Should you expect a discount if paying cash for a motorcycle

[NewGuy]

Negotiate the price of the bike before negotiating how the bike will be paid for. Once you have a written deal on the actual purchase price of the bike just pay cash. If you must finance, shop around as you might find better deals than what the dealer offers.

We've discussed this before, and once again I'm amazed that people still think that financing the bike saves them money. Here is the previous discussion: http://totalmotorcycle.com/BBS/viewtopi ... ler#222511

As I said on that thread, there was a 3 part article on buying a new bike from a dealer in the February 2008 edition of Motorcycle Cruiser magazine. In it they say, "But don't just take the financing at the dealership; check for better rates from your local bank or credit union." (page 57) However, not once in the 5 pages that the whole piece covers did they suggest that you should finance through the dealer to get the best price.

Also, as discussed in that thread, motorcycle sales are down due to the sagging economy. For most motorcycles are a luxury item, and therefore when money is tight people won't be buying bikes. So while I feel you should never pay MSRP on a car or bike, with the current situation within the motorcycle market it's ridiculous to pay MSRP.

[RhadamYgg]

Negotiate the price of the bike before negotiating how the bike will be paid for. Once you have a written deal on the actual purchase price of the bike just pay cash. If you must finance, shop around as you might find better deals than what the dealer offers.

We've discussed this before, and once again I'm amazed that people still think that financing the bike saves them money. Here is the previous discussion: http://totalmotorcycle.com/BBS/viewtopi ... ler#222511

As I said on that thread, there was a 3 part article on buying a new bike from a dealer in the February 2008 edition of Motorcycle Cruiser magazine. In it they say, "But don't just take the financing at the dealership; check for better rates from your local bank or credit union." (page 57) However, not once in the 5 pages that the whole piece covers did they suggest that you should finance through the dealer to get the best price.

Also, as discussed in that thread, motorcycle sales are down due to the sagging economy. For most motorcycles are a luxury item, and therefore when money is tight people won't be buying bikes. So while I feel you should never pay MSRP on a car or bike, with the current situation within the motorcycle market it's ridiculous to pay MSRP.

Wow - great post. I'll have to see if I can find that magazine and read through the article. I knew that motorcycle sales were down recently - why they should demand list and stuff on top of it - I thought the sales guy must have been crazy.

RhadamYgg

[Brackstone]

Negotiate the price of the bike before negotiating how the bike will be paid for. Once you have a written deal on the actual purchase price of the bike just pay cash. If you must finance, shop around as you might find better deals than what the dealer offers.

We've discussed this before, and once again I'm amazed that people still think that financing the bike saves them money. Here is the previous discussion: http://totalmotorcycle.com/BBS/viewtopi ... ler#222511

As I said on that thread, there was a 3 part article on buying a new bike from a dealer in the February 2008 edition of Motorcycle Cruiser magazine. In it they say, "But don't just take the financing at the dealership; check for better rates from your local bank or credit union." (page 57) However, not once in the 5 pages that the whole piece covers did they suggest that you should finance through the dealer to get the best price.

Also, as discussed in that thread, motorcycle sales are down due to the sagging economy. For most motorcycles are a luxury item, and therefore when money is tight people won't be buying bikes. So while I feel you should never pay MSRP on a car or bike, with the current situation within the motorcycle market it's ridiculous to pay MSRP.

While I agree with what you are saying here I don't think it changes the fact on whether you should expect cash when getting a discount on the price of the bike.

The point I'm trying to make here is that the Ninja 250 is a fast moving motorcycle. It's the easiest thing to sell because everyone pushes it as a learner bike. That's also why it has such a high resale value.

It's just supply and demand, they won't budge on the price of the Ninja 250 most of the time cause there's no reason to since they can sell it at list cause.

When I first went to buy a Prius back around 2002 I tried to "Negotiate" the value of the car and the guy laughed at me. He pointed at a pile of papers and said "You see that? That's all the people waiting for their prius, and I charged some people OVER MSRP for it."

It's just supply and demand. Also since when are Motorcycle sales down? I'm not surprised if they are but sales for EVERYTHING is down because of the economy.

Motorcycle Sales Up

Oh and BTW since the Dollar is getting so week the costs of some motorcycles is increasing. Who knows how far this will go.


From:
Dave R
Ducati Seattle

Model Old MSRP New MSRP
M695 $ 7,995 $ 8,245
M696 - MY '09 $ 8,495 $ 8,775
S2R1000 $ 10,995 $ 11,495
S4Rs Tricolore $ 14,995 $ 15,495
MTS1100S $ 13,995 $ 14,495
HM1100 $ 11,995 $ 11,995 unchanged
HM1100S $ 14,495 $ 14,495 unchanged
GT1000 $ 10,995 $ 11,495
S1000 $ 11,495 $ 11,995
S1000S $ 12,495 $ 12,995
848 $ 12,995 $ 13,495
1098 $ 15,995 $ 15,995
1098S $ 19,995 $ 20,995
1098R $ 39,995 $ 39,995 unchanged
D16RR $ 72,500 $ 72,500 unchanged

[NewGuy]

The point I'm trying to make here is that the Ninja 250 is a fast moving motorcycle. It's the easiest thing to sell because everyone pushes it as a learner bike. That's also why it has such a high resale value.

It's just supply and demand, they won't budge on the price of the Ninja 250 most of the time cause there's no reason to since they can sell it at list cause.

Sorry that logic won't fly. I can go to craigslist in almost every city in the country and find a plethora of late model Ninja 250s in good condition, precisely because many people get them as starter bikes and then upgrade shortly after they get them. The dealers also have to compete with the used market. Further, as I said motorcycle sales are down across the board due the sagging economy, even popular models are not selling as well as they used to.

IMO, anyone who is willing to pay MSRP, or even close to it, on a car or bike, and especially on a bike in the current market, is being suckered by the dealer.

When I first went to buy a Prius back around 2002 I tried to "Negotiate" the value of the car and the guy laughed at me. He pointed at a pile of papers and said "You see that? That's all the people waiting for their prius, and I charged some people OVER MSRP for it."

Well I've heard the same BS from dealers on popular vehicles for decades, yet I've never had any problems buying those cars for well under MSRP. Might take a couple weeks or even a month or two, but I've always been able to negotiate those deals despite being told by the "stealer" that people were paying "over MSRP" and that there were people waiting months for the cars. I had one dealer swear that over MSRP was the only way to get the car I wanted, and I'd still have to wait more than a month to get the car. A week later another dealer sold me the car at $400 over invoice, and well below MSRP. I did have to wait a week to get the car, but only because of the 6 models they had on the lot they didn't have the color I wanted.

Again, regardless what BS the dealer wants to push, paying MSRP is a fools game.

[Brackstone]

NewGuy:

I find your attitude commendable and the fact that you are willing to go to these lengths to secure what you want at the price you want is great. However the I believe for most people time/cost would kick in eventually.

Your idealism in this area is great however it's just not pratical for most people because they don't have the time to drive all over gods green earth to get a good deal. They'll got to 2 or 3 places then just pick from those.

You are saying "Well that may be the case most places BUT". Again while I agree with that attitude in general you are not talking about that attitude in general I think it varies greatly on where you are from and how popular motorcycling itself is in that area. Also how many dealers for that particular bike are in your area as well.

Here is Jersey it's very population dense and it's becoming harder and harder to get into an MSF class "on the fly" because they book up pretty quickly. I barely got mine in last year I had to wait almost 2 months.

I just don't believe in the long run it's worth going through THAT much trouble to save a bit of money. Now if we were talking about a $12,000 motorcycle etc. etc. etc. then sure. Heck I had to call all the way to south Jersey just to find a RED Ninja 250. They only had silver around here. Then the dealer told me what I did was a mistake because "Now they think someone is interested in the bike and they probably won't trade with him."

Again, I think what you are doing is fantastic. But for the average working class American I don't think most people are willing to go through that much trouble for anything, let alone just a starter bike.

However if anyone else has stories of success they would like to add I'm curious to hear because I also am looking to get good deals on not only motorcycles but parts and accessories.

I'd be very interested to hear from people in Jersey more than anything. Because most of the places I've been don't really seem to care what you do they just want you to pay what they want to pay.

[RhadamYgg]

Here is Jersey it's very population dense and it's becoming harder and harder to get into an MSF class "on the fly" because they book up pretty quickly. I barely got mine in last year I had to wait almost 2 months.

I'd be very interested to hear from people in Jersey more than anything. Because most of the places I've been don't really seem to care what you do they just want you to pay what they want to pay.

Maybe NewGuy should launch a motorcycle buying service?

Oh, and that last paragraph is soooo New Jersey...

Oh, and I'll have waited two months for my MSF course as well.

RhadamYgg

[flynrider]

I had one dealer swear that over MSRP was the only way to get the car I wanted, and I'd still have to wait more than a month to get the car. A week later another dealer sold me the car at $400 over invoice, and well below MSRP. I did have to wait a week to get the car, but only because of the 6 models they had on the lot they didn't have the color I wanted.

Again, regardless what BS the dealer wants to push, paying MSRP is a fools game.

I agree that there is a lot of BS at the dealer, but there is some relationship between supply and demand. For example, if you had tried to buy just about any Harley, (excluding the Sporty) for less than MSRP around 2002, your wait would have been a couple of years. People (mostly RUBs) were on waiting lists to pay above MSRP.

My friend Kelly would often turn away buyers from his dealership when they wanted a deal on a very popular bike. He knew someone else would come along and buy it within a day or two.

[oxbow1]

In the end you are buying a TOY! and motorcycle dealers will wait until they find the person who just wants thier toy.the only way I will ever by from a dealer is at 4:30 on Xmas eve when they really need you to buy.
They are not bad people but they are in a dirty buisness and to make a proffit they need to be ruthless.

The dealers need Newbies hot for a dream bike, the Kawasaki dealer I walked away from offered me 0% for 6 months and 17% interest after that, before I offered him cash money and he let me walk away.

In my opinion all of us should boycott new bikes until they offer better deals, I offered the Kawasaki guy $4500.00 in cash for a new Vulcan 500 and he let me walk away.
Don't forget in the USA there are huge tariffs on imported bikes so HD won't go out of buisness.

[flynrider]

Don't forget in the USA there are huge tariffs on imported bikes so HD won't go out of buisness.

Where've you been? The big Harley tariff ran from '83 to '87, when it was cancelled a year early at the request of HD. Currently, I believe the standard tariff for imported japanese bikes is still 4.4%. Same as it always has been. Not sure about European bikes.

[oxbow1]

sorry, just a newbie parroting what I was told.

Thats why they out erasers on pencils' isn't it?...people make mistakes

nothing but love for the HD people out there