Did I mess up?

[E.T.]

I've been looking at a new 2010 FJR for some time now and the local shop, close to home, has a 2010 that i've drooled over a time or two. The other day I mentioned to the salesman that another dealer a few miles away (about 60 miles) has a new one for a $1000 less than what I was quoted by them around the first of the year.

I mentioned I would be paying cash for the motorcycle, thinking that would make the deal sound better, with not having to mess with the financing paperwork and all.

Today I inquired "Google" and now feel like I may have messed up a bit by making that cash statement to the salesman and not waiting until after a final price had been struck with them.

Will paying cash hurt my negoations?

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

I've been looking at a new 2010 FJR for some time now and the local shop, close to home, has a 2010 that i've drooled over a time or two. The other day I mentioned to the salesman that another dealer a few miles away (about 60 miles) has a new one for a $1000 less than what I was quoted by them around the first of the year.

I mentioned I would be paying cash for the motorcycle, thinking that would make the deal sound better, with not having to mess with the financing paperwork and all.

Today I inquired "Google" and now feel like I may have messed up a bit by making that cash statement to the salesman and not waiting until after a final price had been struck with them.

Will paying cash hurt my negoations?

No. For a more detailed answer others will be by later to expand upon this answer. Some will say "Yes!" and most will say, "It depends." Good luck.

 

[03HiYoSilver]

E.T.

I don't think so. What you can do is say for $$ purposes you may decide to Finance the purpose of the bike and see what price they will give you. (They make extra $$ on their financing)

Then when you get that price, at some time, tell them your wife/management won't let you get the loan and have to Pay Cash...of course at the price they offered you earlier and see what happens.

Good luck on your Silver Bullet ... Spring's a Coming....

 

[FJRK]

Hard to say. I always finance stuff, then pay it off in a couple months or so. I have heard that the dealers get something extra for financing. I have not a clue if that is true or not.

 

[Fairlaner]

Ryan don't you have work to do........

R

 

[frito1]

I've been looking at a new 2010 FJR for some time now and the local shop, close to home, has a 2010 that i've drooled over a time or two. The other day I mentioned to the salesman that another dealer a few miles away (about 60 miles) has a new one for a $1000 less than what I was quoted by them around the first of the year.

I mentioned I would be paying cash for the motorcycle, thinking that would make the deal sound better, with not having to mess with the financing paperwork and all.

Today I inquired "Google" and now feel like I may have messed up a bit by making that cash statement to the salesman and not waiting until after a final price had been struck with them.

Will paying cash hurt my negoations?

I doubt it’s a big deal. What they’d lose not financing the bike could be a factor, but I’d wager it is more than offset by a serious buyer with $$ in hand ready to buy. No one has refused my money or raised the price for cash and I’ve paid cash for the last few rigs I’ve bought.

 

[Imp]

I financed the first FJR and wound up paying more than the second for which I payed cash.

I don't think you messed up.

 

[Checkswrecks]

I've been looking at a new 2010 FJR for some time now and the local shop, close to home, has a 2010 that i've drooled over a time or two. The other day I mentioned to the salesman that another dealer a few miles away (about 60 miles) has a new one for a $1000 less than what I was quoted by them around the first of the year.

I mentioned I would be paying cash for the motorcycle, thinking that would make the deal sound better, with not having to mess with the financing paperwork and all.

Today I inquired "Google" and now feel like I may have messed up a bit by making that cash statement to the salesman and not waiting until after a final price had been struck with them.

Will paying cash hurt my negoations?

It depends on the source of the financing. With cars, the dealer sometimes gets a cut from the financing. In this case, you're better off to buy it with the financing and (assuming no pre-pay penalty) then paying it off as the first payment.

Otherwise, if you are the one arranging the financing, the dealer just wants to move the bike and it makes no difference.

A reputable dealer will be upfront about whether you can do better with financing through them or not. However, the total of what you pay still comes down to doing your homework. For example, financing may make no difference to them if they can sell you accessories. These big mark up items are what Harley lives off of. You can also play the dealers against each other. But YOU need to know before you buy what price you are willing to go to and if they can do it, great. If they can't move on.

 

[E.T.]

Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts.

I will be going by the dealer after work tomorrow to see what they have to offer.

 

[SacramentoMike]

No you didn't mess up. Messing up would have involved a Harley.

 

[E.T.]

Have already done that once. Not ready for a second one.

No you didn't mess up. Messing up would have involved a Harley.

 

[FJRK]

Ryan don't you have work to do........

R

Not I don't. Maybe a little. Buy the BMW.

 

[Crash Cash]

No you didn't mess up. Messing up would have involved a Harley.

"Friends don't let friends buy Harleys"

 

[gumba]

I'd go for the dealer that is going to give me the best service. Know people that will travel inter-state to save a couple $ on purchase price and then complain when their local shop shines them on.

 

[ultimateanswer]

Ok so here's the low down on how the dealer is going to make money on this deal! I worked for a Yamaha dealer as a sales manager for almost 9 years. The dealer is going to make money on every step of this transaction. He makes money on the bike through his markup over invoice, makes money on your trade (if any), makes money on financing, and makes money on ancillaries (things like extended service plan, GAP, and the infamous "under coating"). If you take one of his avenues of cash flow out of the equation like you have done with the cash statement he will make money in other places on you. Dealers are never motivated by the promise of being paid in cash, or other cash instruments (ie cashier's check, personal check, money order, debit/credit card that the dealer didn't set up for you.) Unless you are playing the game with a retail dealer (read: no haggle, like an old Saturn dealer, or CarMax) revealing all your playing cards like that makes your possibility of buying that bike at agreeable terms all that more unlikely.

At my dealership on average we'd make somewhere between 10-15% on the bike, 18-30% on financing, 15-40% on ESP's, 100%+ on ancillaries. So you can see how taking one or more of those items out of the equation would affect the dealer's bottom line. I hope this information is useful to everyone not just the OP.

 

[03HiYoSilver]

Ulttmate,

Thanks for the detailed low down on how this process works. Dealers, now especially, have to vacuum every dollar available to keep the doors open.

That is why I patronize my local good dealers as much as possible to make sure they stay around but don't participate in theirs excesses.

 

[ultimateanswer]

I've been on the inside of dealership workings all of my working life. And still am! I love the industry, however it needs to change! In the 9 years I worked for the Yamaha dealership, and the time I've worked for my current employer I have a wealth of knowledge on the business. If any of you guys have any questions on any kind of deal, whether its cars or motorcycles, please let me know and I'll do my best to get you the right information!

 

[FastSpy]

I've been on the inside of dealership workings all of my working life. And still am! I love the industry, however it needs to change! In the 9 years I worked for the Yamaha dealership, and the time I've worked for my current employer I have a wealth of knowledge on the business. If any of you guys have any questions on any kind of deal, whether its cars or motorcycles, please let me know and I'll do my best to get you the right information!

dealer invoice cost for the 2011 FJR1300?

 

[ultimateanswer]

Motorcycle dealerships are closed Sunday and Monday in Oklahoma, but I will make some calls Tuesday morning for you and PM it to you if I can get the info. The 2010 was right around $9200 if I remember correctly but keep in mind that that doesn't include the freight charge, assembly and PDI. All of which are required by the dealer agreement with Yamaha, so after it was all said and done it was right around about $12,100 or so. But this is from memory, so it may not be spot on accurate. Like in my previous posts the dealer IS going to make money off of you and their dealer agreement prevents them from selling for anything less than $3000 over invoice before prep and freight. So if you are going to negotiate based on invoice you won't get very far, in fact the only thing it will get you is laughed out the front door. Motorcycle dealer agreements are VERY strict. Take HD for example, no HD dealer may sell a bike for less than MSRP. Ever. Period. They have to provide numbers for every bike that goes out the front door. Yamaha is right about the same way. They have a low cap on how much they can sell a particular model for. Twice a year we had to provide actual sale numbers to Yamaha. The Yamaha cap is below MSRP and that's about all I can tell you. A grand less than MSRP is a good point to start your negotiating process if you are going to buy new. Get them to throw in goodies to go along with the deal as well if you are financing through the dealer, and if not get them to cover your 650 mile service.