Cash is KING. Better to buy from private sales. Got CASH? A dealer...will....um, deal.
Shop around. Ask for best price, but in the end...it is all about MONEY.

 

Thanks for the input so far!! Gonna run down to Sarasota/Bradenton on Wed and take a look, then probably Lakeland on Sat. I'll keep you guys posted how things go...

 

Cash??? What's that I've got one in college and I'm paying for her new car and I've got another that just turned 16 Cash!!Lol

 

I can get my hands on a '07 fat boy for $7500.

 

Thanks, but I'm gonna get a bagger!! BTW, where is Summerfield?

 

I know you don't to hear it.....but SAVE UP. The more money you bring to the table, the better the terms get (lower payments equal more money in YOUR pocket).
No matter where you go, you accept the deal. You walk away......you still win.
I just bought a bike from Destination Daytona...could have gone a bit better in my favor (Could have gone to hell quick too!), but all in all, I accepted the deal and am riding a different bike than I was last week.
But I had a bike to trade (payed off) and cash to put up for the top-end of the deal.
They knew I was serious when I sat down and worked with me. Sure, we had to go through the "let me ask my manager" stuff. Just ask to deal with the manager and cut the Bu(( ****....and the numbers come out.
If you don't have cash...work with your bank or credit union and have credit approval before hand. Shop several dealers.....tell them what you have been offered other places. (Ask for an extra t-shirt....)

 

Well Dang Chuck when were you going to share with the rest of the class about this new bike?

Any pictures yet.

I think we need some details.

 

I just bought an 11 Ultra Limited, this is what I did:

Went to the first dealer that originally bought my road king from. I told him I'm considering trading in for an ultra . I'm going to give you an opportunity to give me you best price . But you only have one opportunity I will not negotiate, I will not be back if it is not the best price. I will not give you an answer today. I am then going to go to 4 other dealers and give them the same opportunity. The only price I care about is what it will cost me out of pocket out the door. I do not care how much you give me for my road king, I do not care how much you take off the sticker on the limited. I will NOT tell anyone else what other numbers I have so that they beat it by only 100 or 200 dollars. The next question he asked me was are you going to finance it . I said to him financing it has nothing to do with the question, can you give me a number. He went awat and worked up a number with his manager came back and gave it to me I made no comment and I left. But as I was leaving he said "Steve, we are friends, evern if I am off by a coupld of hundred give me an opportunity to beat it". I said OK to make hime happy. He then said "even if I am a thousand off give me an opportunity". I knew right then I did not have his best number.

I went to the next dealer and said the exact same thing he brought his manager over and I needed to repeat what I said . I went to through the same deal with his manager the manager went way to work up a number. Came back gave me a number I look at it said not bad but I need you to give me another 500 dollars. He immediately said you asked me for my best price I gave it to you I don't have 500 dollars in there but I will give you a 250 dollar gift card. An hour later I was riding on a brand new ultra limited .. the price was exactly 3000 dollars less than the first dealer.
My brother is back in Massachusetts doing the same thing for a new street glide . this throws the salesman off because they like to say give me an opportunity to be your best price which is always for 100 for 200 dollars This way they have the advantage over you, and the previous dealers... keep your numbers to yourself never let them know what your numbers are. TELL THEM NOTHING. Do not and I repeat do not tell them that you are financing or you are not financing. especially if you are not . They make money on your financeing. I think you are financing they will give you a better deal on a vehicle because they will add points to your loan and make money off of you there . But if you tell them you are not a financing they will not give you the best deal because they need to make money on the bike.

Remember less is more and more is more . The less they know about you the more you have an advantage . The more you know about them, the more you have an advantage. Never ever tell them you are ready to buy today . They will want to get you a motional about the purchase so you will pull the trigger.

The two biggest mistakes people make while negotiating (and I see it said here) are:

Saying you are paying cash
Saying you are ready to buy today.

They would rather you finance so they add points to your finance rate. Contrary to popular believe CASH IS NOT king.They will still get the cash if you finance, so they do not care, but if you finance they will make extra money. Remember unless they themselves are lending you the money, why do they care if it is cash since they will end up with it in a day or two from the bank anyhow. I used to be fooled by this thought too.

Never tell them you are ready to buy.... you want them to think they need to convince you to buy by a great price. By you being ready to buy, you alread did half their job for them. MAKE THEM WORK FOR THE DEAL.

 

To the OP. Did you know that Harley will finance a bike that you buy from a private party? They call it the Buyers assist program. You can find yourself a Smoking deal on a private party biker and Brandon, right by your house, will take care of the financing.

Strange that you dislike Brandon so much as I think they are one of the better dealers in the area. I would not buy a paper clip from Rossiters myself. Black Widow has always had favorable reports. For parts, Lakeland is Hands down my favorite. Great guys behind that counter. Jim's in St. Pete gave me the best price when I shopped them all in 06' . Ask for Adam at Jims and skip the salesmen.

Have fun on your hunt.

 

That quite a lengthy novel slofa! Healthy dose of information however, in the end I'm glad i sat down long enough to read it. I'm glad to say I did -most' of that on my sale.