Greedy Dealerships

[smilespergallon]

Guy wants to buy a Classic, greedy dealership turns him off the idea by adding extra fees.

I already found him his Chrome and Red 2022 Classic at my local shop (TPS-Raleigh) and showed the sales manager his video. He said, "I'm gonna email this man right now."

 

[Laszlo]

I understand where the guy is coming from, but he managed to pack 4 minutes of content into 10 minutes. The $900 "commodity surcharge" is absolute BS. The dealer is up to shenanigans. The only thing I didn't pay when I bought the Orangesicle was the "lifetime battery" for $399. I can buy a new battery for $64. I did get hit for Destination (everybody has to pay this, and it's the same for every dealership in 48 states); Set-Up (yeah, I get it, but c'mon - this is your job); Tax (note that this is just sales tax and doesn't include property tax); Documentation Fee (see Set-Up); Tag, Title and Registration (which I'll gladly pay to avoid going to the DMV); and Electronic Filing Fee (see TTR).

The Set-Up and Doc fee come out to about $650 - a little more than 10% of the MSRP. Everything else are pass-throughs. Considering that their margin on the bike itself is about the same, the dealership has about $1300 gross profit from the sale. Take out the cost for labor and overhead, and they're really only putting about $500 in their pocket as actual profit.

Blah, blah, blah. Here's how I do it. I ask the dealer what the all-in, out-the-door cost is. I either pay it or I don't.

 

[smilespergallon]

Happily, you and Sev both agree about reasonable vs unreasonable fees. Hopefully he can help Tony out with this one, I am fan of UTG for his Mopar drag racing stuff so it's nice to find out of the blue that he wants an Enfield Classic.

And yeah, he does stretch the video out a bit, but that 8-12 minute mark is the sweet spot for Youtube serving up your videos. So he does what it takes to keep his money coming in.

 

[Laszlo]

Happily, you and Sev both agree about reasonable vs unreasonable fees. Hopefully he can help Tony out with this one, I am fan of UTG for his Mopar drag racing stuff so it's nice to find out of the blue that he wants an Enfield Classic.

And yeah, he does stretch the video out a bit, but that 8-12 minute mark is the sweet spot for Youtube serving up your videos. So he does what it takes to keep his money coming in.

Yeah, I definitely want to check out his channel. He seems like a genuine hot-rodder. That XR is one of the few H-D motorcycles I'd really like to have.

The YouTube algorithm is weird, but I congratulate him on being able to make it work for him.

 

[Lost in the 60's]

Here's how I do it. I ask the dealer what the all-in, out-the-door cost is. I either pay it or I don't.

There it is.

 

[Roy Gavin]

We are lucky in Oz that RE list price is Drive Away - No More to pay, and includes all charges and at least three months road tax, which in Oz includes the compulsory third party injury insurance.
Tricky , as road tax is different state to state, but we only have six state and two territories to consider!

 

[petespace1]

Blah, blah, blah. Here's how I do it. I ask the dealer what the all-in, out-the-door cost is. I either pay it or I don't.

Exactly.
In Australia (I mentioned in another post before), it’s a fixed ride away price with pre delivery service, one year’s registration and a full tank of fuel. Mine took a few months to come due to covid delays in 2021, but the price was as agreed, by email, less my trade in with price also agreed at quote stage. Only upselling was did I want bark busters and engine guard or pannier racks and panniers or if I was supplying any accessories to fit?
I said yes to the Givi engine guard, pannier racks only and barkbusters frame. All prices were also less than if I bought them afterwards, as it was at pre delivery stage I paid $120 for fitting the accessories. They even threw in premium plates.

 

[Laszlo]

Exactly.
In Australia (I mentioned in another post before), it’s a fixed ride away price with pre delivery service, one year’s registration and a full tank of fuel. Mine took a few months to come due to covid delays in 2021, but the price was as agreed, by email, less my trade in with price also agreed at quote stage. Only upselling was did I want bark busters and engine guard or pannier racks and panniers or if I was supplying any accessories to fit?
I said yes to the Givi engine guard, pannier racks only and barkbusters frame. All prices were also less than if I bought them afterwards, as it was at pre delivery stage I paid $120 for fitting the accessories. They even threw in premium plates.

That's the civilized way to buy a vehicle, or anything else.

 

[Laszlo]

We are lucky in Oz that RE list price is Drive Away - No More to pay, and includes all charges and at least three months road tax, which in Oz includes the compulsory third party injury insurance.
Tricky , as road tax is different state to state, but we only have six state and two territories to consider!

Yes, in the US, each state (with a few exceptions) has a Personal Property tax, which is assessed bay, and varies by county. North Carolina has 99 counties.

 

[detainer]

I think the guy in the video's got a point actually to be fair.

I too, recently enquired about A NEW 350 classic and was told theres a £300 ''Administration fee''.
The sales guy says its for road tax ,numberplate , 1 gallon of juice... AND putting the bloody thing together in their workshop
as its not fit for the road untill all thats been done.

Yes of course Im happy to pay for tax, registration, petrol etc, but the assembly charge ?? seems a bit steep somehow.
Now Im not to a few pounds by any means but i thought this was a bit OTT and asked if there was anything he could do
for me , maybe to ''sweeten'' the deal a little?
Answer.... a resounding NO...period.
I pointed out that when i go to Tescos for a tine of beans I dont have to pay them extra to put the beans in the can!!
He wasnt amused.
So they lost a sale for the sake of some small gesture of good will....... Oh well, never mind eh.

Yes of course dealerships have to make a profit but what else is the mechanic supposed to be doing
while hes assembling the new bikes.? It pre disposes that the mechanic is swaped with work every hour of his working day
and I know from past conversations when ive been told that buisness is a bit slack at the moment etc that its not.

 

[smilespergallon]

Everything a shop does with a RE is expensive. For most of their market labor hours are inconsequential while here in the US I've seen as high as $200 an hour and $150 is not unusual . IIRC the factory sets the assembly hours and sadly that is not included in MSRP for motorcycles, nor openly disclosed.

Next time I buy a new thing I'll be telling them "I'll pay your freight, just put the crate in the back of my truck and register my tag. I'll be out of here now, thank you kindly." Just to see what happens.

 

[Roy Gavin]

We have mostly the same sort of main dealers here.
One reason I have never bought a new bike!
We had two RE dealers locally , one an old school Ma and Pa shop, friendly and helpful, the other at the other end of the spectrum.
But Pa is no longer with us and the shop is closed, so we now have no choice.
RE sales have been excellent locally up until now, wonder if it will change when you have to deal with these arseholes.
I have been chasing some parts, neither the dealer or RE respond to emails, phone call to the dealer and answer was didnt stock parts, just ordered them in, everything from RE was on back order with no ETA ,so check again in a few weeks to see if it has changed!
Guzzi took agencies off Ma and Pa shops and gave them to a large multistate dealership who also handled Triumph, Suzuki, Harley and Honda and it cost them 90% of their sales in this state -hope it doesn't happen to RE !

 

[Cpt.Sparkles]

Start at 1:30 for how the bike arrives. Looks like anyone over 80 IQ could do it.

 

[detainer]

Some years ago I agreed with a dealer/ sales guy to part Ex my BMW for £2000 against a new honda Transalp.
Everything goling beautifully till I want to sign the paperwork and then noticed he had put my P/X
down as £1800.
When I pointed this out he became defensive and had the nerve to say to me, ''Well ''mate'' its ONLY £200.''

At which point I blew my top big style ( I was younger and fiesty then ...lol ) and said back to him'' IF its ONLY £200,
YOU bloody well stand it '' and walked out.
Only some very soothing talk by the owner of the shop saved the day . I think because Id bought 2 new bikes from them in previous years.

( I got my £2000 and some other goodies thrown in. Alas the shop is no longer with us the owner having passed away )
( Bill Heads in Preston if anyone remember them )

 

[Lost in the 60's]

 

[Eatmore Mudd]

Everything a shop does with a RE is expensive. For most of their market labor hours are inconsequential while here in the US I've seen as high as $200 an hour and $150 is not unusual . IIRC the factory sets the assembly hours and sadly that is not included in MSRP for motorcycles, nor openly disclosed.

Next time I buy a new thing I'll be telling them "I'll pay your freight, just put the crate in the back of my truck and register my tag. I'll be out of here now, thank you kindly." Just to see what happens.

My riding buddy uncrated and assembled his Suzuki. He's the only one to touch a wrench to his bike since the factory crated it.

I took care of all the paperwork for my Himalayan.

Both purchase were paid in full "cash on the barrel head".

 

[Roy Gavin]

Some years ago I agreed with a dealer/ sales guy to part Ex my BMW for £2000 against a new honda Transalp.
Everything goling beautifully till I want to sign the paperwork and then noticed he had put my P/X
down as £1800.
When I pointed this out he became defensive and had the nerve to say to me, ''Well ''mate'' its ONLY £200.''

At which point I blew my top big style ( I was younger and fiesty then ...lol ) and said back to him'' IF its ONLY £200,
YOU bloody well stand it '' and walked out.
Only some very soothing talk by the owner of the shop saved the day . I think because Id bought 2 new bikes from them in previous years.

( I got my £2000 and some other goodies thrown in. Alas the shop is no longer with us the owner having passed away )
( Bill Heads in Preston if anyone remember them )

Funny but I had a similar experience trying to buy a Transalp too.
At $14,500 Honda had seriously overpriced them, around $4500- more than the Suzuki V twin and $8000 more than the single, and the only way the salesmen could shift them was to use them as a demo to reduce then price a little then inflate the trade in so the price was nearer the competition.
Worked OK until the dealer principal rumbled them, the $4000- trade on my VFR was reduced to $1000 - just as I was about to hand over the cash and as I didn't have $3000 in small change the deal was off.
Honda never sold many of that model Transalp, talk of reintroducing the name again, price will probably have to be less than it was 20 years ago if it is to sell!

 

[detainer]

Transalp..................... one word says it all................ BRILLIANT!!

Twin plug heads and serious mile muncher.
Odly enough i jacked it in after 2years for a 750 VFR. the opposite to you Mr Gavin.
Id buy another without hestiation but its too ''big'' a bike for me now unfortunatly.

 

[Lost in the 60's]

All advertised prices should be Out the Door. Not just for motorcycles either, but for everything. It should be against the law to advertise any other way. Punishable by death.

 

[Iowarider]

I

Everything a shop does with a RE is expensive. For most of their market labor hours are inconsequential while here in the US I've seen as high as $200 an hour and $150 is not unusual . IIRC the factory sets the assembly hours and sadly that is not included in MSRP for motorcycles, nor openly disclosed.

Next time I buy a new thing I'll be telling them "I'll pay your freight, just put the crate in the back of my truck and register my tag. I'll be out of here now, thank you kindly." Just to see what happens.

I believe you are correct about the dealer charged labor price, but can ensure you, that mechanic in the back likely isn't even getting half of that charge.