Nice post okmick. Direct and to the point.

 

Deuce
Thanks. Infuriates me to see people who think dealers (the derogatory term used here I won't use) are bad guys. They have families, have employees who spend their money in the community and are community involved (don't even ask how much they contribute via donations and advertising) yet the public thinks they shouldn't be allowed a profit. My stock answer has always been "Invest several millions of your own dollars, abide by the franchise agreement and sell them for whatever you want. Now how much is your investment worth?" Funny how folks never consider the enormous profit margins the companies they work for generate. 'Nuff said. Have a great day and ride safe.

 

Yeah, last I checked profit is not a dirty word, and the same ones that think that are the same ones that bitch because the stock market is down and the economy is in the *******. Nobody wants to be gouged, but people have a right to make a living, and there is a fair price where people can live in harmony. End of the day, do you remember how you didn't get that extra $500 off every time you fire up the scoot and ride? Yeah, neither do I.

 

You can look at whatever online resource you want and then figure that the dealer is "making" $4K on a $24K bike, or whatever combination you want. What I haven't seen here is the recognition that any money the dealer takes in above what he pays for the bike is not all greedy profit going into some "Slick Willie's" pockets. They have bills they have to pay - I won't insult anyone by listing them because you can figure them out. They have all kinds of expensive overhead to deal with, and no two dealers have the exact same overhead costs. That's why two different dealers are prepared to each offer a different deal. It's up to the buyer to decide if s/he is comfortable with the deal or not, and then buy or walk. When I bought my bike, I knew they were taking in more than they paid for it, and I acknowledged that in the negotiations. I knew some was profit. All I asked the sales manager to do was give me a deal that would make sure he wasn't making the whole month's projected profit on my deal. I told him I knew they needed to make a profit to stay in business but I had options to buy, too. He smiled and after two go-arounds, he gave me a number I thought was fair. Shook hands - deal done.

For those that come on here and complain the dealer gouged them, I'll ask what caliber gun the dealer held to their head to make them do the deal.

And I don't work for the Moco or a dealer - never did.

For those that read this to the end, I apologize if you feel you wasted your time.

 

No doubt the dealers should make a profit, that's what they are in business for.

But... I am in the business of getting the best deal I can so I would shop different dealers and try to get the bike I want at a reasonable price, knowing what the msrp and cost are going in.

 

I wish I could have seen this post in April before I bought my trike. Didn't do too bad on the price I paid, but if I had known would have looked for more freebies. But thanks for the info as it will help the next time around.

 

$1,000 under MSRP in SoCal is better then most will offer. Too strong a market and no off season to lower prices.

 

I would think that in the used/pre owned bikes is where they can make up some serious profit. I know (now) that I paid about a grand more than I should have, as well as being talked into an extended warranty (700 bucks).

In all honesty, I don't give a flying ****. Call me a sucker? Each time I ride I am happy and I have spent more time with my wife in the past year riding two up with her. I say it was cheaper than marriage counseling or worse…

Seriously, I think new is pretty set prices across the board. I do business with a few guys who worked at Harley Corporate in IT. They both told me there was an employee purchase program that gave the active employes 20% off MSRP- BUT, they rarely used it as the dealers would often beat that by a few bucks? I guess you can back into the numbers from that info. These two left Harley about 3 months ago to work for a new co in Indiana…

 

about 23% is what I have seen at power sports dealer website.

 

around here, that would be a great deal. dealers here don't come down off msrp, except in extreme cases, and they don't throw very many freebies, or services into the deal.