S.Cal Best OTD prices

[Bill_B]

I'm looking to get a new 20 or 21 YZ450F very soon. Need to call around but wanted to see what some of you local so Calis are getting for OTD prices for 450Fs.  At a normal dealer what is considered a good deal over Msrp for new bikes. Most dealers add on like 1500 bucks, that's fricken crazy. You can buy a new car 3-500 over msrp and you did good.  How can bikes be so marked up?  Must be lack of volume.  ALSO bad time to buy a new bike cuz none in stock. How much mark up do they really need to get and how much leverage do we have as buyers. 

Most new bikes I've bought were at LA cyle sports. Not sure if they still operate like this but back when I bought my last new bike in 2008 they did not add any dealer mark ups, destination or set up to cost to the bike. As I recall the OTD price was the retail price that's it?  No BS, no games.  But I don't think they sell Yamaha. 

[babyarmholdingapple]

 08 they had a world surplus of everything as the world crawled to a halt, now you can't get a bike with crazy used bikes numbers as well. 

Seems you are in a sellers market, good luck. 

[atpalmer]

500 over msrp for a car is a terrible deal. 500 over invoice is a good deal. Bikes are luxury items. The best I could do is 700-1200 over msrp for new dirtbikes. I would guess 300-500 over msrp on a bike is about the best you can do.

[bigbob > 901]

Sorry I have no advice for a yz450F dealer in SoCal but this thread is why I am so glad to have a mom and pop and dogs dealer nearby for Husqvarna and Betas and husaberg back in the day too.  Motoxotica in Vacaville gives good deals maybe not the screaming lowest OTD but what’s $500-$900 more when you get a shop and personal owners backing you up years down the road 

so my humble advice is the dealer is way more important then the deal .  Buck up with the cash and buy the bike you want from a dealer you want to support .  Maybe hard to find such folks in the large cities . So consider  finding a small town dealer within  3 hour drive distance 

 

Edited August 29, 2020 by bigbob

[SteveThe Snakes]

LA cycle sports doesn’t sell Jamahas. 
Your best price would be from a Cycle Trader ad. 
If it’s a off road bike get the FX model. 

[DBragg]

Deals can be had.  Bide your time and as said above keep your eye on Cycletrader.  Even in this environment you can do well.  

[DBragg]

1 hour ago, bigbob said:

so my humble advice is the dealer is way more important then the deal .  Buck up with the cash and buy the bike you want from a dealer you want to support .  Maybe hard to find such folks in the large cities . So consider  finding a small town dealer within  3 hour drive distance 

 

This only holds a certain amount of water.  The warranty on a new bike is fairly limited, and if you do your own work your local guy doesn't provide much value.  Its really situation dependent.  

 

Alternatively, if you paid your local dealer to perform a specialized service, such as a shock oil change on a WP PDS shock, and you take it to a tuner 50 hours later for a revalve and he asks you if you have ever changed the oil in your shock... You may not want to go back to that dealer.  

[schmo]

2 hours ago, bigbob said:

Sorry I have no advice for a yz450F dealer in SoCal but this thread is why I am so glad to have a mom and pop and dogs dealer nearby for Husqvarna and Betas and husaberg back in the day too.  Motoxotica in Vacaville gives good deals maybe not the screaming lowest OTD but what’s $500-$900 more when you get a shop and personal owners backing you up years down the road 

so my humble advice is the dealer is way more important then the deal .  Buck up with the cash and buy the bike you want from a dealer you want to support .  Maybe hard to find such folks in the large cities . So consider  finding a small town dealer within  3 hour drive distance 

 

Good advice right there if you need the dealer to hold your hand, adjust your chain, or check your tire PSI.  For the rest of us that extra 500-900 saved is used on handguards, skid plates, and so on.  Unless there is a recall, I don't see any need to return to the dealer after purchasing a bike.

If you are close to the Valley, call Wheels in Motion in Chatsworth if they're still around.  Yamaha dealer and seemed to have a reputation for good deals.

Edited August 29, 2020 by schmo

[Bill_B]

2 hours ago, schmo said:

Good advice right there if you need the dealer to hold your hand, adjust your chain, or check your tire PSI.  For the rest of us that extra 500-900 saved is used on handguards, skid plates, and so on.  Unless there is a recall, I don't see any need to return to the dealer after purchasing a bike.

If you are close to the Valley, call Wheels in Motion in Chatsworth if they're still around.  Yamaha dealer and seemed to have a reputation for good deals.

I'd have to say I agree, Ive never returned to a dealer for anything from any bikes I've purchased. Who takes bike to dealer for service.  ”must be nice”  But the idea of buying and support my local dealer seams like a good idea.  BUT then again I think they are all crooks and always dread the thought of buying anything from them. Everything is overpriced. And exactly what your saying is true.  I need The extra $ just to set the bikeup and 5-900 bucks is important for ME to spend not to give it to them if I can help it. 

Terrible time to be buying a dirt bike.  No leverage

[Bill_B]

5 hours ago, atpalmer said:

500 over msrp for a car is a terrible deal. 500 over invoice is a good deal. Bikes are luxury items. The best I could do is 700-1200 over msrp for new dirtbikes. I would guess 300-500 over msrp on a bike is about the best you can do.

Right I've overlooked msrp and dealer invoice price. Need to refresh my memory on this thanks for pointing that out.  

[Jeff aka Bolt]

This is not complicated...  but walking in with a fixed notion from some guy on the internet may actually hurt your chances because the dealers know when a guy is talking out his butt when he thinks there is a magic price.  When you sell stuff for a living its pretty easy to tell who knows what they are doing and who is just a bluster hard customer.

The magic price today is relevant only to the other dealers in the negotiation.  You need to talk to a few at least. Several if possible. Check pricing in Phoenix as well at few dealers.  Work with guys who will sell on the phone and ignore guys that need you to be siting in their chair cause they just wanna get you in and close you with time and exhaustion.

Get a list of dealers...  call and ask if they can deal on the phone...  if not say thanks and hang up...  if they do, be up front...  tell them you'll be calling several so "please give me your best price OTD." Tell them if you'll be paying cash or financing... if you are financing tell them your credit score.  They make money on financing too most of the time so cash is not king in this scenario usually.

Rinse and repeat...  Rinse and repeat...  Rinse and repeat...  Rinse and repeat...  Rinse and repeat...  

Call a few back with the best price you got so far and ask them to beat it...  Rinse and repeat...  Rinse and repeat...  

If you are not in a rush this strategy will net you the best deal.

If you are anxious...  can't exude calm friendly confidence... then just go down to your local dealer... pay what they want and go ride.  It's not worth the stress.

Good luck ! 

Edited August 29, 2020 by Govt Cheese

[schmo]

57 minutes ago, Bill_B said:

I'd have to say I agree, Ive never returned to a dealer for anything from any bikes I've purchased. Who takes bike to dealer for service.  ”must be nice”  But the idea of buying and support my local dealer seams like a   Pretty idea.  BUT then again I think they are all crooks and always dread the thought of buying anything from them. Everything is overpriced. And exactly what your saying is true.  I need The extra $ just to set the bikeup and 5-900 bucks is important for ME to spend not to give it to them if I can help it. 

Terrible time to be buying a dirt bike.  No leverage

I did once on my first bike, never again.  Took it in for the first service after just a few hours, frankly I don't think they did much of anything other than loading my air filter up with so much oil it was dripping off the kickstand mount and the bike wouldn't even rev, just bog. 

Just call around and ask for OTD price.  When I got my '17, the local stealership quoted me 2K over where I bought mine an hour away from the other stealership.  Stupid woman even stated the MSRP was 1K over the KTM website.  Did pretty much everything over the phone, showed up, they had it prepped and right by the door, paid the man and threw the bike in the van.  Was the easiest/quickest purchase I've ever had at a dealership. 

[Bill_B]

5 minutes ago, schmo said:

I did once on my first bike, never again.  Took it in for the first service after just a few hours, frankly I don't think they did much of anything other than loading my air filter up with so much oil it was dripping off the kickstand mount and the bike wouldn't even rev, just bog. 

Just call around and ask for OTD price.  When I got my '17, the local stealership quoted me 2K over where I bought mine an hour away from the other stealership.  Stupid woman even stated the MSRP was 1K over the KTM website.  Did pretty much everything over the phone, showed up, they had it prepped and right by the door, paid the man and threw the bike in the van.  Was the easiest/quickest purchase I've ever had at a dealership. 

I love learning new words.  "stealership"  LOVE IT!  putting that one in my vocabulary!  ;    \ 

[Bill_B]

37 minutes ago, Govt Cheese said:

This is not complicated...  but walking in with a fixed notion from some guy on the internet may actually hurt your chances because the dealers know when a guy is talking out his butt when he thinks there is a magic price.  When you sell stuff for a living its pretty easy to tell who knows what they are doing and who is just a bluster hard customer.

The magic price today is relevant only to the other dealers in the negotiation.  You need to talk to a few at least. Several if possible. Check pricing in Phoenix as well at few dealers.  Work with guys who will sell on the phone and ignore guys that need you to be siting in their chair cause they just wanna get you in and close you with time and exhaustion.

Get a list of dealers...  call and ask if they can deal on the phone...  if not say thanks and hang up...  if they do, be up front...  tell them you'll be calling several so "please give me your best price OTD." Tell them if you'll be paying cash or financing... if you are financing tell them your credit score.  They make money on financing too most of the time so cash is not king in this scenario usually.

Rinse and repeat...  Rinse and repeat...  Rinse and repeat...  Rinse and repeat...  Rinse and repeat...  

Call a few back with the best price you got so far and ask them to beat it...  Rinse and repeat...  Rinse and repeat...  

If you are not in a rush this strategy will net you the best deal.

If you are anxious...  can't exude calm friendly confidence... then just go down to your local dealer... pay what they want and go ride.  It's not worth the stress.

Good luck ! 

Good input, not in a huge hurry cuz I ant watin to ride in the fricken heat anyways. 

[schmo]

29 minutes ago, Govt Cheese said:

Tell them if you'll be paying cash or financing... if you are financing tell them your credit score.  They make money on financing too most of the time so cash is not king in this scenario usually.

pay what they want and go ride.  It's not worth the stress.

 

I think Jeff is spot on except in these two areas.  I pay cash for toys, but knowing that most dealers will just assume I need to finance, I let them think that, knowing they'll make some scratch on the financing, and have them give me the OTD price before telling them how I'm going to pay.  Depending on financing and cost involved and early payoff policies, you can also work with the seller if they are cool, get financing if that lowers the price and then just pay it off when you get the first bill.  I had to do that when I bought my van as I was stranded without my checkbook and didn't think my van was going to make it up the canyon to get me home.

2K sure was worth a few phone calls . . . not sure how stressful dialing a couple numbers and asking a couple of questions could be for you guys.

 

[Jeff aka Bolt]

You'll sometimes burn your dealer if you take financing and pay it off instantly.  If you want the BEST price and take financing to save even more dont intentionally burn the dealer. Just talk it out and earn yourself the best deal.  

Edited August 29, 2020 by Govt Cheese

[bigbob > 901]

Negotiations have three components:  Information, time and authority (authority meaning the singular decision power to make the deal on both sides, not some background manager or other person not in the room) 

gather your information, invest your time and the dealers time ,  the dealer will be doing same gathering information about buyers, what about his clock too,   then eventually it takes two with authority to make the deal 

Edited August 30, 2020 by bigbob

[schmo]

 

58 minutes ago, Govt Cheese said:

You'll sometimes burn your dealer if you take financing and pay it off instantly.  If you want the BEST price and take financing to save even more dont intentionally burn the dealer. Just talk it out and earn yourself the best deal.  

In a normal situation, there would be no reason to go thru the financing process and then pay it off right away if you have the ability to pay cash, unless the dealer told you they could get you a better deal if you financed rather than paying cash, so that's on them if there are any repercussions.  But if they assume I need to finance and quote me a price and I decide to pay cash instead . . . well that's on them too.  At the end of the day, I'm the buyer and I'm going to look for the best deal . . . I'll leave the seller to worry about their job, profits, due diligence, etc.  When I got my van, I limped in and bought what they had on the lot, I had to finance, had no choice due to not having my checkbook and banks being closed, I still made my intentions abundantly clear about my plan to pay it off immediately.

 

[Jeff aka Bolt]

Like I said...  just talk it out and earn yourself the best deal.  

You have nothing to lose and savings to gain by communicating.  You can't out slick a dealer.

[crfxer]

On every new bike I have bought I have paid about MSRP otd or less. Tax, license, setup, shipping or whatever included