I'm a consultant in the motorcycle industry writing an article about how H-D dealers can and should avoid the worst practices of the auto business (e.g. keys on the roof, take em up to take em down, etc.). How was your H-D dealership experience better/worse/samecompared to yourauto buying experiences?

Your input canhelp keep dealers on the right road! Thanks.

Mark

 

If dealers want to "keep on the right road," they should regularly read the posts on this forum.

As a consultant, you should already be aware there's plenty of information here. Start reading. Don't expect us to do your homework for you.

 

Homework. Done plenty. Threads. Read a lot.Made request to round out research. I haven't been rude to you. Not looking for you to be rude to me.

Mark

 

If you want to know how a dealer should be look no further than Kutters in Janesville Wisconsin. They have placed as one of the top dealers in the country for the last few years. They sell at MSRP including the Screamin Eagles and were one of the few selling at list during the low inventory years of 2000-2003 models.

They will honor area dealers sales, the service department is not a pain to deal with and they have many special events. Believe it or not, they would actually ask if you were a National HOG member to give you a 10% discount but have now switched to a new program.

I could go to a local dealer but instead I drive north where I am treated as a customer should be.

 

Mark, there is lot of info in this section titled GOOD dealers and BAD dealers. Also check out http://stealer-dealer.com/

 

Great. We know the gang at Kutters and think they do a great job. Can you compare and contrast them with your auto purchasing experiences?

 

Thanks for the post.We've read many of the good/bad dealer experiences and are quite familiar with Dealers and Stealers. What I'mlooking for here is the comparison between your hd dealer experiences and you auto dealer experiences.

The difference between this question and other good/bad posts here is what some qualitative researchers would call "set point." Meaning whatwe using as a benchmark. For example what might be considered "terrific" customer service at a car dealer, might not even be considered "average" at a Harley dealer.

Thank you very much for your post.

 

Just my .02 cents but, there are so many recent vintage, low mileage, beautiful bikes out there for sale by owner that I personally think anyone is crazy to involve themselves in the painful and costly practice of making a motorcycle purchase from a dealer. Admittedly I've done it many times in the past but have changed my thinking about buying bikes (and cars for that matter) and will look for a one or two year old model for sale "by owner".

There's enough of a hassle dealing with the service department without having to deal with all the crap you get from the sales department.

 

As a consultant I'm sure you realize that you are going to get a lot of negative feedback from any forum. 42,000 members sounds like a lot but less than half of them actually post here. Forums are a sounding block. It's like the evening news. You never hear the good stuff, only the bad. I would hate for this forum to get the reputation as a Dealer Bashing forum. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of bad dealers out there but there are a lot of good ones too. Every dealer has at least one person that is not happy with their experience there.

 

My dealer told me to check the bike out completely for cosmetic flaws before I rolled it out of the store, because after that, it's too late to complain. I can understand that...kinda. About a week later, I was pulling off one of the side panels and noticed a fairly sizable (quarter inch square) chip in the paint. It was tucked up, somewhat under the lip of the seat. Actually, on both side panels, the factory puts a small square of clear plastic tape in that spot, I guess to prevent rubbing. Well, the chip in the paint is under the tape, with no damage on the tape itself. The chip was there before the factory put the tape on. At least it's not visible to the casual observer.