I just bought my 2008 for $13,800 OTD. Of course $1083.30 was sales tax for Arizona and another $288 covered the license for one year. So I guess the price I paid was $12,428.70 before tax & lic.
During my search for a ’08, I had dealings with a dealership in California (Bert’s Mega mall), Apex Sports and Rocky Mountain Cycle in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Honda East in Toledo Ohio and Champion Cycle in Chicago IL. I had searched EBay and Cycle Trader almost continuously.
Let me tell you. I had come so close to making a deal that my bank had cut the check and was prepared to ship it Over-Night delivery only to have the shop suddenly impose an additional increase of over $500 bucks to the cost of the bike. At first my local dealer wanted $15,600 OTD for the bike I have right now and would not budge on the price.
To moral of this story is this; there are a lot of dealerships out there that will quote you a great OTD price only to put the screws to you minutes before the deal is finalized. After I sat down with my local dealer and physically showed them two purchase orders from other shops they agreed to meet their best price plus $300 (what it was going to cost me to drive to Colorado in the snow to go pick it up). So I feel I actually saved myself plenty of money and a lot of future headaches. When push came to shove, my local dealer came through and made the deal. Now if I need service, no problem. If I need warranty work, no problem. If I want to be treated like a good customer, no problem. And let me tell you, just because the manufacturer says you can take your bike anywhere for warranty work, they are lying to you. I bought a 2007 Suzuki Burgman 650 scooter that I still have and love. It’s great to ride around town, run to the market or buzz over to a friends place. Anyway, I received a letter that it was being recalled for an idle sensor. Because my local dealer would out (refused) to meet the price a shop offered me in Phoenix, I bought it in Phoenix. Saved myself close to a grand. But when I asked about this recall, my local Suzuki dealership told me to take it to Phoenix to get the problem corrected. He wanted nothing to do with me or my scooter. Oh, did I mention I bought three (3) Suzuki ATV’s from this guy, 2 500 Vinson’s and a 700 King Quad plus about $2500 in accessories during the two prior years and this is the way he treated me about the recall on my Burgman. My Burgman runs great and has not shown any problems concerning this recall, so it really doesn’t matter that much to me. I even made a trip out to California to visit a friend on my Burgman and it ran flawlessly on the California freeways.
The point I’m trying to make here is this; if you are happy with the price you paid and the service you get is as you would expect it to be, then feel good about the deal you made. As for me, if I ever buy another Suzuki, the absolute last place I would ever buy another Suzuki is at Lake Havasu Suzuki. The after-purchase service sucks, the sales sucks and the whole attitude of the place sucks. I would drive to New York before I would buy a spark plug from that store. I bought my FJR at Walt’s Cycles in Lake Havasu and I can gladly say I feel good about the whole process from Walt’s.
Shop around, but be prepared to be let-down when the deal sounds too good to be true. But mostly, don’t fall victim to tricks. Stand your ground and if you smell a rat, tell them to shove that purchase where the sun doesn’t shine.