Interesting sales encounter

[andreus009]

The dealer I bought my FJR from is having a test ride weekend this Friday and Saturday. I would like to test ride the new Bolt but I'm going to the Indy GP instead so there goes my shot at that. I agree with some of the other posters, I don't want a new bike that has a lot of test miles on it. Imho that's a used bike.

Meh...your not missing much in my opinion. The sales guy loaned me one while they were working on my FJR. It felt like the cheap bike that it is.

 

[DennisJ]

+1 for Adventure Motorsports in Monroe, WA. From Scott (the owner) down they all ride and are enthusiastic. When I bought my '09 I spent a couple of hours with them asking questions, sitting on a couple of FJR's they had on the floor, turned down their offer to take one for a test ride (didn't have my endorsement yet) and generally enjoying the afternoon.. Offered me a price much better than any of the other dealers in the Seattle area and discounted the jacket, pants, gloves, and helmet they spent another hour helping me select. To top it all they delivered the bike to me on Mercer Island during one of our endless May shower weeks. The head mechanic has always had time to answer my questions. I'll be taking the FJR in this summer for the 26000 mile check and look forward to riding up to Monroe and spending a couple of hours. I'll miss a weekend of riding when the weather is good but the work will be done properly and on time.

 

[stealth1]

I've been buying motorcycles for over 40 years. There have always been good dealers and bad dealers. Ones that give test rides, ones that don't. Ones that discount and ones that demand full list.

The problem is I am addicted and they have the answer to my need. I have bought from all types of dealers over the years because they have what I want.

I went through a streak back in the 80's when I bought 2 new bikes in a row from 2 different dealers and they both went out of business less than a year later.

One of my favorite dealers a few years later would let me test ride anything he had. After I bought 2 bikes from him, he went out of business.

I don't know where or when I'll buy my next one. Hopefully when the time comes I'll find a good dealer. If not, I'll buy one anyway. I can't help myself.

 

[Hammer Down Brown]

Thanks for all the input guys. I guess what I learn will come from here and the internet and not from the professionals at the dealership.

 

[jjp4674]

heh I had a completely different experience a couple weeks ago at a local BMW dealer. A buddy wanted to check out the new ZERO electric motorcycles, and I went as I've had some interest for a while in a R1200GS. So we go for a couple test rides after looking around at the sales floor; him on one of the ZEROs and me on a demo R800 model.

After that ride, he wanted to ride the other ZERO they had, and I still was curious about the R1200, and I ask them if they have a demo model of that. The answer is "no, but let me see what I can do". Sales guy chats with his boss briefly, and comes back to say that I can take the floor model of their 2014 R1200GS out for a ride, but it has to be short to not add many miles to the odometer. So we roll it outside and off the sales guy and I go (he was enjoying riding around on the ZERO, himself).

Pretty cool of them to do that, and it was nice to be able to actually give the 1200 a test. Feels way different than the 800, which seems to actually be taller.

 

[Bounce]

That's because, between the markup on the bikes, service, and the other inventory, they can eat a little loss over the course of a bike. Selling a bike with 300 miles on it at those high new prices also seems to be a non-issue for repeat customers.

 

[rbentnail]

No metric dealer in NC I've ever been to allows test rides. As far as Yamaha dealers go, 3 I know of within 45 minutes of me have closed as have several other Suz, Honda & Kaw.

When I was buying in Jan '08 the 1st dealer I went to couldn't bother to look on a computer to get what I wanted. The 2nd would sell me something but also not what I wanted. The 3rd found exactly what I wanted and I bought it. Unridden. Cause that's how it is here.

I did go back to the first two I'd been to, parked right outside (actually nearly right in) the front door and gloated.

 

[HotRodZilla]

When I bought my FJR I first went to my friendly Mom and Pop dealer who I know and do business with. I had been looking at them for some time and went in to see when they would be getting them in. The "head" salesman was sitting there visiting with the other sales people so I asked about the delivery and cost of the FJRs. He didn't know he said. OK, could you maybe look into it for me as I want to buy one, I have the money and would like to trade in my ST1100 for one. Without asking what year, what condition, or mileage, he says he doubts the possibility of a trade in, he doesn't even quote me MSRP. Alright then. So I drive up the road to another Yamaha dealer, there sits a brand new FJR, the kid who approaches me knows allot about them, says a trade is no problem, would I like to take a spin. Guess who I bought from. Some people?

I would not have been able to resist the temptation of stopping by the first dealer to price an oil filter or some silly excuse to rub their nose in it.

That's exactly what I did, and I think Bud and I are talking about the same dealer.

In 2007 I decided I wanted an FJR. I was teaching a class and a guy in there was a part time salesman at a Yamaha dealership. We talked about FJRs at every break. He told me what days he worked and told me I qualified for a 10% discount. I told him I would see him on Friday.

On Friday I went to the dealer and screwed up by taking my big mouth friend. My plan was to drive there, buy the FJR I had been eyeing and have my buddy drive my truck home. We looked at the bike and sat down to do numbers. The sales guy quoted me full MSRP plus prep and all the BS. I asked him about the 10% discount and he told me they didn't discount FJRs. I asked him why he didn't say that on Monday or Tuesday and he said he didn't know I was interested in the FJR, even though that was the only bike we had talked about. I kept sending him back and kept trying for a better price. He wouldn't budge, and then my friend said, "So, these are bikes everybody wants, so you don't discount them. I get that. I guess he'll just have to pay your price." I told my friend to STFU and go outside.

I tried for a few more minutes and finally told the guy to keep the bike. I told him I would stop at every dealer I saw and would buy from the first one to make me a fair deal. A month later, we were in Durango, and the sales guy at Handlebar Motorsports made me a good deal on my '07. Sweet!!

I hadn't found this Forum yet, and knew nothing about maintenance, so I called a couple dealers in Albuquerque, including the one where I tried to buy the FJR. That dealer sold me a service contract for unlimited services for 3 years, and unlimited miles for $900. So on the next a Friday, I took my new FJR to the Albuquerque dealership to buy the service contract. I parked at the front door and walked in. The first guy I saw was the asshole salesman. He said, "Oh, came back to buy that FJR? Want me to get the paperwork?" I responded, "Nope. I just came to buy a service contract for the FJR I bought in Colorado. You were right, it's an awesome bike."

As I walked to the service manager's office, he walked to the front door and saw my bike parked there. The look on his face was awesome. The sales manager came into the office where I was filling out the paperwork and I told him the story about my first attempt to buy their FJR. He didn't seem to care, but that sales wasn't there the next time I went in for service. That FJR sat there until like May of 2008. Losers.

FWIW, the service guys were great and have been great to this day. Love those guys.

 

[J-Luv]

I had test driven a used K1600GT. Loved it. Wanted a new '14. Decide I didn't want to make the sacrifices required for the long run. And the light grey wasn't white enough. Went to the Yamaha dealer just down the street. Test rode a '14 FJR1300A...about an 8 mile down n back run. Liked it. Loved the red. Wanted an ES though. He said he was getting one in soon. Said I'd be back. Asked for a quote and he gave me one...below MSRP. I stopped at a long standing dealership I had used years ago for me Honda. Salesman enthusiastic...but not for me...tried to talk me out of the ES...wouldn't quote me a price. I went back a couple days later and saw a red FJR half a mile from the neighborhood shop.The ES had come in and he just rode off on it. He found me another and I put down a deposit and rode away on a new one a week later. Went back in for some clothing. Told sales girl I had found some stuff on Revzilla and she paused and said "Don't tell anyone...but that's as good a product as I can get you and it sounds like a good deal." A sales girl. Well I immediately gave her a commission on $800 worth of Givi box, etc. Not the most organized group...but I'll work with them and appreciate that kind of transparency. They have made a good first impression with everything so far. Best wishes!

 

[LKLD]

Something I came across, while looking for my '13, was that the knowledgable dealership didn't want to deal. While the un-knowledgable dealership had me a really nice deal in 15 minutes. Just an un-scientific observation.

 

[Streethawk]

Car story.... I tested a Subaru WRX years ago. After the too short ride, I opened the hood. The salesman says "Why did they put the radiator on top of the engine?". Huge Face Palm moment.

 

[iliveforcurves]

Some years ago when I was looking for a new bike I had a conversation with a salesman that I probably won't forget. While talking about bikes and things in general he says something like "that President we have now sure is a %#^@ #$!". I'm not overly political, but I don't like the idea of insulting the President or anyone's choice for same. I probably should have talked to the manager about it because there is more of a chance of losing a sale over something like that than getting a sale.

Back in 2006 when I was looking to buy a Ninja 250 I went to one of the local dealers to get an out the door quote. The best the salesman could come up with was "around $4,000". I explained to him that I didn't know how to write that on a check. Needless to say, I bought one from a different dealer and got it for around $500 less.

Re: demo rides. I went to the Indian dealer in Harker Heights to take a look at them and they just about insisted that I take one out for a ride. It really rode nice and was very high quality but not my cup of tea.

 

[dcarver]

Went in to buy a part, the dealer *insisted* I test ride a TT500. I did. I bought it. I bought more parts. Bastard!

 

[amboman]

Geez, some of you guys get it rough. Just before I decided on buying the FJR I went to the local dealer to look at and hopefully test ride a Super Tenere. Not only were all of the staff really welcoming but the owner came out from his office and after hearing what I was hoping to do he gave me the keys to his own 2014 Super 10 and said just bring it back in a couple of days. I was blown away by the offer and after giving a few details including a copy of my drivers licence off I went with a pretty big smile on my dial. I did return the bike the next day after a 400km test ride and said thanks but no thanks as it was just not for me. I told him that I would probably look at a pre loved FJR but that I had not ridden one before. With that the owner said he could arrange a ride on the one he had sitting on the showroom floor but needed a little time to make sure it was road worthy as they had just finished assembly and needed to to a quality inspection along with putting fuel in it.

Longer story short, with his support the dealer helped me into the 2010 model i now own and continues to be the best support ever. Needless to say I have spent more than a few dollars in the dealership since taking possesion of my bike.

 

[creg-ny-baa]

It's been my impression that the Japanese manufacturers' dealers don't do test rides, at least not on new bikes. Some H-D dealers do. BMW does. Uniformly. My notion has been that this condition exists because BMW corporate facilitates that process, with financial support (on dealer cost, or floorplan, or both) and insurance liability support. Any given BMW dealer won't have all the models "in demo," but they'll have several. If it's a combo dealer (eg: BMW/Triumph/Ducati), that puts the onus on the dealer or the other manufacturers to provide demos of their models as well. One of the possible differences used to be that BMW had fewer models. That's not as true anymore.

But since the Big 4 dealers have been "no demo" so long, and when the economy was hot, or new models were hot (original FJR situation), buyers lined up to buy bikes, they don't have the inclination to do anything different now that they need to work harder for sales. Look at 2009-12 sales (maybe 2013 too), and the growth was Euro brands, while the Japanese were down by double digits. If they don't adapt, they'll continue to pay the price.

So...is this OT?

 

[BkerChuck]

As someone who works at a Harley dealership, I can tell you HD requires dealers to have some demo models. They're given financial incentives and typically pick 2 or more models to have as demo units every 6 months where I live. We generally put on the first few miles, say about 100 or so to give the bikes a little break in before turning them over to often ham fisted drivers who go out and just flog them as they have no intention of buying that particular model anyway.

I don't remember ever going into a Japanese motorcycle dealer that allowed test drives on any of their bikes.

 

[bluesdog]

Visited a Honda dealer in Vancouver years ago, along with a friend who was in the process of buying a used Yamaha Radian 600 from them.

I got talking bikes with one of the sales guys, and he insisted I take a brand new Valk for a test ride, although I repeatedly assured him I had no intention of buying. He said he realized that, but that the bike was a hoot to ride. It was indeed, but not my cuppa, so I still didn't buy one. When I got back, we talked bikes again for a while. Absolutely no pressure.

Great dealership.

 

[bikerskier]

Drooling over bikes in a big new dealership in Surprise, AZ a couple of weeks ago and after a conversation with a staff member, I was offered a test ride on most anything. I think dealers may have policies but may on a case by case basis decide who gets a demo ride.

 

[Grey13]

Went to our local dealer twice to buy my '13.

First time I was only looking and they had two on the floor. One was a demo and the other had 0 miles.

Salesman said I should come back later with my helmet and go for a test ride on the demo.

About a week later I did, and ended up buying the 0 mile model right after the test ride.

Ray

 

[amboman]

I simply could not imagine spending my hard earned with out taking a test ride first. Pretty sure the dealers here have got a good grasp of that as it has never been a problem in 30 years of motorcycling and I have bought around 10 bikes brand-new from various dealers.