On the purchase, it is 3% http://www.dmv.state.va.us/webdoc/citizen/fees.asp

Annual personal property tax varies by county

 

HD's come on a metal pallet now fully assembled. The process is undo two ratchet straps, roll it off the pallet and take off some protective sheeting in some areas to protect the paint. They are no longer even crated.

My dealer never charges prep fees. One of the reason's that he has folks from all over buying there.

The set up fee is bogus. Also the transportation fee is legit but you need to know that it is marked up for the dealer to profit on. The same goes for cars.

 

just numbers to fill a pigeon hole on the computer screen when buying.
I would pay a $500 dollar set up fee for a total out the door price lower at dealer A instead of buying one $1000 dollars higher at Dealer B and thinking I outfoxed him by getting him to drop the set up fee....
Just go with the lowest out the door price.

 

They're "setting you up" to expect the high price of owning an HD.

 

Best answer yet!

 

I paid MSRP,no set up, no delivery and the dealer shipped it 1000 miles plus 20 % off installed parts, 15% off other parts. 11-2011, 2012 RKC

 

When I bought my FDXF a couple of years ago I asked them about the "set up fee". They explained that all dealers do it to ensure the bike is properly assembled and road worthy and that the "fee" was a necessary evil. I did some thinking and I asked the sales manager, "so it is probably required by several state and federal laws as well as your company policies to make sure the bike is safe before you allow the customer to ride away. You know so the front wheel doesn't fall off when I ride off the lot, crash, get hurt, and sue you guys for million dollars, right?" The manager agreed with me. "So why the hell do I have to pay for that?" Needles to say, they removed the charge from my sale. I'm sure they still made plenty of money off me though....

 

I've quoted 4 dealerships in my area all of them come within $300 dollars of each other some offer gift cards and other incentives. None of them are willing to match or beat the MCES price. Guess times are tough.

 

fj1200,

thanks for the info. the link you provided does not state 3% tax on purchasing. The list are the fees to register/title a motorcycle. Regardless...one of the dealers quoted me OTD including taxes of 4.4%...and I thought this was kinda high. Looked and got all kinds of crap come up which you have to dig thru to fidn the right information. Was wondering if anyone bought in VA and had the taxes listed on their invoice etc. I felt it was around 3% or so and knew someone was inflating the taxes. Now I can say these taxes are high so how about lowering the MSRP more since you jacked up the taxes LOL>

 

I think in my case, when I bought my FXSTC, the setup fee included, but was not limited to 17 lbs of air in the front tire, a dead battery, a nearly empty fuel tank and 1 mile on the odometer which limits any test riding to the in and out of the showroom for the 6 months it was at the dealer before I purchased it.