Have bike dealers all gone high cost high pressure like cars?

Went to buy an R3 yesterday. Dealer one quoted me a price fast but it was 50% more than the advertised pice and way of list (for a 2019). Dealer two spent 15 minutes telling me I don't want an R3, remarking how they were blue and asking if I could ride. During that entire time I kept repeating I just want a price. At the end of that they wanted all my 'information' before they would tell me a price. So I am sure credit check, spam for life on email, and pestering me on the phone for over expensive crap I had no interest in.

During this time I had cash in my pocket to purchase a bike if they were close enough to the advertised price. Is this the 'new' way for dealers or did I just walk into the two cesspools in Alabama (well there is a third here in Huntsville but I know better than to go in there even to drop a deuce)?

Thing is I would not mind getting one but if I have to deal with that level of BS....kind of made me appreciate serial killers as the day went on.

 

Dealers are thieves. It should be legal to buy vehicles direct from the manufacturer. Most bike dealers here only hire auto sales people and half of them wouldnt know how to ride to start with. One near here is an absolute piece of shit who preys on newbs.

 

been shopping for a new ktm xcf350 since last summer. dealers have 19's and 20's left over and wont deal on them. there are 21's out there for a few hundred more than what they are asking for the non-currents. and i was told by 2 ktm sales reps ktm ramped up 2022 MY construction, to have them in dealer hands as soon as the end of april. WTF, are these dealers thinking, not dealing on price, when an obviously interested buyer has cash, and it ready to buy. just be realistic, and dont be a doucher, and I would buy. SMH Ski

 

If it’s a dealer owned by someone that has a few auto dealerships, yes, you’ll run into the salesman -> sales manager -> parts guy -> F&I and then you’ll be given the price routine. Save for the parts guy, it’s a typical sales process.

The local KTM dealer, however, is a one man show and has all the bikes spoken for long ahead of their expected delivery. No BS, no extended warranty and no setup. Dude didn’t even offer to help load it up. But for $1500 less than anywhere else, I didn’t complain.

 

Just a WAG, but the dealers probably know certain bikes will move at inflated prices, and it will be tough to replace them on the floor with the constrained supply that exists these days. So, they're getting choosey on how they sell. Its a strange market.

 

I take it Ron’s all sold out at Lake Cycle?

 

But its gonna bite them in the ass. People remember how they were treated by them and wont go back or recommend them to anyone. One reason Young America went under in Madison. Sales idiots treated people like they were stupid, not to mention the other crap that went on there.

 

Agreed. Dealerships probably know by now that their days are numbered. You'll be able to buy your R3 on Amazon before too long and have it shipped to your front door.

 

call Altus Motorsports. Support a dealer and a race team.

george is a nice man and always has given me fair ktm prices.

we’ve bought 3 there and he’s in Oklahoma and I’m in Florida if that tells you anything.

 

Not all dealerships are like that.

we’ve been in business same owners over 40 years and last year was one of our best ever.

honesty is key. If you can’t trust them or give them a straight answer then they are working an angle.

 

They were doing the same stuff two years ago, at the time every dealership had fs450s sitting on the floor and wouldn't budge off of msrp +$2k so a bike that was 10.3k was pushing 13k from them and I knew they weren't selling..
I bought one from Connecticut and had it shipped for 10.3
So lots are just dumb and then complain why people don't shop local

 

The Honda dealer north of here in TN is awesome people. Not always cheapest etc but 100% honest good people. Sadly the Yamaha dealer in town (that also does Honda) is a well known den of thieves and has been under the 5 name changes I remember.

 

+ 2

 

Yes, I talked to Ron a few times, had my name on the next 21 xcf350 he had coming from ktm but, he says, even though he has 1 or 2 more "backordered from ktm" he said, in the last year he only received one backorder filled bike. I could put a deposit on a 22 through him, and it would come in between april and october, and he is the best price for sure.


trying to stay under 10k. example of bikes I have found, 2019 xcf350 dealer wanted= 9950 otd (should be approx 9-9500 inmho, i offered 9500). 2020s anywhere from 10100-10800 otd (should be 97-10k, this is the year model, i want the most, would like to pay 10k max otd). 21s 11200-12300 (msrpplus all fluffy fees). Ron sold his last 21 for 10200... i missed it.


I dont think I am being unrealistic. when covid hit, ktm gave dealers a bunch of incentives and rebates, and told dealers to clear their inventory while they could. some dealers did, and some didnt. I know a well known wera racer that bought a 2020 husky fx350 (same bike as ktm albiet higher msrp), from a dealer in Ky in the spring for 8900 (no tax). the dealer used their rebates to their advantage, now those are gone, and we are left with the dealers that didnt, and wont deal on their stock. it sucks! Ski

 

How about if you walk into the Yamaha dealership and physically lay the amount of cash out that you are willing to pay for an out the door R3. Either they will take it or you pick up your cash and walk. Tell them right up front that what you have put out is all that you are going to pay and be prepared to walk. I have used that technique and it works, but I had to walk out on 2 salesmen that thought that it was a game and just an opening offer. It saves a ton of time and angst.

 

What dealership in Bama’. Montgomery’s dealership GM is a former WERA racer. They’ve always treated me well there.

 

Some dealers around here advertise some low prices but have a disclaimer that says cash price add $400. I guess they are getting kickbacks on the financing?

 

Any dealer (truck, car, moto, farm, etc.) that uses a financial service to help their customer with a purchase should/will/get a % of the kickback from the loan. If you pay cash or finance elsewhere they make less. And document fees are sometimes added to "pay" to do the paperwork, and most times I see that "doc" fees are there to pay the salesperson. But a dealer can do/explain it to you a million different

 

I really liked my local Yamaha dealer, bought 2 bikes there over the years. Last year it was sold to local auto king dealer chain............The parts guy is still there and he treats be just fine but parts are full price. I bought there anyways when it the single owner and I wanted to stay in his good graces....Now it's a different story. Od course with the Corona the current dealer isn't hurting, none are. Times will change, then we'll see how things shake out.

 

I hope not. The absolute last thing the world needs is for more companies to get in bed with Amazon and give them and BigTech even more power. BigTech is the state now, if you haven’t noticed... It’s also suicidal long term for their ‘partners’. If the manufacturers eventually sell online, it should be direct from their own websites.