Need advice on 2 bike purchase from dealer

[fzcaster]

We're looking to buy 2 new (same) bikes from a dealer. (V-Strom 650's)
The MSRP for each bike is $6700.
We're hoping to get the dealer to sell the 2 bikes to us for at least $12k or less.
Is this unreasonable?
Should we more reasonably expect 12 and a half?
We were figuring the time of the year and the fact that we're getting 2 bikes would get the dealer to be more willing to deal.
I was targeting mid february as our buy date.
Any difference from the dealers point of view to selling now vs a month from now?
Waddya think?

[highsider]

That sounds like it ought to work....call around to a couple of dealerships, thell them what you're looking to do, and ask them what the best they can do is. Who knows, they may even do better. Never hurts to roll the dice.

[benVFR]

I think earlier is better. Demand is high in the spring and it becomes more of a seller's market.

Find out if the V-Strom 650 is a hot seller or not.

Shop multiple dealers and play them against each other.

Try to get quotes over the internet. Sometimes you can find a dealer that is kind of far away that is offering a good deal on that bike. Tell your local dealer that you are prepared to rent a truck to drive all the way to the other dealer to save the money, etc..

I found a dealer in upstate NY offering most bikes barely over invoice when I searched, I eventually got my local dealer down to a couple hundred over invoice by saying I was thinking I would just drive out to NY to buy the bike there. The VFR is not a hot selling bike so it worked.

[legalspeed]

Chip over at Ron Ayers.com always gives me the best straight-up info.

[kmobrien76]

Call dealers that are far away...

[ZX-12R]

http://www.troycitygarage.com in Troy NY.

They are listing the V-strom 650 at $5,999. I bought my 12R from them and didn't have any problems. In the case of my bike, shipping an assembly was included in the price they listed on their website.

Good luck getting the dealers around here to budge on price. The troycitygarge out-the-door price on my 12R was $1600 less than any dealer around here before they tacked on assembly and shipping and no one would even attempt to match it.

The shop is about half an hour over the MA border into NY via Rt. 2 and is very easy to get to. The savings they offer might be worth the trip. It certainly was in my case.

[benVFR]

Hey ZX-12R.

Troy city was who I quoted when I haggled on my bike.

If you actually bought from them, did they give you the bike out the door for the advertised price? When I told the local dealers that they all tried to say Troy city was lieing and they would charge $500-1000 freight & setup if you actually bought from them.

It still worked though, as they lowered their price.

[ZX-12R]

When I bought mine from them, I went in knowing the price quoted on their website. When I got there, the tag on the bike was lower. I asked about it and one of the guys there said shipping and assembly was not added to the tags on the bikes in the store.

You may want to call them up and double check. I don't remember what they charge for assembly but I do remember being surprised by how reasonable it was.

They also have the best price on extended warranties out of all the dealers around here. I'm not sure how they are about service because I do most of the wrenching myself.

Get this... There were a few dealerships in MA that quoted me a higher price on a leftover 12R than the price for a new one at Troy City!

-Bill

[benVFR]

That area is pretty depressed. It is not like Boston where there is a lot of money floating around.

I went to college in Troy, there were not many people in town who could afford a brand new motorcycle.

Hell the city even went bankrupt while I lived there and had to be bailed out by the state.

So perhaps they need to have great prices to attract riders from further away. They can probably get away with it based on how cheap things are in the area.

I think one of my college friends out there is paying $250/month for his rent? It's a different world.

[ZX-12R]

What school in Troy? Your profile says you are a computer geek so I will assume RPI. If thats the case, i'm your nemesis since I went to WPI!

I didn't hesitate to buy from Troy City. I had a couple of friends who tried them out first and didn't have any problems what so ever. From Ipswich MA, the commute to Troy is a little rough, but my family lives in the Northern part of the Berkshires (where I lived for all but the last 8 months) so I had a convenient staging point to handle the logistics of buying an out of state motorcycle.

[LuvDog]

Like others have said... get quotes over the internet.

There's a place in PA that has great prices and offers free quotes for bikes.

They gave me a great quote when I was looking a few years back.

cyclecity1.com

[Piper33U]

A few of my buddies were both buying bikes last spring and went around to dealers telling them what they wanted and what they wanted to pay. They told the guys at brockton cycle the price quoted by Troy City and after 20min of bickering that their prices were legit, Brocton called them to confirm it. then then told my friends that if they think they could get that price drive the 3hrs out there and get them... we were kinds surprised that the guys at brockton would turn down sales on 2 bikes in March but they did.... the guys ended up getting great deals on a leftover (03) Gixxer 1k and R1 closer to boston however.

[R7]

The drive has to be worth something so you "should" give a little to keep the business local. At what point is the price difference worth the drive? I wouldn't drive 3 hours one way just to save 2-3 hundred bucks. You'd spend $50 in fuel getting there and waisting 6 total hours doing nothing

List price is $6,700 each? Dealer cost is probably about $5,500 (about 18% less than msrp) and they need to make a living as well so about $6k each would be fair IMO

[richw]

I think the essence is finding bikes in inventory they want to move

2 is better then 1 but not much.

Who's got one who wants to deal

search ebay for the best number and get within a couple of hundred of it.

That is also the type of bike that I might buy used

[ZX-12R]

Originally posted by R7
The drive has to be worth something so you "should" give a little to keep the business local. At what point is the price difference worth the drive? I wouldn't drive 3 hours one way just to save 2-3 hundred bucks. You'd spend $50 in fuel getting there and waisting 6 total hours doing nothing

What I didn't understand is why no dealership in Southern NH or all of MA would even attempt to match the price I got from Troy City. All but 3 dealerships quoted me MSRP and would not budge. The other 3 only knocked a few hundred off. Troy City was $1600 less for a brand new bike in my case. I wanted to keep my purchase local but no one would work with me no matter what I tried.

[richw]

When a total of 3 of us all bought new bikes from a volume dealer from out of town he gave us almost 30% Off.

Vehicle marketing is a voodoo science but a real axiom.

a Most motorcycles are emotional immediate purchases so holding your price usually has the customer say yes to anything in the heat. A long term sober shopper is not where they make their money.

b Don't piss in your own yard. If you give a deal to someone 100 miles away the local market will not be effected. The far away dealer knows he won't get you to travel without a great deal and it doesn't poison his market.

c In cars and probably bikes there are all sorts of weird dealer incentives like a high discount for volume. More of the hard to get inventory sent your way. Or a trip to Hawaii fro the regions best salesman number of units. You will never keep up.


Make your best deal be happy and never second guess yourself and when you've sacrificed passing for 4 mpg's don't regret not getting the 1000

[fzcaster]

Troy only has one right now and he quoted us 6200 otd for it
We'll do some scrounging around this weekend, and see who has what.
He also mentioned something about a possible Suzuki "sales program/price drop on the strom in february" Kinda vague on the details though.

I test rode the 1K Strom and didn't like it, in fact I was really disappointed with it. Kinda vague and squishy.
Rode the FZ1 the same day and loved it. Lotsa power, especially up top, and comfortable.
I like the lighter weight of the smaller strom and I figure with suspension upgrades and the requisite breathing improvements, and who knows maybe a little hot rodding down the road (plenty of sv650 engine upgrades out there) this'll be a heck of a all rounder.
With it's light weight and revvy engine, I don't think it'll have a problem in the passing dept, and I got the Fz1 for those triple digit OMG runs!

[richw]

Didn't know it was a 2nd bike

I am rebuilding the 84 r80 st for my poke around bike like east west roads in vt and nh. So if I am lucky i will have 38 thundering horsepower under my but

Before you act though check with Excalibur Motorcycles in ne Connecticut. I got some good prices from him but didn't buy for other reasons.

www.excaliburpowersports.com

I am gonna wait for the

KTM 950 Super Motard

If it is what it appears to be it should be the kick ass unit for secondary and tertiary roads. Loads of suspension and 100 hp v twin for corner drive. I love going street fast on my drz400 and seeing a pavement lump and NOT feeling it as I go over .

[ancosta]

Originally posted by fzcaster
and who knows maybe a little hot rodding down the road (plenty of sv650 engine upgrades out there) this'll be a heck of a all rounder.

From my modest experience as an SV owner - I haven't seen an abundance of mods for a *street* SV motor. Beyond a power commander, exhaust, etc. it gets very expensive, e.g. racebike-grade stroker kits, etc.

Many people state the motor is rock solid up until ~85HP, and then longevity is substantially compromised. This may be because of it's origins as a 400cc mill.

Also the VStrom has different tuning to give it more mid-range, IIRC.

I don't know how much sack you need in an adventure touring bike, but ~70 HP with a broad powerband should work nicely.

If it handles anything close to the SV it should be a really fun bike! Good luck.

[fzcaster]

Well, we got them.
Spent a few hours on the phone on saturday going back and forth with five dealers in NH and 2 in Ma.
Got the pair for $12,150.
Wifes not to happy cuz she can't stand me having 3 bikes, but I keep trying to explain to her that I can't sell the Guzzi until the springtime.
We'll pick them up this weekend.
Whoohoo! Now I got my winter beater!

[tls25rs]

Where'd you get them?

[richw]

Good Luck With Them

Cross the unimproved mountain passes this year

[fzcaster]

We got 'em in Nashua.
Thanks all.

[tls25rs]

BEST cycles?

[fzcaster]

Yes, I couldn't remember the name.