Okay, i must admit. In my 8 years of driving I have never had to deal with a dealer before. So i decided to go to my local Suzuki dealer today and talk about the new gs. I asked what specials they offer and he excitedly said "$4999!!! It gets no cheaper than that."...But, after TT&L, equipment, and MSF we are looking at about $5600. Bottom line: Im not willing to pay that much for a 39 h.p. bike. Do you guys have any pointers for getting the lowest price out of these salesmen?


I'd buy it if i could get the whole package for less than 5000. For a new bike, resale just isn't enough to warrant too much cash on a beginner bike.

buy used if you're planning on selling it soon

buy Pablo's bike...

i wish i could, but i am hooked on the design of the F model

Buy used and stick an aftermarket full fairing on it   Like the cool one from Brazil!  You'll still come out ahead after all that...

You won't find a cheaper starter bike that looks like that.

Maybe a Ninja 250.

baldwin got it for 4200 + ttl..

invoice is 3750....

Do you have other dealers where you can shop? I got ripped off on my GS, but I bought it used and didn't know anything about motorcycles.

When I bought my last car, I bought it on the last day of the month. I found out what the invoice price was, and I offered $300 over. They said yes. If they had said no, I would have thanked them for their help and gone to shop somewhere else. But I didn't NEED a new car. If I couldn't have gotten a price I considered reasonable, my old car still had a couple of more years in it. And there are a lot more car dealers than motorcycle dealers around here.

Laura

Again, my vehicle buying experience is limited. But I have found motorcycle dealers to be a royal pain in the ass. Much worse than car dealers. It sucks, because shopping for a motorcycle should be a lot of fun, but it turns into being a headache because of the slimy dealers you have to work with.

Wish I could give you better advice. Good luck.

Laura

Quote from: andy23Bottom line: Im not willing to pay that much for a 39 h.p. bike.

The Ninja 500 list price is now $200 less than the GS500F.  How about 50 hp for $4800 instead of 40 hp for $5000?   :lol:  :lol:  

Motorcycle dealers are different from car dealers. Their market is much smaller so they have to rely upon mark up to get their profit instead of volume. If you can find the same bike at 2 locations you may lower the price some by threatening to go elsewhere but usually the area can't support too many dealers for the same brand so you may be limited. :dunno:

Just ask yourself what a particular bike is worth to you. If you can get it for that price or less then great. Some folks think purchasing is a contest and the one who gets the best deal wins, if you think like that you will always feel that you got ripped off. Bikes are impractical toys that are meant for fun. You wouldn't think twice about dropping another $150 for a rock concert or an extra day at Universal Studios. So whats a few hundred more for the bike of your dreams.

Used is an excellent way to get cheap bikes. However, beware, people who would never touch their automobiles suddenly think that they are master mechanics when they purchase a motorcycle. I believe more motorcycles are screwed-up by owners 'fixing' them then by road damage. But its damage you can't see so instead of enjoying a great summer of riding you spend it in your garage trying to figure out why your bike stalls after 30 minutes. :x

Good luck on your bike search. Regardless of the price, when you're on the road on the perfect summer day you'll realize the great value you got.

Quote from: andy23Do you guys have any pointers for getting the lowest price out of these salesmen?

I'd buy it if i could get the whole package for less than 5000. For a new bike, resale just isn't enough to warrant too much cash on a beginner bike.

Did you tell him that? That you would buy it if it was less than $5k? Make him work if he wants to make a sale!

I used to be a m/c salesman back in '89-91, sellin' Kawasaki and Yamaha. We only had about $200 of room to play with on the EX. So if the retail is $4999 you should be able to get it for $4800 without tax & licence. Go back to that dealer and tell him that you'd be willin' to buy it for $4800 without tax & lic. If he says he can't do that, walk away. Or, ask if you can see his cost and tell him you might be willing to pay him one or two hundered dollars more than his cost and then tax & lic., but only if you can see his cost. Set-up fees are bullshit. At most, I can understand that he has to pay a mechanic to set-up the bike; fill & charge the battery, fill it with oil, maybe a little gas...if it's more than $60 tell him you'll take it out of the $200.

Another way to convince the sales rep to deal is to remind him/her that once you make the purchase, you're likely to become a service and parts customer, and THAT is where the dealership makes some real money..not on the original sale.

If you really wanna get, bring the cash! Money always talks!


If they don't give you a lower price, and ask them to give you free helmet which you like or some parts for the bike...


or bring a cute girl with to negotiate with sales...  

~*Brat*~

Money does talk.  I remeber buying my car, had a bunch saved up from military service and other stuff.  Bargained out a price with the salesman, and when it came to payment, he was expecting me to finance... Let's just say the hard cash laid out made him blink... I did give him a good precentage over invoice, so I was being fair

Now after a bunch of really f'ed up and bad years, I am like mucho poor... but I still have my Subie, and I have my GS, and I love both of them!  

I say don't tell the dealer that you've got the cash up front, and act like you're trying to work out a deal with financing.  I once read an article where a reporter went undercover selling cars... they have something called a 4 box system where they try to get you one way or the other... price, financing, dealer add-ons (prep), and trade-in I think.  If you have the money, you trick the salesman into reducing the price box hoping that they make it up on financing, and then just stick it to them  :mrgreen:

Quote from: MstrsLilBrator bring a cute girl with to negotiate with sales...  

~*Brat*~

Are you available? I'm in the market...

damn turkina where were you when i needed ya!  :mrgreen: , then again, brat has an interesting idea too...

Quote from: The_good_guybaldwin got it for 4200 + ttl..

invoice is 3750....

Where did you find the invoice price? I want to know what a '03 cbr600rr (or '04) and an '04 daytona 600, cost....

Quote from: Frost

buy Pablo's bike...

I second that.

This doesn't apply for bikes, but I came in with pages and pages of photocopies listing invoice prices for the car itself, and every one of the options I wanted.  After getting my invoice price, and since it was a car in demand, I told the salesman I was going to give him a couple of percent above invoice and calculated it in front of him.  After a time or two, he came back from the manager and said okay, and now what about financing... What financing I said!  :lol:  Always see a few dealers at least before making a deal!  Attitudes vary greatly between places... some car dealers wouldn't give a young guy like me the time of day

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying/articles/42962/article.html That's the car salesman article I read...

As for Brat's idea, that's a good one too  get some extra stuff with your bike!  And especially for girls... teach those salesmen a lesson!  I have a friend who got screwed on her car because she went with her limp ex-boyfriend and let the salesman talk her into a really harsh deal!

BTW, I don't haggle.  I'll gladly pay a bit more than I want to if the deal is honest. (you name a fair price, I'll pay if it is fair, otherwise I'll walk without saying a word).  Haggling sucks

Quote from: MstrsLilBrator bring a cute girl with to negotiate with sales...  

I took my wife with me to negotiate on my Buell. We got it for a LOT less then they were asking (below KBB value even) and got a tank bag, fairing mounted tool bag, Corbin seat and the OEM seat and an extra exhaust system (full system, not just a can) tossed in.

As Erin Brockovich said in the movie...."Their called boobs Ed."