I'm going to buy a motorcycle and I'm about to start negotiating price. Do you guys have any tips or advice? I have heard that the salesmen gets an extra bit of money if I pay a large down payment. Could I use that as an incentive to get him to lower the price? I am in a position to make a large down payment If that would help him loosen up.

The Bike I want is $6,500 how low do you think he would be willing to let it go for.  Is $5,500 too optimistic?  What tricks are they gonna try to use on me?

JIM

You must be able to walk away from the deal.

vmax84

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The bottom line is to do your research first. Know exactly how much it costs the dealer, and negotiate up from there..Never negotiate down from MSRP. Also, be ready to walk away and never look back......

There doesn't tend to be much negotation with motorcycles.

Cash talks, if you can pay full price cash, that's when they start talking turkey.  Keep them on their toes, keep on asking about what type of deal they can give you, don't tell them what $$$ you'll send.  Don't be an asshat, but be firm.  If one salesman isn't making the cut find another.

Email or fax several dealerships for a quote; do not give them your phone # or surrender to their suggestion that you "come in for our best deal".

Quoted: Cash talks, if you can pay full price cash, that's when they start talking turkey.  Keep them on their toes, keep on asking about what type of deal they can give you, don't tell them what $$$ you'll send.  Don't be an asshat, but be firm.  If one salesman isn't making the cut find another.

But explain to me why cash talks. There going to get the money one way or the other right? I have heard this before but I just don't get it.

JIM

Say tits up a lot.  Nobdody knows what it means.  It is some kind of code that lets them know you are not just a regular Joe.  Throw it in at anytime it is always appreciated and appropriate.  "Nice dude, tits up?"

Lordtrader was a car salesman for a little while a few years ago.  He said a good tactic is to go in at the end of the month.  Maybe the salesman needs to meet his quota and you can drive a harder bargain.

Quoted: Say tits up a lot.  Nobdody knows what it means.  It is some kind of code that lets them know you are not just a regular Joe.  Throw it in at anytime it is always appreciated and appropriate.  "Nice dude, tits up?"

LMMFAO

Quoted: Quoted: Cash talks, if you can pay full price cash, that's when they start talking turkey.  Keep them on their toes, keep on asking about what type of deal they can give you, don't tell them what $$$ you'll send.  Don't be an asshat, but be firm.  If one salesman isn't making the cut find another. But explain to me why cash talks. There going to get the money one way or the other right? I have heard this before but I just don't get it. JIM

Less hassle on financing.They dont worry about you being aproved or taking up time they could spend with someone they can make a sale off of.

Motorcycle salesmen are not like used car salesmen.  But I have negotiated and came out way ahead.  It was my first bike and the guy took almost $1000 off a brand new bike!  I added the theft insurance and warranty since it was my first bike and knew nothing about them and still came out nice.
All because I could walk away...and did....then came back a week later with someone else who was shopping and I was not really interested in getting one that soon....

Quoted: But explain to me why cash talks. There going to get the money one way or the other right? I have heard this before but I just don't get it.

If you are able to buy on the spot for the right price and they aren't willing to meet your price, walk away.  Ensure that the manager knows why you're leaving.  Most salesmen don't want to be the guy who let a customer walk off with a wad of cash because they were holding out for a larger commission.

Have you seen the looters in NO?  Salesmen are exactly that kind of scum.  They will lie to your face and make shit up to make the sale, then try to distract you while you sign the contract which doesn't say what they said it would.  If at any time during the transaction, you see the salesman as a human being, you should walk away.  They are con artists, plain and simple.

If you can afford it, and need some practice, go to a dealer that might not be the most convenient for you and practice.  Offer them $4,500 cash out the door.  Just keep telling them you really like the bike, but that's all you can spend.  Let them go through all their motions while you watch and listen carefully.  Think about what went on and why for a few days and develop a new plan of attack.

Practice saying brutal things with a straight face.  For example, "If you have to ask your manager, I want to talk to him directly.   Stop wasting my motherfucking time." or "What the hell kind of scam are you running here, this is not what we agreed."  Be sure to make a scene, it makes them uncomfortable, yet they will not ask you to leave if there's a real chance of you buying the vehicle.

Last year I bought two cars.  On the first one, they were crying about how they aren't making any money on the sale because I'm mean.  Boo hoo, it's my money, they just have to decide if they want to sell a car or not.  With the second one, I got the finance manager yelling "no way, I'm not going to do that" to the manager, and got a substantial discount leaving them with a used car that had serious problems.  I drove it to their lot, but there was a serious possibility that it would have to be towed home if we didn't buy a car.  I was still willing to take that chance while negotiating with them.  If I were selling the old car to a person, I would have disclosed all of the problems I knew about.  However, these are exactly the people who will screw anyone over in a heartbeat, so I figured if it was important to them, they would have checked it out.

Quoted: Say tits up a lot.  Nobdody knows what it means.  It is some kind of code that lets them know you are not just a regular Joe.  Throw it in at anytime it is always appreciated and appropriate.  "Nice dude, tits up?"

EPOCH

Don't trade in your car; sell it yourself.  I made the mistake of giving the saleswoman my key to get a price for a trade-in.  She wouldn't give the key back, and I had to holler at the "sales manager" to get my key back and promptly left.  Guess which car dealer that was?  A Mercedes Benz dealer.  Even a hoity toity joint acts like a thief.

Just turn your back and walk away. That is your best bartering tool. You can also tell him you want to see the invoice.

-Be able to walk away
-Dont come in without good intel
-Get dealerships to compete
-Realize that they will steal as much of your hard earned money as possible and not feel bad
-Dont feel bad by talking down to them.  If you dont walk out feeling that you cheated them in some way you probably didnt try hard enough
-As far as bikes go, depending on season, location, and type of bike you may be lucky get a bike at MSRP.  I bought a sportbike around spring break of last year in florida and I was happy to get it for MSRP, whereas in other places across the country guys were getting theirs for a few hundred over invoice, and some guys were paying $500 markup over MSRP because they didnt shop and wanted the bike now. (supply and demand)
- I personally feel salesman are scumbags, but that is their job, to get as much of your money as possible

When I bought my bike, I got them to take about 400 off and give me a helmet at no cost in the deal with some gloves. If all else fails, threaten to loot.

Quoted: Cash talks, if you can pay full price cash, that's when they start talking turkey.  Keep them on their toes, keep on asking about what type of deal they can give you, don't tell them what $$$ you'll send.  Don't be an asshat, but be firm.  If one salesman isn't making the cut find another.

No, no NO!

I'm not trying to sound like an asshat, but telling a salesman up front that you are paying cash is a great way to end up paying more. Cash is not king...financing is.

Dealerships make money on the front end and the back end. The "front end" is gross profit on the unit being sold. The "back end" is financing, extended warranties, life and disability insurance etc.

If you tell the dealer up front that you are paying cash then you are telling him that he will have no back end profit on the deal. Consequently, he will need to hold more gross on the front end to make the deal profitable for the dealer.

The best way to negotiate a good deal is to work from the dealer price up, not MSRP down. Find the dealer price on what you'd like to buy and work up from there.

Don't be afraid to walk away from a deal you are unhappy with. If you are emotional (e.g. "I LOVE THIS BIKE!") then the salesman knows that you have taken emotional ownership-and he owns your ass.

The car business paid my way through college. Though it's much more of a grind these days sometimes I really do miss the action

Quoted: Cash talks, if you can pay full price cash, that's when they start talking turkey.  Keep them on their toes, keep on asking about what type of deal they can give you, don't tell them what $$$ you'll send.  Don't be an asshat, but be firm.  If one salesman isn't making the cut find another.

+1 cash is king. My uncle walked into a Honda dealer and rubbed cash in their faces and got alittle more than $2k off of his scooter.

you won't need a bike or car. everyone says all the gas is gone. Just run for you lives.

www.edmunds.com/

Were can I get the Dealer price for the Bike as opposed to MSRP?

Its a 2005 Honda Shadow New.

And please don't feed me that Harley Davidson line.... I can't freaking afford one. There I said it!

JIM

Draw down early and often.

Quoted: Quoted: Cash talks, if you can pay full price cash, that's when they start talking turkey.  Keep them on their toes, keep on asking about what type of deal they can give you, don't tell them what $$$ you'll send.  Don't be an asshat, but be firm.  If one salesman isn't making the cut find another. But explain to me why cash talks. There going to get the money one way or the other right? I have heard this before but I just don't get it. JIM

If you can buy it cash on the barrel head, they deal better, less hassle for them and they have they're money.

You have to cut out the nonsense.  Here is what I do -

- Make an offer to the salesman (be sure you've researched what you need to pay for the vehicle), &
- Tell him he has 5 minutes to give their no BS, bottom dollar, best price when he rejects the offer.
Walk out if they can't come up with something in less than 5 minutes.

One salesman asked me, "why 5 minutes"; I simply told him that I wasn't playing games and wasn't sitting in their office all morning.

Another dealership couldn't understand why I would drive 100 miles to save $500 at another dealership.  I asked the manager what he would do if he knew there was a bag with $500 and all he had to do was drive 100 miles to pick it up - he understood then.

the salesman probably gets more of a perk if you finance.  check out nada.com for motorcycle prices, if it is used.  act disinterested, since cold weather is coming(didn't notice where you live).

Having a cashier's check for the dealer invoice price helps.  But this can backfire with a bait and switch.  ALWAYS be prepared to walk out.

And if the deal goes sour, just say "you are breaking my balls here"...