....as I went to my local dealer seriously ready to trade in my 2008 FXDC for a 2009 touring bike, either the Street Glide or Road Glide. At present, the dealer appears to have 3-4 of each model in stock with various colors and options. My plan is to get a reasonable amount for my trade, a fair price for the bike, and an acceptable interest rate from HD Financing. My current rate on the 2008 can't get any higher at 23%, so in consideration of my excellent payment history with HD Financing (I'm ahead 3 payments), the fact that this will be my 4th bike purchased from this dealer in 3 years, and the 3 additional sales they made from my referrals, as well as the overall depressed economy, I thought they'd be willing to come up with something to entice me to sign.

Instead, they offer me a ridiculously low value on my trade, they take nothing off the MSRP and of course add in freight and setup, require 20% of the total purchase price down, and will not lower the interest rate at all. While my credit score is not great, it is due to very explanable errors that have yet to be corrected, as evidenced by the fact that I was able to lease an Audi A6 in December at a very agressive rate.

My only conclusion is that Harley Davidson's are selling so well that they are obviously immune to the current downturn. Why else would a dealer that I had thought I had established such a strong relationship snub me like I was riding a Goldwing doing donuts through the showroom. It makes me feel very dumb for having been so loyal even though I knew I was paying too much for my previous bikes.

By the way, the deal I'm looking for is what I had thought was very reasonable considering the research I've done, which is $10,000 for my trade, $1,500 - 2000 of MSRP on the bike I ultimately select, 10% cash down on the financing, and an interest rate of around 10%.

Impossible, or should I just look for another dealer to devote my time and resources?

 

They don't care, period. You need to shop around, but it sounds like you trade bikes too often and the financial institutions are not going to look at that very well. I would suggest you keep your bike, keep paying it and let your credit score go up. That's the only way your going to get into low interest rates for toys.

 

bummer. keep looking as there is a dealer out there who will appreciate your business. best of luck.

P.S. Did you get to speak with the Boss Man himself or one of his underlings??

 

Fix your credit report first. Though rates in 09 have gone up from 08 for HD Credit due the amount of folks defaulting on loans, 23% is insane.

 

1) You're buying in the spring.

2) Manufacturing has been reduced

3) Credit is still tight

4) A Lease is a lease, you're comparing apples to oranges

5) Try another dealer

 

23%?????? Do you have a bankruptcy on your report?

 

What did they offer you on trade in for your bike?? id like to know and how many miles and add on's do you have. Iam curious as i have thought about trading up and i have an 07 fxdc but haven't thought much about it as i know ill get screwed since in 07 msrp for a fxdc was 14,500 and in 08 it was like 12,999 so it puts trade in value on a fxdc in the crapper.

 

Bussiness MUST be good, The dealers here in Vegas are 2-3k over msrp, Cruising the various web sites, I have been looking for a black and blue FXSTC 2008, new or low miles, I have called 4 dealerships around the country and they ALL want MSRP still on a 2008.

I spoke with one fellow at Paramount in MA and he admitted he still had two new 2007 FXSTC, and wanted 16k for one of them.

I offered 15k for the 2008 and he said he wouldn't sell it for that. See Ya!

Too bad my HD stock isn't as valuable.

I will wait,
Reccession? Na can't be!

 

You would think that someone that goes through multiple new bikes in a period of a few years and is willing to pay high interest rates is the kind of customer that Harley wants.

 

The market for used bikes is very soft so that probably explains the low trade in value. However many dealers are dropping the freight/setup fees so that shouldn't be too hard to get. As for selling price I've found it's easier to get $1-2k in "store credit" for accessories than to get them to drop the sales price.

Shop around... you'll find a reasonable deal out there.

As for financing 23% is just insane and 10% would personally be a deal breaker for me. Anything above 7-8% is BS. Try your local credit union.