Wow! Is the world coming to an end. I didn't get the memo.

Never had an issue at a H-D dealership with any of the bikes that I bought.

I don't do dealer financing, service contracts, dealer insurance or any other product that they can think of.

I learned that with my first new vehicle purchase in 1962.

A strong % of H-D buyers pay cash.

H-D has always watched production to avoid warehouses of unsold bikes. And guess what that is in the best interest of all H-D owners as that is what keeps the resale value higher just not the ability to sell new at MSRP.

They have a very low production scheduled for the 17's and especially the CVO's.

Life is just too short to fuss and worry about interest rates for financing and how in all things from vehicles to garage doors the staff are trained to upsell. Even at a fast food store when you order a # whatever you will be asked if you want the larger option sizes. Just smile and say no.

Folks with good credit can get a 16 H-D for no money down, 1.99% financing and discounts on the bike. It is financially ignorant folks who get high interest loans.

 

 

ih4x4, You suggested that "A strong % of H-D buyers pay cash." I am not sure what is meant by "strong %" and am not interesting in quibbling? In Harley-Davidson's December 31, 2014 Form 10-K Annual Report, HDFS (Harley-Davidson Financial Services) financed 56.8% of new H-D's sold by their independent retailers and 54.5% in 2013. The trend is actually trending higher in current times as they reported 48.8% in 2009 and 53.5% in 2008 in the 2009 10-K Annual Report.


Your remark "Wow! Is the world coming to an end. I didn't get the memo." is not particularly insightful or useful about the realities of how new H-D's are sold and financed, just saying...


I do care that the MOCO continue to be successful because I own some of their products and want them to remain viable. However, as the other thread has unfolded about MSRP not being mandated by Harley and the MOCO reportedly adopting more lenient guidelines for their dealers in terms of pricing (a seemingly wise corporate decision if accurate), the reality is that HDFS does play a pivotal role in the sale of new Harleys at their independent dealers. I am not interested in researching the difference in lending practices between HDFS and credit unions/banks but I suspect that there are significantly different products being offered by the various entities. It always remains for the buyer to beware. That is all I was saying and all I really wanted to say about the F&I processes for any folks that have the ears to hear the message. Not interested in constant argument for the sake of argument. As an American, I would like to see our country get stronger rather than weaker financially. As others have pointed out, a hundred thousand plus HDFS financed motorcycles are not going to tip the economy too hard in any one direction but the awareness or lack of awareness of credit and the cost of obtaining credit I would suspect does impact the overall well-being of our Nation. The historic 2008 Great Recession has lessons for us if we are willing to learn from the event.

 

"I'm not interested in discussing the issue any further than the amount in which I have already formed an opinion".

 

What is kind of eye-opening is that beyond the HDFS numbers, in a 2005 class action lawsuit, they alleged that 70% of all new Harleys are financed. So From-Behind may not be interested and that is his right and ih4x4 thinks that most people pay cash for their new Harleys but it just ain't so.


So, you as a rider say, who gives a rip? Well, in steep recessions, the default rate on this high proportion of financed iron can act as one element to suppress future resale values. If you are a buy and ride for life kind of person, then this whole line of reasoning would likely hold no interest for you. However, if you like selling/trading in your scoots for new iron, then these issues have more potential direct impact on your future aspirations. Just saying and really don't want to fight or argue. Like OKMIKE challenged to supply data was legit, let's just look at the data. Simple. Ignore my blathering if you don't like it and those that care about their financial well being, figure out what is best for you.

 

I had a buddy who was a sales manager at a local Ford dealership. He said that if you were smart, did your research & had good credit, you got a good deal. With a guilty look on his face, he basically said "unfortunately, we make our money on the clueless."

 

Nothing for him to feel guilty about. It's a business.

 

I don't buy anything I can't take the money out of the bank and pay for. And when I do I only talk about one thing; the total amount of money I have pay for the item.

 

If I don't have the cash for it I can't afford it. Has worked great so far.

 

No sales person is ever there to be your friend, go in knowing your credit worthiness and know what fair market value is. If you want extras such as an extended warranty wait and buy it before the factory warranty runs out. This way you're not financing that and you can get a better price on it.

Don't listen to anything they tell you as it's mostly lies. I walked out of the f&i office when I bought my jeep when I was told that in order to get the factory rebates I had to finance through them