[Nathan241]

Hey everyone. I am a brand new rider. I have been doing research for months now and have finally decided on the cee bee. After all of my reading I decided it was smart to start small and really learn the skills. So with all of that I have started calling dealerships to try and get as much information as possible. I have about 5 of them within about 80 miles of me. Three of them gave me otd prices. $4,300 nonabs, $4,697 not including tax nonabs, and $4,863 abs. $4300 almost sounds too good to be true. One of the others was an interesting call. He never gave me any otd price. The guy told me he wanted to be level with me. He said he figures I've already been making calls and talking with everyone else. He told me when they are paid with cash that they don't have to collect all of the taxes. Meaning that they don't charge as much? That seemed like an odd statement. Also he told me that I should call the others and ask for otd prices and tell them that I am coming in with a cashiers check and want to know how much to bring it for, because they are always trying to tell you something to bring you into the dealership. He then finished by saying that whatever I was offered somewhere else I could come back to him and he would match it. He also said he would ship it to me free!

The conversation with this sales manager really brought up some questions. First off, are the prices I have received, especially the $4300 price, not completely accurate. I was told that was the out the door price. Should I expect that to be missing some sort of dealer fee? Second, it seemed like he really was being level with me, but was he just trying to get my business by looking like the good guy? Also, what is the deal with paying cash and not paying full taxes? Did he possibly mean something else? Finally, and I know this is getting very long, If the $4300 is for real should I go to the sales manager with it because he said he would match it?

Thanks for the help everybody.

 

[EYVoom]

Saying something along the lines of not having to pay all the taxes sound fishy. He may be referring to only having to pay the state taxes. If it's like CO, you pay county and town tax at time of registration.

Most shops are going to want to meet or beat price quotes from other dealers. Find the shop you liked best (customer service, attitude, etc.) and see if they'll match. I just got one myself and called around to a few dealerships to get prices. The one I liked best, but had the highest price at first, beat the price of the cheapest dealership. I ended up going with them.

As far as fees go, I think they're pretty much BS. Manufacturers set up MSRP for a reason. It's a fair price that allows the dealership to make the profit they need to stay in business, without making you pay outrageous prices. I think fees are just a way for dealerships to squeeze some extra profit out of you. That's just my opinion though.

 

[TheAOP]

$4300 is a sweet deal. Get all this in writing. Verbally spoken promises are useless.

 

[ERrunner]

When you pay cash, there's no financing fee (from the dealer or a bank), so that could be what he was talking about. $4300 sounds pretty accurate, depending on tax where you live. The shop I bought my bike from got me OTD for MSRP plus state tax (7%). The owner flat out told me all the fees are BS.

Hammering people with fees might get them a few hundred bucks, sure. Being straight with me and getting me the bike at a fair price gets them their cut, and earns a loyal customer. Preeeeety sure I'll be spending a little more over my lifetime at this shop than the $500-700 the other shops quoted me...

 

[Kamal]

Call the guy who will price match and tell him you have an offer at MSRP. Don't pay anymore for the bike than you need to.

 

[cbr9927]

Thats the thing about the motorcycle world that I dont get. Everyone is poorer these day and more frugal and getting more value per purchase especially vehicles. To entice me to buy more than just a bike such as a Honda T shirt, Honda jacket dont price these things like I have a 100k per year job. Many people out there live check to check and would love to get involved in motorsports yet when they check out how much oil changes and little things cost they probably just head to the YMCA and shoot baskets. Now shops on top of asking for 10- 14k for a new sportbike are throwing fees ranging from 400 to 700 bucks as a nice welcome mat to your shop.

It the bike makers who got themselves into this mess. You think Suzuki is offering zero percent interest for 5 years for your benefit- Hell no. They average joe is maxed out and they know it. Its about time we vote with our pocketbooks and buy value out there. Ninja 650, FZ6R and our CBR250 offer a bike without a 2nd mortgage for us with families to feed. The quickest way to go out of business is to drive out middle America.

 

[roberthood]

Thats the thing about the motorcycle world that I dont get. Everyone is poorer these day and more frugal and getting more value per purchase especially vehicles. To entice me to buy more than just a bike such as a Honda T shirt, Honda jacket dont price these things like I have a 100k per year job. Many people out there live check to check and would love to get involved in motorsports yet when they check out how much oil changes and little things cost they probably just head to the YMCA and shoot baskets. Now shops on top of asking for 10- 14k for a new sportbike are throwing fees ranging from 400 to 700 bucks as a nice welcome mat to your shop.

It the bike makers who got themselves into this mess. You think Suzuki is offering zero percent interest for 5 years for your benefit- Hell no. They average joe is maxed out and they know it. Its about time we vote with our pocketbooks and buy value out there. Ninja 650, FZ6R and our CBR250 offer a bike without a 2nd mortgage for us with families to feed. The quickest way to go out of business is to drive out middle America.

Well said. Makes me laugh that a Ninja 650 costs only 7500 and a Ninja 600 costs around 11,000...???? I know what makes the two different but..that is a hell of a lot of difference. Makes you wonder..how much are these bikes really worth?

 

[Wynne G Oldman]

Welcome aboard Matey.

 

[Empty Sea]

The pricing sounds about right, but the rest of the comments the dealer made sound like so much salesman BS. I have found that if the sales dept. is too slick, the service dept. is as well. I think, if I were in your shoes, and if there are other dealers close by, I would shop around a little. Not so much for price (although that's important) but to check out the service dept. and the general feel of the place. You may want to find local Honda riders online and see if they have comments about your dealer and/or other local dealers.

The price does seem good, but you are buying more than just the bike. Good luck and welcome!

 

[nforce4]

4,300 was my out the door price. That included tax, title, license etc... I later bought the extended warranty for an additional 500.

 

[Nathan241]

So here is a little update because I actually headed into denver this morning for another reason. I stopped by the dealer that offered me $4300 flat otd. After seeing and sitting on that beautiful piece of machinery, that I am excited to one day own, I asked the the guy from my phone conversation yesterday if 4300 is absolutely otd. He said it was and that he has no desire to jerk me around. I do realize that I will have to pay my own city and county taxes when I register it. This excited me as I feel that 4300 otd is more or less an awesome deal considering what I have read that most everyone else has paid as well as other quotes I was getting. One thing I noticed at the dealer is that a few other customers came in and they all seemed to be repeat customers. One had already bought there bike there and was checking out another. Someone else was coming in to get a service. Its not a big dealer by any means and they seemed to be just a bunch of motorcycle enthusiasts who love motorcycles and want others to join them. I was impressed.

Even though I think they would be a great place to get my bike from, I feel that like a few of you said, I should still take a look at other dealers. I just don't know if anyone is going to be more cost effective and friendly than this dealer. Not to say that others aren't just as good, but the only other one I feel I should even look at is the one who said he would match whatever price I was given and he would ship it to me free. Any more thoughts from you guys and gals? Thanks for the insight.

 

[Kamal]

don't forget - just because you buy from one dealership doesn't mean you have to use their service department!

 

[wake and bake]

Id say go for it bro, Im a new rider as well just got mine june 24, I paid 4800 otd without abs, i also got a temp plate as well...

So if you can get it for 4300 otd i would be jumping all over that...

Better deal than most of us got..

Also I wouldnt take anything over the 4300 you were quoted cuz if they know you have the extra cash they will try and get you too spend it.

My original offer from them was 5500 I was like WTF the bike is 4099 MSRP. But eventually they went down to 4800.. I still wish i could have gotten a little better of a deal....

But i say go for it, In the end its all up too you though

 

[Redeye]

So if you can get it for 4300 otd i would be jumping all over that...

Agreed, that sounds like a great OTD price. I checked several dealerships. Some were inflating the price and others were holding the line on the list price. $4,300 sounds like the right OTD price.

 

[etk]

4,300 was my out the door price. That included tax, title, license etc... I later bought the extended warranty for an additional 500.

Can you share what dealer you got it from? I'm in chicagoland and have had some dealers quote me some ridiculous markups, like 1000 for freight.

I thought about PM'ing, but I figure the more info out there in the open, the better for us consumers.

 

[Kamal]

this keeps coming up in various threads, especially in the new member section... I really can't believe anyone is paying OVER retail price (before taxes). The only reason they're selling over MSRP is because there's enough of you guys willing to pay it... there's plenty of CBRs out there, call around, even to the out of town places... it would probably be cheaper to rent a trailer or pay for delivery than to pay $1k over retail on a $4k bike.

 

[jifman05]

I'd say it's definitely worth it to call around. 4300 otd is okay, I'd be comfy paying that if I couldn't get a better deal at all. I live in TN and went to Honda at Cool Springs first. They fed me all the usual stuff, "Oh we absolutely have to charge all these fees to make any money on this bike at all...". They wanted MSRP for a leftover 2011, TTL, and also a doc fee, freight fee, prep fee....it was crazy. Then I go to Southern Honda powersports in Chattanooga, a larger dealer that circulates a lot more bikes. No fees at all. Plus they were having a sale, so I got my 2012 for $4055 OTD. I had to drive a little over 100 miles to get there, but it's not all bad. It was an awesome deal plus they had yet another promotion, for every mile you drove, you got a buck towards accessories, so I got free gloves and a cover as well.

TL;DR: shop around. If another place has a better price, see if you can use that in negotiating. But 43 OTD is not bad considering most places I've seen set the sticker price at 4099. 4800 is a crazy price, and it sucks people have had to pay that :-[

 

[jifman05]

this keeps coming up in various threads, especially in the new member section... I really can't believe anyone is paying OVER retail price (before taxes). The only reason they're selling over MSRP is because there's enough of you guys willing to pay it... there's plenty of CBRs out there, call around, even to the out of town places... it would probably be cheaper to rent a trailer or pay for delivery than to pay $1k over retail on a $4k bike.

I agree. I feel like the dealers should be more lenient with this model. And what gets me is how they just expect you to pay their sticker price plus whatever fees they feel like they can tack on. My feeling is, if they want to sell the bike, they'll be willing to deal.

 

[Kamal]

I agree. I feel like the dealers should be more lenient with this model. And what gets me is how they just expect you to pay their sticker price plus whatever fees they feel like they can tack on. My feeling is, if they want to sell the bike, they'll be willing to deal.

If I know that I want a certain bike, I'll pay a fair price and be on my way in a matter of minutes with a bill of sale and a new bike. If you're asking for a bunch of fees and playing hardball, you'll probably just waste all of your time trying to get me to buy a bike that I won't buy. I would argue that the former is much more cost effective way to sell from a dealership point of view!

 

[TheoR]

When people negotiate OTD pricing, typically I think it's assumed that taxes and registration fees are included. That's how I negotiated.

So, your $4,300, when all taxes and registration fees are added are probably well into the neighborhood of what others are paying. Still, not a bad pricing.