Buying a new bike from dealership

[NewGuy]

It's been my experience that if you're "paying cash and only buying the car/bike" that you are not giving the dealer as many 'chances' to make money. ie: no extended warranty,no in-house fianance, no add on accesories.
Dealer "fold back" is a large part of their profit.
I propose you run a simple test- go price just a bike at a dealer- then have a buddy go in and price it with the dealer fia and ext warr.

Again, having bought many cars over the years, and helped others buy cars, and having done tons of research on this I still disagree. Conventional wisdom is negotiate price first, and put off all discussion of other topics, including financing and trade-in. Just tell the dealer you will discuss those items after you settle on a price, and tell the dealer you haven't decided whether to finance through them or not, and will decide on that issue only after having a firm price on the sale price of the vehicle. I've also told dealers I'm planning on financing with them, and then let them know I changed my mind after settling on a price. You aren't in this to help the dealer make money, you're in it to get the best deal possible. This means all costs, including finance costs should be considered. Saving $250 on the initial sale price, but paying an extra $1000 in interest is just a stupid way to handle money.

Also, sales people generally are getting commission based on upfront costs, so they are less concerned about finance profits.

From an actual car salesman:

"That's a grand extra in profit. And it's front-end money too!" (I later learned that front-end money was what our commissions were based on. Back-end money was made on interest, holdbacks and other elements of the deal.)

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying/ar ... ge003.html
Hey you go ahead and give away your money to the dealership by paying unnecessary financing fees/interest, extended warranties, accessories, etc. I'll continue to negotiate for the best price on the bike, and then decide how I want to handle the rest of the deal.

[Orange Crate]

You say:"Thanks in advance for any comments"

Then you say:"you go ahead and give away your money to the dealership by paying unnecessary financing fees/interest, extended warranties, accessories, etc. I'll continue to negotiate for the best price on the bike, and then decide how I want to handle the rest of the deal."

Then you say:Also is it usually better to finance through the dealership or a bank because I'll most likely being doing that. My credit rating is something like 780 so I should be able to get a good size auto loan. Finally, what would be a reasonable offer for the bike since it's going to be about $9400 including all fees and taxes; I'm thinking I should offer something like $8500 since I know for a fact bike sales have been slow this year, but I don't know if this is ridiculously low or anything

I told you what MY experience is-real life-cash money.

For somebody that has-your words;"Again, having bought many cars over the years, and helped others buy cars, and having done tons of research on this I still disagree"
You sure got alot of cobwebs about this deal.
Face it-you ain't buying a motorcycle- you're just a guy that might make payments on one if you can get the loan. You're worried about the best deal and you're gonna pay all that interest and full coverage ins?
reality sucks

[NewGuy]

You say:"Thanks in advance for any comments"

That wasn't me it was LongCat.

Then you say:Also is it usually better to finance through the dealership or a bank because I'll most likely being doing that. My credit rating is something like 780 so I should be able to get a good size auto loan. Finally, what would be a reasonable offer for the bike since it's going to be about $9400 including all fees and taxes; I'm thinking I should offer something like $8500 since I know for a fact bike sales have been slow this year, but I don't know if this is ridiculously low or anything

Again, not me, that was LongCat too. Why don't you look to the left and figure out which member you're debating with next time?

I told you what MY experience is-real life-cash money.

Just like I told you about my real world experience in real life cash money.

For somebody that has-your words;"Again, having bought many cars over the years, and helped others buy cars, and having done tons of research on this I still disagree"
You sure got alot of cobwebs about this deal.

No cobwebs at all. I bought a new car at a dealer for cash recently, and negotiated a deal a new H-D for a friend at the end of August.

Face it-you ain't buying a motorcycle- you're just a guy that might make payments on one if you can get the loan.

Actually I'll never make payments on a loan for a motorcycle. I bought my current bike for cash, and my next bike will be for cash too. I'm not interested in giving my money away to a dealer or bank in the form of interest.

You're worried about the best deal and you're gonna pay all that interest and full coverage ins?
reality sucks

Reality does suck for some people, and from the looks of it you're one of those people. If you're getting a loan if the dealer has a higher APR than a bank, credit union, etc. you're wasting money to finance through a dealer vs. financing at a lower APR through someone else. You'll need the same insurance coverage regardless of who you finance through. Regardless, my advice is to negotiate the best price and pay CASH, and saving thousands that would get whizzed away in interest. THAT is reality, and it's the reality of saving money.

[hh328]

Caveat: I've only owned used bikes but I am assuming that MC dealerships operate similar to auto dealerships. If you finance your purchase thru the dealership they typically be more flexible on price because as someone else pointed out they make it up on the financing. So you should research what terms you can get on an outside loan before going into the dealership. In either case indicate to the salesman that you will finance thru them. If it turns out their loan isn't as good as one you can get on your own, you can always pay off the dealership's loan with an outside one, assuming it has no prepayment penalty clause. I have done this with auto purchases. And actually one time the finance manager told me that even though I did this he would still get the benefit of selling the loan.

[CmHall9]

Negotiating?!? You guys are talking about bikes costing eight thousand or more from a dealer, right? I’m planning to get a Honda Rebel (my first bike) from a Honda dealer and at $3199.00 I never figured on negotiating. I plan to get a loan from Navy Federal. New motorcycle loans are at fix 5.75% right now with no conditions. Plus I plan on paying more than the minimum balance due to pay it off sooner. (I did that with my truck.)
Maybe I’ll ask for the mirrors to be through in at no extra cost?
But seriously … at such a low price for a bike should I try to negotiate?

[Mustang]

Personally I might hold off buying any motorcycle for about three or four months. Aside from the winter factor, all the motorcycle manufacturers are reporting sales being down in the US. Harley led the way with blockbuster sales (and being one of the more expensive bikes) they're feeling the brunt of this trend.

As with cars and trucks, deals and incentives are going to become more promenent (sp) as disposable income tightens up and the sales of certain consumer good slow down.

Just a thought!

[badinfluence63]

You believe that even thought the cost of a barrel of crude oil is now 100 dollars? I am thinking (and maybe wrongly) that the higher cost of gas will inadvertantly push the sale of motorcycle up?

[Mustang]

You believe that even thought the cost of a barrel of crude oil is now 100 dollars? I am thinking (and maybe wrongly) that the higher cost of gas will inadvertantly push the sale of motorcycle up?

Nope, alhtough understand your thinking 100%. However gas prices will only push so many people over to two wheels for a few reasons; job type (can't ride mine to work), weather and just plan old stubborness. Even at over $3 a gallon drivers have stuck to thier SUV's. Its the American way.

Back in the middle of 2007 (when the weather was perfect for riding) there was story after story of people changing from cars to bikes, yet the third and fourth quarter sales for motorcycles went consistently down.

Besides, a lot of the cage drivers who would go over to two wheels are moving over to scooters...cheaper and licensing differences.

But hey, I could be wrong

[Lion_Lady]

What you are all forgetting is that in the retail world, a motorcycle is considered a "luxury" item. Just like sailboats , airplanes , and jetskis. If you want the newest, hottest ride available, you'll pay full retail.

If you're lucky, the dealer may toss in a helmet and/OR jacket or offer a deal on accessories.

The simple fact is, you'll get very little markdown on a motorcycle that is brand new, just delivered. BUT, on something that has sat in the showroom for 6 months, that's another story.

P

[jstark47]

The simple fact is, you'll get very little markdown on a motorcycle that is brand new, just delivered. BUT, on something that has sat in the showroom for 6 months, that's another story.

Amen. For some reason, V-strom 1000's weren't very popular in my area. The local dealership sold several V-strom 650's while the same 1000 sat and sat and sat...... it had been there for 18 months when I asked them about it. I got $1,100 off MSRP, they were tired of having the bike around at that point.

But for Orion wanting a Rebel, the problem is the dealership doesn't have much room to deal, there's just not much margin on those bikes. Used Rebel's come up for sale on craigslist fairly often - e.g. there's an '02 near me with 3K miles for $2200. Might want to check your local craigslist.