories, is that just parts for the bike or helmet, jacket, gloves?

[CTRider]

when they give you discount on accessories, is that just parts for the bike or helmet, jacket, gloves?

It depends on the dealer. A couple around here give you discounts not only on parts, but regular service visits, as well.

I talked to a couple of dealers that also have referral programs that give store credit certificates if someone buys a bike and tells them you referred them.

I've found the most knowlegeable and helpful dealers do stuff like mentioned above and would be likely to get my business (not just for the prices and discounts, but the knowledge, as well). Those that are out to make as much off the bike as possible tend to be the least helpful and sometimes rude people to work with. Perhaps there's an overall success program there for the process of doing business that some get and others don't.

[zedx11]

I get asked alot why my boss don't go take any less than MSRP for the bikes. I've only been there like 7 weeks so I don't realy know the answer to that but my guess is because we are a low volume shop. the other shop I worked at was a high volume shop and their prices were so low that no one could even come close, but like I said before, service was the worse. they figured you would put up with anything to save $1000 or so. I know the RC51 I was looking at was 2g under list.

[Mr_Lycos]

What did you expect? You're bike shopping in April (the true sign of a desperate biker), if you showed-up in Feb. or Aug., then it would be a different story.

[Plato]

What did you expect? You're bike shopping in April (the true sign of a desperate biker), if you showed-up in Feb. or Aug., then it would be a different story.

Exactly !

I've purchased two bikes from the Kawa dealer in Tyler, TX. The first was a Vulcan 500 purchased in Jan. -I got it for 200 under MSRP. Then I purchased my 05 Nomad in March of 05, again they went below the MSRP -$12,100 and I believe the MSRP at that time was $12,999. I suspect they would have knocked even more off if I had gone in a few months earlier.

I sent a friend down to see em for the same bike in May and they quoted him $500 above MSRP. So I told him to wait and check back with em in the Winter, and you guessed it -they sold him the bike for $12,000 in late November.

One other thing to consider... There is another Kawasaki dealership located about the same distance from me, and they typically will sell their bikes for a bit less than the Tyler dealership. On the Nomad they quoted me $11,999 two days before I bought from the Tyler folks. However the lower priced dealership has changed ownership 3 times in the past 5 years, while the Tyler TX dealership has been a family owned business for over 20 years. I'm not sure that really matters, but its something to consider.

[troop]

I would never pay msrp for a motorcycle PERIOD ! Ok, that said, go to www.cycletrader.com and check out the dealer in Ohio. I gotta believe they'd do the Kawa promo with you with signatures via fax. You'd save plenty even with shipping included. I'm lucky that my dealer is a good high school friend and I get bikes for just a few $$ above cost. Good luck